Those who stay: Sustaining community schools in the Central African Republic’s civil conflict

• In Event: Theoretical and empirical approaches to building peace amidst conflict

Proposal

Much of the research on education in violent conflict looks at education provision for those who are displaced. Not everyone is able to leave their homes, however, and little research attends to the educational experiences of those who stay or return shortly after periods of temporary hiding. This presentation explores the case of a local Central African organization’s work to raise up a network of some 50 community schools over the past 15 years, in neighbourhoods and villages still often affected by armed conflict. How, I ask, did this network of community schools not only survive the violent conflict, but in fact continue to grow their numbers and increase their quality?

The Central African Republic (CAR) is among the ten poorest countries in the world. It currently ranks at the bottom of the Human Development Index (UNDP, 2017), and is infamously considered “the worst country in the world to be young” (Tabary, 20 October 2017). After the majority of foreign organizations, diplomats, and visitors were evacuated from the Central African Republic in the wake of its 2012 violent uprising, many schools supported by foreign organizations and NGOs have closed their doors. Government-run schools, often located on busy main roads and highways, became some of the primary targets for militant attacks. Today, UN Peacekeepers continue to patrol streets in the country’s capital and larger cities. Under the surface of day-to-day struggles, the business of resource extraction continues to flourish, with foreign interests from Europe, North America, and Asia involved in mining and heavy infrastructure projects. The distraction of the conflict benefits foreign interests as they continue their economic pursuits with little governance or oversight.

In framing this study, I draw on post-development traditions to critique and challenge the colonial legacy of development and education (Escobar, 2011). I argue that sustainable development depends heavily on the conditions for local communities and populations to take charge of their own path of material and social development, especially with regards to education. I therefore draw on scholars in my theoretical framework who argue that Indigenous and local actors have much to contribute to development and education through self-determination and resilience in navigating external frameworks for education, and to provide a vibrant and viable alternative to the modern capitalist development apparatus (e.g. Abdi, 2011; de Souza Santos 2015; Dei 2008; Escobar, 2011; Farrell 2008; Tuhiwai Smith, 2011).

During data collection in 2017-2018, I employed participatory research techniques in this study, engaging local teachers and organization members in the process of data collection, interpretation, and dissemination (McTaggart, 1991). As a foreign researcher from Canada, I was often not the best positioned to access all communities included in this research. Participatory methods extended the reach of the study to include more communities and schools, and also enabled data collection to occur both in French and in the local language of Sango. After an initial methodology workshop, the participatory research team co-developed their research questions and methods. We conducted interviews and focus groups with parents, teachers, community members, education authorities and ministry inspectors, and members of the local organization. Data collection was followed by several days of participatory data analysis workshops.

Data in this presentation will highlight three main themes. First, through fostering community vision and ownership, schools were able to continue to operate in villages and neighbourhoods even at the height of conflict when communications between the central organization and other resources had been cut off. Second, community members were able to make decisions about the school’s physical structures and locations that protected the school and its members from threats physical and sexual violence, increasing participation of young children and girls. Finally, through transforming knowledge through curriculum and pedagogy, the organization and its networks of school have begun a process of examining the national curriculum content which follows the legacy of colonial influence. By revising instances of the curriculum that promote oppressive narratives, and by emphasizing local languages and an increasingly culturally-responsive curriculum, educators aim to address the ongoing exploitation of people and resources in CAR at the roots of ongoing conflict.

The presentation concludes with reference to the organization’s description of the community school as a framework for sustainable development, and makes connections to the goals for education in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

References:
Abdi, A. (2011). African philosophies of education: Deconstructing the colonial and reconstructing the Indigenous. In G. S. Dei (Ed.), Indigenous philosophies and critical education: A reader (pp. 80–91). Peter Lang.
De Souza Santos (2015). Epistemologies of the South.
Dei, G. S. 2008. “Possibilities in African Schooling and Education.” In New Directions in African Education: Challenges and Possibilities, edited by S. Nombuso Diamini, 229–248. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
Escobar, A. (2011). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the Third World. Princeton University Press.
Farrell, J.P. (2008). Community education in developing countries: The quiet revolution in schooling. In F.M. Connelly, M.F. He, & J Phillion (Eds.). The SAGE handbook of curriculum and instruction. (pp. 369-389). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
McTaggart, R. (1991). Principles for participatory action research. Adult Education Quarterly, 41(3), 168–187.
Lambert, M. & Wolhuter, C. (2014). The Central African Republic: The vicious circle of economic underdevelopment and dysfunctional education. In C. Wolhunter (ed.) pp. 69–88. Education in East and Central Africa (Vol. 16). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Seidmen, I. (2005). Interviewing as Qualitative Research. Teachers College Press.
Tabary, Zoe. (20 October 2016). Central African Republic worst country in the world for young people – study. Accessed October 18, 2018. http://news.trust.org/item/20161020230325-xtrrw/
UNDP (2017). Human Development Index and its components. Accessed October 15, 2018, http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdi_table.pdf.
Tuhiwai Smith, L. (2013). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed Books Ltd.

Author

• Elena Toukan, OISE, University of Toronto