Localizing education research in Africa for equity and inclusion

Colonial legacies still influence and shape educational practices and research in post-colonial Africa. One of the most important and enduring consequences of this situation is the marginalization of African knowledge systems by persisting colonial-era power dynamics that determine who sets research agendas, what knowledge is deemed relevant, who can produce relevant knowledge and whose voices are heard.

This project will investigate how to make policy-oriented education research in Africa more equitable, inclusive and locally driven. It will be implemented in Kenya, Mozambique and Senegal. It will consider how colonial legacies shape knowledge production and what reforms are needed to foster locally owned, equitable and endogenous policy-oriented education research systems. It will identify the barriers to implementing more inclusive, equitable and decolonial policy-oriented education research practices, and how they can be overcome. The project will also identify promising practices that can be effectively promoted to bring African perspectives into equitable, decolonial policy-oriented education research in sub-Saharan Africa.

The project is supported through the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange, a joint initiative of the Global Partnership for Education and IDRC. It connects expertise, innovation and evidence to support developing countries in strengthening their education systems and accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. It was selected through a closed call for proposals aimed at advancing equity in education research through localization and the promotion of agency among Southern researchers and their institutions.