▼ This study investigates the current state of education in Somalia since the collapse of the central authority in 1991. Since all educational systems and infrastructure have been destroyed by the civil war, the study seeks to explore the educational institutions and systems that have emerged throughout the crisis. Similarly, the study looks into the various actors that have contributed and are contributing to the revival of education after the destruction of the old system. Investigating the education that has emerged during the conflict, the study seeks to examine the coping capacity of various local communities living through such conflicts with regard to education. It also explores the role that education can play as a tool of protection and educational institutions that are used as part of the coping mechanism. This study employs qualitative methods of inquiry and is basically a case-study. Therefore, its findings are not intended to be generalized and replicated to other cases (Bogdan and Biklen, 1992). However, this does not preclude important lessons to be learned from the case study as methodology and policy implications. Nevertheless, this study is limited to probing the current educational experiences in Somalia in the absence of the central state. As a theoretical framework, this study utilizes the concept of social capital in the sense of informal social networks, trust and connections among community members (Clark, 2006; Coleman, 1988; Mundy and Murphy, 2001; Putnam, 1995). The study also draws on the capability approach which is “a set of basic human entitlements” for all people, outlining what people are “able to do and be” (Nussbaum, 2003, p.3; Robeyns, 2005, p.94; Sen, 2005; Unterhalter, 2003). The findings of the study suggest that the Somali people have adapted rather well, under the circumstances, to the absence of the state, despite continuing insecurity and lawlessness prevailing in the country. The study documented that educational institutions that have emerged since the destruction of the old system are still in their nascent stage and need to be supported for them to yield the desired results. Advisors/Committee Members: Howard, William S.

▼ The evidence that people have access to education is that they take part in educational programs (Sutton, 1995). Equality of access to schooling is measured by participation rates for both men and women. In most of the sub-Saharan African countries schools are open to all, however, girls in their large majority, continue to be out of school (Commission on the Status of Women, 1995; UNESCO, 2002; World Bank 2000). Researchers have identified barriers to girls’ education in the sub-Saharan African region and categorized them into economic, socio-cultural, and school factors. The literature on the factors influencing Muslim girls’ education at the secondary level is however scarce. This study seeks to contribute ethnography of the forces behind the lack of retention of Fulani Muslim girls in a secondary school of Dalaba, Guinea. A qualitative method of inquiry was utilized to gather the data. The data was collected in Dalaba, Guinea, over three months period. Eight Fulani Muslim girls and women took part in this study as well as their parents and some educational leaders. The hirde , a Fulani socio-cultural context, was a central instrument in the data collection process. Other data collection strategies included open-ended interviews, observations and review of policy documents. The findings of the study suggest that dissemination and implementation of gender sensitive policies; the tradition, or finna tawaa ; poverty; and school related factors were found impeding Muslim Fulani girls’ education in Dalaba. The ideology around curing and blessing helps the perpetuation of a social status quo that is oppressive to girls and women. The dichotomy between the informal socialization process and the formal education system and the practices of cultural norms in the school were central to informants abandoning their schooling. The language problem in school, administrators and teachers authoritarian attitudes, the lack of transparency and accountability in student grading system, and the disconnect between the school and the community are major issues that continue to hold back the potential of Muslim Fulani girl students. This study provided a context for informants’ voices to be heard in educational discourses that very often deny them a voice and take place in contexts where informants do not have access. Advisors/Committee Members: Howard, Stephen.

▼ This research examines the phenomenon of street children in Accra, Ghana. The purpose was to highlight the general characteristics of street children in Ghana, which included how the phenomenon of street children was defined street children in Ghana, officials of government and non government agencies working with children in Ghana, and parent of a street child. The research also focused on how the general public perceived street children in Ghana and the factors that accounted for the phenomenon of street children in Ghana. The methodological inquiry was a phenomenological case study approach. This research approach was appropriate as I was trying to understand the complexities of the phenomenon through the experiences, perceptions and perspectives from a holistic standpoint. Based on the research questions, qualitative methodology was deemed the most appropriate. The primary instrument of data collection was a semi structured interview schedule. In all, 15 people were interviewed, including 11 children, an official from the Department of Social Welfare, an official from the Ghana National Commission on Children and an official from Street Academy, a Non governmental agency working to improve education for street children in Ghana. Also interviewed was a parent of a street child. Advisors/Committee Members: Godwyll, Francis E.

▼ This research uses theater of Black women from the Global South as a way of creating spaces in the classroom for dialogue between self and others. It examines and interrogates the relations White students from Appalachia Ohio and Black students from an urban center in Ohio make between their lives and the lives of these Black women from the Global South, as well as those viewed as the "other" in their own societies. This research is best described as a performative inquiry. It is a classroom action research and was conducted over a period of six weeks. Participant observation, interviews and artifact collection were the main means of data collection. Twenty five students from the Upward Bound program at Ohio University participated in this study. During the process of reading and reenacting the plays of Black women from the Global South and then finally creating their own play, participants reacted by displaying resistance, surprise, confusion, defensiveness and by joking around. Students showed their attempt to form dialogic relations though interactions with self, others in the class and the characters of the play. This theme emerged through students' representation of others, of themselves, expressions of identity (womanhood, Americanism) and through their physical interaction with other members in the class and the characters of the plays. As they moved through the process of reading and finally staging the plays, issues of Whiteness, race, injustice, conflict and discomfort emerged. The results of the research suggest that although Whiteness seems to have some impact, the prospect of forming relations with others outside the U.S. goes beyond Whiteness. On creating relations outside the U.S. the barrier seems to be more directly related to power. My research findings indicate that while race is a barrier domestically, within the global framework Americanism or Americocentricity, plays a more significant role. Advisors/Committee Members: Hutchinson, Jaylynne N.

▼ The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the experiences and perceptions of female dropouts in Botswana and the role of education in their lives. All over the world, educators have struggled with the problem of students dropping out of school before they complete their program of study. Prior literature suggests that there are many factors involved in causing students to drop out including weak academic study skills which prevent students from proceeding to the next level. Making little headway, these students often become discouraged about the prospects of graduating and drop out of school. Some face social challenges such as becoming pregnant, encountering impersonal schools, or living under non-conducive conditions at home. It seems that this misfortune befalls the female child more often than her male counterpart. Though young drop outs are a problem throughout the world, this study focuses on a section of a city in Botswana where there are very few opportunities or institutions concerned with preventing young dropouts. Moreover, there is little available to assist female dropouts with continuing their studies. For my research I used the case study and portraiture methods along with interviews, observations, and analyzing documents for a deeper understanding of the experiences of those young women I encountered. Once my research was complete I interpreted the data to search for recurring and emerging themes. I also used the case study method to better understand the school as an organization. I observed daily activities focusing on those that contributed to retaining or pushing the female students out of the education system. My study established the challenges that female students face in school and at home. The study revealed limited communication between the young women who dropped out and their parents; the transference of responsibility of child rearing practices to the teachers; cultural factors such as early marriages, intergenerational relationships with older men defiling young women; and the culture of secrecy concerning issues of sexuality. I also observed the extend peer pressure played. My conclusions indicate many positive strategies for retention for policy makers, the government, schools, the Ministry of Education, and the Botswana society. Due to the ambivalence around the responsibility of child rearing practice teacher training programs need to change. Advisors/Committee Members: Woodrum, Arlie.

▼ In traditional villages in Botswana, education was carefully supervised by the elders for the maintenance of law and order among children in the home and in society. However, this village education has now been replaced by modern stratified structures such as the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs (which addresses the well being of youth), all of which are plagued by rampant problems. The purpose of this research has been to address the problem of violence in secondary schools as exemplified by one school – Moeding Senior Secondary School in the village of Otse. The research was carried out over an eight week period among a school population of approximately 1570 students, 95% of whom lived in the hostels. Through individual and group interviews, documentation analysis and observations, a self perpetuating scenario of violence, and unhealthy habits, which students may or may not have brought with them to school evolved. This seems to have been intensified by the system of correction in the school, the lack of collegiality and the isolation of the academic setting from the MOE. The failure of the curriculum to address teachers’ needs to prepare students for end of year examinations appeared to intensify use of discipline. Results of this study suggest the need for review of the education system in Botswana as well as further study on other areas that impact the socialization and education of Botswana youth. Specific areas are the need for the MOE to develop an environment to reduce or eliminate violence, as well as to develop a nationwide implementation policy for providing better counseling skills for teachers, administrators and the parents. Further, regular on-going interactions between all parties are needed. This suggests the need for the MOE to develop effective in-service courses for teachers and the school administrators in lieu of punishment as well as to assure effective counselor preparation for all schools. Finally, intensified infusion of civic education into the curricula is warranted. Advisors/Committee Members: Howard, Stephen.

▼ A content analysis of textbooks used for instruction of information literacy courses in Masters in Library and Information Studies programs was conducted. The hypotheses was that these courses identified specific competencies of information literacy at various stages of learning and differentiated between lower-level basic skills from upper-level more sophisticated skills. This paradigm was exemplified by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (2003). Chi-square (χ2) analyses of the frequencies with which educational levels starting from K-12 through graduate school occurred were conducted. Textbooks that contained any of the following information literacy themes met the selection criteria: (a) determining information needed, (b) accessing the information, (c) critically evaluating and synthesizing retrieved information, (d) integrating and applying knowledge, and (e) understanding the economic, legal, and social implications of information production and dissemination. Contrary to the hypotheses, the results revealed that emphases were on grouped competencies such as K-12 or undergraduate, rather than on graded incremental proficiencies. Educational levels K-12 were found to have significantly more citations than expected. Frequencies of references to college levels decreased as the learning levels advanced. There was no mention of the junior level. Emphases on lower-level basic information literacy skills were revealed by higher frequencies of references to sophomore than those of senior. Moreover, graduate level had only eight mentions out of a total of 361 observations. Taken as a whole, these courses fell short of the scholarly expectations of clearly identifying between lower-level basic skills from upper-level more sophisticated skills. Advisors/Committee Members: Romano, Rosalie.

▼ The study investigates how the post-independent government of Zimbabwe, as seen through the lens of its cultural critics, used the institution of education as a focal point for nation-building and social transformation. The project examines how critics respond to the use of educational change as a way of political legitimization. Whilst a number of scholars have focused on post-colonial Zimbabwe during the post-1980 period, they did not have the chance to study it during the post-2000 era, which was a critical and dramatic historical juncture because of the turmoil and a reversal trend of the promises that were made at independence. The qualitative research approach was formulated to collect data on education and language policy, politics and culture from a cross-section of people of the Zimbabwean society. Brief case study interviews were conducted to provide newer and richer details on Zimbabwean cultural landscape. The research design was structured to allow for the use of documentary and archival sources for the collection of qualitative and historical data, participant-observation, and for the use of the interview to solicit perspectives, viewpoints and perceptions. The case study of Zimbabwe shows that an official historiography of national culture was imposed at independence through educational change as a way of political legitimization. The Zimbabwean education system is situated in the context of culture, knowledge and power. While the Zimbabwean official discourse on national culture includes claims to homogeneity, it also conflicts directly with the leadership elite’s maintenance of hierarchies of class. The elites actually need the heterogeneity they also deny. The postcolonial state is replicating the colonial state. English dominates as the media of instruction in schools and as the official language in Zimbabwe. The curriculum is itself part of what has been called a selective tradition. The curriculum is always the result of struggle and comprise. Zimbabwean artists, through music and literature are fighting for the creation of new political spaces and public spheres that fall outside traditional definitions of the government. Artistic expression expands discursive space and dialogue on national issues and gives us alternative stories and possibilities about Zimbabwean realities, cultures, and identities. Advisors/Committee Members: Howard, Stephen.

▼ The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the person of Geoffrey William Griffin, identify and examine forces that accounted for his involvement in Kenyan youth education, interpret how the establishment of Starehe Boys Centre and School reflects Kenya’s educational historical context of the time and to obtain an understanding of Griffin’s insights on the Kenyan youth education. The study took the design of an interpretive educational biography. The research participants were those individuals with whom Griffin had interacted with in various youth educational programs that he was involved. These included alumni, administrators, colleagues, staff, and friends. Thirty-six participants took part in the study. Data were collected from both secondary and primary sources using a qualitative inquiry approach.The methods used in collecting data from the primary sources were life histories, open-ended interviews, participant observation, document, archival, and audiovisual analysis. Analysis of the data was done through biographical techniques of: consolidation, description, reduction, and interpretation. Among the major findings, the study revealed that the forces that propelled Griffin to be involved in the development of Kenyan education were: his early childhood experiences, early encounters with Africans in his work as a Survey Cadet, effects of the Mau Mau War, his experiences as an intelligence and rehabilitation officer at both Manyani and Wamumu, his activities as a youth colony organizer, and his leadership at the National Youth Service and Starehe Boys Centre and School. The findings also revealed that Griffin’s establishment of Starehe Boys Centre and School reflects Kenya’s educational historical contexts in both colonial and postcolonial periods in terms of its accessibility, equity, and quality. In addition, it illustrates aims and objectives of Kenya’s educational reviews during this period and its future prospects in both secondary and tertiary education. With regard to Griffin’s insights on Kenya’s youth education, the findings revealed that Griffin advocated for an education system that was international, pragmatic, democratic, character and benefit-based, attitude-changing, relational, wholistic, collaborative, and service-centered. From the findings of the study, the policy implications drawn were: The Kenyan Ministry of Education is required to formulate policies that allow: continuous reinvigoration and reviews of its educational programs, school administrators to use innovative leadership approaches that are collaborative and yield success.There is need for the Kenyan government to invest more in tertiary youth education. The study recommended further research in the following areas: historiographic significance of various African educators and their contributions to the growth of African education; quality of African education and its ability to address societal needs; partnering in educational leadership; and the place of relationality in education. Advisors/Committee Members: Muhammad, Najee E.