Blogs

Girls and boys are equally gifted, yet girls are evidently underrepresented in gifted education. A literature review in ECHA News investigates various barriers to equal access for boys and girls to gifted education and shows that although gender bias appears less pronounced, its influence on the education and lives of gifted girls is still significant. Gifted girls face various potential obstacles that may cause their giftedness to go unidentified and hinder their participation in gifted education.

Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (PMEL) How to create good PMEL systems? As junior PMEL expert this question intrigues me. Looking at trends in PMEL we seem to have moved from the sole quantitative models to more theory- based and mixes-method approaches (Barnett & Gregorowski, 2013). However, complexity remains an issue and if we truly want to be able to understand the impact of our interventions we might start by challenging the way we frame our ‘successes’ and ‘outcomes’.

What are assumptions? An assumption is an idea of belief that has been accepted as ´true´. Assumptions shed light on how the envisioned change process in your Theory of Change works. They explain how your proposed interventions will bring about desirable change and why change will occur in a certain way. So assumptions connect the different steps and preconditions of the pathways in your ToC to one another and ultimately to your intended goal. When, for instance, you are planning to surf a wave, what makes you think that A (certain surf conditions) will lead to B (selecting that specific type of surfboard), ultimately resulting in C (flawlessly surfing that wave)? Assumptions can both be explicit and implicit. Explicit assumptions are ideas or beliefs that you have consciously identified, whereas implicit assumptions are ideas and beliefs unconsciously influencing your thinking and behavior. Generally, three types of assumptions exist: Assumptions about the necessity of each step and precondition to achieve the intended goal Assumptions from social science theory that provide evidence-based knowledge with respect to linking program interventions to specific outcomes in specific contexts External assumptions about the environment in which the program or project will be implemented

“An unintended consequence refers to a particular effect of purposive action, which is different from what was wanted at the moment of carrying out the act and the want of which was the reason of carrying it out” (Baert, 1991) Unintended consequences can cause harm to those people development programs are designed to support. Negative unintended consequences can undermine the positive results of a project, policy or program. Studying unintended consequences can help development professionals better understand how positive change can be achieved.