Advancing a knowledge centric and systems thinking lens in addressing intractable policy-practice gaps in education sector.

• In Event: Building a social movement to enable local voice for education transformation in Africa. Lessons from a Regional Education Network.

Proposal

Studies have identified civil society movements as effective vehicles for protest and work towards achieving sustainable and lasting changes in the education sector. The creation of welfare states that protected workers’ rights and offered universal education, health care and social security in the capitalist nations of Western Europe was partly due to political pressure created by the communist and socialist movements. Scholars have also identified the centrality of alliance building as a powerful step towards achieving sustained equity-oriented education change in education. In addition to 'learning about power' and the 'power of learning', working towards realising the desired change also involves 'learning to be powerful', namely building networks and alliances and learning how to occupy and control spaces of power (Oakes and Rogers 2006).

Knowledge management presents organisations the opportunity to implement strategic integrated communication to ensure knowledge creation and sharing for sustainable policy advocacy through various systems and processes. RELI’S intent is to develop an organisational culture conducive to the sharing of knowledge and where learning becomes the norm.

Since 2017, the Regional Education Learning Initiative has been advancing a knowledge centric and systems thinking lens in addressing intractable policy-practice gaps in education sector. This has been achieved by Positioning RELI as a knowledge hub that utilizes evidence in a system thinking approaches in addressing pressing challenges and opportunities in the education sector. RELI provides and utilizes its evidence base and membership insights to amplify voice and action on policy-practice gaps in education sector.

The knowledge management hub sets out to manage not only knowledge creation, storing and codification, but also knowledge sharing to enhance a learning culture among education focused organisations and policy makers in the east African region. The knowledge hub is continuously evolving and will continue to endeavour to: empower individuals to respond creatively to changing situations in the education sector; contribute to resonant leadership practices and influence policy formulation and implementation; equip members to enhance transparency, adaptability, collaboration and motivation; and ultimately hone a culture with the aim to inspire people to learn for the greater goal of ensuring the children furthest left behind are able to learn.

By tapping into the expertise and invaluable connections that the RELI Africa membership offers, members improve their knowledge and skills to design and deliver strong programs on the ground with a bias toward educational programs in underserved communities. This authentic evidence-based voice is what drives RELI Africa’s regional and global agenda of ensuring that African Organisations have a voice and requisite support in defining priorities and solutions to ensuring equal access to quality education for all children in Africa.

Authors

• Emmanuel Lubaale, Luigi Giussani Institute for Higher Education

• Digna Peter Mushi, Organization for Community Development OCODE