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Hi Lavinia really important question. I think part of the issue is thinking hard about what some have called the 'decision space' https://www.developmentgateway.org/blog/dg-white-paper-release-understanding-data-use i.e. the political and institutional incentives which enable use of data, learning and subsequent adaptation. I think Dan Honig's new book Navigation by Judgement https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/book-review-navigation-by-judgment-by-dan-honig/ provides a compelling argument for not only why this the case, but why providing space for front line judgement, learning and adaptation is critical

Hi Mark, You should read the other blog I've just written. https://devpolicy.org/proposed-backpacker-visa-reform-will-increase-worker-exploitation-and-cause-strategic-damage-20180928/. In fact, research shows that backpackers are more likely to be exploited than seasonal workers. See the report I cite. It makes sense too. Backpackers have no representation. Employers need no permission to hire them. Completely the opposite from seasonal workers. SWP is the regulated option. Backpackers the unregulated. That's why we need to grow the regulated option, and not expand the role of backpackers.

Desperately need to include proper protections. There is evidence of wide-scale exploitation across this scheme, backpackers and the various 457-style visas (but Pacific workers easily the most vulnerable): - https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/03/hungry-poor-exploited-alarm-over-australias-import-of-farm-workers - https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/ModernSlavery/Final_report/section?id=committees%2Freportjnt%2F024102%2F25425 - http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/slaving-away-promo/6437876 -https://www.humanrights.dk/news/fighting-exploitation-migrant-workers-australia - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/05/the-big-one-is-underpayment-new-centre-fights-migrant-workers-exploitation - and many more examples, plus personal information given to myself and others relating specifically to the Pacific scheme. The issue is both employers and recruiters - some notorious. The fact that the words slavery and blackbirding appear in relation to the Pacific scheme is extremely disturbing. Any overhaul should not be a one-way street.

What works in education in “developing” countries? In 1993 and 94 I was assigned by Palms to a teacher mentoring role in Samoa. While I was encouraged to believe I could guide effective teaching practice, I never had the certitude to believe I was going to revolutionise Samoan education. Student-centred Learning? I had spent 15 years in Victorian classrooms, attempting to drag senior secondary students out of earlier teacher-centred learning experiences, into a student-centred enquiry learning approach. Put simply, it was a process of finding topics in my subject area that would stimulate students to ask questions that assisted their exploration of the key concepts and knowledge. Research skills were honed as required. The idea was to help students to become independent learners, despite the dangers of not spoon-feeding them enough before their formal Year 12 examinations. My son, who graduated year 12 a couple of years ago, speaks of his surprise at the dropout rate of first year university students from private schools, given their wonderful ATAR scores. His surprise highlights both the problem of not encouraging independent learning and also the possibility that this continuing tension in the Australian school system suggests we are also a “developing” country. In reviewing “Classroom Change in Developing Countries: From Progressive Cage to Formalistic Frame” in Devpolicy, Robert Cannon agrees with author Gerard Guthrie that, “Attempts to replace formalistic teaching with progressive styles in developing countries are usually culturally inappropriate, and second, they usually fail.” It is clear from my own experience and that of the many teacher mentors, who have undertaken a Palms assignment, that an intention to replace one system with another is a fanciful proposition, especially when local cultures “… are dimly understood … by outsiders charged with making ‘improvements’”. However, does the labelling of Western educational models as “progressive” reveal a straw-man argument is in play as a convenient contrast for Guthrie’s dubious point? Finding a sensible centre Where existing formal teaching methodologies are underpinned by a very formal hierarchical culture; where students are never to risk adults losing face by asking questions they may not be able to answer, change will be slow. However, arguments contrasting extremes miss the point. Learning options that encourage self-enquiry are valuable and to suggest that such classroom reform amounts to being “…caged by Western culture-bound value judgements” seems to be a hobby-horse of Guthrie’s that dangerously ignores the world in which students and teachers in all cultures now find themselves. Teacher-centred approaches prevailed in my 1960’s Australian classrooms. This also reflected our more hierarchical culture at that time. Some teachers were able to use rote learning exercises to foster mental engagement for some students, but many were similar to the ones I first saw in Samoa. Teachers write sentences on the board that students copy into their book. At the exam teachers write the same sentences on the board with random (not just subject specific) words missing. Students pass if they can fill in 50% of the words. Students taught to think, rather than just remember, will always be more fulfilled in themselves and probably more productive in the economy. A big part of enabling people to live life to the fullest is enabling them to investigate options. This happens where enquiring minds are fostered. While teachers in “developing” countries have little training, the “frame” of traditional formalistic classroom teaching espoused by Guthrie does at least provide a useful cultural security. However, students’ access to the digital world encourages and requires questioning minds. They will not be well served, nor remain tolerant of teachers unable to assist them to process information independently. Providing example Needless to say I did not overturn culturally reinforced rote learning practice in Samoa, but when the young teachers I was mentoring became inquisitive about how I would approach their lessons, rather than telling them, I got them thinking about the objectives and planning alternative approaches that might work. This is an example of student-centred enquiry. I was then able to challenge them to offer their students objectives rather than “How to?” instructions, which inevitability made them vulnerable to student questioning. They survived and thrived to try it again. The qualified and experienced teachers recruited by Palms are prepared for engaging with culture and building relationships over the first six months of their assignment. They are encouraged to develop frameworks for identifying the existing strengths and assets in a school. To suggest change before doing so would be arrogant. They then stay long enough to build on these strengths and complement them with further options for building self-reliance in students. Palms model of long-term assignments means we avoid being the outsiders with a dim understanding of local culture. A dichotomous question of a “progressive cage” replacing a “formalistic frame” misses what can be achieved in assignments where development is built on sound relationships that provide appropriate awareness through mutual development.

I really like this article. I can only hope that this type of 'practical' and 'useful' approach to evaluations are integrated into Australian government aid policy.

When did all 99-year land lease cease in PNG, especially land acquired during Australian administration of PNG since 1906? What will happen to a land title when the lease is over? Do traditional landowners have the right under certain laws to acquire their title from a defunct company deregistered by the company's registrar?

Thanks Tobias and congratulations for tackling a difficult political issue. Apart from the access to force or violence, the analysis of the lack of transmission of PFM reform efforts into service delivery outcome improvements is consistent with my most recent experience in Lao PDR. And the rent generating opportunities are multiplied in decentralised settings. The three guiding principles are useful, and although it may be difficult for donors and other stakeholders to explicitly accept the provision of compensation for the surrender of rent entitlements, there may be more nuanced means available to compensate the losers.

Thanks! Road maintenance involves remedying defects such as potholes that occur in the carriageway from time to time (corrective maintenance) and providing treatments such as crack sealing which will slow the rate of deterioration (preventative maintenance).

Nice piece. I have thought about the exact issue - sharing my research findings with the study participants, and have started sharing my findings as short public health information on my Facebook page. Thanks a lot.

Thank you Dr Rooney for this interesting blog post. I also shared my PhD findings with the people of the two key villages in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea where I conducted my research. For each village, I printed a bound version of the thesis and also asked the printers to create a hard cover box for the thesis in the same colour, to protect it in the village setting. I also took and left in each village the various publications, newspaper articles and so on that had mentioned the research. In each village, I gave an oral presentation, explaining the process and the findings in Tok Pisin, and introducing and passing around the various materials. The villagers were delighted that I had "brought the name of our village to the world", as they said it in Tok Pisin. I think they were thrilled to see their ideas and photographs of the village in print. Thanks again for this blog post. I will share it with the students in the research methods course that I am currently teaching at the University of Papua New Guinea. Dr Amanda H A Watson

Thankyou Andrea. Happy to engage with the blogs and share some of our learnings about adaptive programming. Looking forward to more discussions.

Thank you Margaret. It was interesting to read that some of the challenges you discuss in the Zambia context- research fatigue, helicopter researchers with preconceived ideas, and over researched communities - resonate with the PNG context. Thank you for sharing it.