GSE Launches International Ed Development Program

Working in the field of international educational development requires analysts who can negotiate a broad range of stakeholders-academic researchers, policymakers, donor organizations, NGOs, activists, practitioners, and local citizens.

To prepare educational professionals for work on the global stage, Penn GSE is launching a new master's program, International Education Development. Penn GSE Professor Kathy Hall and Senior Fellow Alan Ruby are overseeing the program with participating faculty members participating from across GSE.

"The program draws on the strengths of GSE faculty as well as Penn's area centers-in South Asia, East Asia, African Studies, Africana Studies, Latin America," says Hall. "Working with faculty from these areas, students will learn the substantive, methodological, and professional skills they'll need to navigate international, state, and local organizations in the global arena."

The program, which will be welcoming its first students this fall, will provide students with a foundational knowledge of the history of international development, an understanding of comparative educational policy and practice, familiarity with the dynamics of educational change, and quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation skills.

Program graduates will be prepared to pursue careers in the UN family of organizations, international aid agencies, non-governmental groups interested in education and human development, and national and provincial government education agencies.