Silence and silencing in the classroom: Rwandan girls’ epistemic exclusion in English medium basic education

Kuchah, Kuchah; Adamson, Laela; Dorimana, Aline; Uwizeyemariya, Aloysie; Uworwabayeho, Alphonse; Milligan, Lizzi O.

doi:10.1080/01434632.2022.2159031

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This can be seen as a violation of learners' linguistic rights (Ngũgĩ, 1986;Namyalo and Nakayiza, 2014). Some recent scholars have conceptualised the impact of learning in English as a case of 'epistemic exclusion' (Kiramba, 2018;Kuchah et al, 2022) whereby many children are silenced -both in terms of being completely silent, and/or only speaking in English to repeat words on the blackboard or dictated by the teacher. While these studies have highlighted the role of silence, they have not explicitly linked this to broader concerns about silencing as a form of cultural violence.…”

Section: Language Policies As Cultural and Systemic Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we explore the multifaceted ways that LoLT policies contribute to violence in the everyday lives of secondary school learners in four schools in Northern Uganda. While there is a significant body of literature where the role of English as a medium of education has been repeatedly connected with aspects of cultural and systemic violence -more commonly articulated as epistemic injustice (Milligan, 2022;Phyak and Sah, 2022;Kerfoot and Bello-Nonjengele, 2023), epistemic (in)access (Makalela, 2015;Mkhize, 2016) and epistemic exclusion (Kiramba, 2018;Kuchah et al, 2022), we are not aware of any studies that have specifically looked at its association with direct forms of violence. This is, therefore, the focus of the analysis in this paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learners’ everyday experiences of violence in English medium secondary education in Uganda

Milligan,

Isingoma,

Aciro

et al. 2024

Global Social Challenges Journal

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This paper explores how Ugandan secondary school learners experience schooling in English-medium schools where the use of English only is strictly enforced. We conceptualise the ways that the learners sit at the intersection of direct, systemic and cultural violence that in turn impacts their educational experiences. We particularly focus on instances of direct violence through corporal punishment, and the ways that such violence, and associated fear, are part of many learners’ everyday schooling experiences. We demonstrate this through presentation of findings from thematic analysis of individual and focus group interviews with 64 learners at two public and two private secondary schools in the Amuru and Kitgum districts of Northern Uganda. Our conclusions advocate for greater attention to be paid to the ways that changes to enforced English-only policies could support more positive well-being and educational outcomes.

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Section: Language Policies As Cultural and Systemic Violencementioning

confidence: 99%