Pre and co-requisites: There are no pre- or co-requisites for this module. This is a core module for the MSc Development Administration and Planning. This means accepting requests to take this module as an option will depend on the number of students enrolled on the MSc Development Administration and Planning.

Module Description/Content: This module focuses upon the development industry and common tools and approaches employed within this industry that are used to conceptualise, design, manage, monitor and evaluate development interventions, specifically development projects and programmes. We treat ‘development’ as a normative concept.

In class, you will be guided through an intervention planning cycle (design, implementation, management, monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment) and be asked to analyse elements of the cycle based on the ontological assumptions present therein. This means analysing the assumptions contemporary approaches to development management make about reality and deciphering the culturally informed ways in which this reality is seen, known and subsequently planned for.

The module concludes with critical reflections on development management; shifting the scale of analysis from projects and programmes, to the individuals who manage them and the ethics of development work. Wherever possible, you are encouraged to bring to the classroom your own professional experiences of development management.

By the end of this module you should be able to:

• Identify and critique a range of development management tools and approaches;

• Query the assumptions that underlie common tools and approaches to development management;

• Situate yourself in critical reflections on practices of development management.

Delivery Method(s): Our sessions will be a mix of lecture, workshop, group exercises and student presentations.

Methods of Assessment: The module is assessed by a 3000 word written assignment. You will write a critique and response to the use of a particular development management tool or approach. This will allow you to think through how you would take action on the critique you have developed.

Module Leader: Kamna Patel