Analyzing Project Management in International Developmental Education

This report provides a comprehensive overview of project management within the context of international developmental education, emphasizing the crucial role of project planning and design. It begins by establishing the historical evolution and core principles of project management, particularly in relation to international development initiatives, including the application of project stakeholder management. The report then delves into the specific application of project management methodologies within the education sector, focusing on the importance of delivering services to developing countries. It explores theoretical frameworks, such as the theory of project management and the community builder's approach, to highlight how these can be applied to achieve desired social changes. The report emphasizes the significance of political and ethical assessments in project planning, including the child's right to education. A case study focusing on Chile is presented to illustrate the practical implementation of these principles, including the utilization of the Logical Framework Approach (LFA). The analysis highlights the importance of monitoring indicators and the application of the theory of change to ensure project success, with a concluding emphasis on the significance of ethical considerations and the protection of human rights in developmental projects.

PLANNING AND DESIGNING INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTAL
EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS
Name:
Course:

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Introduction
Project management in development is a social construct that evolves with time. Over
the last decades, the US contributed to many megaprojects, including, the NASA and
US military–industrial complex that were completed in association with different countries.
These projects assisted in developing methodologies in almost all sectors and assisted in
project management knowledge spread. Extensions of project management added Project
Stakeholder Management area in 2013. The UK has also focused on the management of
multiple projects and public projects. On the international level, the project team has to adapt
to the international and local context in which the project operates1.
Project management takes place when organizations engage in a temporary activity of
testing the introduction of a new idea, opportunity and evaluate its advantage to the
organization. Any project has a time limit and it focuses on the generation of outcomes
represented in products and services. Project management provides the best practices to
enhance the competitiveness of the organization when introducing a new opportunity2.
1. Background Research
1.1 Project management
The international development projects are meant with the all of the sectors that
project management could be applied within whether they are stand-alone projects or an
integrated part of a developmental program. It is important to deliver goods and services in
every poor country in the world to be directed to the public use within all sorts of
1 Lavagnon Ika and Damian Hodgson, "Learning from international
development projects: Blending Critical Project Studies and Critical
Development Studies," International Journal of Project Management 32
(2014), 3-4.
2 Pamela, McClinton, Project Management Methodologies: A Review of the
Literature (Virginia: Liberty University), 3-4.

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developmental activities, including education, health, infrastructure, food, energy,
agriculture, social reform and environment. All of the projects directed to developmental
activities share common characteristics, as they are temporary, multidisciplinary, unique and
limited. All of them are developed within a lifecycle with cost and time constraints, certain
tools are required for the project implementation. Accordingly, the international development
projects are public projects that in most cases have intangible and complex objectives and
outcomes. It involves many stakeholders with conflicting expectations and political
interferences, Including, strategic misinformation about risks, costs and benefits3.
1.2 Theory of project management
The theory of project management mainly consists of concepts and relationships that
causally relate these concepts. The theory reveals the way actions lead to the desired goal,
three possible actions could take place, including, systems design, systems control and
system improvements. Any project has three goals, first, to produce the intended products,
second, to minimize cost and the utilization levels, and third, to maintain the external goals
related to the customers as maintaining flexibility and quality assurance. The project
management explicit theory would serve many functions. It could explain the observed
behavior and predicts it. Also, the analysis tools could be built upon the theory. Moreover,
sharing the theory introduces a common language to people undertaking the same project. In
addition, the innovative practices could be transferred and applied in different conditions,
which enables knowledge sharing and learning. Based on this analysis, project management
processes consist of sequential steps, including; initiating, planning, execution, controlling
and closing Processes4.
3 Ika, "Learning from international development projects," 5-6.
4 Lauri Koskela and Gregory Howell, "The Underlying Theory of Project
Management is Obsolete 2-3" (Proceedings of the PMI Research
Conference, Washington, June 2002).

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1.3 The community builder’s approach
When it comes to a community group, the community builder’s approach could be
used in critical thinking to implement the required social changes and achieve the desired
goals. This process shows how the complex initiative of social change is likely to act over
time, as it could illustrate the various moving parts to achieve the desired outcomes in a
concrete way. Stakeholders have to be precise about the nature of the change they want to
achieve. The change project outcomes should be exactly predicted to decide what is going to
change within the required time frame. A common long-term goal should be clearly
understood by the stakeholders. The pathway of change is a map to show the expected
relationship between the change actions and the outcomes and the relationships among the
outcomes as well5. The indicators reveal the success of each implemented step within the
project pathway of change. Each outcome has its related indicators that should be determined
by the pathway of change. Indicators should be defined in details, which require a good
description of the targeted population of change, the required degree of change to achieve the
desired outcomes and the allocated time to achieve the goals of change. A clear description of
the details of each indicator allows for tracking the progress of the change implementation
and assures the application of the theory of change6.
2. Project planning
2.1 The political assessment
The way the decision was taken differs from country to another according to the
government structure, culture, and history and education system. The political settlement
5 Andrea Anderson, The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change: A Practical
Guide to Theory Development (New York: The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community
Change, 2009), 6.
6 Anderson, The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change, 8.

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analysis enables a better understanding of the rules, relative power and institutions in a given
country. The political settlement is a set of rules and institutions. The economic rents show
the way the powerful groups divide the wealth between them7.
2.2 The ethical assessment
Development ethics concerns with social, political, economic and environmental
development processes that bring opportunities and threats for the humankind, on an
individual level and collective level. Accordingly, the benefits and costs of development are
not equally distributed. Many rich countries are full of poor people, about 10-15 million
people are, for example, displaced from their residence place to implement developmental
projects with little compensation and great harm to their well-being8
The development ethics concerns with the human rights, and the decision-making
process that deals with differences among people in getting their rights. The human
development thinking concerns with the economic development and societal conflict in low-
income countries. Development has a side effect that might harm people and damage their
lives, here the ethical issues should take place. Although the moral arguments have a slight
effect on the change policy if they were not sourced from the decision makers' knowledge for
development9.
Ethics is considered as the means of the means, as it affects situation by situation. The
systems that create routine practices should be undertaken by people who have a professional
background10. The few past decades witnessed a growing interest in the codes of ethics in
7 Joseph Wales et al., How Does Political Context Shape Education Reforms and their
Success? Lessons from the Development Progress project (London, Overseas Development
Institute, 2016), 10.
8 Gasper Des, "Development Ethics – What? Why? How? 2", (Paper for conference on
Rethinking Development: Ethics and Social Inclusion, Mexico City, August 17-18, 2011).
9 Des, Development Ethics, 13-15.
10 Des, Development Ethics, 20-21.

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organizations. It is used for promoting the ethical behavior in organizations. There is a theme
that concerns with the codes of ethics adopted and implemented in certain countries. About
three-quarters of the American organizations have adopted the codes of ethics in a formal
manner11. For example, there is a global concern with the gender equality in development that
assures efficiency and women's empowerment12, from an ethical viewpoint, women should be
equally treated as men.
3. Research problem
3.1 The child rights to education
Since the end of the 1990s, the human rights indicators were created, the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been responsible for
the world's commitment to the universal ideals of human rights and dignity. It has developed
a number of rights to education indicators, to be disaggregated by vulnerable groups. But no
initiative has taken place with a vision of establishing the right to education indicators13.
Although many initiatives take place under the umbrella of the World Bank as the right to
education and many events are launched to finance the child right to education.
3.2 Inefficiency in the education system
Different projects take place in the world to assist children to have their right to
education (RTE). The Global Partnership for Education is one of these projects that was
formed to facilitate the educational challenges in the areas with the worst conditions all over
the world. It gathers the stakeholders, including, the developing countries, donors, NGOs, the
civil society, teachers and many other sides to create a shared vision that ensures equitable
11 Mark Somers, "Ethical Codes of Conduct and Organizational Context: A Study of the
Relationship Between Codes of Conduct, Employee Behavior and Organizational Values,"
Journal of Business Ethics 30 (2001): 1-2.
12 Candida March et. al, A Guide to Gender- Analysis Frameworks (UK: Oxfam, 2005), 10.
13 Gauthier de Beco, Right to Education Indicator based on the 4 A
framework (USA: Right to Education Project-The World Bank, 2009) 4-5.

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quality education and lifelong learning for all children14. The RTE focuses on the legal
challenges to the right to education. It concerns with research, capacity building, resource
development for advocacy, and cooperation with a human rights wide network and
development and education experts. RTE was established in 200015.
3.4 Project scope
The project will focus mainly on the children vulnerable groups' right to education. It
is important to select the right monitoring indicators to ensure successful project
implementation. Monitoring the implementation of the right of education projects should take
place to provide management with timely and necessary information towards the process of
the implementation. The implementation reports are the basis of evaluation. There should be
accurate data concerning the student evaluation, teacher pay, school evaluation and financial
management16.
3.3 Project initiation
This project is planned to take place in Chile, as the government is unaware of the
child right to education. Although it made some efforts in reforming the education sector, the
retention rate did not exceed 656%. It is important to retain the children who have dropped
from the primary education system, as about 70% of them are from the poorest families.
Children leave the school to work and help their poor families to have an income17.
14 The Global Partnership for Education -The World Bank, Results for Learning Report 2014
- Basic Education at Risk (Washington: The Global Partnership for Education -The World
Bank, 2016), 11.
15 Mervat Rishmawi and Cathy Keable-Elliott, Right to Education Project Indicators (USA:
Right to Education Project-The World Bank, 2012), 6.
16 UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report- Accountability in Education: Meeting our
Commitments (France: UNESCO, 2018) 35.
17 UNICEF, A Human Rights-Based Approach to Education for All (New York: UNICEF,
2007), 49.

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Many organizations act on implementing the right for education in practice, since the
adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Also, they have established
entitlement for free primary education for all children, Obligation to secondary education
establishment and equitable access to higher education18. The partnership’s theory of change
has been applied according to the goals of the global partnership for education (GPE) project
2020. The aim of the theory of change is to strengthen the national education systems'
capacity at the outcome level in order to increase the number of educated children on the
impact level19. The indicators of the projects are supposed to reveal the success of each
implemented step.
Accordingly, this project will utilize the theory of change to be applied to the children
in Chile. Access to data will enable the creation of the project indicators to monitor the
implementation progress.
4. Methodology LFA
The logical framework approach (LFA) is a design methodology that is used by
multilateral and bilateral donors. LFA is based on the analysis of the development situation,
mainly the key development problems, and the alternatives for addressing problems. It could
be applied in different contexts and to a range of aid activities, including program support and
macro-policy support. LFA advantages could be addressed, as follows20:
 Situational analysis during the activity preparation phase.
 The establishment of means to reach objectives that could be sorted in a logical
hierarchy.
18 UNICEF, A Human Rights-Based Approach, 7.
19 The Global Partnership for Education- The World Bank, GPE Result Report (Washington,
2016), 6.
20 Australia Government GovAID, The Logical Framework Approach (Australia: Australia
Government, 2005), 3.

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 Identification of the potential risks to achieve the project objectives.
 Establishment of monitoring and evaluation tools.
 Presentation of the summary of the analysis in a standard format and reviewing the
activities during the implementation phase.
During the activity design phase that includes, identification, preparation and
appraisal and approval, the target of the LFA is to produce and document a new development
activity design. This activity requires an activity description, that documents in details the
proposed activity is likely to do and how, also, the activity rationale, that have to state the
proposed activity from the stakeholders' perspectives in the implementation phase. These
details should describe the activity components to be done in each component, also, to define
the roles and responsibilities of the participants, finally, the managerial arrangements for each
activity. LFA include four analytical elements, including, the analysis of the problem, the
stakeholders, the objectives and the selection of the implementation strategy21.
Some of LFA is used in planning within the broader approach of results-based
management. LFA sets certain steps to be completed that could include problem assessment
and risk assessment, then the outputs are to be summarized in a logical framework22.
Conclusion
This analysis revealed the importance and the chronology of project management with
a special focus on the developmental projects, and the right to education in specific. As any
project has a time limit and it focuses on the generation of outcomes represented in products
and services. Also, a clear description of the details of the monitoring indicator should be
21 Australia Government GovAID, The Logical Framework Approach, 6-7.
22 Oliver Bakewell and Anne Garbutt, The Use and Abuse of the Logical Framework
Approach: A Review of International Development NGOs’ Experiences (UK: International
NGO Training and Research Centre, 2005), 7.

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clarified to allow for tracking the progress of the change implementation and assures the
application of the theory of change.
The development ethics concerns with the human rights, and the decision-making
process that deals with differences among people in getting their rights. Development has a
side effect that might harm people, there is a theme that concerns with the codes of ethics
adopted and implemented in certain countries.
Different projects take place in the world to assist children to have their right to
education. It focuses on the legal challenges to the right to education. It concerns with
research, capacity building, resource development for advocacy, and cooperation with a
human rights wide network and development and education experts.
The project will focus mainly on the children vulnerable groups' right to education. It
is important to select the right monitoring indicators to ensure successful project
implementation. The project will take place in Chile and will be applied to the children of the
poorest families.
The logical framework approach is based on the analysis of the development situation,
mainly the key development problems and their alternatives. It aims to produce and document
a new development activity design. It has four analytical elements, including, the analysis of
the problem, the stakeholders, the objectives and the selection of the implementation strategy,
it also could be used in planning.

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Bibliography
Anderson, Andrea. The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change: A Practical
Guide to Theory Development. New York: The Aspen Institute Roundtable on
Community Change. 2009.
Australia Government GovAID. The Logical Framework Approach. Australia. 2005.
Bakewell , Oliver , and Garbutt Anne. The Use and Abuse of the Logical Framework
Approach: A Review of International Development NGOs’ Experiences. UK:
International NGO Training and Research Centre. 2005.
De Beco, Gauthier . Right to Education Indicator based on the 4 A framework. USA: Right to
Education Project-The World Bank. 2009.
Des, Gasper. "Development Ethics – What? Why ? How?" Paper for conference on
Rethinking Development: Ethics and Social Inclusion, Mexico City, August 17-18,
2011.
Ika, Lavagnon, and Damian Hodgson. "Learning from international development projects:
Blending Critical Project Studies and Critical Development Studies." International
Journal of Project Management 32 (2014): 1182–1196.
Koskela, Lauri, and Gregory Howell. 2002. "The Underlying Theory of Project Management
is Obsolete." Proceedings of the PMI Research Conference,
Washington, June 2002.
March, Candida , Ines Smyth, and Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay. A Guide to Gender- Analysis
Frameworks. UK: Oxfam. 2005.
McClinton, Pamela. Project Management Methodologies: A Review of the Literature.
Virginia: Liberty University. n.d.

11
Rishmawi, Mervat, and Cathy Keable-Elliott. Right to Education Project Indicators. Right to
Education Project-The World Bank. 2012.
Somers, Mark. "Ethical Codes of Conduct and Organizational Context: A Study of the
Relationship Between Codes of Conduct, Employee Behavior and Organizational
Values." Journal of Business Ethics 30 (2001): 185-195.
The Global Partnership for Education - The World Bank. Results for Learning Report 2014 -
Basic Education at Risk. Washington: The Global Partnership for Education -The
World Bank. 2016.
—. GPE Result Report. Washington: The Global Partnership for Education- The World Bank.
15/16.
UNESCO. Global Education Monitoring Report- Accountability in Education: Meeting our
Commitments. France: UNESCO Publishing. 2018.
UNICEF. A Human Rights-Based Approach to Educaion for All. New York: UNICEF. 2007.
Wales, Joseph , Arran Magee, and Susan Nicolai. How Does Political Context Shape
Education Reforms and their Success? Lessons from the Development Progress
project. London: Overseas Development Institute. 2016.