Acronyms 5

Executive summary 8

1. Introduction: Pedagogical reforms must align with local contexts 10

  1.1 The need for education system transformation

  1.2 Teachers as interpreters of reforms

  1.3 How teachers interpret and enact pedagogical reforms in classrooms

2. The IPM framework: How context shapes classroom practice 13

  2.1 From coherent systems on paper to lived classroom reality

  2.2 Three interconnected categories that shape teaching

  2.3 Why the same reform works differently

3. Three reforms, three contexts: Research design and methods 16

  3.1 Why Egypt, India, and Mexico?

  3.2 Research policy collaboratives: Methodology as theory of change

  3.3 Data sources and cross-country synthesis process

4. What three countries reveal: IPMs in action across Egypt, India, and Mexico 21

  4.1 Culture: How teachers understand their role

  4.2 Education ecosystems: What makes reform feasible

  4.3 Learning theories: How teachers blend approaches

  4.4 Where the three cases diverge: What differences teach us

5. Power, equity, and the limits of the IPM lens 31

  5.1 Power, equity, and whose experiences matter

  5.2 What IPMs do, and do not, explain

6. What system leaders can do differently 33

  6.1 Design for translation, not transfer

  6.2 Align ecosystems before scaling new pedagogies

  6.3 Make professional learning and co-design central, not peripheral

Conclusion: From technical fixes to relational work 38

References 40