Guiding Literacy Practice: Context Matters Africa Language and Literacy A Landscape Review of Language and Literacy Research in African Contexts Author: Espen Stranger-Johannessen University of British Columbia Editors: Dr. Bonny Norton and Dr. Marlene Asselin University of British Columbia Report commissioned by CODE July 2017 ii Table of Contents Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... vi Preamble ........................................................................................................................... ix Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... xii Definition of Key Terms ................................................................................................ xiv List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xv List of Figures ................................................................................................................. xvi Overview and Methodology ............................................................................................. 1 Part I: Focal Areas of Research ....................................................................................... 5 1: Stages of Education ...................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Early Childhood Education ...................................................................................... 5 1.2. Primary and Secondary Education ........................................................................... 6 1.3. Adult Education ....................................................................................................... 7 1.4. Education of the Most Vulnerable Children ............................................................ 8 1.5. Key Findings and Recommendations for Research and Practice ............................ 8 2: Language of Instruction ............................................................................................. 11 2.1. Colonial Languages vs. African Languages .......................................................... 11 2.2. Language Planning and Harmonization ................................................................. 12 2.3. Teaching in Local Languages ................................................................................ 14 2.4. Challenges and Resistance Against Using Local Languages in Education ........... 15 2.5. Key Findings and Recommendations for Research and Practice .......................... 16 3: Literacy Materials and Publishing ............................................................................ 18 3.1. Storybooks ............................................................................................................. 18 3.2. Textbooks ............................................................................................................... 20 3.3. Publishing in African Languages ........................................................................... 22 3.4. Key Findings and Recommendations for Research and Practice .......................... 23 4: ICT and Digital Resources ......................................................................................... 26 4.1. Problematizing ICT in Education .......................................................................... 26 4.2. Open Educational Resources ................................................................................. 27 4.3. Openly Licenced Multilingual Storybooks ............................................................ 28 4.4. Localization of Digital Resources .......................................................................... 30 4.5. ICT for Teaching and Learning ............................................................................. 31 4.6. Key Findings and Recommendations for Research and Practice .......................... 32 5: Teaching and Teacher Education ............................................................................. 35 5.1. Pre-Service Education and Training ...................................................................... 35 5.2. In-Service Education and Training ........................................................................ 36 5.3. Newly Qualified Teachers ..................................................................................... 36 5.4. Teacher Supply and Deployment ........................................................................... 37 5.5. The Quality of Teaching and Learning .................................................................. 38 5.6. Interventions and Pedagogy ................................................................................... 41 5.7. Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills ............................................................ 42 5.8. Key Findings and Recommendations for Research and Practice .......................... 43 Part II: Case Studies ....................................................................................................... 45 iii 6: Ethiopia ....................................................................................................................... 45 6.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 45 6.2. Growth in Enrolment and the Need for Teachers .................................................. 46 6.3. Supply and Demand of Teachers ........................................................................... 46 6.4. Policies in Teacher Education ................................................................................ 46 6.5. Addressing Challenges ........................................................................................... 49 6.6. Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills in Ethiopia ......................................... 49 6.7. Policy Documents .................................................................................................. 50 6.8. Ethiopia: Key Findings and Concluding Remarks ................................................. 54 7: Ghana ........................................................................................................................... 56 7.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 56 7.2. Pre-service Teacher Education and Training ......................................................... 56 7.3. Teacher Training Curriculum ................................................................................ 57 7.4. In-Service Teacher Education and Training .......................................................... 57 7.5. Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) ..................................... 58 7.6. Newly Qualified Teachers ..................................................................................... 58 7.7. Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills in Ghana ............................................ 59 7.8. Policy Documents .................................................................................................. 59 7.9. Ghana: Lesson Learnt and Concluding Remarks ................................................... 63 8: Kenya ........................................................................................................................... 65 8.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 65 8.2. Pre-Service Teacher Education and Training ........................................................ 65 8.3. Induction Phase for Newly Qualified Teachers ..................................................... 66 8.4. Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills in Kenya ............................................ 67 8.5. Policy Documents .................................................................................................. 67 8.6. Kenya: Lesson Learnt and Concluding Remarks ................................................... 72 9: Liberia .......................................................................................................................... 74 9.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 74 9.2. The Education System ........................................................................................... 74 9.3. Pre-Service Teacher Education .............................................................................. 75 9.4. In-Service Teacher Training .................................................................................. 76 9.5. Teacher Education and 21st Century skills in Liberia ............................................ 76 9.6. Policy Documents .................................................................................................. 77 9.7. Liberia: Lesson Learnt and Concluding Remarks ................................................. 79 10: Sierra Leone .............................................................................................................