Exploring postcolonial relationships within policy transfer: the case of learner-centred pedagogy in Ghana
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Comparative Education
Abstract
Framed by Homi Bhabha’s concepts of hybridity and the third space.
of enunciation, This study explores postcolonial relationships
conceivably enacted through policy borrowing processes of
learner-centred pedagogy (LCP) in Ghana. Nine Ghanaian and
nine foreign stakeholders were interviewed. Conscious of the
power imbalance implicit in traditional aid, the case project
attempted to challenge the asymmetrical power relationships by
allocating policy leadership and responsibility to Ghanaian
stakeholders. However, the third space of enunciation created
within the project, it did not seem to lead to a hybridization of
pedagogical ideas: while it was the Ghanaians themselves who
promoted LCP within the project, the conceptual basis of the
reform was dependent on knowledge and experiences, which
they gained in the West. This article concludes that the
postcolonial turn through hybridization of indigenous and
Western pedagogies was not observed, although hybridity may
happen in the process of actualizing LCP at school and in the classroom
levels.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Postcolonial theory, pedagogical reform, teacher education reform