Engaging Teachers In Peacebuilding In Postconflict Contexts:
Evaluating Education Interventions In Rwanda & South Africa
A research collaboration between the Centre for International Education, University of Sussex, UK;
the University of Bristol, UK; The University of Rwanda, Rwanda; the Centre for International
Teacher Education, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CUPT), South Africa and UNICEF
Duration: September 2014-September 2016
PI: Yusuf Sayed, Centre for International Education, University of Sussex & Centre for
International Teacher Education, CPUT
Funder: ESRC-DFID joint fund for poverty alleviation research
Context and Rationale
Inequalities based on gender, disability, ethnicity, race, religion, class, educational status and
geographical location, among others, when combined with political mobilisation often result in
violent conflict (Stewart 2008). Structural inequalities in the distribution of education opportunities,
in particular, are main drivers and symptom of conflict and fragility (cf. Dupuy, 2008; Novelli &
Smith, 2011; Novelli, 2011; Smith et al 2011; UNESCO GMR 2011; Save the Children, 2012),
impeding the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (O‟ Gorman 2011; Matsumoto 2011).
Equality of access to good quality education contributes to peacebuilding and poverty reduction and
restores trust in other state functions as schools have also been used as sites for recruiting militants
and soldiers (World Bank 2005; Davies, 2011a; McCandless 2011). In contexts where a significant
proportion of youth has participated in armed conflict, good quality educational opportunities are
crucial in reintegrating them as productive members of society, which in turn reduces the likelihood
of taking up arms again (Degu 2005; Schwartz, 2010).
Men and women have differential relationship to conflict. Young participants in violent conflict are
most often (though not exclusively) male (Connell 2002; Davies 2004), and those who have
dropped out of school or those who have failed to secure a school leaving certificate (Matsumoto,
2011). In many contexts, the use or threat of violence and fighting is associated with hegemonic
masculinity (Connell 2002; Davies 2004; Barker and Ricardo 2005). Likewise, while men too are
subjected to sexual abuse during conflict, young females are extremely vulnerable to grave sexual
abuse, rape and unwanted pregnancy (Berrry 2004; Murphy et al. 2011). Similarly, conflict often
leads to a rise in sexual violence against female students and teachers (McCandless 2011). Yet,
schooling in postconflict situations can promote peace by “contesting the hegemony of
masculinities which emphasize violence, confrontation, and domination, and replacing them with
patterns of masculinity more open to negotiation, cooperation and [gender] equality” (Connell, 2002:
38). Analysis of the interrelationship between gender and conflict is therefore important.
Teachers are key determinants of education quality (Mourshed et al., 2010; Sayed et al 2012) and
play a key role in nation building, identity construction and peace and reconciliation (Durrani and
Dunne, 2010; Smith et al 2011). What teachers do and with what learning resources shape what
children and young people learn, influencing their identities as well as providing them with skills
for employment and peace building (Barrett 2007). Teachers‟ agency “in developing values of
mutual respect and tolerance” is important in “a postwar context characterized by persisting
division and mistrust” (Davies, 2011b: 47). Teacher training is evidently seen as a fundamental
element of postconflict reconstruction but there are doubts about both its relevance and
effectiveness (Dladla and Moon, 2013).
1
The proposed study is anchored within the third of the overarching questions of the call. It is aimed
at understanding the conditions under which education interventions focused on teachers can
promote peace, and mitigate and reduce violence with a view to identifying measures and processes
that can increase the effectiveness of such programmes in conflict-affected situations. It locates the
analysis of the specific education interventions in relation to the macro global and national contexts
as well as the context of schools as institutions. It focuses on the role of teachers who are both
potential agents of peace and of enduring conflict. Lasting and durable peace and the building of
institutions is crucially contingent on the workings of schools as civic institutions and teachers as
agents. As Maria Montessori notes: „establishing lasting peace is in the work of education; all
politics can do is keep us out of war‟ (cited in Abuelaish 2012, p.2).
The research is imperative for several reasons. First, literature points to the importance of teachers
in peacebuilding (Smith et al 2011; Montgomery & McGlynn 2009); yet we know little about how
teachers are trained and deployed, how and what teachers teach, what textbooks they use and the
conditions they teach in. Second, there is a need to strengthen the evidence basis for substantive
donor and government investments in education in postconflict countries and to extend knowledge
on how investments can be most effectively targeted. Third, research investigating the
peacebuilding impact of such programmes is either non-existent or lacking in rigour (Tomlinson
and Benefield 2005). In particular, robust evidence on how teachers engage with each other,
communities and students in postconflict contexts is rather scarce (Ezati et al., 2011). Fourth, this
research seeks to provide context sensitive insights on the efficacy of education peacebuilding
innovations in Rwanda and South Africa which have many such interventions involving partnership
with large international agencies, such as UNICEF. Finally, the research will be embedded in
UNICEF‟s Education, Peacebuilding and Advocacy Programme (2012-2016), which will ensure its
relevance, and impact in practitioner, policy and academic domains (UNICEF 2006; 2012).
Aim& research questions
The overarching aim of the study is to identify elements of education policy interventions that have
enabled teachers to become active agents of peacebuilding in postconflict countries and that may
inform future interventions. The specific objectives are to:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
examine critically the role of teachers and teaching in supporting education for
peacebuilding
enhance national and global policy dialogue and understanding about teachers as agents of
peacebuilding
create and communicate new knowledge to policy experts, policy makers, civil society
organisations at local, national, regional and international level on the effects of education
peacebuilding interventions
develop indicators and a metrics system for evaluating the efficacy of educational
interventions concerned with teachers as agents of peacebuilding
These aims will be achieved through an empirically grounded evaluation of the nature,
implementation, and impact of large-scale interventions that are designed to support teachers as
peace-builders in schools in postconflict contexts. We will look specifically at interventions
focusing on teachers, found in Rwanda and South Africa, interventions will be agreed with local
partners and relevant authorities.
To achieve these aims the project explores six inter-related themes:
i.
ii.
iii.
Global and national policy contexts framing teachers‟ work
Teacher recruitment, deployment and management
Curriculum and textbook reform
2
iv.
v.
vi.
Teacher professional development (initial and continuing)
Teacher accountability and trust
Teacher pedagogy
We have chosen Rwanda and South Africa as i) they have been important sites for a range of
postconflict interventions in the education sector, and in particular teacher related interventions ii)
allow for a comparison of similar interventions across countries which are located in regions with a
range of conflict affected countries iii) while they have not returned to direct conflict, both continue
to exhibit education inequalities known to catalyse conflict iv) and will enable a study of education
interventions and their effects (UNICEF, 2013a, 2013b).
The main research question that guides this study is: To what extent do education peacebuilding
interventions countries promote teacher agency and capacity to build peace and reduce inequalities?
In answering this question we will examine the underlying theory of change and conception of
equity and of teachers that underpins the selected interventions paying particular attention to how
they seek to mitigate gender, racial, ethnic, religious and socio-economic inequities to, in and
through education. The overarching research question will be explored through the following subquestions:
RQ1. What is the global and national policy contexts within which the education interventions are
located with particular reference to teachers?
RQ2. How have the selected interventions attempted to ensure that teachers are recruited and
deployed to remote and rural postconflict contexts?
RQ3. How, and in what ways, do textbooks and curricula teachers use promotes peace and
tolerance?
RQ4. How have the selected interventions attempted to ensure that teachers are trained for
peacebuilding,
RQ5. How have the selected interventions managed to ensure that teachers build trust and enhance
accountability to the local community?
RQ6. What is the pedagogy of teachers in the classrooms and the strategies they use in developing
peacebuilding skills, and attitudes for reducing conflict, both between boys and between girls and
boys?
In answering these questions, we will pay specific attention to developing a system of metrics
regarding teachers as agents of peacebuilding covering how teachers are framed in peacebuilding
interventions, management of teachers including recruitment, deployment, employment conditions,
mechanisms for accountability, distribution and design of textbooks, and teacher conduct.
Research Framework
We will use a framework with seven dimensions of analysis operating at two levels. The first
considers the macro-context of global and national political economy, global actors and policy
context (Dimensions One and Two). At this level we will critically analyse and ground each
intervention in the global and national context, unpacking their rationales and programme theory,
theory of change, their implementation strategy and expected outcomes. This will entail a policy
analysis as well as Relational Stakeholder Analysis.
The second traces the selected programme interventions into the field and actual sites of
implementation exploring the way interventions are mediated and shaped in practice. At this level
we will focus on issues of curriculum and textbook analysis, teacher recruitment, and deployment;
teacher preparation/professional development teacher trust and accountability, (Dimension Three,
Four, Five, Six and Seven).
3
The two levels of analysis is located within a critical realist evaluation framework (Pawson 2006),
exploring an intervention from conception to implementation and effect. In adopting such an
approach we will understand how national political economy and international actors and factors
frame and shape teacher practices and student learning, how structural inequalities are understood
and addressed in the discourses and practices of national and international policies and programmes;
how teachers in schools exercise agency in diverse peacebuilding interventions; and devise
benchmarks/criteria/metrics for evaluating these. At the core of the framework is the idea that
teacher agency and teaching is crucial to peacebuilding.
Methods
The research adopts a qualitative, realist method exploring an intervention from conception to
implementation and effect. The study methodology uses Pawson‟s (2006) realist approach which
views evaluation as a process that both identifies how the evaluated programme works and how it
expects to achieve its objectives by (re)constructing the theory of change behind the programme,
but which also tests whether the theory of change is robust enough to make the programme
successful once implemented in the field (Mayne 2008). In a realist evaluation, it is not enough
merely to test whether an intervention achieves (or does not achieve) its objectives; what is required
is an understanding of why the intervention does (or does not do) so as a way of drawing lessons
that will contribute to improve future interventions.
“Realist evaluation stresses four key linked concepts for explaining and understanding programmes:
„mechanism‟, „context‟, „outcome pattern‟, and „context-mechanism-outcome pattern
configuration” (Pawson 2004:10). Mechanisms allow us to go beyond the simple question of
whether a programme works, to getting at the deeper question of why programmes work or do not,
by understanding the processes that operate within a programme that in interaction with human
participants lead to some kind of change processes. Context for realist evaluation is crucial.
Mechanisms are presumed to work differently in different „contexts‟ so understanding and making
sense of the „context‟ becomes a central task of evaluation. Questions will emerge from this like
“who does this programme work for, and under what circumstances”. Outcome Patterns represent
the intended and unintended outcomes of a particular programme intervention. These might be short
term and longer term and variegated in their effects. Context-Mechanism-Outcome Pattern
Configuration (CMOC) allows us to pull together theory, context, mechanism and outcomes to then
better understand why or why not certain programmes, activating particular mechanisms in certain
places lead to certain intended and unintended outcomes.
Building on Pawson‟s realist evaluation approach it will analyze an intervention‟s
 program logic and ontology which may be explicit or implicit;
 the resources and mechanisms that it employs; and
 The outcomes (intended and unintended) in specific contexts.
Research sites
In each country we will select three sites where these interventions are being/were implemented: (i)
the capital city, which is a melting pot for all ethnic, and socio-political and economic groups; (ii) a
rural and (iii) an urban location both located in a region that was heavily affected by the conflict
The three research sites in each country will be decided in conjunction with local partners and
chosen to offer useful comparison of inequalities in the provision of resources. Access to education,
between country capitals and the regions, and between rural and urban conurbations are closely
identified with conflict in both countries. This will allow for in-case and cross-case evaluation of
the different dimensions in Rwanda and South Africa and between them. The final selection of the
interventions and sites will be agreed with UNICEF Country offices, and local partners and
authorities.
4
Research phases
The work programme will involve three interrelated phases, beginning with a review of the
literature and policy analysis, leading to in-depth qualitative case studies of selected schools and
teacher training institutions, and concluding with analysis and write-up.
Phase One: Macro-Context and Policy Analysis: Grounding the Policy Interventions (months 17): This phase will focus on Dimension One and Two of the framework, exploring peacebuilding
interventions in diverse contexts at the global and national level. The review and intensive concept
development during this first phase will deepen understandings and the analytic tools which will be
applied in answering the research questions as well as inform our final selection of interventions.
We will, where available and possible, identify and analyse existing datasets in relation to the key
objectives of the study. Specifically, we will attempt to provide a map of peacebuilding
interventions identifying their rationale, their theories of change, and the conceptions of equity and
teachers and on teacher agency. This work will generate a typology of different types of
peacebuilding interventions focused on the role of teachers.
In addition, we will employ content and discourse analysis (Fairclough 2002) to study key
international and national policy texts in the two countries as well as that of international agencies
to identify the underlying assumptions, values and policy structures and mechanisms of
implementation proposed for peacebuilding education interventions. To complement the analysis of
policy texts, we will also interview „policy elites‟ (e.g. policy makers, research organisations, and
international development agency officials) (Sayed 2013 forthcoming) to deepen our understanding
of education peacebuilding efforts in the particular countries and globally.
Dimension One (RQ1): Global and national policy contexts: An understanding of the
particularities of individual conflict contexts, the conflict drivers, and their relationship to the
education sector are fundamental for successful programming and policy intervention. In the
selected countries a political economy and conflict and policy analysis will be undertaken to
provide a context sensitive basis for further analysis of education programming and project
evaluations. The policy analysis will cover several aspects and issues including: teacher recruitment
and deployment; curriculum; teacher professional development; accountability; teacher pedagogy;
and social dialogue
Dimension Two (RQ1): Relational stakeholder analysis: We will analyse the
motivations, histories, and activities of key agencies operating in the education sector in each of the
two countries. This will provide a robust foundation to frame deeper analysis of the particular
programme and policy interventions in education focusing on teachers, teaching and learning. We
will seek in particular to investigate the positions/understandings of key actors in each country on
teacher policy. This would encompass: Bilateral donors; multi-lateral agencies; teacher unions;
national and international NGOs; and teacher coalitions.
Phase Two (months 8-16): Exploring Policy Interventions in Practice in institutional sites: In this
phase we will examine interventions at the institutional level of the school and teacher training
institution, focusing on teachers in relation to Dimensions Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven. The
main fieldwork occurs here and consists of multidimensional institutional case studies that evaluate
the cumulative impact of the interventions focusing on how they are experienced by teachers and
trainee teachers, the influence on teachers‟ attitudes and practices and ultimately the implications
for student learning. Purposive quota sampling would be used to ensure the inclusion of participants
from both sexes, high and low income groups and all relevant racial/ethnic groups in the interviews.
5
Dimension Three (RQ2): Teacher Governance: i. Teacher recruitment, deployment
and management: This dimension will focus on how teachers are recruited and deployed. It will
particularly focus on how teachers are recruited from under-represented groups and any incentives
and assistance available to them, and on the balanced and representative deployment of teachers to
hard-to-place and remote schools in order to ensure the fair distribution of educational opportunity
across the education system.
Dimension Four (RQ3): Curriculum and Textbook reforms: This will study curricula,
syllabi and textbooks and other learning resources used in the classroom to promote peacebuilding.
The textbook analysis will include the influence of global actors on curriculum and textbooks. In
teacher training institutions and schools we will analyse curriculum documents, syllabi, and
textbooks focusing on materials placed in schools/training institutions by peace education initiatives
and used in social studies/civic education and English language in the last two grades of primary
and the lower three grades of secondary. These subjects offer potential for explicitly constructing
identities attitudes and values. The analysis will explore the discursive constitution of (gendered,
classed, racial, ethnic, national and religious) identities that the curriculum policy and the texts
project and normalise, and the implications of these identities for peacebuilding and social
cohesion. This will be achieved using content analysis, picture analysis, and language and narrative
analysis. The textual analysis will be contextualised by interviewing curriculum developers, and
ministry personnel involved in the textbook production process.
Dimension Five (RQ4): iv. Teacher professional development: We will focus on how
teachers are educated both pre-service and in-service, concentrating on teacher professional
development, innovative modalities of training teachers where there is a shortage, and how teachers
are equipped for peacebuilding pedagogies and curricula in initial and continuing professional
development programmes. One teacher training institution will be sampled in each city/region
included in the study, selected to cover a range of primary, preservice/inservice, residential/distance
teacher education courses. Trainee teachers will be profiled via a questionnaire in terms of gender,
ethnicity, socio-economic background and prior experience of teaching, conflict and peacebuilding
to trace the impact of teacher recruitment schemes and trainees‟ preparedness for working in rural
and remote postconflict contexts. Teacher trainers will be interviewed and lessons observed to
establish what peace education materials associated with the peace education module and childcentred pedagogy have been introduced and how they are being implemented. Up to six focus group
interviews will be conducted with final year trainee teachers in both distance and residential
programmes to explore how the interventions are influencing their understandings of the role of the
teacher and schools in peacebuilding and mitigating gender, ethnic, and social inequalities and
exclusions. Teacher profiling will also be conducted in the case study schools to trace the influence
of teacher deployment strategies on the workforce in city, urban and rural settings.
Dimension Six (RQ5): v. Teacher accountability and trust: How teachers relate to the
community building mutual trust and accountability is key to successful peacebuilding
interventions. We will pay particular attention to teacher interaction with local communities and the
mutual forms of accountability that promote effective behaviour. A specific focus will be on Codes
of Conduct which are developed in a participatory manner and which enhance mutual and beneficial
interaction between local communities and teachers and seek to eliminate teacher abuse and
punishment of children. School level data will be complemented by studying community
institutions to identify the mechanisms through which teachers and the school are held accountable
by parents and the local community and perceptions of the school as a stable, trustworthy institution
that contributes to peace-building. We will conduct about six-eight semi-structured interviews with
selected representatives of community organisations including religious institutions and parents‟
associations.
6
Dimension Seven (RQ6): Teacher Pedagogy: This project will engage in an analysis of
how curricula, syllabi and textbooks and other learning resources are used in the classroom to
promote peacebuilding. We will pay attention here to teacher pedagogy in relation to the textbook
and curricula and the strategies they use for reducing violence between boys as well as between
girls and boys. Given that meaning is not fixed but produced by the interaction between the way
text is used by teachers and how students mediate with it (de Castell et al., 1989; Apple, 1993;
Maguire et al., 2011), we will identify if materials developed are getting into the classroom and how
are they being used. Findings will be compared to the intentions of initiatives – e.g. conformation to
principles of CFS. This will involve detailed observations of teacher classroom practices using an
observation schedule which includes teaching strategies, student-student/student-teacher
interactions, how textbook are used and gender analysis. This will enable us to examine how
peacebuilding is enacted by teachers in the classroom/school. We will complement observational
data with in-depth individual interviews with teachers, whose teaching has been observed. These
interviews will explore teachers‟ perceptions and experience of the Code of Conduct and the ways
teachers exercise agency as peace builders within their communities, and mitigate gender, ethnic,
and social inequalities and exclusions. Additionally, the factors that constrain teachers in exercising
this agency will also be explored. We will explore their understanding and implementation of
peace-building education initiatives and compare the perceptions of practicing teachers, with
respect to their role as peace-builders, to those of trainees. This will allow to track how attitudes and
skills developed in training transfer into schools. Focus group discussions with selected groups of
students will be used to examine their experience of teacher pedagogy and textbooks and the extent
to which teacher practices have influenced their attitudes towards peace and conflict.
Phase Three (months 17-24): Analysis and Write up: This phase will focus on the analysis,
writing up and dissemination of the research. In the write up we will return to our key focus on the
connection between education peacebuilding interventions and teacher agency focusing on how this
relates to equality/inequality in education opportunities.
Outputs
The project will have significant academic, practitioner, and policy impacts through the production
of a range of outputs including i) Academic outputs targeted at national and international academics
and international agency staff (e.g. journal articles, policy briefs, seminars) ii) Policy workshops
including with selected policy makers and teacher training institutes to disseminate findings and
discuss strategies for promoting effective peacebuilding iii) Popular engagement through
publications of findings in accessible formats (e.g. news briefs for newspapers, radio and TV
journalists).
7