Africa

Whitehead, Clive. 2005. “The Historiography of British Imperial Education Policy, Part II: Africa and the Rest of the Colonial Empire.” History of Education 34 (4): 441–54.

Angela Okune: This 2005 article by Clive Whitehead situates the British colonial education policy towards Africa in the context of the rest of the British empire, especially India.Read more

Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo. 1986. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London : Portsmouth, N.H: J. Currey ; Heinemann.

Abstract: " Decolonising the Mind is a collection of essays about language and its constructive role in national culture, history, and identity. The book, which advocates for linguistic decolonization, is one of Ngũgĩ’s best-known and most-cited non-fiction publications, helping...Read more

Vavrus, Frances. 2005. “Adjusting Inequality: Education and Structural Adjustment Policies in Tanzania.” Harvard Educational Review 75 (2): 174–201.

Angela Okune: In this 2005 article, Frances Vavrus discusses how access to secondary education declined in Tanzania as school fees were introduced and subsidized prices for food were removed during the advent of the IMF structural adjustment programs (SAPs).Read more

Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) 2018 Call for Abstract for Graduate Student Conference

This call for abstracts is particularly interesting in its framing because it points to the special importance of "deconstructive" approaches in contexts like "Africa."

Ball, Stephen J. 1983. “Imperialism, Social Control and the Colonial Curriculum in Africa.” Journal of Curriculum Studies 15 (3): 237–63.

Angela Okune: This 1983 paper by Stephen Ball raised three important points regarding the role that British colonial education policies played in African development. He highlighted the demand for education by local Africans; that the history of colonial schooling is marked by the...Read more

World Bank. 2016. “Bridge International Academies.” 119876. The World Bank.

Angela Okune: This 2016 brief by the World Bank showcases Bridge International and its education model. The brief states that Bridge is "the first educational organization to address the problem of quality at scale, allowing it to invest heavily in research and technology and to focus...Read more

Shay, Suellen. 2016. “Decolonising the Curriculum: It’s Time for a Strategy.” The Conversation, June 13, 2016.

Angela Okune: In this 2016 article by Dean and Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town, Suellen Shay, she highlights six key demands that she believes are key towards "decolonizing the curriculum."Read more

Nyamnjoh, Francis B. 2012. “‘Potted Plants in Greenhouses’: A Critical Reflection on the Resilience of Colonial Education in Africa.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 47 (2): 129–54.

Angela Okune: This 2012 paper by Francis Nyamnjoh argues that education in Africa is based on a resilient colonial and colonizing epistemology, which takes the form of science as ideology and hegemony. This type of education is justified as necessary to keep Africans internationally...Read more

Mangan, J. A. A. 1993. The Imperial Curriculum (RLE Edu H). Hoboken: Taylor & Francis.

Angela Okune: This 1993 volume is a comparative analysis of racial attitudes in the formal schooling of both Britain and its former dominions and colonies. The contributions include chapters looking at experiences in South Africa, Uganda and Kenya. A central theme throughout the work is that a...Read more

Bude, Udo. 1983. “The Adaptation Concept in British Colonial Education.” Comparative Education 19 (3): 341–55.

Abstract: "The solution to the problems of education in Africa proposed by Jones and his colleagues was the design of an educational concept adapted to the needs of people, completely oriented towards family and community life. Their proposed 'adapted education' for black Africa would,...Read more

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