Alternative Education

Revision with unchanged content. This work examines community schools in Mali from multiple standpoints to analyze how various stakeholders understand and experiences them from separate, yet overlapping levels: international, national and local. What are the notions and practices regarding community schools at each level? Where do opinions of them converge and what are the differences in opinion at the various levels? This study includes an overview and examination of the nature and history of community schools in Mali and interpretive frameworks to consider why community schools are popular educational development strategies. Results from the study include that communication between stakeholders at various levels is often challenging, that different ideas exist about what constitutes a “community” school, and that there is both harmony and disharmony in opinion regarding the direction of community schools, particularly when referring to their ability to serve local versus national and international goals. Though community schools offer educational opportunities to marginalized children in Mali, there is debate over their purpose and ability to contribute to social change and development in rural, undeveloped areas. Paradoxically, though hailed for their “alternative” nature, community schools more often serve “traditional” education efforts and the international goal of achieving “education for all.”