War and conflict have long been recognised as impediments to economic and social development in countries worldwide. However, the specific impact of war on education, particularly in regions engaged in internal conflicts with their central governments, remains under-documented. The Tigray War, a protracted and multifaceted conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that commenced in November 2020 and officially concluded in 2022, serves as a poignant case study in this regard. This study delved into the repercussions of the Tigray War on the educational landscape of the region. Drawing on data sourced from secondary materials available in various open-access databases and government publications, the study uncovers a sobering reality: the educational achievements of Tigray, as gauged by metrics such as student enrolments and the infrastructure developed over decades, have been severely affected by the conflict. The war has inflicted profound psychological and social wounds on students, leading to learning deficits, diminished motivation among both students and educators, and a disrupted learning environment. These consequences collectively jeopardise the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) by 2030, rendering mere rhetoric the global commitment to inclusive and quality education for all. The study underscores the urgent need to address key areas for educational recovery in post-war Tigray. Stakeholders can pave the way for rebuilding a resilient and thriving educational system that empowers the region’s youth and fosters sustainable development in the aftermath of conflict.

This article draws on findings from a qualitative study of academics’ role in higher education’s contribution to the public good based on 15 interviews with academics from two universities in South Africa. I argue that if higher education in South Africa is to transform for the public good, the transformation of the university academic staff needs to be taken seriously and move beyond diversity of race and gender. The findings of the study that underpins this article suggest that the attributes of academics must be considered in initiatives that seek to transform the academy. This has implications for meaningful transformation because diversity, in terms of race and gender, does not necessarily translate to transformation in practice. Based on these findings, I suggest what these attributes may be through the concept of “public good academics,” which the academics I interviewed associated with being progressive, reflexive, critically conscious, and socially competent. I conclude that public good academics are aptly positioned to engage in transformational practices. Therefore, the personal attributes of academics do matter and should not be ignored in our thinking and conversations about transformational practices in higher education, especially in South Africa—a country with a history of colonialism and apartheid that has shaped the higher education landscape.

Children who do not master writing skills risk possible failure because they cannot complete written assignments on time. The complex nature of writing as a language production skill requires thorough planning and problem-solving. Research emphasises that children who struggle to write tend to remain behind in their writing skill development. Hence, it is necessary to strengthen writing instruction, such as by incorporating research-based methods. The purpose of this article was to explore teachers’ perceptions of and beliefs in teaching creative writing and employing evidence-based teaching (EBT) in their lessons. Data were generated through two focus group interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Purposive sampling was used to recruit Grade 3 teachers from two primary schools. The data revealed that teachers believed themselves to be inadequately trained to effectively teach creative writing. The findings suggest that teachers believe they have little time to explore the usefulness of evidence-based strategies as they already battle to complete the syllabus; there is little guidance on how to go about teaching creative writing; and how they currently teach is in line with the policy guidelines. This article recommends that the Ministry of Education and universities reinforce pre- and in-service teacher training programmes by teaching diverse evidence-based strategies, for example, self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), consolidate curriculum knowledge, and strengthen continuous professional development programmes to boost teachers as reflective practitioners.

This study explored the experiences of rural secondary school teachers in Namibia during emergency remote teaching (ERT) owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The TPACK framework and sociocultural theory were used. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 26 rural teachers revealed that despite the availability of technological tools such as laptops, smartphones, and radio and television channels, integrating these into the teaching process posed significant challenges. A lack of technological knowledge among teachers coupled with infrastructure issues and inadequate institutional support hampered the smooth execution of ERT. Despite these challenges, teachers employed innovative methods to engage their students remotely. However, the findings underline the need for increased digital literacy, better ICT resource allocation, and adequate teacher training to successfully navigate a technology-driven teaching environment. This study provides insights into educational practice, policy initiatives, and future research toward a resilient and technology-enhanced educational system.

The need for quality research outputs is clearly undeniable in any context that values quality knowledge production. This study examined consistency among epistemologies, theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and methods in students’ dissertations. It also aimed to assess the extent to which the dissertations employ a variety of research designs. The study used a sample of 154 students’ dissertations, which were thoroughly analysed. In addition, five supervisors and five graduate students from one university in Tanzania were interviewed to supplement data from documents. With regard to consistency, overall, findings indicate that students’ dissertations observed consistency in only two levels of methodology and methods, leaving epistemology and theoretical perspective unexploited. We also found an overreliance on qualitative (65.6 per cent) and mixed methods (24.7 per cent) research, with 59 per cent of dissertations using case study design. We argue that such an overreliance on one research design (case study) is a limiting factor for the production of a variety of forms of knowledge. Furthermore, it can also act as a barrier to enhancing research productivity as emphasised in policy documents. We recommend capacity-building programmes in the area of research methods (particularly on specific research designs) for academic staff and students.

Inclusive education is an agenda that emanated from the Global North, and had as its imperative the eradication of discriminatory policies and practices that prevent some children from accessing a quality education. In recent years, it has increasingly been argued by scholars in the Global South that the supremacy of Eurocentric knowledge, theory, values, and practices informing inclusive education needs to be disrupted. In South Africa, decolonisation is emerging as a constructive frame for critiquing inclusive education policy and practices, and for informing the agenda of transformation in educational institutions. By undertaking a systematic review of research on the implementation of inclusive education in South Africa, this article explores the question of how the debate can be shifted from traditional theoretical discussions on special education versus inclusive education to a focus on the practicality of inclusive education policy implementation within specific cultural historical contexts in South Africa. Possibilities for reimagining inclusive education policy and practice in schooling contexts are explored through a decolonising, equity-oriented, social justice lens. The key message is that transformative inclusive education is an education reform agenda that requires all educational institutions and social actors to embrace socially just, inclusive values and ideologies; new thinking and belief systems that reflect a commitment to educational access, participation, and quality education for all learners; democratic patterns of decision-making and leadership; and a school culture and ethos reflective of the African philosophy of ubuntu.

Teachers’ attitudes and levels of knowledge about inclusion and teaching children with special needs have become a sensitive issue over the past decades. The fact that a majority of teachers demonstrate limited knowledge and understanding of children with special educational needs (SEN), and thus have more negative attitudes towards teaching these children in mainstream classrooms, may significantly influence the quality of life and academic success of these children in schools. This cross-sectional study explored the levels of knowledge of and attitudes towards SEN among teachers in public basic schools in Ghana. Most participants had limited knowledge and understanding of teaching children with SEN and showed more negative attitudes towards children with SEN. There were significantly different levels of knowledge and understanding of children with SEN and attitudes towards children with SEN across baseline characteristics. The study results enrich the existing knowledge base on inclusion and contribute significantly to inclusive education policy development as well as indicating the potential for changes in practices.

This study investigates the relationship between resource provisioning and learners’ performance in public schools in Limpopo province, South Africa. The education production function theory was used to address a set of policy questions such as: how much will outcomes improve if resources are increased by some amount? Or can schools deliver better outcomes with existing resources? Or will better outcomes require more resources-efficiency? This quantitative study used a survey of four validated questionnaires distributed to 272 representatives from the school principals, heads of departments, teachers, and school governing bodies. The sample was drawn from 68 public secondary schools from different quintiles (1 to 5) in Limpopo province using a probability stratified and purposive random sampling technique. Descriptive and Pearson correlation statistics were used in data analysis. The findings indicate that resource provision was shown to be to the determinant of learners’ performance in public schools. Specifically, the findings indicated that the way in which school resources are allocated, distributed, and utilised have an influence on learners’ performance. As a result, the study recommends that a review of resource provision is a factor that the Department of Basic Education, including stakeholders, should pay more attention to in order to improve learners’ performance in public schools.

Positive interactions and relationships between parents and teachers have the potential to deepen parents’ involvement in children’s learning. However, not much is known about the scope of the interactions between parents and teachers in rural public primary schools in Africa. Specifically, little is known about the spaces in which parents and teachers relate and inter-act; who participates in these interactions; and the types of relationships which underpin or emerge from such interactions. This article explores the natural (i.e., not interventionist or programme-driven) interactions and relationships between parents and teachers in North Central Nigeria. The findings draw from a two-phased ethnographic study of parental involvement in two rural schools and communities with parents of upper level primary children and the teachers and head teachers of the children. The main methods were partly structured interviews and participant observations while thematic analysis was used to identify themes around which narratives were represented. The findings revealed affective, economic, and official relationships between parents, teachers, and head teachers within and outside schools, though to a limited extent in one of the school-communities where there was significant instability of school leadership. Importantly, these relationships were embedded within the religious, social, and cultural ways of life in both communities. The study underscores the criticality of school heads for parent-teacher relationships, and for realising the promises of parental involvement in schooling.

The Zimbabwean crisis, which began around 2000, had serious ramifications for the teaching of history in the country, especially in high schools. This study investigated the impact of Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis on the production of syllabi for teaching history at high schools. It analyses the hurried changes in the secondary school history syllabi which saw the subject being declared a compulsory subject for all students. In the high schools, history was at the centre of an ideological struggle as the government sought to teach the students “patriotic history.” However, others have seen this as a cheap propaganda tool meant to brainwash and hoodwink students into supporting the ZANU-PF regime that presided over the political, social, and economic crisis bedevilling the country. This article, therefore, unpacks the changes in syllabi for schools and analyse how this impacted on the teaching of history in the country. A comparative analysis of the content of the successive syllabi was carried out to flesh out the inclusions and exclusions in the new syllabi. The syllabi compared are 2160, 2166, and 2167 for the ordinary level certificate.