Education Commons^™

Teaching Beyond ‘Kings Leopold’S Ghost’: New Sources And Voices In A Global History Curriculum On The Democratic Republic, Jen Chapin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The complicated history of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not typically part of high school curricula, yet events and historical trends concerning this nation connect with many key topics and themes, including feudalism, Haitian Revolution, New Imperialism, genocide, World War I & 2, Decolonization movements, Cold War politics, neo-colonialism/globalization, modern China’s economic power, authoritarianism, cult of personality, grassroots democracy movements, responses to climate change, etc. Designing and delivering a rigorous yet accessible curriculum on Congo poses a challenge for teaching beyond “King Leopold’s Ghost”, meaning, working past the prevalence of materials focusing on Belgian king’s genocidal two-decade rule over …

The Belt And Road Initiative In Kenya, As Represented By The Standard Gauge Railway (Sgr), Its Effects And The Response Of Kenyans To It., Kiplangat Arap Yegon

Master's Theses

China has sought to strengthen ties with many countries in the Global South, and many African countries have signed Memorandum of Agreements(MoU) with China leading to trade treaties, foreign direct investments, loans and grants flowing into the African continent from China. This aggressive push by China into Africa has come under intense scrutiny with different actors, scholars and powers having mixed takes on the move. In my thesis, I look at the ways in which China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been undertaken in Africa. I use Kenya as a main case study in looking at the ways in which …

Impact, Implementation, And Insights Of Peace Education: A Case Study Of The M.A. In Peace Studies And Conflict Transformation Program At The University Of Rwanda, Sarah M. Doerrer

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Higher education is arguably critical for healing and stabilization in postconflict contexts, by developing leaders who value peace and have the skill sets to achieve it in various sectors. A rapidly growing body of literature concludes that peace education in particular has great potential to transform postconflict communities, both in higher education and at other levels of schooling. Yet there exists little rigorous analysis of the decisions faced by educational leaders responsible for implementing such programs, particularly those in postconflict settings where the needs are uniquely challenging.

This qualitative investigation documented the M.A. in Peace Studies and Conflict Transformation program, …

Reducing The Constraints To School Access And Progress: Assessing The Effects Of A School Scholarship Program In Malawi, Stephen Hunsaker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The study utilizes a causal-comparative research design to compare the educational experiences and outcomes of two student groups – those who did and those who did not receive a needs-based scholarship to attend secondary or tertiary school. We administered surveys to 89 scholarship recipients and 57 non-recipients in the Dowa, Kasungu and Lilongwe Districts of Malawi. Surveys included items to determine group differences across a range of short and medium-term outcomes, including: career aspirations, attendance rate, withdrawal rate, graduation rate, employment status, time unemployed since graduation, and employment quality (using the Tanzanian Standard Classification of Occupations). This study included students …

Teachers' Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education In Sierra Leone, Christian Sesay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Salamanca Accord advocating the implementation of inclusive education for learners with special needs was signed in 1994, as well as the Convention of the Right of Person's with Disabilities in 2006. Yet, Sierra Leone faces challenges to implement fully inclusive education in schools. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine teachers' attitudes towards inclusion in mainstream classrooms. The conceptual framework for this study was premised on Azden's theory of planned-behavior, which maintains that attitude and behaviors are products of experiences acquired. Using a Spearman rho correlations and descriptive statistics to analyze the data, gender, age, educational background, …

Exploring The Caregiver-Child Relationship In Institutional Care Facilities In South Sudan, Jennifer Joy Telfer

MSU Graduate Theses

Institutional care for children separated from parents is expanding in Africa, but little research exists on caregiving at these institutions. This study explores the caregiver-child relationship in two residential institutions in South Sudan by investigating how caregivers experience their role and how children experience their lives in the institution. Semi- structured interviews assessed 14 caregivers’ backgrounds, parenting experience, attitudes, education, and motivations. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Wellbeing Tool (OWT) assessed 98 adolescent residents, who also gave feedback about their answers. Caregivers employ parenting styles used by their parents and report treating non-relative children the same as biological children. Children …

Low-Fee Private Schools In West Africa: Case Studies From Burkina Faso And Ghana, Corinne Brion

Dissertations

Every year billions of dollars are spent on development aid and training around the world. However, only 10% of this training results in the transfer of knowledge, skills, or behaviors learned in the training to the work place. Ideally, learning transfer produces effective and continued application by learners of the knowledge and skills they gained through their learning activities. Some studies suggest that technology usage can serve as an effective post-learning intervention to enhance the transfer of learning.

Currently, there is a limited body of research examining the factors that hinder and promote learning transfer in professional development, particularly the …

Conditionalities Of The Knowledge Banks And The Financing Of Higher Education In West Africa: A Focus On Ghana, Nigeria, And Sierra Leone, Innocent Chima Ugwoke

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to understand how the loan conditionalities of the knowledge banks—the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are affecting the funding of higher education in West Africa generally by particularly comparing Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The role of higher education has been linked with development, and development has remained a concerned issue in Africa. The commitment of the states in funding higher education in order to achieve the desired goal of development is continuously met with difficulty. The reliance of these countries on the loans of the knowledge banks, which are associated with …

Correlation Between Literacy Rates In Africa And Latin America And Economic Stability, Shawn Jordan

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Literacy rates in Africa and Latin America are on different ends of the spectrum. Africa is home to some of the poorest countries in the world and Latin America is not too far behind. Literacy rates generally correlate to wealth as a country. The plights of Africa and Latin America are a no different. In general, Africa has some of the lowest literacy rates in the world and has been the place for horrific fighting for decades. This epidemic has hit the women and children especially hard. Women in Africa have an illiteracy rate of 50% (allafrica.com 2010). This is …

Principals' Strategies For Improving The Academic Achievement Of Students Of Disadvantaged Rural Junior High Schools In Ghana, Erasmus Kormla Norviewu-Mortty

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The academic performance of students in public basic schools in rural Ghana during the past two decades has declined significantly (Akyeampong, 2007). Government efforts to remedy this have not yielded any sustainable result (Atta-Quayson, 2007). The Saboba District Junior High Schools are among the lowest-performing rural schools. Generally, inadequate funding and resourcing are blamed for poor academic achievement of disadvantaged, rural students. During eight years of teaching in the Saboba District, the Researcher observed that the academic achievement of students in some schools remained high while that of others in the same locality remained low. Further, the Researcher’s experiences suggested …

Implementation Of Initiatives To Reform The Quality Of Education In Rural Ghanaian Junior High Schools, Agatha Inkoom

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite Ghana's record investment in education, in 2008, only 40% of students passed the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) at the end of junior high school and gained admission into senior high school. Urban schools continue to outperform rural schools and the gap between Ghana‟s best and worst performing schools continues to widen. This study investigated the effectiveness of education policy implementation and how this has impacted on education reform in one rural district of Ghana‟s Upper West Region. The research investigated the status of education in Junior High Schools, the impact of Reform 2007 and the factors that influenced …

Women's Empowerment In The Context Of Microfinance: A Photovoice Study, Camille Sutton-Brown

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

The assumptions underlying the relationships between microfinance and women’s empowerment are typically rooted in a financial paradigm, wherein the prevailing belief is that increases in economic resources necessarily lead to increases in women’s empowerment. This results in a conceptual erasure of the multi-dimensionality of empowerment and disregards the influences that microfinance has on women that extend beyond the economic sphere. This study explored how 6 women in Mali perceive and experience empowerment in relation to their participation in a microfinance program using photovoice. Photovoice is a qualitative methodology wherein participants document, reflect on, and represent their community and experiences using …

Culturally-Responsive Dance: Building Community One Step At A Time, Jeanette Jackson

ETD Archive

James Catterall's, (1997) report, "Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School", espoused the need for Arts Education. Finding that students who were involved in the arts had increased motivation, school attendance, and positive attitudes, this longitudinal study became a national model of Arts Education advocacy. Landson Billings (1995) assertion that culturally-relevant pedagogy is a pillar for student success is but a further expansion of Ogbu (1987) which stated that "A culturally relevant pedagogy must provide a way for students to maintain their cultural identity while succeeding academically" (p. 155).Although the academic world has reflected and responded to the …

History Education And Identity Formation: A Case Study Of Uganda, Takako Mino

CMC Senior Theses

History education builds the foundation of a common past necessary for the formation of group identity. Evaluating History curricula is important because group identity guides people’s political behavior. This Uganda case study demonstrates how different actors have manipulated History education in order to enhance the saliency of ethnic, national, and regional identities. The expansion of nationalized education and the teaching of Ugandan, East African, and African history have contributed to fostering the rise of national consciousness in Uganda. Greater awareness of national identity has promoted national integration while marginalizing non-school educated people.

Headteacher Visibility, Teacher Characteristics, And Headteacher Trustworthiness: Perceptions Of Secondary School Teachers In Mukono District, Uganda, David Mckay Boren

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that students perform better academically in schools with higher levels of trust than in schools with lower levels of trust. School leaders are primarily responsible for building cultures of trust but are often at a loss as to how to do so effectively. With the assumption that as perceptions of school leader trustworthiness improve, teachers will be more likely to place their trust in that school leader, this research seeks to clarify how Ugandan headteachers improve teachers' perceptions of headteacher trustworthiness. In particular, we examined how specific types of headteacher visibility related to teachers' perceptions of headteacher relational …

Gendered Distances: A Methodological Inquiry Into Spatial Analysis As An Instrument For Assessing Gender Equality In Access To Secondary Schools In Mukono District, Uganda, Patrick Richard Wawro

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on how accessibility to secondary schools in the Mukono District of Uganda is related to the sex and gender of the student and the distance that separates the student's home from the school they attend. This research is methodological inquiry exploring the use of spatial analysis, specifically how cognitive and metric distances can be used as alternatives to gross enrollment rates (GER) and net enrollment rates (NER) for assessing gender equality in realized accessibility to secondary schools. Student home locations were collected for 756 secondary students, including 437 boarding students and 319 day students from 8 different …

Financial Analysis And Fiscal Viability Of Secondary Schools In Mukono District, Uganda, Janet Jeffery Tanner

Theses and Dissertations

Within the worldwide business community, many analysis tools and techniques have evolved to assist in the evaluation and encouragement of financial health and fiscal viability. However, in the educational community, such analysis is uncommon. It has long been argued that educational institutions bear little resemblance to, and should not be treated like, businesses. This research identifies an educational environment where educational institutions are, indeed, businesses, and may greatly benefit from the use of business analyses. The worldwide effort of Education for All (EFA) has focused on primary education, particularly in less developed countries (LDCs). In Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda increased its …

Selected Sources Of Funding For The Third World Educational Projects, Joseph M. Ndisya

All Master's Theses

A hundred philanthropic foundations were surveyed with an aim to find out their attitudes toward the educational growth in the developing countries. This was done in order to have an idea of the percentage that would reply positively that they would consider project proposals seeking funds for continuous educational growth in such countries. Of those that replied to the questionnaires, about 50% replied positively thereby agreeing that they would consider such proposals. Hence those developing countries of Latin America, Asia Minor, and Africa could seek more funds to keep their educational development growing a bit faster.

The Teaching Of English In Africa: An Evaluation Through Interviews With Former Teachers, Lucy Lawson

MA TESOL Collection

This project concerns itself with the Problems of English Teaching in Africa and suggestions toward improvement.

The writer, after three years' experience in American public schools, universities, and other educational programs, has come to realize that there is much to be done to improve teacher training methods and techniques in the teacher training colleges and in-service training of teachers in Africa. Workshop programs with new and developing materials of teaching and techniques are recommended as one solution to these deficiencies.

The ideas in this paper grew out of interviews with former American teachers of English in Africa and also articles …

The Suitability Of The Goodenough Draw A Man Test For Use In The Chagga Schools Of Tanganyika, Allan J. Gottneid

Student Work

The principal and staff of the Marangu Teacher Training Center, Tanganyikaf last Africa, have experienced a need for instruments of measurement suitable for studying the psychology of African school children. Several obstacles have effectively prevented the finding of, or the development of such measures. Among these obstacles are limitation of financial resources, limitation of time to devote to research, and limitation of personnel qualified to undertake such research as would be necessary. Another obstacle is more deeply rooted; it is the African himself. In Tanganyika alone, there are nearly 120 tribes, each with its own language and cultural heritage. A …