Stakeholders' voices : A socio-cultural approach to describing and extending an understanding of primary education in Mauritius
type: CreativeWork
description: This study describes and expands an understanding of primary education in one developing country, Mauritius. The need for the study was argued from a review of literature which brought to notice the lack of social action perspectives in analysis of education in and about developing countries and the necessity and importance of knowing about the reality of schooling in developing countries. The research was conceptualised as a socio-cultural approach. It gave analytical priority to the actions, experiences and perceptions of teachers, pupils, parents and educationists in order to create an account of what Mauritian education was like and meant to individuals involved in or closely associated with Mauritian primary educational processes and functionings. The research was conceptualised on the premise that, as a social construction, Mauritian primary education was to be understood in its social milieu but also was located and had to be understood in the broader context of national and global circumstances, influences and pressures. The research can be taken as an attempt to integrate micro and macro levels of analysis. Data was collected in Mauritius over a period of four months, for the most part in two primary schools and also in participants' places of work and homes and methods were triangulated to ensure validity. They comprised: (a) observation to describe people and educational settings and to document school routines and processes; (b) in-depth interviews to elicit participants' constructs and document the issues and priorities they brought to their understanding of Mauritian primary education and; (c) stories and drawings to elicit pupils' own views. Data analysis has been emergent and inductive and the research findings were presented through diverse instrumental short case studies. The findings of the study showed that Mauritian primary education was construed by participant stakeholders as a means to an end, a credential enabling the achievement of a cultur…
abstract: This study describes and expands an understanding of primary education in one developing country, Mauritius. The need for the study was argued from a review of literature which brought to notice the lack of social action perspectives in analysis of education in and about developing countries and the necessity and importance of knowing about the reality of schooling in developing countries. The research was conceptualised as a socio-cultural approach. It gave analytical priority to the actions, experiences and perceptions of teachers, pupils, parents and educationists in order to create an account of what Mauritian education was like and meant to individuals involved in or closely associated with Mauritian primary educational processes and functionings. The research was conceptualised on the premise that, as a social construction, Mauritian primary education was to be understood in its social milieu but also was located and had to be understood in the broader context of national and global circumstances, influences and pressures. The research can be taken as an attempt to integrate micro and macro levels of analysis. Data was collected in Mauritius over a period of four months, for the most part in two primary schools and also in participants' places of work and homes and methods were triangulated to ensure validity. They comprised: (a) observation to describe people and educational settings and to document school routines and processes; (b) in-depth interviews to elicit participants' constructs and document the issues and priorities they brought to their understanding of Mauritian primary education and; (c) stories and drawings to elicit pupils' own views. Data analysis has been emergent and inductive and the research findings were presented through diverse instrumental short case studies. The findings of the study showed that Mauritian primary education was construed by participant stakeholders as a means to an end, a credential enabling the achievement of a cultur…
author: Griffiths, Michelle
keywords: Education, Primary, Mauritius, Academic achievement, Social aspects, Mauritius.
date published: 1998-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-27T19:22:46Z
provider: Edith Cowan University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia