Reconceptualising the Learning Crisis in Africa Multi-dimensional Pedagogies of Accelerated Learning Programmes

Preface: A Message from the Authors

Chapter 1 - The ‘Global Learning Crisis’: Analysis, Critique and Re-envisioning

Our Critique of the ‘Learning Crisis’ Narrative

Re-envisioning the ‘Learning Crisis’ through Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs)

Illuminating ALPs through Social Theory

Re-envisioning the ‘Learning Crisis’ through Diverse Evidence

The Organisation of Chapters

PART I: RETHINKING THE LEARNING CHALLENGE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Chapter 2 - The Production of the ‘Poor Child’ as Deficit

Making the Connection:  Poverty Alleviation and Educational Provision

Historicising Deficit Framings of the ‘Poor Child’

The Contemporary Pproduction of a Decontextualised ‘Poor Child’

Redemptive Interventions and the Loss/Absence of Children’s Agency

The Implications for Rethinking the ‘Learning Crisis’

Chapter 3 - Language, Learning and Children’s Identities

The Language of Instruction in the ‘Learning Crisis’

Silences in Global Education Policy

Language of Instruction Policies and Teacher’s Pedagogical Choices

Children’s Negative Experiences of Learning

Lessons for the ‘Learning Crisis’

Chapter 4 - The Deficit Characterisation of the African Teacher

Oral Culture and Learner-centred Instruction in the African Context

Imperfect Measurements and Symbols of Teaching Quality

De-professionalisation through SLPs

The Limits of Accountability Regimes and Practices

Deficit Framings of Teachers and Restrictions on Teacher Education Reforms

Conclusion

Chapter 5 - Beyond Deficit Framings: A Multi-dimensional Approach

A Multi-dimensional Framing of Poverty and Children’s Agency

Teachers as Multi-dimensional Agents

Reframing the ‘Learning Crisis’

PART II: WHAT ACCELERATED LEARNING PROGRAMMES TEACH US

Chapter 6 - Recognising Children’s Funds of Knowledge in Complementary Basic Education, Northern Ghana

Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity

CBE in Northern Ghana

Data Gathering: A Funds of Knowledge Approach

The Embedded Funds of Knowledge in CBE

Children’s Funds of Identity

Lessons for the ‘Learning Crisis’

Chapter 7 - Improving Learning Outcomes to Enable Transition: Speed Schools in Ethiopia

A Post-humanist Approach to Children’s Learning

Speed Schools in Ethiopia

Using Post-humanism to Understand Children’s Experiences of Learning in Speed Schools

Learning to Teach as a Speed School Teacher

Improving Learning Outcomes and Transition

Lessons for the ‘Learning Crisis’

Chapter 8 - Engaging Parents, Extended Families and Communities: Second Chance Programmes in Conflict-affected Liberia

Rethinking Community Engagement: Vulnerability and Resistance

Conflict, Education and ‘Liberal Peace Building’ in Liberia

The Second Chance Programme and Accelerated Learning in Liberia

Data Gathering: Listening to the Experiences of PEGs

Vulnerability and Resistance in PEGs

Lessons for the ‘Learning Crisis’

Chapter 9 - Accelerated Learning and the Power of African Values

Centring Ubuntu in Education and Development

Ubuntu, Learning and the Dignity of the African Child

The Implications for Pedagogical Practices

Conclusions:  ALPs and Ubuntu

Chapter 10 - Beyond the ‘Learning Crisis’: The Implications for Policy to Improve Basic Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Towards an Afrocentric Policy Response

A Renewed Postcolonial Agenda for EFA

Biography

Kwame Akyeampong is Professor of International Education and Development at the Open University’s Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD), UK.

Sean Higgins is Lecturer in Education and International Development, Institute of Education, University College London.

"Reconceptualising the Learning Crisis is essential reading for anyone involved in educational policy and basic education.  It had me nodding in agreement from start to finish. Africa is suffering from a learning crisis and educational deficit, so argue many experts, not least the World Bank. This is where Kwame Akyeampong and Sean Higgins enter the stage in this insightful and provocative book that offers an alternative to the technocratic models that, quite frankly, have not worked. The authors challenge the discourse of crisis that undergirds the analyses of the failures in the provision of education, and the solutions offered to deal with them. Learning is truncated from cultural realities and treated as a problem requiring technical solutions. Using successful examples of Accelerated  Learning Programmes (ALPs) in Ghana, Libera, and Ethiopia, countries where key barriers to education such as extreme poverty, conflict and inter-generational marginalization are pressing,  they  show how engaging with learning environments and including families and communities in learning strategies creates enjoyable learning experiences, builds confidence and leads to sustainable successful learning outcomes. This is not a work of fiction, yet I could not put it down as it engendered hope that there are tried and tested models that enhance learning for the marginalised not as a cliché, but a reality."

Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Professor of African and Gender Studies, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana and recent president of the African Studies Assciation, Africa

  

"Reconceptualising the Learning Crisis offers a bold and timely reimagining of education on the continent. Moving beyond narrow metrics and deficit narratives, the authors advocate for approaches that center African values, community agency, and local knowledge. Through compelling case studies, this book demonstrates how culturally relevant education can unlock the potential of learners and reshape policies. An essential read for anyone committed to equitable and sustainable educational reform in Africa."

George Kronnisanyon Werner, A highly experienced public sector leader, previously Minister for Education in Liberia who serves on the Expert Resource Group at the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Forum

 

"This outstanding book offers a much-needed critique of the prevailing learning crisis discourse and its deficit framings of African learners and teachers. Akyeampong and Higgins show how pedagogical interventions driven by external agendas have ignored the lived realities and true capacities of teachers, and the centrality of issues such as language of instruction.  In contrast, selected accelerated learning programmes, presented as contemporary case studies here, have drawn on some learner-centred traditions while generating more situated, contextualised and holistic practices. The book is rich in theory, including an in-depth account of Ubuntu as a framing for pedagogy.  It thus celebrates children’s agentic roles not only in their own lives and learning but in their interdependent communities."

Michele Schweisfurth, Professor of Comparative and International Education, University of Glasgow, UK

 

"In their path-breaking work entitled Reconceptualising the Learning Crisis: Multi-dimensional Pedagogies of African Accelerated Learning Programmes, Kwame Akyeampong and Sean Higgins provide a window on the importance of learning and quality of education when these issues are at the top of the UN agenda. These are not only policy matters of governments and agencies, but also issues that affect nearly all people at the ground level in Africa. How are children going to succeed in life, in their dreams and over the generations to come? The authors initially set the stage with an overview of African education, and its problems and opportunities over recent decades since Independence. They build on the unique concept of Ubuntu, based on the notion of African interdependence. Further, based on many years of applied research, the authors describe lessons from multiple Accelerated Learning Programmes that are aimed at improving rural African children's learning through appropriate pedagogies, better teacher training and, especially, the infusing of cultural values into local educational systems. In this volume, we find a refreshing and promising perspective toward re-envisioning of African education policy that replaces older post-colonial images of schools that fail with innovative effective pedagogical approaches to children’s learning needs, and a much brighter future for all."

Daniel A. Wagner,  Professor of Education  and UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy, University of Pennsylvania, USA

"Kwame Akyeampong and Sean Higgins underscore the fundamental truth about the global learning crisis: Children everywhere are capable of learning remarkable amounts in a short period of time when they are met with rich, immersive, holistic learning pedagogies. Accelerated learning done right, unlocks their potential proving that the binding constraint is not the child but the quality of the education they receive. Such education programs are not merely a means to plug gaps left by mainstream systems. Done right, they can be so much more. These programs can serve as a true foundry for forging uniquely African pedagogical approaches, capable of delivering transformative learning not just to children at the margins, but also those in the mainstream. In this book, the authors do the vital work of centering accelerated learning programs as community-based crucibles of educational innovation."

Caitlin Baron, CEO of the Luminos Fund, an international education non-profit organisation dedicated to providing a second chance education for out-of-school children.