Switching sides: The struggle between national identity and globalized pedagogy in the development of an early literacy programme in Cambodia

In 2006 a bi-lateral donor working with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) in Cambodia identified the need for improving the quality of literacy. The bilateral donor outsourced the contract to a team of British consultants to design and lead an early literacy project working alongside Khmer national consultants. This article begins by discussing and analysing how globalized perceptions of teaching, learning and national identity were enshrined in the development of training and classroom materials for both teacher and pupils. It uses the example of the place of phonics in the teaching of reading to explore the contradictions in practice between donor and low income countries. By examining the perceptions and assumptions made by all parties and analysing the discourse that took place in the development process it is possible to identify how national education and perceptions of identity and citizenship come into conflict with what was identified as a ‘global pedagogy’. As more agencies become involved and agendas change, the conflict between issues of national identity, citizenship and global pedagogy become increasingly blurred leaving the authors the task of unpacking the relative importance of these concepts on the impact of the project. We conclude that in educational project design there is a need to strike a balance between the influences exerted through international practice and priorities against the effects of local conditions, culture and context.