Dialogues over decolonisation in East Africa: A case study of history education in Uganda

Abstract

This paper investigates History education in Uganda by interrogating data emerging from interviews with secondary History teachers. Two strands of literature are brought to the data analysis: one strand relates to how decolonisation has been conceptualised in interpretations of History education in Uganda; a second strand relates to what the most appropriate pedagogies might be to underpin History teaching and learning in this postcolonial setting. The pedagogical text is informed by the work of Bruner, Vygotsky and Hedegaard. This work feeds into reflections on how mutuality (Boyanton, 2015) and opportunities for dialogue, ownership and internalisation might be established and developed. We explore how psychological, social, emotional and cultural aspects of learning play a part in establishing a link between identity, relevance and significance which takes into account how teachers and learners give and receive value through a search for authenticity. The research findings confirm the need for students to be able to see themselves in the narrative, but they also include recognition of a broader imperative to understand the personal and local within wider regional and global contexts.

The State of the Burundi's Post-Colonial Education System: Responsibility of the Former Coloniser or of the Local Politics and Governance?

“…In East Africa, the speeches of independence heroesas well as the speeches of contemporary presidents of republicsat public ceremonies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda emphasise the desire to make their respective countries masters of their own world, particularly in the field of education, which seemed to remain dominated by the former coloniser after independence (Milford et al, 2021;Sebbowa, 2021;Dobrovoda, 2016).…”