Dr. Muwanga-Zake, Department of Systems Management & Strategy, Business School Annual Learning and...

Dr. Muwanga-Zake, Department of Systems Management & Strategy, Business School

Annual Learning and Teaching Conference - University of Greenwich: Developing the Inquiry Mind

Globalisation challenges in designing culturally appropriate curricula and research

Introducing ICT into African Bantu Communities as a Case

Globalisation challenges in designing culturally appropriate curricula and research

Introducing ICT into African Bantu Communities as a Case



- HE is becoming global / international#UK HE institutions global leader in providing HE

to international students #There were 223,850 international students

(excluding EU) enrolled at UK HEIs in 2005-06 (DfES, 2006): this is approximately 13% of all HEstudents in the UK (OECD, 2006)

# UK hosts 44,000 international research students (NK Education Ltd., 2007)

#UK’s national income made by international students was estimated at £5.5 billion (HEPI, 2007)

- HE is becoming global / international#UK HE institutions global leader in providing HE

to international students #There were 223,850 international students

(excluding EU) enrolled at UK HEIs in 2005-06 (DfES, 2006): this is approximately 13% of all HEstudents in the UK (OECD, 2006)

# UK hosts 44,000 international research students (NK Education Ltd., 2007)

#UK’s national income made by international students was estimated at £5.5 billion (HEPI, 2007)

Introduction



• The University of Greenwich recruits students from over 100 countries and has partnerships in 17 countries

• UG is indeed a multicultural microcosm and considers:▫ International perspectives▫ Diversity▫ Increasing international student enrolment

• 2008 – 2009: Black African = 16%• 2007/2008: Black African = 52% failed• Black males not doing well

• The world is better off if all people perform and develop

Introduction



•Challenges in researching and teaching across culture▫Inferiorities among Africans due to

colonialism and by African academia that rejects African Indigenous Knowledge Systems

▫‘Western’ methodology and curricula not exactly fitting for African IKS and contexts

Introduction



•Your experiences of multicultural education (e.g., teaching and supervising a foreign student)

Discussion



•How do YOU cater for multiculturalism?•What (common) values bind the multi-

cultures in HE?•Have the measures (e.g. at the

University of Greenwich) for multicultural curricula worked?

•What makes the measures work/ not work?

• What should be done?

Discussion



•For whom, what and where is the curriculum? (For example, who sets the core values)?

•How valuable is the curriculum to foreign (African) students?

•For where do we prepare the African graduate to work?

Discussion



•MY experiences▫Of introducing ICT among Bantu in SA and

Uganda ▫Of African students in Australia▫Research that is sensitive to the IKS and

needs of African Bantu – Afrocentricity and Ubuntu

Excerpts from a paper



•My experiences – building bridges across the cultural and digital divide (IKS / Western paradigms)

•Is a post-modernistic amalgamation of Bantu and Western paradigms possible?

Excerpts from a paper



•Way forward for HE•How can we balance Global versus local

curricula needs? •Designing relevant and sensitive curriculum

for non-Western cultures in the Global village•Content•Philosophical framework•Cultural bias avoidance•Relevance to African contexts and needs•Etc

Conclusion

Dr. Muwanga-Zake, Department of Systems Management & Strategy, Business School Annual Learning and...

Documents

Transcript of Dr. Muwanga-Zake, Department of Systems Management & Strategy, Business School Annual Learning and...