Lifelong Educational and Decolonization Programs for the Batwa Indigenous People of Southwestern Uganda
Abstract
This article is based on a study conducted among the Batwa Indigenous people in southwestern Uganda between 2021 and 2022. The study aimed to explore culturally relevant lifelong education and decolonization programs for the Batwa people. Using indigenous research methodology, 60 participants comprising of elders, parents, children and teachers were recruited from the Batwa community for the study. We used Egalitarian liberalism and justice in education (ELJE) theory as analytical framework. Key findings demonstrate that participants were conscious of the challenges faced by their community and collectively brainstormed practical redress measures. These measures include but are not limited to setting up an entrepreneurship education program, vocational and skilling programs, and promotion of Rutwa language. Besides, some specific Batwa life skills identified by participants are briefly described as imperative for integration in the schooling system to achieve the decolonization mission
Downloads
References
Adyanga F. A, & Romm, N. R. 2022. Reflections Upon our Way of Invoking an Indigenous Paradigm to Co-Explore Community Mobilization against Irresponsible Practices of Foreign-Owned Companies in Nwoya District, Uganda. Qualitative Report, 27(7).
Adyanga, F. A. 2014a. African indigenous science in higher education in Uganda (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto (Canada).
Adyanga, F. A., & Romm, N.R.A. 2016. Researching Indigenous science and knowledge integration in formal education: interpreting some perspectives from the field. International Journal of Educational Development, 3(1), 1-14.
Akena, F. A. 2008. The impact of civil war on education: A case study of Acholiland, northern Uganda. Unpublished Dissertation, University of Toronto.
Akena, F. A. 2012. Critical analysis of the production of Western knowledge and its implications for Indigenous knowledge and decolonization. Journal of Black Studies, 43(6), 599-619.
Armstrong, C. 2017. Justice and natural resources: An egalitarian theory. Oxford University Press.
Aylin, K. (2016). Lifelong learning: Conclusions from Literature Review. International Online journal of Primary Education. Vol. 5 (2), pp. 43-50.
Barbero, J. M. 1993. Latin America: Cultures in the communication media. Journal of Communication, 43(2), 18-30.
Battiste, M. 2013. Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. University of Saskatchewan: Purich Publishing Limited
Brighouse, H. 2002. Egalitarian liberalism and justice in education. The Political Quarterly, 73(2), 181-190.
Brubacher, L. J., Berrang-Ford, L., Clark, S., Patterson, K., Lwasa, S., Namanya, D. B., & Harper, S. L. 2021. We don't use the same ways to treat the illness. A qualitative study of heterogeneity in health-seeking behaviour for acute gastrointestinal illness among the Ugandan Batwa. Global Public Health, 1-16.
Charmaz, K. 2014. Constructing Grounded Theory. London: Sage.
Chilisa, B. 2012. Indigenous research methodologies. London: Sage.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
Datta, A. 1984. Education and Society: A Sociology of African Education. London: MacMillan
Dei, G. J. S. 2008. Indigenous knowledge studies and the next generation: Pedagogical possibilities for anti-colonial education. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 37(Suppl.), 5-13.
Dei, G. J. S. 2011. Indigenous Philosophies and Critical Education. A Reader. New York, NY: Peter Lang
Dondolo, L. 2005. Intangible heritage: The production of indigenous knowledge in various aspects of social life. Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, 4(1), 110-126.
Edudzie, E. 2019. Transforming education for Graduate Youth employment in Africa: Challenges and pathways to success. Africa Portal.
Glaser, B. G. 1965. The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Social problems, 12(4), 436-445.
Glasgow, J.N. 2001. Teaching for Social Justice through Young Adult Literature. The English Journal, vol. 90(6), pp.54-61.
Gumbo, M. 2020. Indigenising technological pedagogical content knowledge in open distance learning. Africa Education Review, 17(4), 72-86.
Gumbo, M. T. 2016. A model for indigenising the university curriculum: A quest for educational relevance. Africanising the curriculum: Indigenous perspectives and theories, 121-139.
Harel T. & Shabar B. 2015. Distributive Justice in Education and Conflicting Interests: Not (Remotely) as Bad as you think. Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 49(4), pp. 491-509.
Horn P. 2014. Indigenous Peoples, Poverty, and Development. The Journal of Development Studies. Vol. 50 (11), pp.34-56
Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action. 2030. Ensuring Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote lifelong Learning Opportunities for All: Towards 2030—a new vision for education.
Jacobs, L. A. 2004. Pursuing equal opportunities: the theory and practice of egalitarian justice. Cambridge University Press.
Kabananukye, K., & Kwagala, D. 2007. Culture, Minorities and linguistic Rights in Uganda: The Case of The Batwa and The Ik. Kampala: Human rights and peace centre, HURIPEC working paper No.11.
Kakuru, P. 2016. Batwa Population Census Report Retrieved from: http://bwinditrust. Org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01. BMCT-Batwa-Census-Report-2016. pdf. On 13/1/2022.
Kawagley, A. O., Norris‐Tull, D., & Norris‐Tull, R. A. 1998. The indigenous worldview of Yupiaq culture: Its scientific nature and relevance to the practice and teaching of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching: The Official Journal of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 35(2), 133-144.
Mason, K. O., & Smith, H. L. 2003. Women’s empowerment and social context: Results from five Asian countries. Gender and Development Group, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Mawere, M. 2015. Indigenous knowledge and public education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Spectrum, Vol. 50(2), pp.57-71.
May, S., & Aikman, S. 2003. Indigenous education: Addressing current issues and developments. Comparative education, 39(2), 139-145.
Mayombe, C. 2016. Enabling labour market entry for adults through non-formal education and training for employment in South Africa. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 35 (4), pp.376- 395. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2016.1194336.
Moore, T. 2014. Aboriginal Agency and Marginalization in Australian Society. Cogitation: Social Inclusion. Vol.2 (3), pps. 124-135.
Mosweunyane, D. 2013. The African Educational Evolution: From Traditional Training to Formal Education. Higher Education Studies, Vol. 3(4), pp.50-59
Mukasa, N. 2014. The Batwa indigenous people of Uganda and their traditional forestland: Eviction, non-collaboration and unfulfilled needs. Indigenous Policy Journal, 24(4).
Mukasa, N. 2017. The Batwa indigenous people in Uganda and their detachment from forest livelihood: Land eviction and social plight. Journal of Human Rights, (10), 71-84.
Mulema, D. 2022. On Batwa gods and the Advent of Christianity. Report of Batwa Trust Organization. Rubuguri Settlement. Uganda.
National Population and Housing Census Report. 2014. Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Government of Uganda.
Nel, P. J. 2005. Indigenous knowledge systems in theory and practice. Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, 4(1), VII-XIII.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2006). Education and democratic citizenship: Capabilities and quality education. Journal of human development, 7(3), 385-395.
Purcell, T.W. 1998. Indigenous knowledge and Applied Anthropology: Question of definition and direction. Human Organization, 57(3), pp.258-272.
Ramsay, K. 2010. Uncounted: the hidden lives of Batwa women. Minority Rights Group International, Briefing.
Romm, N. R. 2014. Indigenous ways of knowing and possibilities for re-envisaging globalization: implications for human ecology. Journal of Human Ecology, 48(1), 123-133.
Romm, N. R. A. 2015. Conducting focus groups in terms of an appreciation of indigenous ways of knowing: Some examples from South Africa. In Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Vol. 16, No. 1).
Rugambwa, N. O., Akena, F. A., Nabutto, C. C. L., & Bugembe, G. K. 2023. Enhancing African indigenous knowledge collection management in Ugandan public university libraries: lived experiences of senior library staff. In Digital Preservation and Documentation of Global Indigenous Knowledge Systems (pp. 178-195). IGI Global.
Sekiwu, D., & Rugambwa, N. O. 2021. Documenting Student Representation of Indigenous HIV/AIDS Information and Integration Into the School Curriculum. International Journal of Curriculum Development and Learning Measurement (IJCDLM), 2(1), 11-28.
Sekiwu, D., Akena, F. A., & Rugambwa, N. O. 2022. Decolonizing the African University Pedagogy Through Integrating African Indigenous Knowledge and Information Systems. In Handbook of Research on Transformative and Innovative Pedagogies in Education (pp. 171-188). IGI Global.
Spier, P. (2002). Conviction and Sentencing of Offenders in New Zealand: 1991 to 2000 (Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Justice), 109.
Tuck, E & Yang, K. Wayne. 2012. Decolonization is not a Metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society. Vol. 1 (1), 1-40.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics. 2016. The national population and housing census 2014–main report. Kampala Uganda.
UNESCO. 2009a. Dakar framework for action, Education for all: Meeting our collective commitments. https://bit.ly/2HN0seM
UNESCO. 2014. Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14. Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002266/226662E.pdf.
United Nations 2009b. State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Division for Social Policy and Development, Secretariat for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
Wane, N. 2006. Is Decolonization Possible? In Dei, G.J.S. & Kempf, A. (Eds.). Anticolonialism and Education. The Politics of Resistance (pp. 87-106). Sense Publishers.
Warrilow, F. 2008. The right to learn: Batwa education in the great lakes’ region of Africa. London: Minority Rights Group International.
World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. 2018. Uganda Batwa. Retrieved from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/batwa/
Zaninka, P. 2001. The impact of (forest) nature conservation on indigenous peoples; the Batwa of Southwestern Uganda: a case study of the Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Conservation Trust. Forest Peoples Programme, 165-194
Copyright (c) 2024 Denis Sekiwu, PhD, Francis Akena Adyanga, PhD, Gyaviira Musoke Genza, PhD, Nina Olivia Rugambwa, PhD, Anthony Mugagga Muwagga, PhD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
