WHAT IS EDUCATIONAL PLANNING?
There is wide convergence on the fundamental definition of educational planning and the main dimensions or stages that it includes. However, it is important to recognise that over time there have been changes in the prevailing concept of educational planning as well as in the tasks, actors and processes that are shaping its practice. Unit 1 of this training programme aims to provide you with an introduction to the key definitions, concepts, and approaches of educational planning. Special attention will be given to the currently prevailing ‘strategic planning’ approach and its main stages or components. These different planning stages or components will be dealt with in some detail in subsequent modules of the ESP programme. Educational planning is more than a technical exercise. It is also an organised social process involving a variety of actors. The second part of Unit 1 therefore presents and discusses the main features that characterize the educational planning processes currently in practice as well as the process of plan preparation.
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING
1.1 Definition of planning There are many possible definitions of the term “planning” A widely accepted one is suggested hereafter, in Box 1 : Box 1. A possible definition of planning Planning is the intellectual anticipation of possible future situations, the selection of desirable situations to be achieved (objectives) and the determination of relevant actions that need to be taken in order to reach those objectives at a reasonable cost. In other words, planning implies thinking about the future and trying to assume control over future events by organizing and managing resources so that they cater to the successful completion of the objectives set forth. 1.2 A look at traditional planning Traditional development planning According to this definition, planning is nothing exceptional. Human beings have been planning in one way or another since rational thinking emerged. However, as a formalized way of organizing development in complex societies, planning is an invention of the twentieth century. The preparation of directive development plans has been the backbone of socialist states since the communist revolution of 1917. But, soon after the Second World War, several non-socialist countries in Western Europe (e.g., France and the Netherlands) and elsewhere (Japan) adopted the idea of indicative planning as an instrument for post-war recovery and the development which followed it2 . Contrary to the socialist directive planning, indicative planning accepts the primacy of private market economies, but it tries to guide investments toward national priority objectives, avoid duplication of efforts and, to the extent possible, reduce cyclical instability. Traditional educational planning Over time, various forecasting techniques and simulation models were developed which aimed at orienting the educational investments either according to the needs of the labour market (manpower approach), or to the social demand for education (social demand approach), or to the needs of education sub-sectors with the best rate of return (cost-benefit approach), or to a more-or-less harmonious combination of these three approaches.
There is wide convergence on the fundamental definition of educational planning and the main dimensions or stages that it includes. However, it is important to recognise that over time there have been changes in the prevailing concept of educational planning as well as in the tasks, actors and processes that are shaping its practice. Unit 1 of this training programme aims to provide you with an introduction to the key definitions, concepts, and approaches of educational planning. Special attention will be given to the currently prevailing ‘strategic planning’ approach and its main stages or components. These different planning stages or components will be dealt with in some detail in subsequent modules of the ESP programme. Educational planning is more than a technical exercise. It is also an organised social process involving a variety of actors. The second part of Unit 1 therefore presents and discusses the main features that characterize the educational planning processes currently in practice as well as the process of plan preparation.
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING
1.1 Definition of planning There are many possible definitions of the term “planning” A widely accepted one is suggested hereafter, in Box 1 : Box 1. A possible definition of planning Planning is the intellectual anticipation of possible future situations, the selection of desirable situations to be achieved (objectives) and the determination of relevant actions that need to be taken in order to reach those objectives at a reasonable cost. In other words, planning implies thinking about the future and trying to assume control over future events by organizing and managing resources so that they cater to the successful completion of the objectives set forth. 1.2 A look at traditional planning Traditional development planning According to this definition, planning is nothing exceptional. Human beings have been planning in one way or another since rational thinking emerged. However, as a formalized way of organizing development in complex societies, planning is an invention of the twentieth century. The preparation of directive development plans has been the backbone of socialist states since the communist revolution of 1917. But, soon after the Second World War, several non-socialist countries in Western Europe (e.g., France and the Netherlands) and elsewhere (Japan) adopted the idea of indicative planning as an instrument for post-war recovery and the development which followed it2 . Contrary to the socialist directive planning, indicative planning accepts the primacy of private market economies, but it tries to guide investments toward national priority objectives, avoid duplication of efforts and, to the extent possible, reduce cyclical instability. Traditional educational planning Over time, various forecasting techniques and simulation models were developed which aimed at orienting the educational investments either according to the needs of the labour market (manpower approach), or to the social demand for education (social demand approach), or to the needs of education sub-sectors with the best rate of return (cost-benefit approach), or to a more-or-less harmonious combination of these three approaches.
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