











































Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4 
ISSN 2640-1533s

Open Access

Editorial Team

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Global Journal of Transformative Education
Volume 4, June 2024

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© GJTE. 2024. GJTE is a peer-reviewed Open Access journal produced as part of the  
IU ScholarWorks system, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

  Editors-in-Chief
Michael T. Ndemanu, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
Serafín	M.	Coronel-Molina,	Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

  Managing Editor
Tom J. McConnell, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA

  Assistant Managing Editor
Luis Eduardo Orozco, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA

  Assistant Editors
Isaac K. A. Galyuon, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Regina	J.	Giraldo-García, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA 
Christina L. Romero, Indiana University - Kokomo, Kokomo, Indiana, USA
Emma Clare Bonham, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

  Editorial Review Board
Daniel Baron - The Bloomington Project School, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Kennedy N. Bota - Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, Kakamega, Kenya 
Teresia Mbogori - Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
Wilfridah M. Mucherah - Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
Judah M. Ndiku - Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, Kakamega, Kenya 
Edward Ansah - University of Cape Coast, Ghana 
Godfrey Nyaoga Ayaga - Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, Kakamega, Kenya 
Sarah Haisley - Ivy Tech Community College, Muncie, Indiana, USA 
James Kigamwa - Literacy International, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Shuning Liu - Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
Issac Nuokyaa-Ire Mwinlaaru - University of Cape Coast, Ghana
George Areba Ngwacho - Kisii University, West Mugirango, Nyamira, Kenya
Mathieu Nongni - Université de Ngaoundéré, Cameroon 
Maxwell Kwesi Nyatsikor - University of Developmental Studies, Tamale, Ghana
Benard Omenge Nyatuka - Kisii university, Kisii, Kenya 
David Roof - Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
William Shu - University of Buea, Cameroon
Osundwa F. Wanjera - Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Cover Image -
Prof. Rofela Combey, University of Cape 
Coast (2024), by permission.

https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/gjte/login


Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4  
ISSN 2640-1533s

Open Access

ii

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© GJTE. 2024. GJTE is a peer-reviewed Open Access journal produced as part of the  
IUScholarWorks system, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

Transformative Education for Innovative Educational Practices
Articles 

Transformative Education for Innovative Educational Practices: 
Fourth Volume of the Global Journal of Transformative Education       ..............................         1
           Michael T. Ndemanu & Serafín M. Coronel-Molina, Editors-in-Chief

The Role of Ethics Education in the Fight Against Corruption  .............................................         4
         Judah M. Ndiku, Joseph W. Nasongo, & Monicah A. Odero 

Market Orientation for a Contextual Professionalization of Higher 
Education in Africa: State of Art   ...........................................................................................................      14
         Carole V. Kamdjo, & Henri Rodrigue Njengoue Ngamaleu

The Transformative Nature of Graduate Education   ..................................................................      24
         Elizabeth Contreras, Laurie Bedford 

English as Foriegn Language (EFL) Teaching and Learning in Cameroon: 
Decolonizing Francophone Teachers’ Minds    ...............................................................................      32 
         Clement Kouam

Translations as a Transformative Form of Language Support to English 
Additional Language Speaking Students at a South African University  .........................      44
         Venicia McGhie, Karen Dos Reis 

The Impact of Story: One Preschool’s Experience Using Story Cubes as 
a Culturally Relevant Oral Language Strategy  ...............................................................................      57
         Laura Strong, Michelle Amodei

The Transformative Development Potential of Higher Education in the 
4th Industrial Revolution: A Strategic Innovation Ecosystem Approach for 
Technological Development and Knowledge Transfer in the 21st Century.   ...............      65
          Joel N. Bafon, Adolphe M. Tanyi, Carole V. Kamdjo, Marcelline T. Djeumeni 

Students’ Use Behaviors of E-Learning Management Systems in Ghanaian 
Public Universities: What Do theDemographics Say?  ...............................................................      77
         Daniel Amadiok, Winston Kwame Abroampa, Eric Opoku Osei 

Transitioning Hands-On STEM Teacher Training in Ghana from an 
In-Person to Online Modality  ..................................................................................................................      88
         Mawuena A. Hanson, Heather Beem

Open Call for Papers     ..................................................................................................................................    105
          GJTE Editors

Contents

Global Journal of  
Transformative Education

Volume 4, Month 2024



Ndemanu, M. & Coronel-Molina, S.. Global Journal of 
Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4   
pp 1-3. DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.38829

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Ndemanu & Coronel-Molina. 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 
Attribution NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), 
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided 
you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

Transformative Education for Innovative Educational Practices: 
Fourth Volume of the Global Journal of Transformative Education

Michael Ndemanu1 and Serafín Coronel-Molina2

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

The Global Journal of Transformative Education 
(GJTE) is an open-source, peer-reviewed journal de-
signed to share educational research and practical 
classroom applications germane to transformative edu-
cation worldwide. GJTE publishes academic articles on 
high-impact practices in the broad areas of pedagogy, 
curriculum, educational management and leadership, 
learning environment, educational policy, instruction-
al materials, and reviews of educational resources 
that support transformative teaching and learning in 
PK-20 institutions and in adult education programs. 
GJTE is focused on sharing educational research and 
research-based practices with all stakeholders in the 
design and implementation of transformative edu-
cation. Articles are offered as resources for teacher 
educators, teachers, school leaders, policymakers, civil 
society, students, and researchers. Content may include 
research articles, lesson plan ideas, assessments and 
management strategies, book reviews, and discussions 
about curriculum and connections between schools and 
communities that are geared toward maximizing educa-
tional outcomes for learners. It is becoming increas-
ingly clear that traditional educational models are no 
longer sufficient to benefit vast sectors of the world’s 
population, hence the need for new transformative ed-
ucation models. It will take transformative research to 
light the way to these new educational paradigms.

A good number of the articles published in this 
fourth volume of GJTE were initially reviewed and ac-
cepted for presentation at the 2023 World Conference 
on Transformative Education (WCTE) at the University 
of Cape Coast, in Cape Coast, Ghana, under the theme, 
“The Future of Africa and the Role of Transformative 
Education.” A call for papers was sent to conference 

participants to submit their manuscripts to be consid-
ered for publication in the fourth volume of GJTE. All 
the submissions underwent a rigorous double-blind 
peer-reviewed process prior to being accepted for 
publication. Out of several manuscripts submitted, 
eight were found to meet the standards and rigors of 
transformative education ideals as enunciated on our 
website, www.gite.education.

This volume is composed of nine articles that delve 
into transformative education from multiple perspec-
tives. They focus on diverse topics such as profession-
alization of higher education programs, decoloniza-
tion, communication competency, STEM teaching, and 
E-learning. The articles included in this volume cover
the following five geographical locations: Cameroon,
Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United States. The
contributions are relevant to scholars, educators, prac-
titioners, educational policymakers, graduate students,
governmental and nongovernmental organizations, aca-
demic institutions, and grassroots organizations inter-
ested in transformative education across the globe.

The first article, titled “The Role of Ethics Education 
in the Fight Against Corruption,” is authored by Ndiku 
et al. Their paper examines the place of ethics educa-
tion in secondary school education to curb corruption 
in Africa. Guided by the Deontological Theory, the 
authors utilized secondary sources through document 
analysis where review of related literature on ethics ed-
ucation and corruption was done. The study argues that 
corruption is a major problem in society and concludes 
that there is need to fight corruption through ethics 
education at grassroot levels beginning with schools. It 
recommends that educators enhance the teaching of life 
skill education that fosters ethics. The second article, 

1



Ndemanu & Coronel-Molina, Transformative Education for Innovative Educational Practices 2

“Market Orientation for a Contextualized Profession-
alization of Higher Education in Africa: State of Art” by 
Kamdjo et al. focuses on the concept of market orien-
tation in higher education and how it can be used to 
achieve goals of contextualized professionalization of 
university programs. They argue that the implemen-
tation of a market-oriented culture can pave a way for 
higher education to offer a response adapted to the 
expectations of society through five points summarized 
as: orientation toward policymakers, enterprises orien-
tation, competition orientation, teachers and students’ 
orientation, and inter-functional coordination. Con-
treras and Bedford co-authored the third article, titled 
“The Transformative Nature of Graduate Education.” 
This is a reflective paper on the transformative expe-
rience of a doctoral education. It explores Transfor-
mational Learning Theory in the real world, providing 
helpful strategies to apply the theory to the doctoral ed-
ucation experience to help doctoral students embrace 
their own transformation. In the third article, Kouam, 
in his contribution, titled “English as Foreign Language 
(EFL) Teaching and Learning in Cameroon: Decoloniz-
ing Francophone Teachers’ Minds,” argues that Fran-
cophone EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers’ 
mindset needs to be decolonized so that they can teach 
the mainstream Cameroonian English to Cameroonian 
students without trying to sound British or American. 
His findings and recommendations also constitute a 
good material for innovation in EFL teacher educa-
tion and classroom practice. Considering most African 
students learn in a language that is not their mother 
tongue, McGhie & Reis, in “Translations as a Transfor-
mative Form of Language Support to English Additional 
Language Speaking Students at a South African Univer-
sity,” conducted a pilot study on an innovative trans-
lation intervention to students in a historically Black 
university in South Africa. Their findings show that the 
translations in the students’ home languages assisted 
the students in comprehending the instructions and 
course content. In so doing, it levelled the playing field 
and enabled the students to perform optimally, result-
ing in an increased pass rate in the subject.

Strong and Amodei, in their article, “The Impact of 
Story: One Preschool’s Experience using Story Cubes as 
a Culturally Relevant Oral Language Strategy,” posit that 

storytelling is a universal practice which can be traced 
back to the beginning of human existence. Their article 
describes a study conducted at a trilingual preschool. 
Four preschool teachers and 60 PreK students ages 3-5 
years participated in the study designed to explore the 
use of story cubes in their classrooms as a culturally re-
sponsive and reflective strategy. In “The Transformative 
Development Potential of Higher Education in the 4th 
Industrial Revolution,” Bafon, et al. discuss the sustain-
ability of socio-economic development of Cameroon 
which requires a robust national and regional innova-
tion ecosystem in which higher education plays an im-
portant role in value and wealth creation. They assert 
that the transformative potential of higher education is 
evident through development of technological knowl-
edge networks, innovation/knowledge clusters, and 
transformative digital governance in enhancing trans-
formative learning. They recommend that higher edu-
cation institutional leadership should consider these 
transformative development indicators as institutional 
benchmarks for higher education quality assurance, 
responsiveness assessments, and governance practices.

Amadiok et al. in their article, “Students’ Use Be-
haviors of E-Learning Management Systems in Gha-
naian Public Universities: What Do the Demographics 
Say?,” advocate for an intense training for students who 
underutilize e-learning management systems. In their 
study, they found that social science majors and female 
students in Ghana’s public universities showed low 
use behavior of e-LMS. They recommended that female 
students, in particular, and social science students, in 
general, should undergo enhanced training on using 
the e-LMS platform. In “Transitioning Hands-On STEM 
Teacher Training in Ghana from an In-Person to On-
line Modality,” Hanson and Beem discuss how, during 
COVID-19, in-person training content was converted 
into videos and PowerPoint presentations accessed 
asynchronously together with synchronous Zoom ses-
sions for discussions. Their findings show that teacher 
confidence and views about the feasibility of imple-
menting hands-on activities increased with statistical 
significance and large effect size for both in-person 
and online training offerings. Hence, even with mini-
mal technology, teachers across Africa could be trained 
online and experience meaningful learning. 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



3

Invitation to Prospective Authors
We invite authors keen on transformative education 

from all walks of life to consider GJTE as an avenue for 
disseminating their ideas germane to curriculum and 
teaching. GJTE accepts submissions for its Open Call, 
with no deadlines for submissions and no publishing 
fees for authors. The journal’s website includes Author 
Guidelines to help prospective authors with formatting 
specifications, and an online Submissions System to 
help with the submission, review and editing process. 
New authors are invited to register in the system. GJTE 
also invites readers to join our Editorial Board of Re-
viewers by selecting the “reviewer” role and indicating 
content expertise in their user profiles.

Acknowledgments
The Global Journal of Transformative Education 

(GJTE) is a singular publication venue. Despite the time 
and effort invested in the conceptualization, develop-
ment, implementation, production, and publication of 
this fourth volume, we could not have done all this by 
ourselves. The publication of this volume is the result of 
the hard work and dedication of many people. First of 

all, our profound gratitude goes to the Global Institute 
for Transformative Education (GITE) and its founding 
members for their sustained sponsorship to make this 
volume happen. We are deeply thankful to Tom J. McCo-
nnell, Managing Editor; Luis Eduardo Orozco, Assistant 
Managing Editor; and Isaac Galyon, Assistant Editor, 
who provided us with invaluable assistance in their 
respective roles, taking care of the daily operations of 
GJTE. 

Our heartfelt thanks also go to the Assistant Editors, 
Christina Cooper and Emma Bonham for copy-editing 
the revised submissions. We are also grateful to our col-
leagues who serve on the Editorial Board of Reviewers, 
as well as to institutions, friends, colleagues, and social 
media networks from around the world for their help in 
publicizing the GJTE website and Facebook page widely. 

Last but not least, we would like to thank all the 
contributors to this fourth volume for choosing GJTE to 
publish their work. Many thanks to IUScholarswork for 
hosting GJTE’s website. Without the generous assis-
tance and contribution of all these great people and 
institutions, GJTE would never have become a reality.

1 Michael Ndemanu (mtndemanu@bsu.edu) is an 
Associate Professor in the Department of Educational 
Studies at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA.

2 Serafín Coronel-Molina (scoronel@indiana.edu) is the 
Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean 
Studies and a Professor in the School of Education at 
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

Authors

Ndemanu & Coronel-Molina, Transformative Education for Innovative Educational Practices



Ndiku, J.M., Nasongo, J.W., & Odero, M A..  
Global Journal of  Transformative Education (2024) Vol 
4  pp 4-13.  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36656

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Ndiku, Nasongo, & Odero. 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 
Attribution NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), 
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

The Role of Ethics Education in the Fight Against Corruption

Judah M. Ndiku,1 Joseph W. Nasongo,2 & Monicah A Odero3

Abstract

Education has an integral role in inculcating morality in learners, producing responsible persons who can 
be trusted to promote the well-being of society. According to Julius Nyerere, an educated individual is one ready 
to serve the masses and recognize themselves as part of the society. Unless corruption is eliminated within 
and through the education system, society will continue to be captive of corruption, since it has overlooked the 
prime duty of imparting knowledge of morals to its citizens, thus resulting in the growth of citizens whose mor-
als are in question. Corruption can be dealt with when people come into agreement and understanding of their 
place, the place of others, and the need to address the common good; that is, public resources. This position 
paper examined the place of ethics education in secondary school education in curbing corruption in Africa. 
Guided by the Deontological theory, the authors utilized secondary sources through document analysis where 
review of related literature on ethics education and corruption was done. The study argues that corruption 
is a major problem in society and concludes that there is need to fight corruption through ethics education at 
grassroot levels in schools. It recommended that educators enhance teaching of life skill education that fosters 
ethical education. 
Keywords: Education, Ethics, Morality, Corruption 

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Ethics and Ethics Education
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves sys-

tematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of 
right and wrong conduct, often addressing disputes of 
moral diversity. The term comes from the Greek word 
ethos, which means “character.” The Cambridge Dictio-
nary of Philosophy (1995) states that the word ethics 
is “commonly used interchangeably with ‘morality’ and 
sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral 
principles of a particular tradition group or individual.” 
Ethics is more important than morality in creating a 
functioning society. 

According to Varkey (2021), ethics is a broad ter-
minology that entails the morals and the effect of moral 
choices. Ethics influences the way we make decisions 
and the way we perceive things. Ethics entails norma-
tive ethics which tend to answer the question of moral 
ethical principles which are just for society. The norms 
and the ethical variations may occur due to the differ-
ences in culture, ethics, and society. The ethical norms 
are applicable in the areas of specialization and pro-

tection of the interest of one in their profession. Ethics 
entails various fundamental principles such as autono-
my, justice, beneficence, and no maleficence. The prin-
ciple of benefice and no maleficence are traceable back 
to the ancient times of Hippocrates. The beneficence 
branch advocates that the physician has an obligation 
to act right in the conduct of supporting the patient’s 
rules of morality and preventing harm to others while 
no maleficence is the obligation of the physician not to 
carry any harm to the patient. 

Ethics education entails all educational dimensions 
and processes directly or indirectly interconnected to 
the ethical extent of an individual’s life that can other-
wise be planned, designed, guided, or monitored with 
the right educational methods and tools that remain 
unconscious, unexamined, or unintentional. Ethical 
education’s main focus is on value and ethics promotion 
in terms of justice, equality, dignity, inclusiveness, and 
human rights among others as an entity of education 
to nurture individuals who are respectful in attitudes 
towards fellow human beings and the society. It is also 
a form of education that will inculcate its member’s 
positive character, and reflective and informed moral

4



Ndiku, Nasongo, & Odero,  Ethics Education in Fight Against Corruption 5

judgment that puts individual’s beliefs and values 
into practice. This is because education is not only an 
inherently value-laden process but it also enhances its 
consequences in terms of educational outcomes and 
relationships formed in the context of education (Stra-
hovnik, 2016). 

Ethical education also plays a fundamental role in 
nurturing individuals who are autonomous, caring, and 
resilient and who can contribute globally and locally. 
Ethical education strives for the following goals: 
• to aid ethical thinking, accommodation, autonomy,

and responsibility in children and the community at
large established in a given educational setting;

• to help children examine and understand important
ethical principles, ideals, values, and virtues, and to
furnish them with intellectual and moral abilities
relevant for responsible moral judgment and deci-
sion making;

• to direct children to examine diverse values, moral
justifications that they can merge into guiding uni-
ty;

• to give direction to children on commitment in val-
ues that are recognized and regarded as key aspects
of life;

• to enable children to overcome any prejudices that
may come in their lives at various stages of life, to
promote ethical behaviors, for character develop-
ment among children that will facilitate the ancient
ideal of eudemonia and finally for persons to situate
themselves into a local and global society (Globokar
2018, Strahovnik, 2016).
The above inclinations of what ethics education

was coined in the heart of John Dewey that serves as 
the goal of education in general that sums to form a 
cultivated and effectively functional valuable judgment 
or trial to respect with admirable aesthetics, accepted 
intellectually and approved morally (Dewey, 1980). 

Ethical education helps people to formulate values 
that are relevant to, for, and in their own lives socially. 
It is also pegged on the deontological theory of ethics 
which according to Immanuel Kant states that nothing 
is good without qualification except a good will, and a 
good will is one that wills to act in accord with the mor-
al law and out of respect for that law rather than out of 
natural inclinations. To act ethically therefore should 
be according to the moral law which is against any acts 
of corruption. Autonomy and justice are the widely 
used principles of ethics. Autonomy is traceable to the 
philosopher Immanuel Kant as an acceptable ethical 
principle (Taylor, 2005). The principle advocates that

each person has a unique value and purpose and should 
be given a chance to make rational decisions. Autonomy 
can be applicable in advocating for the moral issues 
in the society. However, the principle is limiting since 
it doesn’t give a chance to persons of unsound mind 
in decision-making. This shows that persons have no 
right obligation to the decision on their behalf. Lack of 
a person’s decisions on an issue due to the mental or 
physical disability has a consequence on the practices 
of the legal determination of the patient. The princi-
ple of autonomy can limit decision-making and deny 
people the right to making their own informed consent 
decisions. People have a right to be told the truth and 
their issues are guarded with confidentiality as evident 
with the health professionals. 

On the other hand, the justice principle is interpret-
ed as the equity, fairness, and treatment of people in an 
appropriate manner. In a societal setting, governance is 
the basis of economic growth. This applies to the family 
setting, community, institutions, or even the country. 
If human rights are violated, justice is not served. The 
main infringe of justice in today’s society especially 
the developing countries is corruption that is taking 
away the rights of individuals. In the health sector, for 
example, justice is applicable in the fair distribution of 
healthcare resources and equitably in justifiable norms. 
The ethical principles have contradicting obligations. 
Appropriate application of the principles can help curb 
the problems faced in today’s society especially corrup-
tion. 

Education is a basic human right. Ethics education 
is considered as part of the human right. The purpose 
of ethics education is not only its study but also mobi-
lizing the knowledge body to develop cognitive ability. 
The cognitive ability helps individuals apply ethical 
principles in fields such as economics, medicine, and 
policy in decision making. Ethics education also helps 
one to develop the critical thinking that helps them to 
guide their actions in the influence of others. Ethics 
education revolves around one’s moral actions and the 
ability of one to respond to moral reason. In essence, 
ethics education plays significant role in the process 
of becoming human by inculcating cardinal values that 
strenghthens responsible actions and interactions.

Corruption and its Manifestations in Society
The word corruption originated from the Latin 

word rumpere, meaning to break or to rupture. The Lat-
in word corruptus means consequence of of dishonest 
conduct or behavior, described as perveted, morally

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



6

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

corrupt, and broken. It thus means to break someone 
or force him or her to change the attitude of a certain 
principle or former opinion. From Latin, corruption is 
definable in two terms: issues of bribery or damage. 

Corruption is attracting a lot of attention around 
the world. Several attempts have been made to de-
fine corruption by different scholars differently. Even 
though it may be difficult to define, it is generally not 
difficult to recognize when observed. Corruption is 
popularly defined, by the World Bank as the abuse of 
public office for private gain (Langseth & Stapenhurst, 
1997). This, however, is not an indicator that corrup-
tion cannot exist in the private sector. Applied to large 
private enterprises, it manifests itself through procure-
ment or even hiring. The abuse of public power is not 
necessarily for one’s private benefit but it can benefit 
one’s party, class, tribe friends, and family, among other 
beneficiaries (Kaufmann & Siegelbaum, 1996). Corrup-
tion can be defined neutrally as intentional non-compli-
ance with an arm’s length relationship aimed at deriv-
ing some advantage from the behavior for oneself or 
related for individuals (Tanzi, 1995). Rendtorff (2009) 
defines corruption as a controversial, illegal, and uneth-
ical because it is an act that goes against or challenges 
established and well-defined conceptions and laws of 
justice. It is the use of the government office for person-
al or private gains (Hallak & Poisson, 2007).

From the definitions, corruption is not a new phe-
nomenon globally. What is new are the ever-mutating 
forms it is taking and the harm it is wrecking to the 
prosperity, security, reputation, and integral well-being 
and survival of our nations. Secondly, institutions have 
been set up and allocated resources to fight corruption, 
but corruption is getting worse and more widespread 
indeed, it is endemic. Corruption is an outcome of the 
society (Svensson, 2005). It reflects the nature and 
quality of a country’s legal, economic, cultural, and 
political institutions. It also indicates the general moral 
quality of a people and their dominant values and 
priorities. Corruption has diverse effects on economic 
development and is very dangerous. It leads to a loss of 
resources. According to the World Economic Forum, the 
global cost of corruption is at least $2.6 trillion, or 5% 
of the global gross domestic product (Guteres, 2018). 
It leads to political instability, poverty and unemploy-
ment, high crime rate and insecurity, increased cost of 
goods and services, increased poverty, injustice, and 
negative international image.

All over the globe, corruption is evident in all sec-
tors of the economy and society even among profess-

ionals, for instance doctors, police, and even trad-
ers (Akdemir & Yeşilyurt, 2023). In the institutions 
of learning, corruption is also evident. Teachers take 
bribes from their students to facilitate the passing of 
examinations. In the institutions, the issuance of fake 
certificates and degrees as a result of corruption is also 
evident. Selling educational skills illegally destroys the 
market and the skilled labour force.

Many countries exhibit corrupt acts. Corruption can 
be administrative, political, and bureaucratic. Admin-
istrative corruption is manifested when the politicians 
are forced to sell their votes to the political parties. 
Administrative corruption occurs when those in admin-
istration accept bribes to facilitate tax evasion (Hallak & 
Poisson, 2007). For bureaucracy corruption, hiding files 
or slowing down the investigations is an act of corrup-
tion. Corruption entails a variety of issues such as funds 
embezzlement, bribe issuance, and nepotism, among 
other issues. The acts can be legal or illegal depending 
on the context.

In Asia, corruption is defined as unjust and unlaw-
ful acts. The acts may include soliciting funds from the 
public for unjust practices. A boundary can be drawn 
between the level of corruption ranging from minor 
issues to more complex issues. Major corruption can 
include ghost workers, wrong tender issuance for the 
school constructions, supply, and the manufacture of 
books (Hallak & Poisson, 2007). Parents bribing the 
school heads to secure their children’s admissions and 
get promotions to the next grades is a minor form of 
corruption. Corruption is an injustice and classification 
as a minor or major issue should never be a matter of 
concern. Teacher’s appointments through corruption 
can delay administration and promote misbehavior. 

The determination of corruption varies from one 
state to another. In some countries, the issue of gifts 
to students in schools or public officers is unethical. 
They consider it as an act of bribery and punishable by 
the rule of the law. Some societies however accept the 
act of issuance of gifts for students and bets personal 
agents. They define corruption as Western belief that 
is in contradiction with reality. They see that a gift of 
low monetary value does not attract anything in return 
while that of high monetary value attracts something 
in return (Hallak & Poisson, 2007). Research indicates 
that persons share direct variations on what is ethical 
and what is unethical depending on the environment. 
The issuance of the gift can be narrowed to the edu-
cation centers of learning, some argue that a teacher 
offering private tuition is unethical while some can

Ndiku, Nasongo, & Odero, Ethics Education in Fight Against Corruption



7

argue that it is ethical. The quantification of the claim is 
justifiable by the ultimate end of the quality of educa-
tion. Therefore, for higher education institutions, pri-
vate tutoring can be considered a legal act. If students 
who fail to meet the required grades are offered private 
tuition by the higher education institutions through 
their funding then the case is ethical.

Omar (2005) avers that the trend of the corruption 
rate is more prevalent in African countries than the 
Western countries, with Asia having the highest rate 
of corruption. As years progress the rate of poverty 
in Asia declines while that in Africa increases rapidly. 
The increase in corruption rate in Africa is to blame for 
the high rate of poverty. In a report by Transparency 
International (2015), growth for the rich is seen to be 
increasing while that of the poor declining. Corruption 
makes citizens lose the trust of the political parties and 
even leaders. Lack of trust raveges learning institutions. 
If children are permitted to cheat in their exams, the 
higher institutions of education will lack trust in the 
credibility of the grades the students attain. Research 
shows that Kenya is one of the countries where bribery 
is likely to be issued. Kenya is ranked as one of the most 
corrupt countries in the world. In 2022, it was ranked 
at position 123 out of 180 countries of the world (An-
nan, 2022). The level of bribery is shown to have risen 
as the years progress. The level of bribery increase 
shows that those who cannot afford to bribe cannot 
attain services and the basic amenities in life. Accord-
ing to Odinga (2004), the level of bribery in parliament 
requires a commission for the disposal. If the MPs are 
corrupt and they are the key holders of the budgetary 
determination mandate, then the cost of living is likely 
to rise and children from poor families will not get the 
chance to have funding from the government for their 
studies. 

Adverse examples of corruption cases in Kenya 
have been categorized into five by Mohamed Noor 
(2018). The Goldenberg scandal which he states to 
be a long-lasting saga between 1991 and 1993 where 
Goldenberg International Company owned by a Kenyan 
tycoon businessman Kamlesh Pattni, would export jew-
elry and then get compensation from the Central Bank 
of Kenya for foreign exchange earnings. From the look 
of things, this scandal cost Kenyan taxpayers money 
around US dollars 600 (BBC News, 2004, cited by Noor, 
2018). The Anglo-leasing scandal came second involv-
ing a public procurement deal, a two-decade scandal 
with a series of corruption sagas in it. This scandal 
involved a series of dubious international financial

transfers that related to government security con-
tracts among other corruption cases. The third was the 
National Youth Service Scandal that suffaced between 
2015-2017. Here, officials discharged various contracts 
of procurement to companies but never delivered even 
though full payments were disbursed to each company. 
The fourth was the Rio Games Scandal in 2016 when 
the spirit of Kenyan athletes for the Rio Olympic games 
was shattered when money that was meant for their 
catering and comfort was stolen. There was also over-
pricing of return air tickets for the players. Lastly, Ken-
ya experienced a National Cereal and Produce Board 
Scandal that was affiliated with no genuine transaction 
records or receipts . With this and to blind Kenyans, 
the government of Kenya tried to react to these cases 
in court battles but the perpetrators were left free. The 
cases are still ongoing with no desirable fruits. This has 
resulted in mistrust of the government by the public. 
These are some of the cases of high-level corruption 
cases reported in Kenya. From the above assertions, 
corruption has adverse effects not only on the govern-
ment and institutions but also on the society at large. It 
has led to unfavourable economic conditions, political 
instability, poverty and unemployment. Among the cit-
izens, according to Mohamed Noor (2018), corruption 
has led to crime and insecurity, increased cost of goods 
and services, increased poverty, injustice and negative 
international image.

Role of Ethics Education in the 
Fight Against Corruption

The purpose of ethics education in general, is to 
build values and develop the knowledge, skills, and atti-
tudes necessary to shape students’ civic stance against 
corruption (Cam, 2016). The key to successfully fight-
ing corruption is to change the

culture among the young generation. Globally, cor-
ruption is an area of interest that has persisted to exist 
despite several attempts to stop it. The United Nations 
Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is trying to lead 
the Anti-Corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD), which 
is a collaborative project that seeks to encourage teach-
ing and research of anti-corruption issues by institu-
tions of higher learning. The initiative acts as a central 
hub for anti-corruption education worldwide. Its role 
is to bring together professors globally and regionally 
offering free online resources on possible mitigation 
online. The UNODC has also fought for “Education for 
Justice” that seeks to control crime and promote a cul-
ture of legitimacy through education activities at all

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Ndiku, Nasongo, & Odero,  Ethics Education in Fight Against Corruption



8

levels of education. It is therefore believed that this will 
help the next generation better understand vices of 
illegality and how best to overcome them. This however 
has not put forth or clearly shown the need and role of 
ethics education in curbing corruption. 

The World Economic Forum estimates the global 
cost of corruption is at least $2.6 trillion, or 5 percent of 
the global gross domestic product (Guteres, 2018). The 
UN convention, for example, emphasizes the need for 
being transparent and accountable for the actions that 
we undertake. The call for the eradication of the bribe 
issuance and receiving gives individuals equal opportu-
nities to acquire education. Education being the social 
equalizer helps society to understand appropriate acts 
and thus enables them to have a clear understanding 
that corruption is an act of injustice to human rights. 
If children are denied the rights to acquire education 
since they cannot bribe, the whole cause of humanity is 
triggered.

In Rwanda, the government has a mandate to pro-
mote accountability and transparency. The advocacy 
for transparency is an act of human rights (Sikhosana 
& Nzewi, 2019). It helps bridge the gap of corruption 
and the possible loopholes that can be incurable in 
society. Analysis of the cash flow and the fiscal budget 
helps eliminate the issuance of bribes since no money 
is left to be looted withoutbeing traced. Enforcement of 
transparency and accountability will release the much 
needed resources to the targeted development projects 
and help limit the poverty levels in the society. A cor-
rupt free society gives all children equal opportunities 
in the educational centers of learning and eradicating 
poverty. 

The effect of corruption ranges from the individual, 
society, and country up to the global perspective. In 
Nigeria for example, the effect of corruption is deeply 
rooted in the society affecting its individual (Okunlola & 
Obadare, 2016). The effect of corruption manifests from 
the economic perspective to the educational systems. 
Corruption being a global problem affects the citizens 
of various nations leading to the reduction in the moral 
fabric with the inclusion of academia. However, corrup-
tion is common in the underdeveloped or the develop-
ing nations. According to Okunlola and Obadare (2016), 
the World Bank report showed that the economies of 
the developing countries are more prevalent with cor-
ruption cases. Nigeria as an example shows high levels 
of poverty among the citizens with only a few individu-
als meeting their basic needs. The employers not being 
able to meet the employees needs such as salary pay-

ments and students’ ability to access education due to 
the poor facilities is a manifestation of the corruption 
depth.

Generally, corruption has adverse effects in any 
society. Some scholars have discussed various aspects 
and effects of corruption in various fields such as the 
economy and education. They however assert that even 
a small incidence of corruption can become dangerous 
to the normal functioning of the society and any insti-
tution of learning (Dreher & Herzfeld, 2005). Indeed 
a corrupt education system is the beginning of all 
problems to the society. For example, if students cheat 
in exams, the outcome is production of poor skilled 
personnel who cannot deliver in the economy as well as 
making the job market flooded with mediocrity and un-
derperformance. The lack of qualified personnel makes 
it difficult to enhance economic productivity. 

In a more corrupt society or institutions of learning, 
there exists a moral dilemma. Individuals in such envi-
ronments tend to collaborate in matters of corruption 
and as such, nobody can stand still in promoting ethics 
education (Hallak & Poisson, 2007). Ethics education 
plays a vital role in non-materialistic costs of corrup-
tion which is dangerous in the erosion of democratic 
values, human rights, and freedom which in turn may 
lead to the loss of human lives. Ethics education should 
hence be enhanced in all centers of learning ranging 
from the basic educational institutions to tertiary insti-
tuitions to generate a morally upright society. Though 
this might be a tall order, it is the way to go in the 
process of training the mind of all children from their 
formative stages in life.

Like many other countries, Kenya is one of the 
countries immensely affected by corruption. In the fight 
against this vise the country has developed institutions 
that are responsible for its eradication. There exists 
an approach of a legal and institutional framework 
through the enactment of laws and the establishment 
of institutions to fight this menace. For example, the 
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has 
yielded some positive breakthrough towards the fight 
against corruption. There has been also an attempt by 
Transparency International Kenya (TI-K) to initiate 
integrity clubs for students in ethical and integrity 
learning in schools (2015). This has been made possi-
ble by supporting and strengthening the activities of 80 
integrity clubs across the country. However, only three 
counties were taken care of; 30 in Trans-Nzoia County, 
29 in Kisumu County, and 21 in Kwale County to im-
prove discipline and responsibility among students. All

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9

this however hasn’t brought much positive change and 
the emphasis on ethics education as a criterion to curb 
corruption is imperative. The initiatives being made 
through the educational reforms as the country em-
braces Competency Based Education and introduction 
of life skills and fanning of moral education of values 
will impact the lives of the future generations. How-
ever, as it is now the little or no effort in the reduction 
of corruption cases can be attributed to the fact that 
some people who should serve as examples in society 
are the perpetrators of the vice. Kadida (2016) in his 
study ascertained that the Chief Justice and the Pres-
ident of the Supreme Court of Kenya was reported to 
have confessed that corruption networks in Kenya have 
penetrated even oversight institutions that are tasked 
with the role of fighting corruption. This in itself is an 
indication that there exists little moral leadership in 
Kenya at the top most the hierarchy which is expected 
by the public to be independent of such vices. This has 
pushed the need for a paradigm shift in the implimeta-
tion of life skills, values and moral education espoused 
in the Competency Based Education from the norm 
which is the ethics education perspective to addressing 
ethics through the multiple learning dimesions: formal, 
informal, and non-formal processes to bring about 
ethical reasoning and virtue formation. The education-
al reforms instituted through the Competency Based 
Education in Kenya have made progress in a number of 
ways. There is the mainstreaming of Pertinent Contem-
porary Issues (PCIs) to train the young ones on the evils 
of corruption in learning areas around Global Citizen-
ship, Life Skills and Values where life skills, values and 
moral education are articulated (KICD, 2017). This form 
of education is an all-round system that requires contri-
bution from all dimensions. The school being a formal 
institution that acts as a foundation where teaching 
and learning of all kinds can easily be executed remains 
the most ideal place for ethical values to be incurlcated 
now and in the future. The several constructive activ-
ities that take place during teaching and learning in a 
formal setup creates a fertile ground for the transmis-
sion of ethical education in all aspects of life during 
and after childhood. This includes learning through 
association, imitation, and interaction. If utilized well 
at this stage of life to its learners, there is a likelihood 
to produce citizens who are sound and responsible 
for their various actions in life, the workplace, and in 
society at large.

It is hoped the initiatives through implimetation of 
Competency Based Education will impact the student

soft skills to navigate daily issues of life with ease. 
Ethically grounded persons from school will shun and 
condemn acts of corruption regardless of the influence 
they may encounter in the line of duty. The continu-
ous education or creation of awareness on corruption 
helps to mitigate the possible ways for its elimination. 
Understanding that corruption is a form of injustice is 
the first ethical way for its eradication. Ethics educa-
tion in itself is an enemy of corruption since corruption 
requires individuals to perhaps take bribes for them to 
be served in any organization or institution. This form 
of education requires the same individuals to practice 
what is right and shun away from wrongdoing by all 
means regardless of the good things that come with it. 
The application of educational ethics will demand more 
transparency from the organizations be it vertical or 
horizontal. Ethics underscores doing what is right and 
instils the the will to speak against the vices in society, 
corruption included. The determination of its effects 
also drives the push for the anti-corruption commis-
sions to help fight the vice.

Ethics education enhances the awareness creation 
of the benefits of good morals such as good gover-
nance accompanied by transparency. It is in the same 
vein some civil society organizations, advocate for the 
fight against the corrupt practice. International civil 
society calls for transparency that enhances the good 
governance of its member states around the globe. 
The perception of the corruption index rate produced 
annually makes the member states debate on the issues 
regarding corruption. Despite, the lack of trust in the 
annual reports need for transparency by countries is no 
issue to bargain as the issue of corruption is hitting up. 
The address of corruption by countries helps investors 
build trust in a certain country and facilitate its eradi-
cation. Reinforcing what governments and civil society 
do to fight against corruption through ethics education 
will to a great extent contribute to sustaining the war 
against corruption. 

Theoretical foundation of ethics education 
to eradicate corruption

The underpinning theory encompassing the discus-
sion in this paper is the deontological theory of moral 
obligation. The word deontology derives from the Greek 
words for duty (deon) and science (or study) of (logos). 
In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is one 
of those kinds of normative theories regarding which 
choices are morally required, forbidden, or permitted. 
In other words, deontology falls withinthe domain of

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ational institutions concentrated on academic excel-
lence fanned by the push for good academic grades at 
the expense of morals and values training sometimes 
effectively achieved through informal and non- formal 
learning. 

Ethics education content concerning corruption
Ethics define the principles that morally control 

someone’s behavior in any activity. Ethics is a philo-
sophical branch that revolves around the analysis and 
concepts of moral interactions that helps identify the 
right or wrong. The ethical analysis helps us define 
ethics education which aids in the determination of 
pedagogical requirements through the analysis and 
conceptualization of behavior morally. Ethics education 
aims to assemble a knowledge body for its purposes 
rather than only studying ethics. Teaching ethics in 
schools helps children approach the life challenges they 
encounter. Educational ethics is considered a human 
right because it aids in making people free. According 
to Dewey, the introduction of democracy in teaching 
helps in the application of new methods in teaching and 
teaching (Dewey, 1980).

In education, four major ethical considerations 
takes the center of the pedagogical training. The ethical 
considerations include truth, dignity, act of fairness, 
and freedom. The ethical issues help one to grow with 
self-responsibility of determining what is right and 
what is wrong. 

Dignity and truth
Dignity in ethics education is defined as the re-

spect for human dignity (Parandeh, Khaghanizade, 
Mohammadi, & Mokhtari-Nouri, 2016). Students need 
to respect everyone including the younger ones. This is 
not only applicable to the students alone but also the 
teachers to respect others regardless of their ethnic 
background, age, religion, and opinions, and treat-
ment of people justly. Dignity and ethics education are 
strongly related and they can help regulate corrupt 
practices. On the other hand, truth aims at regulating 
the teachers’ activities by helping them steer the stu-
dents to move through life activities and environment 
for others. Truth helps in transparency, the transparen-
cy can range from the government activities to the ad-
ministrative agencies. Transparent administrative ways 
in the educational centers of learning can help curb the 
corrupt practices in society. They reduce the ways and 
channels of corrupt activities.

moral theories that guide and assess our choices of 
what we ought to do (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philos-
ophy, 2024). For deontologists, what makes a choice 
right is its conformity with a moral norm. Such norms 
are to be simply obeyed by each moral agent. 

The assumptions in the deontological theory is 
that society has developed clear rules, laws and norms 
that define the moral duty of individuals to act right 
and shun wrongdoing. Society employs education to 
transmit and inculcate morality in children. As such, 
the contents of moral education and the education-
al process should ensure that learners have a clear 
sense of what is right and wrong, good and bad, and be 
willing to choose right actions. In essence, if education 
is properly undertaken, then learners will be clear in 
their minds that corruption is wrong, evil and should be 
shunned by all.

Rationale and content of ethics education 
in combating corruption

Since education is considered the basic pillar of any 
society, different stakeholders are actively reinforcing 
ethics education around the world, for instance, UNES-
CO initiated a program in 2004 where it supported its 
member states in initiating and supporting teaching 
programs and professional ethics education. This is 
approached by Ten Have (2008), in his work addressing 
the influence of UNESCO in ethics education programs 
in schools.

Also, the European Union has encouraged its 
member states to incorporate ethics education in their 
school curricula. They stress that students who are 
equipped with ethical norms at early stages will easily 
understand that there are diverse conceptions, princi-
ples, and perceptions and have an improved ability to 
substantiate their moral judgments (Cam, 2016).

In the US, ethics education became part of most 
US institutions of higher education between 1980 and 
2015. Over time, ethics education has been attributed 
to playing a role in enriching students moral capacities 
and reinforcing community standards (Keohane, 2006). 
Ethics education in the US has produced consistent 
results and has provided structured opportunities for 
students to develop values associated with morality.

Traditionally, the African society took upon itself 
to produce ethically upright generations. After the 
introduction of formal education, the responsibility of 
inculcating ethics in children was left largely to schools 
(Mwanzia, 2019). This to a great extent has led to the 
erosion of the training in morals and values as educ- 

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Virtues training
 Virtues training entails the lifelong skills that help 

an individual live rightfully in society through associa-
tion with others. Virtues are related to ethics education 
as they advocate for rightful practices such as honesty, 
fairness, and freedom (Melé, 2005). Fair treatment of 
individuals stipulates that all people must be treated 
without discrimination. Fair treatment of individuals in 
society is arrived at fair practices in the school, as the 
school is a social organization that guides the activities 
of the society, if students are trained in the right way 
through virtues training, the students will acquire the 
rightful skills to employ in their daily dealings with oth-
ers, through the implication of virtues at a tender age 
in education, hence, human justice is attained which is 
also advocated for by human rights. 

Approaches in ethics education to 
eradicate corruption 

The approaches in ethics education to reduce 
corruption include instructional approach. According 
to Mulhearn et al., (2017), instructional approaches in 
ethics facilitates content delivery, the delivery method, 
processes, and activities. The instructional method is 
effective in the acquisition of the skills and knowledge 
of the learners. The acquired knowledge helps the stu-
dents acquire appropriate skills that promote heathy 
living through corruption eradication. Corruption is the 
key element that affects the current society. Improvi-
sation of the appropriate ways of its elimination helps 
equity in society.

 Instructional training helps the learners identify 
how corruption is carried out. The possible ways of 
evading them are identified in the instructional training 
(Mulhearn et al., 2017). The use of instructional meth-
ods such as video presentations of corruption being 
undertaken helps students identify the need to be just 
and practice fairness to others. If a teacher gives illegal 
marks to a student, for example, the other learners will 
be offended. The appropriate ways of elimination is 
through the application of relevant approaches. 

The second approach to the study of ethics in edu-
cation is the utilitarian approach. The utilitarian ap-
proach seeks that all people in society be treated fairly. 
It seeks that any action taken should strive to bring 
happiness to all the people in the society. If the action 
offends others, then the act should be eliminated. The 
use of the utilitarian approach in learners’ education 
helps them learn how to live socially and justly in soci-
ety. Since corruption denies members of the society

who cannot practice in the act of injustice fair treat-
ment, they are denied the rights and freedoms of asso-
ciation with other members of the society. Instilling of 
fair practices among learners at an early age through 
ethics education helps eliminate them. According to 
Armstrong, Ketz & Owsen, (2003), accounting students 
can invoke methods of cost to discuss it in varied topics. 
The utilitarian idea argues that “the end justifies the 
means,” this argues that people should engage in activi-
ties that are beneficial to all. Advocating for fair practic-
es helps reduce corrupt practices in society. 

Virtue approach can also be used in ethics educa-
tion to address corruption. Virtues approach aids in 
virtues development. The method is rooted in the philo-
sophical account for the conduct morally and the aim 
in education. According to Carr & Steutel (2005), the 
virtues approach aims at virtue promotion and instilla-
tion to the students. A teacher can practice morality by 
acting as an example to the students. Practicing a good 
role model is also a way of helping students acquire 
moral knowledge. If the teacher refuses to receive or 
issue a bribe, the students will learn that the act is 
a vice and they should not engage in it. The virtues 
approach aims at instilling values that are admirable 
to the learners (Carr & Steutel, 2005). If students grow 
up with moral values they will not engage or they will 
speak out against the vice. The virtues approach can 
well be addressed by the teachers by introducing it 
into the school curriculum. The government can chip in 
by providing the available resources to aid the virtues 
approach instilled in the learners. 

Conclusion 
Corruption has been found to be a serious challenge 

globally, internationally, and regionally. The cases of 
corruption range not only at individual level but also at 
groups, institutions of learning, and the government at 
large. Several efforts to curb this vice have produced lit-
tle or no fruits. With the involvement of the government 
bodies in corruption, it becomes difficult to overcome 
this vice, however, there is a need to instill ethical edu-
cation at grassroots levels in schools to produce future 
generations who are corruption-free and that will be 
commited to reduce the cases of corruption at all levels. 
It is due to this that this study sought to analyse the role 
of ethics education in the fight against corruption. The 
study was guided by the deontological theory of ethics 
whose main concern is on how individuals are expect-
ed to behave with respect to the moral duties they are 
entitled to. It is enshrined in the statement, “duty for

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12

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

duty’s sake”. Meaning that individuals who have en-
countered ethics education will be obligated to obey 
rules and laws on the right actions and shun vices like 
corrupt acts. The sources were extracted from litera-
ture with emphasis on secondary sources. The study 
used document analysis as qualitative paradigm was 
employed to arrange, locate and assess the information 
gathered.

Recommendations 
The authors recommend the following: 
There is a need for education stakeholders to foster 

ethics education in school curriculum. Thus ethics edu-
cation is to be made a compulsory subject in all stages 
of education. The ethics education process should 
emphasize the deontological theory of moral obligation 
such that learners adhere to rules and principles laid 
down at all times. Additionally, ethics education should 
promote rational reasoning in the way that individuals 
will critically reflect on how their actions might affect 
others, undermining their dignity and the common 
good, and strive to respect fellow humans by shunning 
corruption.

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Ndiku, Nasongo, & Odero,  Ethics Education in Fight Against Corruption

1 Judah M. Ndiku (jndiku@mmust.ac.ke) is an Associate 
Professor of Educational Administration & Management 
at Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, 
Kakamega, Kenya.

2 Joseph W. Nasongo (jwamoch@mmust.ac.ke) is an 
Associate Professor in the Department of Educational 
Foundations at Masinde Muliro University of Science & 
Technology, Kakamega, Kenya.

Authors

3 Monicah A. Odero (moniodero@gmail.com) is a 
Researcher at Masinde Muliro University of Science & 
Technology, Kakamega, Kenya..

https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/169763/Corruption%20in%20Kenya.pdf?sequence=2
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https://irbackend.kiu.ac.ug/server/api/core/bitstreams/404ef951-47d8-4a7d-98f1-c5b23ac25e75/content
https://plato.stanford.edu/ 
https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdf/10.1257%2F089533005774357860 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0090591705278397?casa_token=6XXs4mh_alQAAAAA:j3-v1nsvLOVLa-wi5vz-sFDsB6TW3C0CXHZyts4Tf43xrCFmH7GeMqroFp74gQLPJPMmYFs-nOU
https://www.tikenya.org
https://www.tikenya.org


Kamdjo, C.V. & Ngamaleu, HRN.  
Global Journal of  Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4 
pp 14-23. DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36662

Open Access

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© Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
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Market Orientation for a Contextualized Professionalization 
of Higher Education in Africa: State of Art

Carole Vanessa Kamdjo1 & Henri Rodrigue Njengoue Ngamaleu2

Abstract
Market Orientation is a managerial philosophy governing the behavior of all actors in an organization to 

create greater value for the benefit of all stakeholders. Considered in the field of education, this managerial 
culture presupposes questioning and involvement of the various stakeholders (students, companies, university 
competitors, etc.) allowing consideration of educational actions for the benefit of all these actors. The 
professionalization of teaching has been one of the major challenges of African educational systems for several 
decades. To meet this need, African governments have imported several education systems, the latest of which 
is the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate (BMD) system. We aim in our paper to posit that Africa was not ready for a 
world uniformization of diploma as BMD subsystem implemented. In this review of the literature, we compare 
publications to present the concept of Market Orientation, its conception in higher education and how it can be 
used to achieve goals of contextualized professionalization, using the Thirty Glorious Years and that of China’s 
period of industrialization to support understanding. This review finds that implementation of a market-
oriented culture can allow higher education to offer a response adapted to the expectations of society through 
five points summarized as 1) Orientation toward Policy-Makers; 2) Enterprises Orientation; 3) Competition 
Orientation; 4) Teachers and Students orientation; 5) Inter-functional coordination.

Keywords: Market orientation, Professionalization of teaching

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
The professionalization of higher education is a 

need for Africa’s governments independence. It could 
help to link education to economic needs and reduce 
poverty. For education systems, professionalization 
will help to enhance external effectiveness of higher 
education. Professionalization of programs can improve 
the graduates’ outlook in the job market. To achieve 
the goal of professionalization, higher education has 
imported several educational systems, the latest and 
currently used being the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate 
system. This system aims to professionalize higher ed-
ucation and its effectiveness remains mixed, as demon-
strated by many authors. Indeed, the reforms have 
taken place, but do not achieve the expected results 
in terms of improving employability (Bouba, 2014), 
enhancing personal and professional qualities (Bomda, 
Fozing and Mgbwa, 2022) or even the overall situation

of unemployment and underemployment (Avom & 
Nguekeng, 2019). Criticisms against this system have 
been made in other countries on the continent, notably 
in Algeria (Ghouati, 2022) and Senegal where its can-
cellation is being considered. This inadequacy is seen in 
an increasing underemployment rate. Indeed, according 
to economists, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region 
of the world most dependent on its agricultural sector, 
but the low competitiveness of traditional agriculture 
and struggle for access to natural resources have con-
tributed to accelerating the massive continuous migra-
tion of peasants towards the cities (Nkuitchou, 2022). 
This is why African cities have seen their population 
multiply by more than ten times during the 20th centu-
ry (Banque Africaine de Développement [BAD], 2020). 
This strong mismatch between the need for skills and 
the quality/level of education has harmful effects on 
employment conditions (BAD, 2020) and consequently 
on economic growth.

The objective of this article is to propose some axes 
for building and implementing a higher education

14



15

system that meets the contextual needs of the econo-
mies of African countries. To achieve this, the author’s 
research group has developed a documentary analysis 
that allows them to specify the definition of the con-
cept of professionalization adapted to higher educa-
tion, return to the conceptualization of the concept of 
market orientation and subsequently detail the axes of 
structuring and implementing a system of professional-
ization of higher education in a market-oriented logic. 
Without the pretension of completeness, at different 
stages, they enlighten their objectives by using two 
examples: the Thirty Glorious Years and the China expe-
rience. 

Conceptual Framework
The meanings taken by the word “professionaliza-

tion” closely depend on the conditions of its appearance 
and its use (Wittorski, 2008; Boussard, 2014; Ghouati, 
2022). The authors retain three specific meanings. 
Firstly, it concerns the professionalization of an activity 
understood as “the process by which an activity be-
comes a liberal profession driven by an ideal of service” 
(Wittorski, 2014, p. 16). Secondly, comes the profes-
sionalization of training or employment, which con-
sists of promoting the development of knowledge and 
skills through processes of learning, acquisition and 
development of skills that transform a learner into a 
professional (Wittorski, 2012; Boussard, 2014). Finally, 
comes professionalization understood as the evolution 
of an organization or a function (functional service) of 
the organization towards the production of organized 
and efficient work through the development of the 
flexibility of people at work (Wittorski, 2012). This 
last typology is based on current developments within 
organizations which are: work planning; the transition 
to a logic of results; as well as the transition from a 
centrally controlled system to a certain decentralization 
of responsibilities. 

In higher education, the authors mostly retain two 
conceptions of the professionalization concept. Firstly, 
the professionalization of the teaching activity consists 
of giving the teaching activity the character of a profes-
sion. Secondly, the professionalization of training con-
sists of creating a link between training and the labor 
market (Abdourhaman, 2018, Ghouati, 2022).

Professionalization of Teaching Activity
The professionalization of teaching activity is 

inspired by the work of sociologists who were first 
functionalists, then interactionists and finally conflict-

ualists on the dynamics of professions (Abdourhaman, 
2018). According to the latter, “professions” present 
a certain number of criteria such as autonomy, peer 
control, the ideal of service and a higher degree of uni-
versity education. The contemporary issue of teacher 
professionalization arises from a manifest desire to 
recognize the long-scorned teaching body. But does the 
tribute to teaching activity really comes with the tem-
porary professionalization revolution?

The tribute to the teaching profession is very old. 
It goes back almost to the depths of human civilization. 
Historically justified initially in the satire of Khety’s Sat-
ire of the Trades written around 1940–1900 BCE. The 
teacher is described as an official and high dignitary of 
the Egyptian kingdom (Marshall, 2016). The aim of ed-
ucation was to train “scribes” who could subsequently 
specialize in various fields such as medicine, veterinary 
science, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, theol-
ogy, law, painting, diplomacy, or translation (Mouni-
er-Kuhn, 2020). 

However, the authors demonstrate that this pro-
fession subsequently deteriorated when it reappeared 
in Greece between the 16th and 18th centuries as part 
of Protestant reforms and Catholic counter-reforms. 
Mainly carried out by women, the teaching activity is 
then linked to a certain vocation, a subjective impulse 
through which we feel called to fulfill an essential 
mission: that of teaching. The lack of training for these 
candidates was justified by the promotion of feminine 
virtues such as love of children, devotion, obedience, 
and the spirit of service and sacrifice. The working con-
ditions of a profession were not there either. Women 
teachers were required to fulfill their mission regard-
less of their material condition, even in the most mis-
erable conditions. Developments in teaching activity in 
Western history will also be initially marked by the rise 
of the first public and secular school networks and the 
integration of teachers into the public service. normal 
schools are created and gradually become compulsory 
(Tardif, 2013).

The “Age of the Profession” corresponds to the 
constitution of a professional identity of the teaching 
body, perceptible by external signs such as the training, 
swearing-in, solemn presentations of diplomas, special 
outfits, etc. (Maingari, 1997; Abdourhaman, 2018); but 
also perceptible by internal methodological rigor such 
as the definition of a pedagogical profile of the teacher 
as well as the definition of a knowledge base for the 
teaching profession (Tardif, 2013). Thus, the meaning 
of the professionalization concept in the logic of the

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



16

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

professionalization of teachers is mainly inspired by the 
definition of a professional group. It is indeed a ques-
tion of changing the status of teaching from a trade to a 
profession as in the Anglo-Saxon sense. This evolution 
implies a university education of high intellectual level, 
the definition of a scientific and specific knowledge 
base allowing teachers to be considered as pedagog-
ical specialists (Tardif 2022), as well as professional 
autonomy, or at least recognition, both legal and social, 
that the professional is best positioned to decide on 
the actions one must take in any professional situation 
(Wittorski, 2014).

Professionalization of Training
The conception of professionalism of training in 

higher education comes to complete the conception 
seen before. Indeed, among the criticisms made of 
higher education to demand its professionalization, its 
external effectiveness figures prominently. The current 
variation of professionalization suggests aligning traing 
training with employment. In a narrow vision, this con-
ception would reflect the idea of “professional training” 
(Boussard, 2014; Wittorski, 2014) and in this logic, 
professionalization would use teaching as it would 
have used other organizations involved in training. 
However, in a more globalizing vision, and especially 
in connection with the problem of external inefficiency 
of higher education, it is rather a system for promoting 
employment responding to the social quest of states to 
fight against unemployment, underemployment and, by 
extension, poverty (Abdourhaman, 2018) supposed to 
link training to a specific need of the labor market. 

In other words, professionalization conceived as a 
particular system for promoting employment, can be 
conceived on the one hand as the implementation and 
acquisition of a base of skills (knowledge, know-how 
and interpersonal skills) by learners (vocational train-
ing) or elsewhere in a more global way as a mechanism 
for regularizing education in order to produce gradu-
ates in quantities and numbers useful to the economy 
of a given region.

By summarizing, two complementary concepts 
emerge from what precedes the professionalization of 
teaching activity as a process of revalorization the pro-
fession of teaching and the training professionalization 
as a mechanism for improving the external efficiency 
of the higher education system. We use these concep-
tual bases to analyze articles and works relating to the 
implementation of the concept of market orientation in 
higher education. Our basic hypothesis is that the imp-

implementation of Market Orientation would indeed 
provide better operationality to the professionalization 
process.

Methodology
The context described above led us to under-

take qualitative review of the literature based on the 
analysis of a series of articles and books. The authors 
suggest that Africa was not ready for a world unifor-
mity of diploma as a BMD subsystem implemented. In 
professionalization of higher education, many African 
countries need to link higher training to political and 
economic needs. The authors also aim to support the 
professionalization goals of African countries. As a pro-
fession, educators need to construct a higher education 
subsystem that is Market Oriented. To verify this claim, 
the authors use a data collection and analysis strategy 
which is explained in this section.

Data Gathering
The authors have previously constituted a corpus of 

text to study relating to the synthesis of the concept of 
market orientation to provide a synthetic presentation. 
The authors then deepened the research by bringing 
together as many documents as possible relating to the 
adoption of market orientation in higher education. 
This research has mainly extended over the past ten 
years, providing the most updated information on the 
subject. But also, this choice is dictated by the relative 
recency of the use of the concept in higher education 
even if the literature reveals however that the imple-
mentation of the related techniques was introduced 
to higher education much earlier. As readers need to 
have more information about the educational subsys-
tem for economic growth, the authors end chose some 
documents relating to the economic growing in some 
other regions in the world especially during “the Thirty 
Glorious Years” and the China experience. 

Data Analysis
We submitted all the documents to a content 

analysis by proceeding to a complete reading of each 
document beforehand to determine the objectives and 
results obtained when it was a scientific study (article), 
but also, to determine the quintessence of the concep-
tual evolutions on the subject through the book chap-
ters. The researchers share their interpretation of the 
patterns in the literature as they relate to implementa-
tion of Market Orientation in higher education.

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



17

Market Orientation and its Implementation into 
Higher Education

The concept of Market Orientation finds its foun-
dations in the work of Kohli and Jaworsky (1990) and 
Narver and Slater (1990). It is then considered as “the 
implementation of the marketing concept” (Kohli & 
Jaworsky, 1990, p. 5). The latter designates “a philoso-
phy which postulates that the long-term profitability of 
a company is better ensured by focusing its activities on 
satisfying the needs of the consumers who make up one 
or more target segments” (p. 5). Thus, its initial con-
ceptualization is based on three essential dimensions: 
customer orientation, competition orientation and 
inter-functional coordination (Narver and Slater, 1990). 

However, the concept of Market Orientation differs 
from that of Traditional Marketing in the sense that 
the concept of Traditional Marketing is solely custom-
er-oriented and is generally confined to the marketing 
department, while the concept of Market Orientation is 
oriented towards the key players in the market and is 
seen as a cross-cutting culture that challenges all com-
pany functions at all hierarchical levels (Khan, Khan & 
Rafique, 2023). Initially made up of the components of 
customer orientation and competition orientation in its 
founding definitions, reflections on Market Orientation 
will be based on fundamental theories of organizations 
such as stakeholder theory and agency theory in order 
to evolve towards the birth of two new theoretical 
propositions.

Firstly, the question of the consideration of dimen-
sions of market orientation was reconsidered by the 
progressive integration of all the stakeholders of the 
organization (Bugandwa, 2013), secondly, the Market 
Orientation has been understood from its foundation as 
an organizational culture solely guided by a principle of 
defensive management (Ngatno, 2019). This translates 
into a reaction to the non-completely satisfied needs of 
customers. However, organizational performance strat-
egies will also translate into anticipating competitive 
decisions and forecasting markets (Schulze, Townsend 
& Talay, 2022). The integration of a proactive logic and 
by extension of an offensive management, thus makes it 
possible to define the concept of Market Orientation in 
a more complete and more structured way. This is why 
the concept of Market Orientation will be defined more 
globally like a managerial philosophy governing the be-
havior of all actors in an organization for the creation of 
greater value for the benefit of all stakeholders (Khan, 
Khan & Rafique, 2023).

A pure transposition of the Market Orientation 
model from the for-profit field (customer orientation, 
competition orientation, inter-functional coordination) 
to higher education raises great controversy. However, 
several studies have simply limited themselves to it 
(Hammond, Webster, & Hammond, 2020), while others 
have still made a real adjustment to take into consid-
eration the specificities of the education markets in 
general and especially in the higher education field. 
The authors will first proceed with a presentation of 
the criticisms brought to a pure transposition of Market 
Orientation in higher education to better support the 
concept, before succinctly presenting the implementa-
tion model they support for Market Orientation adapt-
ed to higher education.

Criticisms of Pure Transpositions of Market  
Orientation to Higher Education

The criticisms made of the transposition of Mar-
ket Orientation into an educational context are of two 
complementary orders and stipulate that teaching has 
no commercial scope; therefore, the student cannot be 
considered a customer.

The first criticisms of the importation of techniques 
and tools from commercial companies to educational 
institutions consist of the consideration that education-
al institutions would be considered more as non-profit 
institutions and therefore non-market (Dwyer, 2022). 
A non-profit organization can be defined as an orga-
nization established for altruistic, moral, social, edu-
cational, religious, philanthropic, health, etc. purposes 
and whose activities must not provide any economic 
advantage to its members and donors. It can be safely 
said that HEIs falls under the non-profit sector since ed-
ucational institutions in general and especially higher 
education institutions (HEIs) serve the public good.

The second criticism arises from the fact that in 
Market Orientation considerations, the students are 
generally assimilated to the customer. This consider-
ation is recurrent in Anglo-Saxon works due to the high 
tuition fees that completely cover the cost of education 
(e.g.: Webster, Hammond and Rothwell, 2017). Howev-
er, most students and practitioners in French-speaking 
countries reject this consideration for two reasons. The 
first is conceptual and clearly poses the question: “Is 
the ‘customer’ concept semantically the right one to 
design students?” (Bugandwa, 2013, p. 70).

Drawing on stakeholder theory, supporters of Mar-
ket Orientation in higher education will conceptualize a 
more digestible model adapted to higher education.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



18

This managerial culture presupposes the question-
ing and involvement of various stakeholders (students, 
companies, universities competitors, public policy 
etc.) (Dwyer, 2022), allowing planners to think about 
educational actions for the benefit of all these actors 
(Bugwanda, 2013; Hammond, Webster, & Hammond, 
2020). Actions can follow by cross-functional coordi-
nation which ensures the dissemination of resolutions 
and the creation of synergies within educational insti-
tutions (Mokoena, 2019). These practices are described 
by the expressions such as student-driven, competition 
orientation, enterprises and investors orientation, 
Orientation towards policymakers, cross-functional 
coordination and responsiveness (Bugwanda, 2013; 
Dollinger & Vanderlelie, 2020). Thus, a good implemen-
tation of a market-oriented culture makes it possible to 
generate an educational system that meets the envis-
aged contextual need. In this part we briefly present 
what each of the approaches to market orientation re-
fers to according to the current literature and for each 
we have taken care to verify its application in the two 
economic growth models chosen as examples. Namely 
in particular the period of the Thirty Glorious Years and 
the Chinese growth experience. 

Orientation Towards Policymakers
Orientation towards policymakers is supposed a 

perfect correlation between the needs of economic 
growth plans and educational goals (Dwyer, 2022). 
Firstly, the literature generally gives fundamental im-
portance to the donors of non-profit organizations such 
as the government and government agencies, volun-
teers, etc. The public authorities, as the main financial 
provider of HEIs, it is important presumably to consider 
their interests which are generally of a societal nature.

In the medium term, the objective of higher edu-
cation must be centered on the production in number 
and quality of graduate profiles corresponding to the 
planned needs of the economy. Indeed, according to the 
authors of the theory of human capital, we must invest 
more in education to stimulate and converge toward 
long-term growth (Moulin, 2022). In addition, public in-
vestment in education is accompanied by other positive 
effects since more educated people are healthier and 
have a longer life expectancy.

The French and Canadian experience of the Thirty 
Glorious Years Period (1945-1975) shows an “econ-
omization of higher education.” A “welfare state” was 
quickly formed in both countries (Doret & Manifet, 
2017; Bongrand, 2021). Indeed, according to the

authors, it is a matter of “promoting education as a 
lever for economic policy.” In France, we are witnessing 
vast transformations in higher education, marked first 
by the democratization of higher education, which was 
once elitist. This “democratization” is thus inseparable 
from the economization of the educational institution. 
In fact, the reform attempts to adjust the structures and 
operating methods of the public education service to 
the anticipated evolution of needs for qualified person-
nel. It is in this perspective that the Berthoin decree of 
January 6, 1959, the official kick-off of the reform, urges 
“investment to full benefit” in school, presented as an 
instrument capable of converting “human expansion” of 
the baby boom in “economic expansion 21” (Bongrand, 
2021). This movement led at the end of the 1960s to 
the equating of training with employment in adminis-
trative nomenclatures.

The more recent Chinese experience (1980 to the 
present) is not an exception, in fact professional higher 
education has become “a pragmatic strategic choice 
which aims to take into account the main national 
characteristics”. The government ensures its manage-
ment and promotion. To this end, we note the launch of 
the construction of 100 professional higher education 
establishments in 2006 following a decision by the 
state council. Training is therefore oriented by the plan-
ning of the economy, and its design with industrial and 
commercial players as co-actors. (Yang and Lin, 2016). 
Indeed, professional higher education constitutes an 
exceptional alternative to higher education. It even 
tends to replace the latter by displaying an access rate 
of more than 50% of all national students in 2020 and 
constantly increasing. 

Student-Driven or Student Orientation
Students’ orientation will be defined as the degree 

to which universities try to consider the current and 
latent needs of their students (current and potential, 
and in a more extensive sense, their parents). Consis-
tent with the Malcolm Baldridge Criteria for Education 
and based on the roles stated above, this orientation 
implies both the learning process and students’ satis-
faction. Students are the most cited stakeholders in the 
literature (eg: Bugandwa, 2013; Hammond, Webster, & 
Hammond, 2020; Dollinger & Vanderlelie, 2020; Muya, 
& Tundui, 2023). They play a vital and complex role in 
the existence and functioning of higher education insti-
tutions (Hammond, Webster, & Hammond, 2020). First, 
students constitute the raw material when they are 
admitted to higher education. Educators should then

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



19

use training and practice to produce well-trained and 
virtuous citizens. At this level, students’ satisfaction 
is not a valid measure, because the end customer is 
society (public and private companies, educational 
institutes, hospitals, etc.). Thus, customer orientation 
applies here is not for the student but to other stake-
holders who intend to use the students’ skills (Aghajari, 
& Varij, 2023). Furthermore, students are actors in 
learning and co-producers of knowledge because they 
combine their efforts with those of the institution and 
those of the trainers to produce a particular finished 
product - themselves (Dollinger & Vanderlelie, 2020). 
In addition, they participate in the training process 
through their skills, and through the training previously 
acquired, and through their diligence.

From the previous analysis, the complexity of the 
role of students in their relationship with higher edu-
cation institutions clearly emerges. However, it has the 
advantage of showing us that student orientation takes 
on meaning in higher education and can be conceptual-
ized both in terms of students’ satisfaction and in terms 
of improvement of learning (Meia, Stumpf, & Garessus, 
2021). Little attention paid to students’ requests re-
flects an asymmetry between training staff and learners 
(Serres, Escalié and Magendie, 2019).

According to the literature, everything suggests 
that student orientation was not a priority for higher 
education systems during the “Thirty Glorious Years” 
period. One of the justifying reasons can be found in the 
fact that the revolution in professional training was first 
carried out by young people, particularly in the depart-
mental circles of young farmers aged 15 to 30 for whom 
young people must become apostles of knowledge, that 
is to say, “make training desirable” (Bongrand, 2020, p 
40). Knowledge is then considered by the latter as the 
pivot of tomorrow’s agriculture. 

Indeed, according to the Chinese vocational training 
system, a modern vocational training system is not only 
one aligned with economic development but also one 
that “prioritizes student-centered development” (Yang 
and Lin, 2016, p. 148). However, this trend is quite 
recent, since around 2016, the training system was pre-
viously centered on the national strategy for balanced 
development. It therefore initially relied on the region-
al growth policy, the industrialization plan as well as 
small and medium-sized businesses in rural areas or 
booming activities in third- and fourth-tier cities (Jiang, 
2015).

Enterprise Orientation
The role of companies in HEIs is perceived accord-

ing to the literature in three main points: they are the 
first users of higher education products (training and 
research). They can be considered clients of these 
institutions through research contracts and lifelong 
training (Aghajari, & Varij, 2023). They are players in 
training thanks to internships in companies and the 
growing development of professional sectors which 
require their expertise. Thus, relations between higher 
education establishments and businesses go beyond 
simple financial relations, which means that companies 
are considered undeniably important stakeholders 
(Bugwanda, 2013).

For the two examples of development illustrated in 
this work, business orientation is an important dimen-
sion of professionalization in higher education. During 
the “Thirty Glorious Years,” the transformation of the 
social role of school and the functionalization of the 
latter resulted firstly from increased investment on the 
part of industrial and agricultural circles (Bongrand, 
2020). For companies in the 1950s, it was then a matter 
of integrating the “Training Within Industry” principle 
from the American economy. This principle is the basis 
of current life-long training. In China, businesses are 
the second pillar of vocational training after national 
development policy (Jiang, 2015). In 2014, President Xi 
Jinping reiterated this again in these terms: “We must 
continue the integration of production and education, 
cooperation between enterprises and establishments, 
the combination of work and study and the unity be-
tween knowledge and action, but also lead the commu-
nity, especially industries and enterprises, to actively 
support vocational training and strive to build a voca-
tional training system with Chinese characteristics.” 
(Yang and Lin, 2016, p. 149).

Competition Orientation
The opening of education to the private sector as 

well as the globalization of education have brought with 
them the birth and growth of the concept of competi-
tion within higher education. Educational paths for an 
increasingly large proportion of students include an 
experience abroad (Moulin, 2022). These recent and 
profound transformations in higher education have the 
effect of fueling increased competition between stu-
dents, between establishments and between national 
higher education systems. This competition, according 
to the authors, can be identified along three axes.

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Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



20

First, competition between higher education insti-
tutions in the same geographical area mainly linked to 
the democratization of higher education (Bongrand, 
2021). Second, competition between national higher 
education systems and between institutions on an 
international scale. Indeed, with the globalization of 
higher education and especially the harmonization on 
an almost planetary scale of educational systems as 
promoted by the LMD system, educational paths are 
marked, for an increasingly significant part of stu-
dents, by an experience abroad. Universities must now 
demonstrate their performance (university ranking) 
to attract the best minds or recruit internationally. 
Competition on an international scale therefore takes 
the form of rivalry sometimes in terms of performance 
(best rankings on a regional or international scale), 
sometimes in terms of marketing tactics to attract 
new recruits (awareness raising, promotional recruit-
ment policies, etc.) (Bugandwa, 2013). The final form 
of competition is competition in the virtual market. 
It takes shape with the evolution of Information and 
Communication Technologies (ICT). It mainly targets 
the continuing education market. Competition orien-
tation therefore requires full awareness of this state of 
competition between universities and between national 
higher education systems.

The competition orientation is perceived in terms 
of competition between national higher education sys-
tems. A large part of the literature on the Chinese high-
er education system reports that Chinese professional 
higher education constitutes a unique contribution to 
the global education system (Jiang Dayuan, 2015). This 
professional education then constitutes an “inimita-
ble source of vitality” for higher education (Yang and 
Lin, 2016). For the period of Thirty Glorious Years, the 
question of institutional competition resulted only in 
the concern for the various governments to keep their 
workers in regional growth zones (Bongrand, 2021).

Employees Orientation
The importance of employees in creating superior 

market values has been demonstrated in traditional 
Market Orientation literature (Khan, Khan & Rafique, 
2023). Employee satisfaction is defined as an organiza-
tion’s intention to serve the interests of its employees 
and meet their needs. (Yau et al., 2007 cited in Bu-
gandwa, 2013). In all organizations, especially service 
organizations, employees represent the cornerstone of 
the success of any strategy. To improve the quality of 
education, universities must encourage staff inter-

interactions with students. The satisfaction of the latter 
may also depend on the way in which non-academic 
staff organize their services in the different depart-
ments. The importance of teaching staff in higher edu-
cation has been demonstrated along at least two lines.

First, the quality of training depends mainly on the 
teachers and employees of an establishment. Indeed, 
several studies on student satisfaction and the quali-
tative perception of training have shown a correlation 
between the latter and the well-being of administrative 
staff and that of professors in an establishment (Serres, 
Escalié and Magendie, 2019). This result is, however, 
tempered because other studies affirm that students 
say they are satisfied with a teacher when the teacher 
pays attention to their difficulties and makes efforts to 
help them assimilate the course (Dollinger & Vanderle-
lie, 2020). 

Students’ perception of academic performance then 
depends on the relational climate with the teachers and 
staff of the establishment. Doctoral research carried 
out on students from 11 Tunisian universities demon-
strates that organizational commitment has a signif-
icant impact on perceived quality (Bugandwa, 2013). 
Indeed, according to these authors, organizational 
commitment is an antecedent of perceived quality in 
higher education.

Inter-Functional Coordination 
Cross-functional coordination involves a clear 

understanding and smooth flow of information about 
key stakeholders’ expectations and organizational 
beliefs, culminated by communicating these expecta-
tions through formal and informal means (meetings, 
brainstorming, etc.) to all members of the organization 
(Bughanda, 2013). This assumes that the process of 
creating stakeholder value is not the work of a single 
function, but rather the entire organization. This con-
sideration is very clearly in line with that of Kohli and 
Jaworski (1990). Ultimately, it is about improving the 
way in which the educational organization is supposed 
to respond to its market. It also refers to the sense 
of shared values and beliefs and their relationship to 
achieving organizational goals. Cross-functional coordi-
nation involves the degree to which information about 
stakeholders and the macro environment is shared 
across the organization.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



21

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Responsiveness
This last dimension of market orientation in edu-

cation is not really a dimension. It corresponds to the 
culmination of the first six dimensions and consists 
of the response, in terms of training architecture and 
the higher education training system, to the needs of 
society represented by the main stakeholders (Dwyer, 
2022). As presented in the literature, this last point 
refers to the dimension of responsiveness as defined 
by Kohli and Jaworski (1990). Higher education can no 
longer evade its essential mission of responding to the 
needs of society (Bughanda, 2013). Furthermore, it is 
necessary to clarify that, more than any other organiza-
tion, higher education institutions should not limit their 
actions to responding to external pressures. Instead 
of being subjected to such pressures and suffering the 
consequences, they are encouraged to act proactively 
in their environment. This is particularly important for 
higher education institutions, as students and other 
stakeholders may misunderstand their needs (Aghajari 
& Varij, 2023). Higher education should strive to change 
the behaviors of stakeholders, such as explaining to 
students the quality requirements in higher education, 
helping them understand their role in the learning 
process, etc. They can then base their initiatives on 
the vision of overall national policies in terms of medi-
um-term needs of the national labor market.

In summary, the response to the professionaliza-
tion of higher education in a logic of adequacy be-
tween training and employment is mainly driven by 
the national vision of the human capital needs of the 
various economic sectors. The two examples taken for 
this work confirm this reflection. Conceptually, this first 
position can be seen as an orientation towards political 
decision-makers. This initial orientation toward polit-
ical decision-makers makes it possible to specify the 
areas of activity to be prioritized in the professionaliza-
tion strategy as in the case of China (Yang & Lin, 2016). 
It will be followed by orientations towards the other 
stakeholders mentioned above (enterprises orientation, 
educational staff orientation, competition orientation, 
student orientation) in order to support and improve 
the content of the programs and use of appropriate 
pedagogy. Functional coordination will determine the 
capacity to distill the objectives pursued within all the 
actors and at all functional levels and to generate an 
adequate response at all levels of the overall training 
structure.

Are we ready for global harmonization of  
higher education?

We have theoretically analyzed what the profes-
sionalization of higher education refers to. In short, it is 
about adapting to one’s political and economic envi-
ronment. For some, it is about the economization and 
functionalization of higher education (Bongrand, 2021). 
For others, it is about preparing students by integrat-
ing production, teaching and research in the service 
of development and employment (Yang & Lin, 2016). 
Nkuitchou (2022, p.518) further demonstrated that we 
cannot talk about the same human capital in two envi-
ronments where the stages of economic development 
and the growth objectives are different. Ultimately, Af-
rican countries would benefit from working on defining 
a higher education system representative of its values, 
culture, and economy.

Conclusion
Since independence, the main mission of higher 

education for sub-Saharan African countries has been 
the response to personnel needs as determined by 
public policy. However, with a view to aligning with 
international developments, this primary vocation of 
African universities has been qualified by a certain 
number of logics which are however not necessary for 
the economic and social construction of our nations. 
Throughout this article we have argued that, in fact, 
in a logic of growth as expressed by most countries of 
sub-Saharan Africa, higher education has remained a 
tool for the construction of human capital necessary 
to achieve societal objectives. The ambition for profes-
sionalization, as stated by the educational authorities, 
finds its full meaning. However, it lacks implementation 
in the daily experience of higher education institutions. 
The concept of market orientation as stated above 
lays some foundations. Overall, the implementation of 
a market-oriented culture within professionalization 
objectives, involves: 
1.  Understanding national development objectives 

and their translation in terms of human capital 
needs; this first step is qualified as orientation to-
ward policy makers. 

2.  Selection and integration into the definition, im-
plementation, and monitoring of training content 
of companies whose activities are close to national 
priorities which can be call Enterprises Orientation. 

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



22

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

3. The popularization of the quality of training 
planned or implemented to captivate and retain 
students name Competitor Orientation.

4. The promotion of the teaching staff as well as the 
progressive and controlled integration of comments 
from students and their parents seen as Teacher 
and Student Orientation. 

5. All this is supported at each stage by excellent in-
ter-functional coordination. 

The examples used in this work without pretension 
of exhaustiveness contribute to demonstrating that a 
synergy of actions as defined above will allow higher 
education to offer a response adapted to the expecta-
tions of society. As economists point out, African econo-
mies, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa are mainly made up 
of informal businesses which create significant obsta-
cles to the continent’s development challenges (Nkui-
tchou, 2020). This dissonance is supported by chronic 
under-industrialization, a still rudimentary agricultural 
system. Faced with these economic issues, should 
the professionalization system adapt to its informal 
economic environment? or should it be aligned with 
growth planning which is sometimes limited to the sole 
description in documents?

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Contreras, E. & Bedford, L. Global Journal of 
Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4   
pp 24-31  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.34388

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Contreras & Bedford. 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which 
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

The Transformative Nature of Graduate Education

Elizabeth Contreras1 and Laurie Bedford2

Abstract

Doctoral education is a complex and sometimes intimidating process. However, it is also transformative. 
Transformational Learning Theory, developed by Mezirow in 1991, helps to explain how graduate education 
is transformative through embracing education in a cognizant and reflective way. Transformational Learning 
Theory states that learners change the perception of their experiences and interpret it differently as they prog-
ress in their learning. By helping students connect with the school community, their professors, and their own 
metacognitive process, Transformational Learning Theory helps explain the evolution students go through as 
they progress through doctoral programs. Written as a personal reflection on the transformative experience of 
doctoral education, this article explores Transformational Learning Theory in a real-world, practical manner, 
providing helpful strategies to apply the Transformational Learning Theory to the doctoral education experi-
ence, helping doctoral students embrace their own transformation.

Keywords:  Transformational learning, Graduate education, Doctoral students, Growth mindset, 
Discourse- reflection cycle. 

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

What does it mean to earn a doctorate? Does it 
mean to develop expertise in one specific, narrow area 
of a dissertation study? Does it mean to grow as an 
academic and evolve in one’s academic acumen? Does it 
mean to contribute to the scholarly community and join 
the discourse of researchers in the world of academia 
through unique research that fills gaps in the overall 
intellectual knowledge base? Does it mean to acquire 
more qualifications that enable the progression to 
university professor or academic? Put simply, the doc-
toral experience and the process of earning a terminal 
degree is a combination of the answers to each of these 
questions and because of this is naturally transforma-
tional. I knew as a child that I wanted to earn a Ph.D., 
but it was not until thirteen years into my career as an 
educator that I finally achieved this ambition. What I 
discovered is that at its core, the doctoral journey is one 
of transformation. I began my journey with one inter-
pretation of what it meant to be earn a doctorate and 

when I finished, I realized it was a much deeper expe-
rience than I had expected. My intention in this article 
is thus to examine and evaluate my experience in the 
doctoral journey and true growth that came once I 
embraced the transformational nature of the doctoral 
journey. In this article, I will relate my own experiences 
and reflection as a doctoral candidate. I will examine 
the discourse-reflection cycle, the need for community, 
and the best practices that assisted me in transforming 
from an educator with a master’s degree to a doctor 
with a Ph.D. By juxtaposing my experience with the 
Transformational Learning Cycle, I will endeavor to 
help the novice doctoral candidate understand that the 
doctoral and dissertation process is transformational in 
nature and how to best embrace this philosophy. 

Transformative Learning Theoretical Framework
Transformative Learning developed by Mezirow 

(1991, 1998) is the process of evolving assumptions 
and interpretations of a student towards their learn-
ing and is based on the experiences the learner goes 
through. Transformational learning according to 

24



Contreras & Bedford, Transformative Nature of Graduate Education 25

Mezirow (1998), evolves as a series of frames of 
reference that change based on the experiences of 
the student. The theory is based on the idea that 
students interact with their professors and fellow 
students in a discourse reflection cycle that helps 
inform the student’s understanding of their learning. 
This is encapsulated in the Transformational Learning 
Process (Mezirow, 2000). According to Mezirow 
(2000) in the beginning of the process, students 
experience a disorientation phase in which they may 
feel confused or overwhelmed. When the student 
becomes self-aware, they progress to self-examination, 
assessment, recognition, and exploration. Once these 
stages are complete, the student’s interpretation 
of their experience changes and they enter into a 
more proactive stage of planning a course of action. 
Once complete, the student begins to actively, and 
consciously acquire knowledge and begin to try out 
different roles. This leads to the stage of developing 
self-confidence. Finally, the student reintegrates 
into the process as they start a new stage in their 
development and the process begins all over again. 
This process helps the student to grow and transform 
as they progress from a stage of disorientation to 
self-confidence. This process, according to Mezirow 
(2000) is best facilitated when students engage in a 
discourse-reflection cycle. This involves interacting 
with professors and classmates productively and using 
their feedback to reflect on the learning experience. 
Such community connections help to form the basis 
of an inquiry process in which the student actively 
participates in meaningful research and reflection. 
Through the community connections, discourse-
reflection cycle and inquiry process, students develop 
a growth mindset. This mindset helps them to become 
conscious of how their interpretations of their 
experiences have changed and the transformative 
process is complete. 

Transformational Learning Cycle
To begin, I will review my path to the doctoral 

program to establish a foundation for how the doctoral 
process was transformative.. I earned my master’s 
degree in history in 2004 at the age of 22. I decided to 
start working as a teacher instead of continuing my 
education. Ten years later, I determined that it was 
time to go back for my doctorate. However, the ten-year 
furlough in my education was long enough that when I 
went back, the systems had changed. Instead of a face-
to-face program, I determined an online program

worked best for my needs and I had to adjust to the 
unique nature of online learning. Between finishing 
my masters and starting my doctorate, the nature of 
education had changed, and I had changed as well. 
My interpretation of what I needed in a program had 
transformed from wanting a face-to-face program as 
in my masters to deciding on an online program for 
my doctorate. So too, I found the writing and citation 
format of APA instead of Chicago, the nature of 
research, and even the generally acceptable sentence 
structures were vastly different from what I was 
accustomed to coming from the world of history. I 
entered my doctoral program with a master’s in history, 
and as an accomplished educator but realized that I 
was very much a novice researcher. My interpretation 
of where I was, as Mezirow’s (1998) theory illustrates, 
had altered. I quickly recognized I would need to 
grow, evolve, adapt, and change. In simple terms, to be 
successful, I would have to transform. When I realized 
this, my progress in the doctoral program increased 
and I found it highly rewarding. It was clear that the 
feedback from professors on papers, the assignments 
I completed, and every interaction was part of the 
transformational process, taking me from accomplished 
educator and master historian to scholar and academic. 
Through their feedback, I was able to grow and my 
interpretation of what I needed changed to one of 
seeing every interaction as a constructive one and 
part of my process of growth. Transformative learning, 
according to Mezirow (1998), is based on the evolving 
interpretations and assumptions of the student as they 
progress through the program. 

It is for this reason that the Transformational 
Learning Theory is so important for doctoral 
candidates to understand. Transformational Learning 
Theory, developed by Mezirow (1991) is based 
on the idea that learners’ interpretations of their 
learning experiences evolves and changes as they 
progress through their educational journey. It helps 
to explain the nature of doctoral education as a 
process of evolution and metamorphosis. Thus, before 
examining how it relates to the doctoral process and 
my own journey, it is essential to understand what 
Transformational Learning Theory is and how it 
helps to shape the doctoral process. Transformational 
Learning Theory was developed by Mezirow in 1991. 
Based on a constructivist paradigm, Transformational 
Learning Theory provides insight into the process that 
doctoral candidates go through in that it helps explain 
how developing expertise, growing as an academic, and

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Contreras & Bedford, Transformative Nature of Graduate Education 26

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

taking the important step of entering the world of 
university research are evolutionary processes (Craig 
et al., 2001; King, 2002). In this lens, doctoral education 
is viewed as the process of gaining professional 
knowledge and skills that the individual can use to 
enhance their practice and the discipline. In other 
words, the doctoral candidate transforms from a master 
in their respective field to a scholar-practitioner by 
absorbing new ideas, information and experiences. 
Their interpretation of what they need and how they 
view themselves in the process grows and changes. The 
transformational nature of the doctoral program, is 
therefore, inherent in the doctoral journey. 

However, beyond the cognitive experiences, 
doctoral education should also result in a personal 
transformation that includes shifts towards expanded 
consciousness and professional emotions (Stevens-
Long, et al., 2012).  This means that as the student 
progresses in the doctoral process, their interpretation 
of what they need and how they see their journey 
changes. While there are many macrostructures 
that define the doctoral and dissertation process 
(Anderson, Alexander, & Saunders, 2020), such as 
enrollment and writing proficiency requirements, 
a primary consideration is that while doctoral 
candidates may conduct and publish a formal study 
in their dissertation, the process is what facilitates 
transformation. The doctoral candidate is in a state of 
evolution or transformation, learning the processes 
necessary to become a contributing member of the 
academic community and in this process interpreting 
and reinterpreting how they view their experience. 
The doctoral candidate, upon entering the doctoral 
program, or even when defending their dissertation 
is not expected to be perfect. What is essential is not 
the flawlessness of the journey but how the process 
of working conducting research that culminates in a 
completed dissertation helps the doctoral candidate 
build the skills necessary to practice at a higher 
academic level. The dissertation process, like doctoral 
course work and the experience as a whole, is a training 
process meant to assess how adept the doctoral 
candidate adapts to circumstances, meets challenges, 
and solves complex problems. It is the ability to adapt, 
evolve, and respond that is both evaluated and at the 
center of the transformative process because it helps 
students to grow (Steven-Long et al., 2020). When 
doctoral candidates understand this, they can reflect 
on the learning process and become conscious of how 
their interpretations of their growth has changed 

(Mezirow, 1997), ultimately making the transition from 
apprentice researcher to advanced scholar (Garcia & 
Yao, 2019). 

Discourse Reflection Cycle
When I began to consciously evaluate how my 

interpretation of my experience was changing, and 
was thus able to see the doctoral process as one of 
transformation, I was able to make real gains in my 
own knowledge base and develop a perspective that 
enabled me to grow. When I was younger, getting my 
master’s degree, I was wedded to the words of my 
thesis and each time my Chair gave me advice and 
constructive criticism, I was offended and felt that 
he was judging the merits of my paper and my worth 
as a scholar and writer. However, when working 
through the doctoral program, it was clear, after ten 
years as an educator, that my professors, in providing 
me feedback were not judging my academic merit or 
criticizing my worth as a scholar but were instead 
attempting to guide me through constructive criticism 
to hone my understanding. This epiphany helped me 
to understand this as transformative experience. My 
interpretation of the writing process transformed as 
per the Transformational Learning Theory. I realized 
that if I were to reflect upon the feedback and discourse 
with professors, I could grow and develop competence 
in my ability to conduct rigorous academic research. 
This discourse-reflection cycle, when viewed through 
the lens of Transformative Learning as described by 
Mezirow (1991), assisted me in making the most of 
the discourse with my professors and assisted me 
in gaining the skill set and foundation necessary to 
embark upon my dissertation research. Without this 
frame of mind, my outlook would have stayed fixed 
and while I may have successfully completed my 
dissertation, I would not have made the gains necessary 
to join the academic community. But, by becoming 
conscious of my the transformative nature of my 
experience and  by embracing feedback and using it to 
grow, my mind was open to change, and evolution was 
inevitable. Not only did I complete my dissertation, 
but I absorbed a wide variety of ideas, techniques, and 
methods from my various professors and developed a 
strong knowledge base from which to start my life as a 
professional at the doctoral level.

Therefore, what is the discourse-reflection cycle 
and how it is informative to the doctoral candidate and 
fit into Transformative Learning Theory? As candidates 
begin in the doctoral program, they are often unfamiliar



27

with academic processes. To help them become con-
scious of how their experiences inform their inter-
pretation and reinterpretation of their learning and 
transform into scholars capable of conducing strong 
research, support from faculty is essential. Discourse 
and guidance from professors help doctoral candidates 
to successfully learn the research procedures and 
processes as well as write and present their findings in 
the way deemed acceptable by the academic commu-
nity. The discourse-reflection cycle can happen when 
doctoral candidates converse through email, virtually 
or in-person with professors. It can also take place with 
other members in the university community. The key 
is that the initial interaction is followed by reflection 
about those conversations. The intent is for the doctoral 
candidate to take the advice and critiques provided and 
use them to reflect on where they are and where they 
need to go in their doctoral journey. Through commu-
nication and reflection, doctoral candidates draw on 
previous experiences to make meaning of new practices 
through constructivist discourse and reflection. During 
this process, doctoral candidates learn from the guid-
ance of professors as well as their peers. By interacting 
with other doctoral candidates with shared needs and 
common goals, the doctoral candidate finds support, 
guidance, and inspiration. This can act as a catalysis 
for doctoral candidates to engage within the discourse 
reflection cycle and to internalize the meaning of each 
new experience and by doing so the student’s interpre-
tation of their learning process and their experiences as 
a student transforms (Swaggerty & Broemmel, 2016). 

The key, however, is that communication is a 
purposeful and conscious reflection embedded in the 
process (Swaggerty & Broemmel, 2016). If the doctoral 
candidate does not value the feedback of professors and 
reflect upon it, the discourse reflection cycle may not 
occur, and transformation may be stymied. Reflection 
must focus on what is gained and how it helps the stu-
dent to grow and change. Thus, emphasis on purposeful 
communication and thoughtful-conscious reflection are 
key to doctoral candidates being able to successfully 
complete the discourse reflection cycle and use it as 
part of their transformational process. 

As related previously, embracing the discourse re-
flection cycle helped me embrace the transformational 
process. When I realized that the feedback was con-
structive in nature and that conversations with tutors, 
members of the IRB, and professors could help me to 
better understand not only the expectations but also 
the mechanisms at my disposal to complete my 

program, I was able to make great gains in my 
doctoral journey. By viewing each conversation as an 
opportunity to grow and useful to my development, 
my reflection was purposeful and deliberate. I took 
notes on feedback suggestions and used those notes 
early in the program for my next assignment and later 
in my dissertation as my guide for what I needed to 
do and include in my research. By using the discourse 
reflection cycle in this way, I was aware of how my 
interpretation of my learning and growth. This made 
the transformation from competent educator with a 
master’s degree in history to a Doctor of Education. 
However, beyond the credential, I learned the process 
of researching and writing on the doctoral level, 
something that is and will continue to be a benefit in 
my journey as it continues into the world of academia. 

The need for community connections
As intimated above, an integral part of the 

transformational process and an imperative aspect of 
the discourse reflection cycle is the need for community 
connections. Whether in a face-to-face or online 
program, doctoral candidates must become part of the 
university community. According to Cranton (2016) 
humans are by nature communal and developing 
strong communicative knowledge helps people within a 
community to understand the social norms, values, and 
code of beliefs within the community. Once graduated, 
doctors join a much larger academic community of 
fellow doctors and researchers, and this understanding 
of the importance and value of this community 
is essential to a successful doctoral program and 
dissertation process (Dowling & Wilson, 2017). 
Having a community helps doctoral candidates and 
new doctors to make purposeful connections. These 
connections help the individual to grow and change, 
this transformation, especially when deliberate and 
thoughtful changes the interpretation of the individual 
towards their experience. Many doctoral candidates, 
like myself, are enrolled in online doctoral programs 
(Garcia & Yao, 2019). In my experience, the connections 
made through the university community were not only 
integral but an essential aspect to my success in the 
program.

However, the unique nature of online learning can 
create barriers to participation in this community and 
can lead some doctoral candidates to not realize that 
a community exists. Because of the barrier of time 
and distance, online doctoral candidates can feel a 
disconnect between themselves and their professors

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28

and other classmates (Sekulich, 2020). The ability to 
engage with professors and other doctoral candidates 
may be limited. This then disrupts the discourse-
reflection cycle since the doctoral candidate is not as 
easily able to engage in dialogue with others in the 
academic community. This lack of connection can 
undercut the efficacy of the reflection process. The 
doctoral candidate may begin to garner a negative 
self-perception of themselves as a student and their 
transformation can progress in a negative manner. 
While the doctoral candidate may still be able to reflect 
on their journey, without the ability to see how fellow 
doctoral candidates are experiencing the doctoral 
program, online doctoral candidates can lose the social 
connections and the perspectives those provide that 
are a natural part of the traditional brick and mortar 
university. As Cranton (2016) explained, when students 
and professors communicate regularly, students feel 
more empowered and are better able to make use of the 
skills, knowledge, and information they need in order 
to be successful. However, professors often expect 
online doctoral candidates to initiate contact, while 
doctoral candidates feel a greater need for support 
(Sekulich, 2020). This discrepancy can leave doctoral 
candidates feeling unsupported in their efforts (Ray, et 
al, 2019). Such feelings of social isolation, while often 
more pronounced for international doctoral candidates, 
can impact all doctoral candidates, resulting in negative 
academic and personal learning outcomes (Ray et al., 
2019). Subsequently, these experiences may interfere 
with a doctoral candidate’s ability to successfully 
experience a positive transformational process and 
result in stagnation as a beginning scholar (Swaggerty 
& Broemmel, 2016). 

Therefore, in the online environment, allowing time 
for both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration 
is helpful in bridging this gap and helping the doctoral 
candidate to feel the support needed (Swaggerty & 
Broemmel, 2016). When virtual interactions take 
place, doctoral candidates are better able to engage 
in critical reflection since they can broaden their 
perspective and help them become aware of their 
changing interpretations. They also learn from other 
doctoral candidates and benefit from the knowledge 
of their peers and professors. The discourse, although 
virtual is key to a successful online program. According 
to Swaggerty and Broemmel (2016), when doctoral 
candidates work closely with professors, whether in an 
online or traditional program, they are better able to 
understand the process and their sense of self-efficacy

increases. They also can better engage in reflection, 
deepening their own connection with their learning 
and broadening their perspective. Cranton (2016) also 
explained that students in an asynchronous online 
discussion setting often are able to engage with peers 
in a more meaningful and personal manner in an online 
setting, allowing them to be more forthcoming with 
their struggles or feelings since they are not talking to 
people face-to face. Cranton (2016) referred to this as 
the “stranger on the train” phenomena and explained 
that because students in an online setting do not know 
their classmates and cannot see their face, they may 
be more likely to share information that they would 
otherwise keep private. This freedom to explore 
topics and feelings in a more open manner leads to 
greater reflection and can help students embrace the 
transformative process. Through interaction their 
interpretation and reinterpretation of their learning 
grows, leading them through the process of change 
inherent to the Transformational Learning Theory.

Doctoral candidates additionally benefit from 
opportunities to engage with other doctoral candidates 
and professors in synchronous face-to-face meetings 
and asynchronously through community forums, 
emails, or discussions boards, (Alexander et al, 
2013). This ability to connect with and find mentors 
in professors can help the doctoral candidate in the 
discourse reflection cycle as well as the transformative 
process. Ultimately, when doctoral candidates work 
with professors in a mentoring relationship, they are 
more likely to experience holistic success since they 
can share ideas, discuss and evaluate their dissertation 
journey as a transformative process (Sekulich, 2020). 
By proactively seeking opportunities for community 
engagement, doctoral candidates can better develop a 
sense of meaning in their research and develop a strong 
sense of self-efficacy. This enables them to reflect in a 
meaningful manner and embrace the transformational 
nature of the program. As their interpretation of the 
process becomes reflective, they are better able to make 
meaningful gains in their academic progress.

Reflecting on my own experience, it took some time 
for me to realize that a virtual community existed at my 
university. I found, as Sekulich (2020) intimated, that 
my professors, while sending an automated welcome 
email and providing a welcome video on the homepage 
of the course, waited for me to reach out and establish 
contact. In the earlier courses, I did not engage with 
my professors or other doctoral candidates in any real 
meaningful way and my connection to the experience

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29

was limited. However, by my second semester, I had 
realized that a community forum existed in the form 
of online discussion boards. I also discovered that 
professors and other school personnel held regular 
webinars and the tutoring center was available to 
assist with most any question from statistical analysis 
to writing help. When I started taking advantage 
of these outlets, my growth as a budding doctoral 
candidate became more substantial and I was able 
to better reach out to professors, engage with them, 
ask questions, and then use those interactions to help 
strengthen my own knowledge base. I became part of 
the virtual community and especially when writing 
my dissertation, this community was an integral part 
of my success since it enabled meaningful discourse 
and reflection which enabled true transformation. By 
becoming part of the community, I changed from simply 
going through the motions to being aware of how my 
interpretation of my experience was changing as part of 
the Transformational Learning Theory.

Strategies for Success
In order to help facilitate the transformational 

process and find success in a doctoral program, in 
addition to what has already been discussed, doctoral 
candidates need to be aware of certain strategies or 
best practices to help facilitate their learning. The first 
of these are research skills.  Dowling and Wilson (2017) 
explained that when research skills are the focal point 
of a doctoral program, doctoral candidates are better 
able to hone their researching skills and develop the 
skill set necessary for successful completion of the 
dissertation. It is helpful when the program focuses on 
helping doctoral candidates understand how to write 
research questions, develop strong hypotheses, write 
up findings, and craft a strong literature review. Arsian-
Ari, et al. (2017) explained that doctoral candidates 
are more successful when research skills are the focus 
early in the doctoral program and carried throughout 
until the dissertation. This enables the student to grow 
and their understanding of the writing and research 
process changes. This change is an inherent element 
of the Transformational Learning Theory.  Therefore, 
when choosing a doctoral program, doctoral candidates 
should find programs that emphasize the research 
skills necessary to help them develop the skill set 
needed to complete their dissertation. However, if 
already committed to a doctoral program that may or 
may not focus on such skills, doctoral candidates can 
use each research assignment and project as an

opportunity to develop their research abilities. By 
engaging with every assignment as if it were the 
dissertation, putting the same level of care and detail 
into it, doctoral candidates can, as the adage goes, 
practice as they play and thus when they arrive at the 
dissertation are better able to understand the task 
before them and can progress through it easier and 
more successfully.

To enable research to be effective, time 
management is also an essential tool. Time 
management is, in my opinion, the single most 
important aspect of a successful doctoral program. As 
Alexander, et al. (2013) asserted, developing a work-
life balance can be difficult for doctoral candidates. 
The doctoral program is rigorous, demanding and can 
consume a great deal of time. Oftentimes, doctoral 
candidates can become overwhelmed by the process 
and devote too much time to it, neglecting self-care 
and burning out early, or they procrastinate the 
important tasks needed to complete a successful 
program and draw it out indefinitely. To alleviate either 
extreme, developing a work-life balance and good 
time management skills are necessary. In my case, I 
completed my doctoral program while still employed 
full time. I could not, therefore, devote the entire 
workday to my doctoral studies. As such, I set aside 
the first two hours of everyday to my doctoral studies. 
Upon waking each morning, I spent two hours working 
either on my course work or my dissertation. While 
during the execution of my study for my dissertation 
I spent more time in the field conducting surveys, I 
kept very strictly to this two-hour time frame. When 
the two hours ended each day, I saved my work and 
closed it. Key to this, however, was that during those 
two hours, I did not focus on anything else. I closed 
off email, silenced my phone, and concentrated only 
on my doctoral studies. This hyper-focus allowed me 
to work efficiently while internalizing the information 
needed to grow and transform as a doctoral candidate. 
I did not deviate from this strict routine and because 
of it, I finished my doctoral program in three and a half 
years. By making a conscious routine, I was aware of 
how the routine impacted my progress and changed it 
accordingly. Effective time management can, therefore, 
relieve stress and change the interpretation of the 
doctoral process from one of stress to one of growth. 
This is a key element to the Mezirow’s (1991) ideas. 

Within both strategies introduced here, key to both 
was support from professors and reflection. Mentoring, 
according to Dowling and Wilson (2017) and Alexander

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30

et al. (2013) is key to helping doctoral candidates 
develop strong research skills and time-management 
skills. When professors share with doctoral candidates 
their strategies in both areas, doctoral candidates are 
better able to reflect on their own needs, strengths 
and areas of growth and can make the necessary 
adjustments to become successful researchers who can 
manage their time effectively. Added to this, reflection is 
key. When doctoral candidates engage in the discourse-
reflection cycle to facilitate their development of an 
effective study schedule and research regimen, they 
are better able to see where they are successful and 
where they still need to grow. Honing one’s skills as a 
researcher and paying attention to time management 
are inherent parts of the Mezirow’s (1991) 
transformative process and help budding doctoral 
candidates to be successful. 

Conclusion
Circling back to the opening questions, what does 

it mean to earn a doctorate? Does it mean to develop 
expertise in one specific, narrow area of a dissertation 
study? Does it mean to grow as an academic and 
evolve in one’s academic acumen? Does it mean to 
contribute to the scholarly community and join the 
discourse of researchers in the world of academia 
through unique research that fills gaps in the overall 
intellectual knowledge base? Does it mean to acquire 
more qualifications that enable the progression to 
university professor or academic? When considering 
what it means to become a doctor and what it means to 
traverse through a doctoral program, transformation is 
inherent. 

In my experience, the transformative process 
was propelled by seeking out connections within 
the university community and engaging in active, 
conscious, and critical discourse and reflection. This 
was assisted by developing strong time-management 
skills and balancing the demands of the doctoral 
process in a way that maximized my time spent 
studying and enabled me to make the critical steps 
necessary to transform from an educator with a 
master’s degree to a doctor. 

What is key, however is that this process of 
transformation, once discovered is evident in every 
step forward as an academic. To answer the opening 
questions progressing through the doctoral process 
should be done through open and conscious reflection. 

The candidate should be aware of how their 
interpretation of their progress is evolving and 
changing. If they do this, they can better reflect on 
the process and grow as a professional. Once entering 
the post-doctoral world, the new doctor continues 
to transform. I have found the Transformational 
Learning Theory especially helpful in describing this. 
Transformation does not end with graduation but 
defines every new development and evolution that one 
undergoes as one grows as a doctor. 

By embracing the doctoral experience as one 
of transformation, I have been able to continue to 
consciously evolve and transform in my post-university 
life and will continue to do so. By examining the 
doctoral journey as one of transformation born through 
community engagement, discourse and reflection and 
strong research and time management strategies, one 
can become successful not only within the confines of 
the university and its program but afterwards as well. 

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31

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1 Elizabeth Contreras (econtreras@dccd.edu) is a 
Professor in the School of Law and Public Service at 
Dallas County College, Dallis, Texas, USA.

2 Laurie Bedford (lbedford@ncu.edu) is a Professor in 
the Department of Education at Northcentral University, 
Denver, Colorado, USA.

Authors

Contreras & Bedford, Transformative Nature of Graduate Education

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Kouam, C.. Global Journal of  
Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4   
pp 32-43. DOI  10.14434/
gjte.v4i1.36723

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Kouam, 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
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give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

English as Foreign Language (EFL) Teaching and Learning in 
Cameroon: Decolonizing Francophone Teachers’ Minds 

Clement Kouam

Abstract
This article makes an argument for Francophone EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers in Cameroon 

to recover from the ‘Ukolonia’ syndrome (Bokamba, 2011) and to use the indigenised variety of English as the 
model for teaching and learning instead of continuing to target the Standard British English accent. The study 
shows that the attempt to use an Inner Circle accent as a model leads to hypercorrection and limited fluency 
on the part of the learners. On the other hand, the use of the indigenised variety as a model by a few Anglo-
phone EFL teachers results in better proficiency. The arguments are supported by (1) a questionnaire survey 
of 50 Franchophone EFL teachers, (2) classroom observation carried out in ten EFL classes five of which were 
conducted by Anglophone teachers and the other five by Francophones, and (3) the analysis of curriculum 
documents for teacher education. The study is underpinned by Bokamba’s (2011) Ukolonia theory and Kach-
ru’s (1985) World Englishes framework. The paper argues that a decolonization of Francophone EFL teachers’ 
mindset and the replacement of Standard British English by mainstream Cameroon English can enhance the 
EFL teaching/learning process significantly. The findings and the recommendations provided also constitute a 
good material for innovation in EFL teacher education and in classroom practice.

Keywords: Cameroon, Cameroon English, Received pronunciation, EFL teaching/learning

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

The Sociolinguistic Context of Cameroon
Cameroon is a multilingual country with 273 living 

indigenous languages (Eberhard, Simons, & Fennig, 
2023) and numerous foreign languages, two of which 
(French and English) are colonial legacies inherited 
from the Franco-British colonial rule. Located at the 
intersection between West and Central Africa, the Re-
public of Cameroon is a blend of former East Cameroon 
(French colony from 1916 to 1960) and former West 
Cameroon (British colony from 1916 to 1961). While 
the former has remained essentially Francophone, the 
latter continues to be a dominantly English-speaking 
area. Although Cameroon had for long been a German 
protectorate (1884-1916) before the taking over by 
France and Britain following their victory over Germa-
ny during the First World War, the impact of the Ger-
man language in the country is insignificant as com-
pared to that of French and English. Besides being the 
most important lingua francas for both intranational 
and international communication, they are the only of

ficial languages of the country. In the partitioning of the 
war trophy, Britain obtained one-fifth of the Cameroo-
nian territory composed of two discontinuous strips of 
land along the Nigerian border while France acquired 
the remaining four-fifths (Echu, 2003). 

The two colonial powers adopted different modes 
of administration in their colonies. Interestingly, many 
current developments in English in general and in 
attitudes and pedagogic concerns in particular are still 
a reflection of the colonial systems that were practised. 
For instance, despite the current scramble for English 
in the French-speaking part of Cameroon, Francophone 
EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers’ attitude 
still clearly shows their preference for the far-fetched 
Standard British English accent to the detriment of 
the more attainable Cameroon English model. Though 
other factors (e.g., variation in curriculum content for 
EFL and ESL teacher education) may come into play in 
accounting for this attitudinal behaviour, the French 
colonial system of indirect rule that attempted to create  
an idealised Europeanised African appears to be one of 
the tangible explanations.

32



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 33

Training and specificities of EFL and ESL 
teachers in Cameroon 

Most Cameroonian teacher training colleges devote 
two series to the training of secondary and high school 
teachers of English, namely the English Modern Letters 
series and the Bilingual Letters series. While the former 
is overwhelmingly dominated by student teachers with 
an Anglophone background, Francophone students 
dominantly constitute the latter. Upon completion, 
graduates from the Bilingual unit are transferred to 
secondary and high schools to teach English and French 
as foreign languages (EFL/FFL). On their part, those 
from the purely English division serve as ESL (English 
as a Second Language) teachers. However, given the 
extremely large number of the Francophone student 
population, some ESL teachers are often solicited for 
the teaching of EFL. 

The observation stage of the study showed that 
while ESL teachers’ efforts are geared towards the 
upgrading of learners’ communicative skills through 
indigenized Cameroon English, most of their Franco-
phone EFL colleagues waste precious time, energy and 
resources targeting near-native English speech appro-
priation by the Francophone learners. Unfortunately, 
their efforts do not yield the expected results as they 
themselves do not master the native accent they want 
the learners to acquire. In other words, Francophone 
EFL teachers jeopardise the EFL teaching and learn-
ing process with hypercorrection, resulting from their 
unattainable goal to sound British or American. This 
paper seeks to explain the strong attachment of Fran-
cophones to native English speech, examine the conse-
quences of this phenomenon on the EFL teaching and 
learning process and suggest solutions to the problem. 

There seems to be a close relationship between 
the colonial modes of administration in the two parts 
of Cameroon and the attitude of English users towards 
English. While the French system of assimilation ex-
posed Francophone Cameroonians to standard French, 
the British policy of indirect rule rather promoted an 
educational policy that deviated Anglophone Camer-
oonians from standard English. This is confirmed by 
Simo Bobda (2004) who equates the British policy to 
“linguistic apartheid’’ and Bokamba (2011) who notes 
that the French, unlike their Belgian, British and Ger-
man counterparts who appeared to be largely circum-
spect regarding their assimilation objectives, were very 
explicitly eloquent, with education as the means par ex-
cellence for achieving them. Thus, the attitude to accent 
in teaching French in Cameroon might have been

transferred to the teaching of EFL. 

Language policy in Cameroon
Although advocacies for linguistic decolonization 

have been receiving favourable echoes in many African 
countries (e.g., Botswana, Burundi and even Nigeria) 
where local languages now have official and other im-
portant statuses (Bokamba, 2011), the language policy 
in Cameroon is still geared towards the sole promotion 
of colonially inherited languages. The current language 
policy itself tends to be, to a great extent, a reproduc-
tion of colonial practices.

Language policies in the colonial era
The correlation between the language policy that 

held sway in East Cameroon during the colonial peri-
od and the yearning for the native English accent by 
Francophone teachers of English in Cameroon is obvi-
ous. This myth of the native speaker dates back to the 
French colonial period where the policy of assimilation 
prepared the indigenous people to target the colonial 
master’s speech model. This contrasted significantly 
with the system of indirect rule applied by Britain in its 
colonies, former West Cameroon included. 

The aim of the French policy was to replace the 
indigenous languages, cultures and civilization with the 
French one. Echu (2003) reports that barely one year 
after taking over Cameroon from the Germans, France 
instituted a special subvention for schools that used 
French as the language of instruction and those that 
taught in indigenous languages were closed. Thus, 47 
schools opened by Sultan Njoya in the Bamun region 
were all closed down and his printing press destroyed. 
Many other schools (e.g., those run by the American 
Presbyterian missionaries, and in which Bulu was the 
language of instruction later suffered the same fate 
(Echu, 2003, 36). This policy quickly paved the way to 
the creation of many French-medium schools before 
independence (e.g., Lycée Leclerc, Lycée Joss Douala 
and Lycée Manengouba Nkongsamba). The French and 
trained Cameroonians ran such schools to acquire a 
native-like command of the French language. Look-
ing at the drastic nature of the measures undertaken 
to promote the French model of education, one can 
logically suspect that such actions were aimed to serve 
a hidden agenda. It won’t therefore be an exaggeration 
to conclude with Bokamba (2011) that the colonial cul-
ture assimilatory or brainwashing objectives were well 
elaborated and “touched on the means to achieve more 
important and fundamental objectives: Cheap African

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 34

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

labor and other economic benefits for France.” 
On their own, the British governed through Cam-

eroonian traditional authorities. The use of indigenous 
languages (Bafut, Duala, Kenyang, Mungaka, etc.) as lan-
guages of instruction was a common phenomenon. Pid-
gin English, rather than Standard English, was promot-
ed alongside these local languages (Echu, 2003). For 
Simo Bobda (2004), the British seem to have thought 
that Pidgin English was more suitable for Africans than 
standard English and at the same time a way to keep 
Africans away from their privacy. Kachru (1986) con-
firms this, noting that the acquisition by Africans of 
native-like proficiency in English made them suspect. 
Looking at the two colonial systems, it readily ensues 
that Francophones, through the system of assimilation, 
were moulded to look up to the native speech model, 
contrary to Anglophones who were trained to prioritise 
the communicative value of English rather than to long 
for Standard British English.

The language policy in postcolonial Cameroon
French became the official language in 

French-speaking Cameroon upon independence in 
1960 and English enjoyed the same status in the En-
glish-speaking area following its independence in 1961. 
At reunification on 1 October, 1961, official bilingualism 
was instituted in the new federal republic. Cameroon, 
like many other former African colonies, obviously 
opted for this foreign language option in order to avoid 
a language conflict arising from the choice of an in-
digenous language on the one hand and the financial 
and material cost on the other (Bokamba, 2007; Echu, 
2003). To promote the official bilingualism policy, the 
government made the teaching of English and French 
compulsory in the two subsystems of education inher-
ited from colonisation. Since then, French has mainly 
been operating as a foreign language in the Anglophone 
subsystem. English has also been enjoying the same 
privilege in the Francophone subsystem. The following 
excerpt from the Constitution of 18 January 1996 better 
captures the current language policy in Cameroon. 

The official languages of the Republic of Cameroon 
shall be English and French, both languages hav-
ing the same status. The State shall guarantee the 
promotion of bilingualism throughout the country. 
It shall endeavour to protect and promote national 
languages. (Article 1, paragraph 3)
Despite constitutional provisions which make clear 

that French and English have the same status and con-
stitute the backbone of the country’s language policy,

it is obvious that French remains the main official 
language. The numerical advantage of French-speaking 
Cameroon (eight regions out of ten and seventy-five 
percent of the national population) favours this situa-
tion which has caused a lot of harm to national unity. 
Anglophones have long complained about linguistic 
marginalization and the posting of Francophone mono-
lingual administrators, magistrate and teachers to 
their regions is often cited as one of the main reasons 
accounting for the Anglophone Crisis which has been 
going on since 2016. Hopefully, the new trend consist-
ing of Francophones rushing for English is likely to 
reduce French dominance over English in the future in 
both public and social spheres. 

As for the hundreds of Cameroonian languages, 
they continue to be relegated to the background even 
though more efforts are now made to promote them 
through formal education. But even here, they compete 
with other imported languages such as Spanish, Ger-
man, Chinese, Russian, Italian and even the fading Latin. 
Also, even though it is not uncommon for public work-
ers to speak their local language with collaborators or 
users of the same linguistic community, this practice 
is frequently denounced, and its promoters accused 
either of tribalism or of taking the administration 
hostage to the benefit of their village people. Bokamba 
(2011) warns against such a neglect of local languages 
in favour of policies that privilege the colonial master’s 
language, observing that

If Africa is to reclaim its destiny and emerge from 
its “downward spiral” of missteps and misfortunes 
of the last fifty years or so, the utilization of key 
African languages in public domains represents 
not only a major rectification in the development 
trajectory, but also invaluable tools towards its ad-
vancement. The time to engage this process is now, 
and we, Africans alone, are its captains and naviga-
tors. As argued in Bokamba (2007), if the Ukolonia 
behavior discussed here, which is a curable syn-
drome via civic/cultural education, is not reversed, 
Africa will suffer a deeper level of marginaliza-
tion, and it will certainly be trampled over by the 
ever-encroaching globalization of English, French, 
and Portuguese through multinational companies 
that are aggressively seeking unfettered access to 
African natural resources. (pp. 162-163)
Indeed, English as a global language has penetrat-

ed Cameroon so profoundly that Francophones are 
increasingly neglecting local languages in favour of 
English. As a result, more and more kids grow up in the



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 35

French part of the country without the knowledge of 
their mother tongues.

English in Francophone Cameroon
It was not until the early 1990s that Francophones 

started developing real interest for English, the lan-
guage that had become the first international language 
and the language of business and professional opportu-
nities. Mbangwana (2004) depicts the unprecedented 
rush of French-speaking Cameroonians for English in 
the following terms: 

Francophones who never bothered learning En-
glish through the bilingual training programme 
in the university, which was free of charge, start-
ed looking for money after graduating from uni-
versities to register for language courses, wheth-
er they were private language institutes such as 
the B & K Language Institute, British Council, or 
the American Cultural Center. All of these efforts 
were for acquiring the language that served like 
a passport to study or work abroad around the 
world. (p. 25)

The passion of Francophone Cameroonians for 
English has led to a situation where they are now mas-
sively represented in EFL teaching in secondary edu-
cation nationwide. This zeal for the language has even 
led to the emergence of a new variety of English known 
as Cameroon Francophone English and abbreviated as 
CamFE (Atechi, 2015; Ngefac, 2022; Safotso, 2018; Simo 
Bobda, 2013). Due to this new brand, the label Camer-
oon Anglophone English (CamAE) is now supplanting 
that of Cameroon English (CamE) in referring to the 
English of Anglophone Cameroonians. Although CamFE 
still necessitates an in-deph linguistic description, it 
is fast gaining ground. The exceptionally rapid growth 
of Cameroon Francophone English (which is normally 
an EFL variety) is also due to its proximity and even 
its co-existence with Cameroon Anglophone English 
(which is an ESL variety).

The place of CamFE and CamAE within 
English-speaking communities

English-speaking communities across the world 
obey to specific classifications. Crystal (2003) distin-
guishes between ENL (English as a Native Language), 
ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English 
as a Foreign Language) communities. Kachru (1985) 
introduces the terminologies Inner Circle, Outer Circle 
and Expanding Circle in the place of ENL, ESL and EFL, 

respectively. Kachru’s classification pays close atten-
tion to the types of spread, the patterns of acquisition 
and the functional domains in which English is used 
across cultures. It highlights, for instance, the difference 
between traditional native speakers (found in coun-
tries which represent the traditional seats of English) 
and the functional native speakers (who are those that 
speak English as from birth in Outer Circle countries). 
However, both classifications share significant similar-
ities. 

Crystal and Kachru both present the first com-
munity (ENL community/ Inner Circle) as including 
settings where English is mostly used as mother tongue 
and unique language by the population. Such coun-
tries comprise the United Kingdom, the United States 
of America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The 
Second group (ESL countries/ Outer Circle) includes 
former British colonies. In this circle, English enjoys a 
prestigious status because it is generally one of the offi-
cial languages if not the only one. It occupies a prepon-
derant position among the two or numerous languages 
which make the speakers’ linguistic repertoire. Here, 
English often exists alongside many other languages 
and is significantly indigenised. It is generally assigned 
a very high status (official or co-official language). It 
is used as a medium of instruction and a language of 
administration. Countries which belong to this circle 
include Anglophone Cameroon, Nigeria, India, Malaysia, 
Singapore, Ghana, Kenya, Hawaii and South Africa. The 
third group (EFL countries/Expanding Circle) includes 
the rest of the English-speaking world. In this circle, En-
glish is used mainly for international communication. In 
such contexts, the English language is simply a subject 
in the curriculum and is used only for specific purposes. 
Francophone Cameroon, France, South Korea, China, 
Tunisia, Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Russia are 
some of the countries which belong to the Expanding 
Circle. 

Francophone Cameroonians’ attitudes towards 
Cameroon English

In spite of the fact that Francophone Cameroonians 
are now passionate about the English language and 
the English subsystem of education, they prefer native 
Englishes, especially British English, and reject indi-
genised CamE which they view as’pidginized.” However, 
research has shown that targeting native English in 
Cameroon is unattainable. Kouam (2022) shows that 
the attempt by Franchophone Cameroonians to articu-
late native English features only results in hypercorrec

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 36

tion, defined by Labov (1966) as the tendency whereby 
speakers strive to articulate standard linguistic fea-
tures, but end up producing features that are neither 
those of the standard variety they are targeting nor 
those of the mainstream variety spoken by members of 
their speech community and which they were trying to 
avoid. This phenomenon seems to be greatly compro-
mising ELT efforts in the country’s EFL context. While 
postcolonial theorists such as Wa Thiongo (1986) and 
Bolton, Kachru, Kachry, and Nelson (2006) advocate 
linguistic decolonization and a pronounced preference 
of indigenous African languages in education to en-
able the Africanisation of the educational industry, it is 
difficult to understand the preference of Francophone 
Cameroonians for native English models and the rejec-
tion of the indigenised accent which has the advantage 
of portraying the identity of the postcolonial user to a 
great extent. This attitude is a clear indication that the 
French colonial system of assimilation still holds sway 
in the minds of Francophone Cameroonians. It totally 
contradicts the aspirations formulated in decoloniza-
tion voices. 

For Bolton, Kachru, Kachry, & Nelson (2006, 230), 
learners should “target pronunciation which is easier 
to learn because it is more attuned to the phonology of 
their mother tongues, without forfeiting intelligibility,” 
instead of struggling to produce the mannerisms of 
an idealised native speaker of English. These scholars 
encourage the promotion of pronunciation models with 
which speakers of the New Englishes are familiar and 
which are attained through formal education to ensure 
international intelligibility. Bolton, Kachru, Kachry, and 
Nelson (2006) corroborate Kramsch’s (1999) recom-
mendation that each variety of English must cater for 
both intranational and international communication. 
In the same connection, Firth (1964) recommends that 
second language learners of English be equipped with 
the educated variety of their local accents. He views 
“educated English” as follows:

By educated English we must not understand 
Standard English. Educated English shows a wide 
range of permissible variations. Speakers of this 
kind of English do not necessarily submerge all 
signs of social or geographical origin. Their accent 
is often unmistakably local or characteristic of a 
class. Educated English is spoken by all the classes 
of people all over the English-speaking world. This 
is the only kind of English that has the remotest 
chance of universality even in Great Britain itself. 
(Firth, 1964, 196)

The quote above shows that targeting strict Amer-
ican and British accents in postcolonial settings to the 
detriment of the educated varieties of the local English-
es is a futility. Firth’s (1964) view is shared by Achebe 
(1965) who opines that non-native speakers of English 
should passionately espouse their local English models 
and avoid useless emulations of native speech forms. 
He declares: 

So my answer to the question ‘Can an African 
ever learn English well enough to be able to use it 
effectively in creative writing?’ is certainly yes. If on 
the other hand you ask ‘Can he ever learn to use it 
as a native speaker?’ I should say, I hope not. It is 
neither necessary nor desirable for him to be able 
to do so. The price a world language must be pre-
pared to pay is submission to many different kinds 
of use. (Achebe, 1965, 29)

Achebe (1965) thus sees indigenized varieties of 
English as hallmarks of the African identity and as 
varieties which Africans should go for. Unfortunately, 
the myth of the native speaker continues to be present 
and is sometimes encouraged by ELT professionals 
as is the case with Simo Bobda (2004, 25) who points 
out that “the educational and professional survival 
of the ambitious African at the beginning of the third 
millennium still largely depends on how well he or she 
accommodates to Inner Circle Englishes”. He upholds 
that it is a truism that school curricula in Africa must 
seek to promote this accommodation. The Cameroonian 
scenario is perfectly in line with this recommenda-
tion. Ngefac (2011, 40) observes that “in most English 
Language textbooks used for the teaching of English 
in Cameroon, drills on Standard British English accent 
abound and no drills are provided for educated Camer-
oon English pronunciation.” Although the situation has 
improved a little bit now, with more and more literary 
works and a few teaching materials designed based on 
CamE, most current English Language textbooks, if not 
all (e.g., Interactions in English) still reflect Inner Circle 
English norms.

Methodology
Fifty (50) Francophone and five (5) Anglophone 

EFL teachers from ten (10) secondary and high schools 
in three French-speaking regions of Cameroon were 
recruited as participants for this study. They were 
selected among seventy-four EFL teachers who made 
up the EFL teaching staff of the ten schools. The regions 
selected included Centre, Littoral and West. Different

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 37

research tools were used to collect data. A short ques-
tionnaire was designed to thoroughly identify teachers 
and elicit their claims about the English accent they 
promote for educational practices. It was given to Fran-
cophone EFL teachers exclusively. A survey of the cur-
riculum was also done to check if student teachers from 
both the Bilingual Letters series (future EFL teachers) 
and the English Modern Letters series (prospective ESL 
teachers) are subjected to the same English Language 
courses during their training. The purpose was to sub-
sequently find out if there was any correlation between 
pronunciation choice in the classroom and the content 
of the curriculum that served for their instruction. In 
other words, is there any relationship between pronun-
ciation practice in the ELT classroom and the nature of 
the courses taught at the teacher training school? An 
observation of five EFL classes conducted by Franco-
phone teachers also helped to determine the extent to 
which the pedagogic model practised by Francophone 
EFL teachers reflects their claims in the questionnaire. 
This model was then compared to what obtains in the 
EFL teaching situations conducted by the five selected 
Anglophone teachers.

As concerns theoretical considerations, Bokamba’s 
(2011) Ukolonia theory and Kachru’s (1985) World 
Englishes model are the perspectives from which the 
study was carried out. Bokamba (2011, 161) defines 
Ukolonia as “a psychological syndrome that obfuscates 
the rational thinking of a patient in a postcolonial 
society and causes him/her to evaluate himself/herself 
in terms of values and standards established by the 
former colonial masters’ culture(s)’’. This reflects Fran-
cophone Cameroonians’ attitude towards Cameroon 
English; an attitudinal tendency that clearly reveals the 
internalized colonial mentality that characterizes these 
English users. As for the origin of this slave mentality, 
Bokamba (2011) explains:

Ukolonia resulted from the long-term brainwash-
ing that characterized the explicit or implicit policy 
of assimilation of Africans to Western cultures, 
especially through education, religious practices, 
and administrative practices. Through these agen-
cies, African customs and cultures were viewed as 
inferior to their Western counterparts, and thus 
devalued and stigmatized as “backward”; while, 
in contrast the Western modes of life were valued, 
promoted, and incentivized as worthy of emulation. 
(p. 161)

From the above description, it is clear that Ukolonia 
remains a widespread practice in Cameroon. Even the 
school curricula seem to serve the needs of the West 
more than those of Cameroon. 

Concerning Kachru’s (1985) World Englishes mod-
el, it acknowledges the irreversible indigenisation pro-
cess undergone by English out of its traditional seats, 
and establishes the New Englishes as autonomous vari-
eties with characteristic features. Therefore, it contrasts 
with frameworks such as Error Analysis, which view all 
deviations from traditional native Englishes as errors 
and, consequently, as uninvited guests in any ELT situa-
tion. In this perspective, it is actual communication and 
intelligibility which are the watchwords, and not nec-
essarily how much a speaker can twist their tongue to 
approximate native speech models. Besides, the model 
denounces the monopole that Inner Circle Englishes 
still have in many non-native environments. For Kachru 
(1985), Inner Circle speakers cannot continue to be the 
exclusive norm-setters in a context where the English 
language has transcended many national, international 
and continental boundaries to emerge as a global lingua 
franca. In this development process, Ngefac (2012, 
169) points out, English has significantly embraced the
contextual realities of postcolonial contexts, due to the
process of nativisation through which each New English
setting “has acquired new norms of correctness, which
very much reflect the twists and turns the language has
undergone in such contexts”. Many Outer Circle coun-
tries and even some Expanding Circle ones are claiming
their Englishness, thereby manifesting their wish to
move from norm-depending to norm providing English
settings. This can only be made possible through frame-
works such as the present ones.

Data Analysis and Findings
The analysis of the data collected yielded interest-

ing findings.
Representation of Francophones in EFL teaching

One of the issues which need to be surveyed ac-
curately in the EFL teaching sector in Cameroon is 
that of ‘who teaches English as a Foreign Language 
in Cameroon’. The answer to this question is likely to 
shed more light on the speech orientations millions of 
Francophone Cameroonians trained in secondary and 
high schools receive every year. In other words, if EFL 
teachers are mostly Anglophone Cameroonians, the 
learners will obviously tend to be accustomed to Cam-
eroon Anglophone English. On the contrary, if the EFL 
teaching staff is dominated by Francophones as pre-

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 38

dicted in this study, there is a likelihood that Camer-
oonian learners from the Francophone sub-system of 
education will be adepts of Cameroon Francophone 
English, which also entails that their likelihood to 
exhibit hypercorrection in their English speech will be 
very high. This is because CamFE has been observed to 
be a variety with a great deal of hypercorrect features. 
Not having the means to carry out a large-scale survey 
to determine the exact percentage of Francophone 
EFL teachers serving nationwide, we could, at least, do 
this verification from the ten schools we consulted for 
the investigation. In each EFL Department (common-
ly referred to as Anglais Department), the number of 
teachers was determined. Then a distinction was made 
between those who had a Francophone background and 
those with an Anglophone background. The table below 
provides a picture of the representation of Franco-
phones in the ten EFL departments that were visited.

As shown in Table 1, EFL teachers are mostly Fran-
cophones (up to 67.5% of the EFL teachers that were 
met in the schools that were sampled). The overall 
teaching staff of the ten EFL Departments that were 
visited was made up of seventy-four (74) EFL teach-
ers. Out of this number, up to 50 had a Francophone 
background. While in some departments we could have 
a fair number of Anglophones (e.g., 4 out of 10 teach-
ers met in Government Bilingual High School Obala), 

in others (e.g., Government Technical High School 
Nkometou-Centre where 6 EFL teachers could be 
found), all were Francophones. These figures clearly
denote the predominance of Francophone teachers in 
the teaching of English to Francophone Cameroonians. 
As mentioned earlier, a questionnaire was adminis-
tered exclusively to the fifty Francophone teachers. This 
aimed at eliciting their preferred English accent for ELT.

Francophone EFL teachers preferred English accent
Teachers were expected to choose their 

preferred English accent for educational practic-
es out of the three options that were proposed, 
namely (1) the Standard British English Accent, 
abbreviated as SBE and also known as Received 
Pronunciation or RP, (2) the Cameroon English

(CamE) Accent and (3) a Mixture of SBE and CamE ac-
cents. The table below displays their choices.

Table 2 indicates that up to 38 (76%) of the teach-
ers went for the native accent (Standard British En-
glish). While 9 (18%) were in favour of a mixture of 
native and Cameroon English accents, only 3 (6%) 
showed a preference for the indigenised Cameroon 
English accent. These figures are very indicative of 
Francophone Cameroonians’ very negative attitude 
towards Cameroon Anglophone English and their strong 
attachment to Western speech models. Given that there 
is often a gap between what one prefers and what they 
actually have or do, it was considered suitable to seek 
to know what they think they teach. Their claims are 
displayed in Table 3.

It is quite interesting to note that as many as 28 
Francophone EFL teachers (56%) out of 50 claimed 
they teach nothing but the Standard British English ac-
cent. This claim makes one wonder if what these teach-
ers claimed they are teaching was actually what they 

taught. Such a preoccupation could only be 
addressed through classroom observation 
that was carried out at a later stage of the 
data collection process. Nineteen (38%) 
acknowledged that they teach a mixture of 
native and CamE accents and only 3 (6%) 
recognized that they teach the indigenized 

Cameroon English accent. From all indications, teach-
ers’ claims are not genuine but simply a way for them to 
show that they abide by the official recommendations 
to promote traditional native English norms.

Kachru (1986, 117) thinks it’s not only useless but 
impossible to implement Inner Circle English standards 
in postcolonial environments. That is why he disagrees 
with non-native speakers who boldly claim they speak 
Received Pronunciation. The scholar makes it clear that 
“no member of the Outer Circle speaks RP,” and upholds

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 39

that “even if he could, he would lack those mannerisms 
distinct of a native speaker”. In the same vein, Todd 
(1982, 289) had earlier observed that “virtually no Af-
rican speaks RP.” It should be noted that even in Britain, 
RP features are now very scarce as research shows that 
less than 3% of the British population now uses RP 
in its pure form. Despite this literature contradicting 
teachers’ statement that they teach Standard British 
English, it was important to seek empirical evidence 
through classroom realities.

The EFL teaching scenario in Cameroon
Classroom observation involved ten EFL classes, 

five of which were conducted by Anglophone teachers 
and the other five by Francophone teachers. It ensued 
from the ten classes attended that Levis’ (2005) Native-
ness and Intelligibility principles are two paradigms 
holding sway in the Cameroonian English language 
teaching industry nowadays. It was so obvious to note 
that English language teachers with an Anglophone 
background are mostly guided by the Intelligibility 
Principle and insist on the local CamE while those with 
a Francophone background are mostly guided by the 
Nativeness Principle, despite on-going signals that the 
promotion of native English models in Cameroon is not 
yielding the expected fruits. 

Anglophone EFL teachers’ focus
An appraisal of what constitutes the target in EFL 

teaching situations for each of the two categories of 
English language teachers that were observed showed 
that Anglophone EFL teachers’ efforts are aimed at de-
veloping learners’ communicative skills through a ped-
agogic model which enables them to understand and to 
be understood by other English-speaking users. These 
are teachers who are basically trained to serve as ESL 
teachers. They proved to be more attuned to the pro-
motion of educational practices that favour a realistic, 
pragmatic and attainable speech model to the learners. 
Without forfeiting intelligibility, they train learners to 
speak English as naturally as they speak their Cameroo-
nian first languages.

Francophone EFL teachers’ focus
These are Francophones trained in Bilingual series 

to teach English to other Francophone Cameroonians. 
Classroom observation demonstrated that their ob-
jective is geared towards the attainment of native or 
native-like speech. They pretend to be teaching nothing 
but native English. However, observation showed that

their attempts to approximate these Inner Circle 
Englishes rather lead them to hypercorrection. For 
instance,  (instead of ) was 
provided by a Francophone EFL teacher as the Ameri-
can English pronunciation of module one. In the same 
vein,  (instead of ) was brandished by 
another Francophone EFL teacher as the SBE rendition 
of reject. 

The phonological rendition of th in words such as 
this and mathematics are other glaring examples that 
were observed, as the sequence was hypercorrectly ar-
ticulated by Francophone EFL teachers as /v/ and /f/, 
respectively, to the detriment of their SBE counterparts 
/ð/ and /θ/ and their CamE forms /d/ and /t/. This is 
further evidence that the increasingly high percentage 
of hypercorrect speech features in Cameroon Franco-
phone English is as a result of Francophone EFL teach-
ers’ Ukolonia mindset which vividly depicts neo-colo-
nialism as it cherishes and idealises what is foreign but 
despises and rejects what is local. 

General observations 
While Anglophone EFL teachers simply ensure 

that their learners speak English in a way that is intel-
ligible to the listeners, their Francophone colleagues 
are interested in ensuring that the learner articulates 
words following Standard British English and American 
English patterns. Interestingly, the pronunciation model 
provided by the teachers themselves does not, in most 
cases, reflect the variety they are struggling to teach. 
The learner finally does not gain much because the 
efforts to sound British or American limit their fluency 
significantly. This could explain why Francophone Cam-
eroonians are very good at English grammar but avoid 
speaking due to the fear to make mistakes (Safotso, 
2022). In fact, they are very often interrupted by their 
Francophone EFL teachers who constantly come in to 
“correct” their English pronunciation. 

It also transpired from classroom observation that 
Francophone students trained by Francophone EFL 
teachers are far less fluent in English and, consequently, 
less officially bilingual than the few trained by Anglo-
phone teachers, whose target is actual communication. 
A palpable example came from a speech exercise done 
in two Première classes in GBHS Obala where learners 
were expected to say the sentences aloud stressing the 
words in bold so as to give the sentence the rhythm or 
cadence it deserves. While the Premiere D1 learners, 
taught by an Anglophone EFL teacher, could easily and 
fluently repeat the sentences following their teacher’s

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 40

local English accent, those of Premiere D2 found it very 
difficult arriving at a pronunciation their Francophone 
trainer was imposing on them. In most cases, Franco-
phone teachers’ speech was flawed by hypercorrec-
tion due to their unsuccessful attempts to respect SBE 
segmental and suprasegmental rules. At the same time, 
learners, whose speech organs could not get rid of the 
sound systems of French and their mother tongues, 
could not afford to emulate the teacher whose own 
efforts to sound native were actually fruitless. For the 
sentence, It would be great if all Cameroonians could 
have access to the internet, (Interactions in English 
1eres, p. 258) for instance, the Francophone EFL teach-
er provided the following as reference pronunciation: 
It would be  if all    access 
to  internet. On the other hand, the digest Cameroon 
English pronunciation the Anglophone EFL teacher pro-
vided to her learners enabled the latter to repeat with a 
high degree of fluency. The glaring contrast characteriz-
ing the teaching approaches used by Francophone and 
Anglophone EFL teachers led to the scrutiny of their 
training programmes. 

The Syllabus for Teacher Education
The syllabus used in training EFL teachers in 

Cameroonian higher teacher training colleges shows 
some significant differences from the one used to train 
ESL teachers. The main contrast arises from the fact 
that while ESL student teachers have all their courses 
in English from Level One to Level Five (except one 
French course that is supposed to upgrade their French 
proficiency), their EFL counterparts have 50% of their 
curriculum content constituted of French subjects and 
the other 50% being made of English subjects. 

Looking at the English subjects, both ESL and EFL 
student teachers have in common a course entitled 
English Speech and Usage, which focuses on SBE. But 
unlike their ESL mates, EFL student teachers are not 
taught a key course entitled World Englishes, which 
aims at exposing the learners to the different varieties 
of English. The course promotes indigenized English-
es, contrarily to English Speech and Usage, which only 
provides drills on Standard British English and, to an 
extent, American English. No drill on CamE or any other 
local variety is thus provided to prospective Fran-
cophone EFL teachers. The correlation between the 
course entitled World Englishes and the acceptance or 
rejection of the New Englishes such a Cameroon English 
cannot be belaboured. It is a course which values the 
New Englishes and highlights their place within the 

World Englishes arena. Consequently, the course 
contributes to build self confidence in New Englishes 
speakers, thereby making them proud of the indige-
nized Englishes. Such a course is likely to help Fran-
cophone EFL student teachers get rid of the Ukolonia 
(slave) mentality (Bokamba, 2007, 2011) which highly 
characterizes them. 

Needless pointing out that while in secondary and 
high school, most of the present student teachers ac-
quired from their own Francophone EFL teachers what 
was fallaciously presented to them as native English. 
The same fallacy is, unfortunately, reinforced through 
exposure to the course entitled English Speech and 
Usage whose sole aim is to acquaint prospective EFL 
and ESL teachers with Inner Circle English norms. The 
presence of this course in the curriculum serving in the 
training of English language teachers is due to the fact 
that it is a traditional native English variety, namely 
Standard British English, which continues to serve as 
reference model for English language teaching practic-
es across Cameroon despite the fact that researchers 
have been raising an alarm to denounce a policy which 
promotes a language variety which is not at the reach of 
Cameroonians and cannot actually convey Cameroonian 
experiences. From the numerous research endeavours 
carried out to assess Cameroonians’ familiarity with 
the British variety of English, it occurs that they sig-
nificantly lack the mastery of this model. Even teachers 
who are called upon to teach it have proven beyond any 
reasonable doubt to be ignorant of it. This has led to 
publication titles such as When the blind lead the blind: 
The fallacy of promoting Standard British English in 
Cameroon (Ngefac, 2012). 

The absence of EFL teachers’ exposure to World 
Englishes can only lead to the situation prevailing in the 
Francophone English-speaking community in Camer-
oon nowadays, where speakers twist their tongues to 
sound British or American in their English speech and 
make clear attempts to avoid uttering features that 
associate them with the local Cameroon English. Unfor-
tunately for them, it is so obvious that even when they 
successfully articulate some isolated words or sentenc-
es in accordance with traditional native English norms, 
difficulties handling aspects such as intonation and 
connected speech quickly expose their masquerade and 
reveal to the limelight that they are simply trying their 
hand in something their speech organs are unfamiliar 
with. The decolonization of Francophone EFL teachers’ 
linguistic mindset thus appears as a necessity.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 41

 The urgency of decolonising Francophone 
EFL teachers’ mindset

Francophone EFL learners in Cameroon are paying 
a huge price for the colonial linguistic indoctrination 
subtly led by such enemies of indigenised Englishes as 
Prator (1968), Quirk (1985) and Honey (1997), who 
saw the promotion of the New Englishes as a heresy. 
Looking at the current English language scenario, how 
sustainable can Quirk’s (1985) call for the use of a “sin-
gle monochrome standard form that looks as good on 
paper as it sounds in speech’’ actually be today? What 
would Honey (1997) think of his own declaration that 
if speakers of English in the New Nations create their 
own standard, they are likely to be excluded from the 
global scene because they cannot exercise the same 
level of competence as other members of the world En-
glish-speaking community? These advocates of a New 
Englishes genocide thought they could continuously 
impose Inner Circle English norms all over the world. 
It is left to Outer and Expanding Circle users to realise 
that they outnumber the traditional native speakers 
by far and this numerical advantage must permit them 
to set and follow norms which capture the cosmology 
of the specific non-native English-speaking countries. 
Unfortunately, some non-native speakers (e.g., Franco-
phone Cameroonians) continue to be at the forefront 
to combat the Englishes that carry the colours of their 
sociocultural realities. 

The following report by Platt, Weber & Ho (1984, 
170) is a clear indication that the decolonisation of
many non-native English speakers’ linguistic mindset
is a matter of utmost importance. The scholars indicate
that in a workshop on the English language in Singa-
pore, a speaker with a conspicuous Singaporean accent
passionately affirmed: “I speak RP.” Surprisingly, his
statement rather provoked laughter and protest from
the British audience. Such behaviours make one won-
der why speakers of the New Englishes undervalue the
varieties of English that they speak and rather want to
identify themselves with foreign models. Ngefac (2012)
attempts an explanation to this state of affairs, hypoth-
esising that the reason which has influenced some
Cameroonians to change their black skin using chemi-
cal products in order to look white like their ex-colonial
masters is the same reason at the base of their negative
attitude towards the languages that are rooted in the
sociocultural and sociolinguistic realities of their coun-
try. He upholds that such people believe the greatness
of Cameroon lies “in the ability of Cameroonians to
prove that they master ex-colonial languages as much

as, or even more than traditional native speakers of the 
languages” themselves. 

When will Africans actually realise that “when an 
African speaks American English, the credit goes to 
America,” as rightly pointed out by Micheal Ndemanu 
in May 2023 during the Second World Conference on 
Transformative Education held in Ghana? There are 
many Anglophone Cameroonians who successfully 
carry out their daily activities worldwide using their 
indigenised CamE accent. Just like no language can por-
tray one’s identity better than their mother tongues, no 
English variety can depict the sociocultural realities of 
a new English setting or express the ways and thoughts 
of its users better than the local variety. It is equally ob-
vious that it is only through their native or indigenised 
languages that individuals can actually showcase their 
highest degree of creativity, self-confidence and perfor-
mance. 

What can justify the persistence of colonialist 
visions like Simo Bobda’s (2004) equating the language 
policy applied by the British in Cameroon during the 
colonial period to a linguistic apartheid, and advocating 
“not just English per se, but Standard British English” in 
Cameroon? This is a vision which takes on the British 
administration for keeping Africans away from “good 
English”. For its author, the British should have drilled 
Africans on Standard British English. Africans in gener-
al and Francophone Cameroonians in particular should 
stop seeing native English speech as more prestigious, 
correct and intelligible than their local varieties. Doing 
so is ignoring Kachru’s (1992, 67) call on all English 
users around the world to “realise that this new role of 
English [as an international language] puts a burden 
on those who use it as their first language, as well as 
on those who use it as their second language.” That is 
to say, it is not the duty of non-native speakers alone 
to speak English in a way that ensures international 
intelligibility. Francophone EFL teachers in Cameroon 
should be acquainted with this and should equally 
think of some powerful declarations from such post-
colonial thinkers as Achebe who were able, as far back 
as in the 1960s, to perceive indigenized varieties of 
English as real forces to reckon with. They should be 
aware that the English language has become a global 
resource and the possession of every community that 
in any way uses it regardless of what any other individ-
ual or community may feel or think about the matter 
(McArthur, 1999).

In a world dominated by the West, Africa must 
strive to get its own share through fights of various

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Kouam, EFL Teaching & Learning in Cameroon 42

natures, including linguistic struggles. It is no news that 
language is power. American imperialism has been very 
successful thanks to the spread of the English language. 
If Africa cannot totally rely on indigenous languages 
to face the rest of the world, its indiginised English 
varieties can play a major role. Kouam (in production) 
strongly believes that Cameroonian and African natural 
resources are appealing enough to America and Europe. 
If the indigenised African varieties of English appear 
to be the sole means of communication through which 
discussions regarding these resources can be held, 
the Western World will not resist. They will embrace 
indigenised African English models. Francophone EFL 
teachers’ mindset, as it stands, is contrary to African 
transformative development initiatives and visions. 
It must be reshaped through decolonisation. The best 
method to deconstruct and reconstruct Francophone 
EFL teachers’ English linguistic mindset in Cameroon 
remains the teaching of the course entitled World En-
glishes to EFL student teachers. The teaching of such a 
course will definitely influence their attitudes towards 
indigenised English varieties. 

Fewer and fewer studies now brandish traditional 
native speakers of English as sole norm-providers and 
non-native speakers as followers of the established 
norms. Instead, most works (e.g., Levis, 2005) require 
that the Nativeness Principle, which used to prevail in 
the teaching of English pronunciation in both native 
and non-native contexts, should now pave the way to 
the Intelligibility Principle, which best addresses all 
contexts of second or foreign language teaching/learn-
ing. Francophone EFL teachers in Cameroon should 
follow this principle which simply requires learners 
to be intelligible. Therefore, language policy makers in 
Cameroon should recommend mainstream Cameroon 
English for both ESL and EFL teaching to the detriment 
of Standard British English. Studies have shown that 
CamFE contains many features of CamE and very few 
features of SBE even though CamFE speakers paradox-
ically display a very negative attitude towards CamE 
and a very positive one towards SBE. The codification 
process of CamE is far advanced. The legitimate fea-
tures of its educated variety as well as features that 
can be considered as mistakes and excluded are well 
known. More textbooks need to be designed based on 
its educated variety to enable a smooth teaching of this 
local English model.

Conclusion
Although English is mainly a colonial heritage for 

Cameroonians and other Africans, postcolonial nations 
should develop pride for its local varieties, as they are 
emblematic of our sociocultural realities. As for now, 
there is almost no alternative to English as a global 
lingua franca. It would be fallacious to think that a 
Cameroonian indigenous language can guarantee the 
instrumental role that English fulfils today. The issue 
is thus that of the variety that should be promoted. In 
the Cameroonian context, CamE should be the target in 
ELT rather than Standard British English. If the Camer-
oonian EFL teaching stakeholders (who are mostly of a 
Francophone background) emulate their fellow Anglo-
phone colleagues in the teaching of an accent which 
is at the reach of the learners and is rooted in their 
sociolinguistic and sociocultural realities, Francophone 
Cameroonian learners will develop greater competenc-
es in oral communication. The exposure of prospective 
Francophone EFL teachers to World Englishes, as is 
already the case with ESL teachers, can seriously play 
in favour of this. The present situation which is charac-
terized by the unattainable objective of approximating 
native Englishes ignites frustrations in the students, as 
they remain unable to communicate actively in the lan-
guage. Also, embracing CamE rather than SBE can only 
reinforce national integration. There is thus a necessity 
to join Wa Thiongo (1986) in his call for a decoloniza-
tion of the mind. Levis’ (2005) Intelligibility Principle 
should also be the watchword in the Cameroonian EFL 
teaching industry nowadays given that the Nativeness 
Principle which has so far been followed by Franco-
phone EFL teachers simply leads to hypercorrection, a 
phenomenon which was observed to be compromising 
Francophone learners’ ability to speak English naturally 
and fluently.

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Author



McGhie, V. & Dos Reis, K.. Global Journal of 
Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4   
pp 44-56.  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.35408

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© McGhie & Dos Reis 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
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Translations as a Transformative Form of Language Support 
to English Additional Language Speaking Students at a 
South African University

Venicia McGhie1 and Karen Dos Reis2

Abstract
This paper reports on an innovative translation intervention strategy piloted in the first semester of 2017 

in the business faculty at a historically black university in South Africa. The pilot study covered the imple-
mentation and monitoring of translating instructions, questions and explanations into two of the students’ 
first languages in the formative assessments in the first-year Management 131 subject. The pilot project was 
situated within a qualitative, interpretive research paradigm. The research design used for the pilot project 
was a case study design. A total of 259 first-year students (both English home language and additional lan-
guage-speaking students) completed a survey. The findings show that the translations in their home languages 
assisted the students in comprehending the instructions and course content. In so doing, it levelled the playing 
field and enabled them to perform optimally, resulting in an increased pass rate in the subject. Additionally, the 
English-speaking students felt the intervention was a much-needed innovation. Also, other additional lan-
guage-speaking students requested translations to be done in their home languages as well. The findings pro-
vide evidence that students who are English additional language speakers need innovative and transformative 
language interventions to succeed in their respective degree programmes at post-secondary institutions. The 
implication is that other colleges and universities should consider doing the same for their students to increase 
the retention and success rates of undergraduate students in higher education.

Keywords: First-year students; English additional language; Translations; Language support, 
        Intervention strategy; Academic success.

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
The South African constitution recognises eleven 

official languages for its multi-racial and multi-cultural 
population (Department of Basic Education, 2013; Re-
public of South Africa, 1996). IsiZulu (one of the eleven 
languages) is the most spoken language, with 11.58 
million speakers (23%), followed by IsiXhosa, 8.15 
million (16%), and Afrikaans, 6.85 million (13.5%). En-
glish is spoken by 4.89 million people (10%), followed 
by Sepedi with 4.62 million (9.1%), and Setswana with 
4.07 million (8%) (Census, 2011; South Africa Informa-
tion, 2018). However, based on South Africa’s colonial 
past, English, as the fourth most spoken language in 
South Africa, is perceived as a ‘global language’, and 
hence, it is the preferred mode of communication and 
interaction in academia, trace, the economy and tech-

nology (Brenzinger, 2017; Hurst & Mona, 2017; Xue & 
Zuo, 2013; Xuyen & Trang, 2021). Consequently, English 
is used as the medium of instruction in primary schools 
(from Grade 4 onwards) and most high schools and 
post-secondary institutions in South Africa (Council on 
Higher Education, 2014; Department of Basic Educa-
tion, 2013).

The preference for English as the medium of in-
struction in schools and tertiary institutions in South 
Africa is problematic on at least three accounts. Firstly, 
it goes against the language policy and developmen-
tal plan for South Africa because it does not promote 
mother-tongue education. Globally, much research has 
been done on the issue of having to learn and construct 
new knowledge in one’s home language versus in an 
additional language (Bada, 2017; Brock-Utne, Desai & 
Qorro, 2006; Gentry, 2022; Mgqwashu, 2011; Xuyen & 
Trang, 2021). The research findings show that

44



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 45

learners who learn and construct new knowledge in 
their home language achieve a greater degree of aca-
demic success than learners who are English additional 
language speakers (Bada, 2017; Hoxha & Sumner, 2021; 
Hurst & Mona, 2017; Mgqwashu, 2011).

Secondly, the multilingual language policy is hin-
dered by public funding constraints and a lack of 
educational resources (such as a lack of libraries and 
technological equipment in some schools) (Brenzinger, 
2017; Heugh, 2013). Hence, not adhering to and imple-
menting the approved language policy makes it contra-
dictory as the intention is “praiseworthy,” but action is 
lacking. More recently, the education policy debate has 
gradually shifted from access to schooling to improving 
the quality of learning and teaching at post-secondary 
institutions because more students are failing nation-
ally than succeeding in their respective degree pro-
grammes (Council on Higher Education, 2014; 2016; 
Masino & Nino-Zarazua, 2015; Pather, 2018).

Thirdly, it is also about social justice imperatives 
because the emphasis on English, which is the colonial 
language, is to the detriment of developing the indige-
nous languages in South Africa (Hurst & Mona, 2017; 
Masino & Nino-Zarazua, 2015; Mgqwashu, 2011). From 
a social justice perspective, the authors advocate for the 
liberation and empowerment of the poor and margin-
alised groups in society and for the provision of quality 
education that could lead to economic emancipation 
and development for all (Council on Higher Education, 
2014; 2016; Leibowitz, 2009; Masino & Nino-Zarazua, 
2015).

It was for the above reasons, among others, that 
the post-apartheid government in 1995 embarked on a 
transformation process to eradicate the inequalities of 
the past through the acknowledgement of eleven offi-
cial languages (Ministry of Education, 2001). However, 
while the intention was good in theory, the status quo 
remains three decades after democracy. The 2015 and 
2016 student protests highlighted the need for decol-
onisation, and the #RhodesMustFall movement spe-
cifically foregrounded the language issue and the fact 
that the colonial language still dominates the medium 
of instruction at most higher education institutions in 
South Africa.

The authors argue that transformative learning 
theory principles should be applied in post-secondary 
education in South Africa. Transformative learning is 
based on the premise that human beings interpret their 
experiences uniquely and that how they see the world 
results from their perceptions and experiences (Cran-

ton & Taylor, 2012). It is a process of examining, ques-
tioning, and revising those perceptions, so critical 
thought and self-reflection are part of it. The goal 
should be to teach students to become self-aware and 
critical, to question norms and perceptions and, in the 
process, to be transformed (Cranton & Taylor, 2012).

Based on the above context, this paper reports 
on a pilot project conducted during the first semester 
of 2017 in the business faculty at a historically Black 
university in South Africa. The pilot project covered the 
implementation and monitoring of translations as an 
innovative intervention strategy that aimed to provide 
language support to new first-year students who were 
additional language speakers of English in the facul-
ty. Hence, the paper attempts to fill the gap of English 
additional language speaking students’ challenge 
to construct meaning in a language that is not their 
mother tongue (Landsberg, 2005; Mgqwashu, 2011). 
While much research has been done on the challenges 
that these learners face in the learning process, not 
many studies focus on providing intervention strate-
gies to assist them (Bada, 2017; Heugh, 2013; Hurst & 
Mona, 2017; Pather, 2018). The authors contend that 
these students need language support to succeed at 
post-secondary institutions in their respective degree 
programmes. The innovative translation support in-
tervention strategy discussed in this paper is one such 
attempt.

Context of the Pilot Project
The university where the pilot project was conduct-

ed is one of four institutions of higher learning in one 
province in South Africa. The apartheid government 
established the university to provide for the higher 
education needs of the Coloured population in South 
Africa. The university’s language of learning and teach-
ing was Afrikaans, one of the eleven official languages. 
However, because this university was directly involved 
in the struggle against apartheid, it became known as 
the “University of the Left” (Walker & Badsha, 1993) 
and opened its doors to African and Asian students as 
well (Letseka & Maile, 2008; Volbrecht, 2002). Most of 
these students came from working class communities 
and under-resourced public schooling (McGhie, 2012; 
Mgqwashu, 2011; Venter, 2020). To accommodate the 
African students who had different home languages, the 
university changed its language policy to a bilingual one 
with Afrikaans and English as the languages of learning 
and teaching (Academic Development Centre, 1998).

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 46

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

As a result of a steady increase in the number of Af-
rican students over the years, there was a gradual move 
to English as the only language of learning and teaching 
at the university, but it was not without disparities and 
concerns among the university staff and management 
(Academic Development Centre, 1998; Volbrecht, 
2002). In order to resolve the issue, the university man-
agement accepted a multilingual approach at its Council 
meeting held in June 1992 that reads: “Regarding the 
lingua franca to be used particularly by students, it was 
generally agreed that students be encouraged to write 
in the language they feel comfortable with” (Volbrecht, 
2002, p. 217). Despite this decision, the university 
moved overwhelmingly to English as the only language 
of learning and teaching by the end of 1992.  According 
to Dyers (1996), the reasons for the shift to English 
were:
• Most lecturers perceived English as the most viable

academic lingua franca at that point in history;
• The majority of the lecturers were English-speak-

ing or bilingual (English and Afrikaans), and only
a small minority of the lecturers were IsiXho-
sa-speaking;

• Most students at the time were IsiXhosa-speaking
(44%), and surveys conducted among students
suggested that most IsiXhosa-speaking students
preferred receiving instruction in English rather
than in IsiXhosa.

English as the official language of instruction and
communication meant that only English was used 
in lectures and tutorials, tasks, assignments, tests 
and examinations, and written material and learning 
resources used by staff. Ironically, the language of the 
colonisers and the oppressors who instigated discrim-
ination and injustice became the language of teaching 
and language at this university and still is to this day.

This situation poses language learning challenges 
for the students (Hurst, E. & Mona, 2017; Landsberg, 
2005; McGhie, Moodley & Naidoo, 2015). Since 1993, 
students who are additional language speakers of En-
glish have to learn and construct meaning in English at 
an advanced level. It is no wonder, then, that the overall 
throughput rate of the university’s students is below 
the national South African benchmark mark of 29% 
(Council on Higher Education, 2016; 2017). It is against 
this backdrop that the authors advocate that transfor-
mative learning should take place where the status quo 
is challenged and students be empowered through the 
use of language support interventions in their home

languages. Such interventions can provide students 
with extra assistance to understand better the content 
of their different subjects and the instructions, ques-
tions and explanations they receive for tasks, assign-
ments and tests. In this way, they will know what is 
required to complete these assessments correctly and, 
as a consequence, strengthen their chances of passing 
their assessments and their subjects well. Moreover, 
first-year students need more academic support than 
senior students, as they also have to deal with transi-
tional and adjustment challenges (Council on Higher 
Education, 2017; Letseka, Cosser, Breier & Visser, 2010; 
Pather, 2018).

Aim and Objectives
The aim of the pilot project was two-fold. First, 

the authors wanted to provide translations as a trans-
formative intervention strategy in the students’ home 
languages to aid new first-year students’ understand-
ing of instructions, questions and explanations in their 
assignments so that they would know what and how 
to do their assignments correctly. Secondly, by imple-
menting the intervention strategy, the authors wanted 
to strengthen first-year students’ chances of succeeding 
academically. The objectives were to:
• legitimise the other two official languages used in

the province (Afrikaans and IsiXhosa) in order to
strengthen students’ understanding and academic
integration; and

• increase students’ academic performance and suc-
cess in their different subjects.

To achieve the aim and objectives, the main re-
search question was: 

Can the provision of translations as a transfor-
mative intervention strategy enhance students’ 
academic success?

Literature Review
The student movements, #FeesmustFall and 

#RhodesmustFall in 2015 and 2016, were outcries from 
the students to South African universities’ management 
and the Department of Higher Education to adhere to 
the Bill of Rights in the South African constitution and 
the language policy (Republic of South Africa, 1996). 
Tinto (2009, p. 2) explains, “To be serious about student 
retention, universities would recognize that the roots of 
student attrition lie not only in their students and the 
situations they face, but also in the very character of the 
educational settings in which they ask students to



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 47

learn, namely the classrooms, laboratories, and studios 
of the campus.”

This quote implies that university management and 
staff should be mindful of the learning contexts they 
create for their students and the institutional culture 
and practices that could alienate them. It means that 
university management should place the students first 
and provide the necessary resources and support to 
assist students’ social and academic integration into 
the university environment (Tinto, 2006, 2009). The 
authors agree with Tinto that student success does 
not happen by chance (Tinto, 2009). According to him, 
student success results from an intentional, structured 
and proactive set of coherent, systematic, and careful-
ly aligned strategies, with the first year of university 
studies as the most critical period to make it happen 
(Tinto, 2009). As a consequence of this commitment, 
providing translation as a transformative language 
intervention strategy to English additional language 
speaking students is one form of language support that 
could increase students’ pass rates.

Cummins (2007, 2008) explains that a minimum 
of five to seven years is needed for English additional 
language learners to catch up academically, that is, to 
acquire the language proficiency needed in English to 
succeed at the tertiary level. Cummins (2007, 2008) 
distinguishes (based on research that was conducted 
into the role of language proficiency and bilingualism in 
academic achievements) between conversation pro-
ficiency (what he used to term BICS – basic interper-
sonal communicative skills) and academic proficiency 
(formerly termed CALP – cognitive academic language 
proficiency).  

Cummins (2008) further explains that language 
proficiency in a social situation (BICS) is characterised 
by interpersonal interaction and requires only basic 
interpersonal language proficiency from the com-
municator. Meaning is negotiated by the participants 
in the conversation and conveyed through language. 
The context within which the communication takes 
place supports conveying meaning. Interpretations 
are embedded in the situation and often associated 
with non-verbal clues. He explains that CALP is usually 
language in its primary and written form, and it is not, 
for example, possible to obtain additional information 
from non-verbal clues (Cummins, 2008). He argues that 
more advanced language skills than those required for 
an informal, personal conversation are needed to read 
or write a scientific report or academic assignment 
(Cummins, 2008).

As such, the shortcomings in additional language 
speaking students’ language skills would inhibit their 
achievements in academic tasks much more than it 
would in the case of interpersonal communication 
(Cummins, 2007, 2008). For this author, academic 
language proficiency refers to an absolute concept of 
expertise in understanding and using the specific lan-
guage employed in an educational context and required 
to complete academic tasks (Cummins, 2008). Conse-
quently, he argues that academic language proficiency 
means that one has ‘the language knowledge together 
with the associated knowledge of the world and meta-
cognitive strategies necessary to function effectively in 
the language of communication and instruction at the 
university level (Cummins, 2008).  

An inference can be made from Cummins’ explana-
tion of what ‘knowing a language means’ - that English 
additional language speakers have a demanding and 
daunting task ahead of them when they embark on the 
learning journey at the post-secondary level. Most of 
these students have difficulty achieving good grades in 
their subjects, not because they are ‘dumb’ or ‘weak’ 
or ‘lazy’ (labelling terms often ascribed to these stu-
dents by some academics), but simply because English 
is not their home language (Gentry, 2022; Hoxha & 
Sumner, 2021; Masino & Nino-Zarazua, 2015). Hence, 
the English language proficiency of additional language 
speaking students is not developed sufficiently to 
enable them to perform well in their different subjects, 
which is why they need transformative and innovative 
language intervention support.

Methods
The pilot project was situated within a qualitative, 

interpretive research paradigm (Creswell & Creswell, 
2018; Yin, 2014). There were two reasons for this 
choice. The first was based on the fact that the authors 
wanted to assist English additional language-speak-
ing students in their daily lived experiences of having 
to study and construct meaning in English, which is 
referred to as their ‘natural setting’ (Babbie & Mou-
ton, 2010; Creswell & Creswell, 2018; Yin, 2014). The 
second reason was that qualitative research acknowl-
edges that reality is socially constructed, as people’s 
experiences happen within personal, cultural, historical 
and social contexts (Babbie & Mouton, 2010; Hennink, 
Hutter & Bailey, 2011). The students’ meaning-making 
process happened within a colonised set-up where they 
had to acquire and construct advanced knowledge in 
English. This meant that their own personal,cultural,

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 48

historical and social contexts had to be replaced with 
a ‘foreign one’ as they had to learn the English lan-
guage and the associated knowledge and metacognitive 
strategies necessary to function effectively, as Cummins 
(2008) explains. These principles are also in line with 
transformative learning theories – that meaning is 
negotiated and should be questioned and critically an-
alysed to effect change and allow students to use their 
agency (Cranton & Taylor, 2012).

The research design used for the pilot project was a 
case study design (Stake, 2006; Yin, 2014). A case study 
design assisted in understanding and gaining insights 
into first-year, English additional language speaking 
students’ language needs, and in decolonising the usage 
of English as the medium of instruction at the univer-
sity (Stake, 2006; Yin, 2014). The authors’ approach to 
decolonising the usage of English through the provi-
sion of translations was based on Le Grange’s (2016) 
notion that decolonisation is the phenomenon that 
encompasses providing language support to first-year 
students. Thus, the authors propose that the provision 
of translations as a language support intervention strat-
egy for English additional language speaking students 
can be used as an initial step towards the decolonisa-
tion of the use of English in higher education institu-
tions in South Africa and globally.

The pilot project was rolled out in all the first-year 
subjects in the university’s business faculty at the 
beginning of the first semester in 2017. The lecturers 
teaching first-year subjects were invited to send their 
instructions, questions and explanations of their differ-
ent tutorial assignments (which form part of the forma-
tive assessments during the course of the semester) to 
the teaching and learning specialist who coordinated 
and facilitated the translation thereof into Afrikaans 
and IsiXhosa (the two dominant languages spoken in 
the Western Cape Province where the university is 
situated). Notices were placed on the university’s on-
line student learning platform inviting the students to 
download the translated assignments. Announcements 
about this service available to the students were also 
made in the different lectures during the semester.  

The teaching and learning specialist sent the tuto-
rial assignments to a team of translators recommended 
by the subject lecturers and selected based on a profi-
ciency test. Regular meetings with the translators and 
the different lecturers were held to ensure that the 
translations were on par with the English versions. In 
addition, there was ongoing email communication be-
tween the teaching and learning specialist and the

lecturers to monitor and quality assure the process. 
Lecturers from six different departments in the faculty 
participated in the process. At the end of the semester, 
a report was drawn from the students’ learning man-
agement system that indicated how many students 
downloaded the translations in the six departments. 
The report reflected that the most downloads (782) oc-
curred in the Management (Man 131) first-year subject. 
Based on the fact that the most downloads occurred in 
this subject, the authors decided to use the information 
of all the first-year students who were registered for 
Man 131 as data for this paper. The results are divided 
into five data sets.

Data Set 1 consists of a breakdown of how many 
IsiXhosa-speaking students and how many Afri-
kaans-speaking students downloaded the instructions 
in the Man 131 subject. Data Set 2 presents a break-
down of the students’ home languages, and Data Set 3 
gives an account of the two tutorial assignments, which 
were translated into IsiXhosa and Afrikaans.

Finally, two surveys were conducted towards the 
end of the first semester to establish the students’ 
and academics’ views and experiences of the language 
support intervention strategy. In keeping with ethi-
cal principles, the staff and students were invited to 
participate voluntarily in the survey. The surveys were 
sent to all the academics and first-year students in the 
faculty. For this paper, only the students’ responses are 
analysed and discussed. The responses of the staff will 
be discussed in another paper. A total of 259 first-year 
students (both English home language and additional 
language speaking students) completed the survey. 
The students had to indicate if they were English home 
language or additional language speaking students. 
However, only 100 of the students answered all the 
questions and provided explanations for their answers. 
Thus, only the 100 responses (23 English home lan-
guage and 77 additional language speaking students) 
were analysed and reported on in this paper. 

Four questions were asked in the student survey. 
These ask whether or not students:
1. Were aware of the language support programme;
2. Downloaded the translated instructions, questions

and explanations of the tutorial assignments from
the university’s student learning management sys-
tem;

3. Thought that the translated instructions, questions
and explanations in the tutorial assignments im-
proved their understanding of the content of their
subjects (they had first to tick a box, (Yes or No),

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 49

and then explain their answers); and
4. Whether they thought there was a need for such an

intervention (again, they had to tick a box (Yes or
No) and then explain their answers).
The students’ responses to the four questions were

quantitative (yes/no answers) and were entered into 
Excel software to present the number of similar and dif-
ferent responses visually. These responses are referred 
to as Data Set 4. 

The students’ explanations to the last two questions 
were qualitative in nature and analysed through con-
tent analysis, using a three-stage, open coding process 
(Henning, 2004). The first stage involved a general 
reading and noting of the explanations on a Word docu-
ment. The second stage involved a second, closer read-
ing where similar responses were categorised under 
main themes and entered on another Word document. 
The last stage of the open coding process involved a 
further reduction of the responses into sub-themes on a 
new Word document. The authors worked through the 
responses carefully and requested another colleague to 
check and verify that the responses were correctly doc-
umented on the three Word documents. These explana-
tions are referred to as Data Set 5. 

Results
The results from the four quantitative data sets are 

presented first and, after that, the themes and sub-
themes identified in the qualitative data set. 

Data Set 1: Downloaded IsiXhosa and Afrikaans 
translated tutorials in Management 131

As stated in the previous section, 782 downloads 
were made. Of these, 263 downloads were made by 
the IsiXhosa-speaking students for tutorial assignment 
1 and 243 for the second tutorial, while the Afri-
kaans-speaking students made a total of 164 down-
loads for tutorial 1 and 112 downloads for tutorial 2. 
Table 1 reflects the downloads in percentages. 

The percentages for the IsiXhosa downloads are 
more or less on par with the number of students who 
reported that IsiXhosa is their first language (refer to 
Data Set 2). This, however, is not the case for the num-
ber of Afrikaans downloads made, as only 47 students

declared that Afrikaans was their first language (refer 
to Figure 1). Possible reasons for the discrepancy are 
discussed in the next section.

Data Set 2: Language distribution of registered 
first-year students in Management 131

A total of 735 first-year students was registered in 
Management 131 in the first semester of 2017. Of the 
735 students, 47 indicated on their registration infor-
mation that they were Afrikaans-speaking students 
(6.39%), 252 IsiXhosa-speaking (34.29%), 280 English 
(38.10%), and 156 other language speakers (21.22%). 
Figure 1 gives a visual presentation of the percentages.

Figure 1 shows that 61.90% (that is 6.39 + 34.29 + 
21.22) of the students registered in Management 131 
were English additional language speaking students, 
and 38.10% were English home language speakers. 
This finding reflects the university’s general trend of 
language distribution (Institutional Planning Office, 
2017).

Data Set 3: Comparison of students’ performance in 
the two tutorial assignments

Figure 2 illustrates the students’ performance 
averages in the two tutorial assignments translated 
compared with the English-first-language-speaking 
students’ average results.

The results indicate that the Afrikaans-speaking 
students’ average was 78.6%, the IsiXhosa-speaking 
students was 71.90%, and the English mother tongue 
students’ average was 76.21%.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 50

Data Set 4: Quantitative responses from the stu-
dents’ survey

Table 2 reflects the 100 students’ responses to the 
four questions asked in the survey.

The results show that 71 students (71%) were 
aware of the language support programme, while 29 
said they were unaware. Thirty-nine of the 100 stu-
dents downloaded the translated tutorials, and 61 did 
not. One can infer that the 23 English home language 
students were part of the 61 who did not download the 
translations because there was no need to do so. Hence, 
the remaining 38 were English additional language 
speaking students, which could mean that they consid-
ered downloading the instructions as ‘extra work’ and 
decided not to download the translations. Alternative-
ly, it could have been some other language-speaking 
students who did not download the translations as they 
were not in their first languages. However, it should be 
noted that the other Afrikaans downloads (see Table 1) 
could have been made by some of the remaining 159 
students whose responses were omitted, as explained 
in the Methods section.

The results further reflect that the students who 
used the translated assignments’ instructions, ques-
tions and explanations indicated that the transla-
tions assisted them in better understanding the work 
covered in the module. Lastly, most students (92%) 
thought there was a need for such an intervention, and 
they provided reasons for their stance in Data Set 5.

Data Set 5: Students’ explanations of the answers 
given to the last two questions 

Two main themes were identified from the stu-
dents’ explanations for their answers to Questions 
3 and 4: (i) positive explanations and (ii) challenges 
identified. Four sub-themes were identified under the 
first theme and two under the second theme. These are 
described below.

Theme 1: Positive explanations.
Sub-theme 1: Better understanding of the  
subject matter
The thirty-nine students who downloaded the 

translated assignments explained that it assisted them 
in understanding the content of the subject better. Be-
low are examples of pertinent responses received:

• It	helps	me	a	lot	as	I	did	not	understand	at	first.
• It helps because I understand the work better.
• I understand the work much better.

Thus, the fact that students felt that the translations 
assisted them in better understanding the content of 
the subject could be one of the contributing reasons 
why the Afrikaans-speaking students’ performances 
in the two tutorial assignments were better than the 
English mother tongue students’ performance.

Sub-theme 2: Receiving translated assignments 
was advantageous
Thirty-two students responded positively and said 

receiving the assignments in their first language was 
‘great’. Below are specific sentiments expressed by the 
students:

• The program is doing a great job!
• The translated tutorials are a good idea.
• This is a great service and students are lucky to

have this service available.

These comments imply that the students were 
satisfied with the intervention. In addition, the third 
response implies that the students did not think of the 
intervention as a right they had. Instead, receiving the

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 51

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

tutorial assignments in IsiXhosa and Afrikaans was per-
ceived as ‘being lucky’, which could be inferred as ‘being 
privileged’. An inference can be made that the students 
did not expect to receive translations in their first 
language as they knew that the university used English 
as its medium of instruction. Also, language support in-
terventions in the form of translations are not standard 
practice at the school level (the policy does not require 
schools to implement such interventions), which could 
be another reason why the students regarded it as a 
‘privilege’ (Department of Basic Education, 2019).

Sub-theme 3: Empathy showed by English home 
language speaking students
Another positive response was that the 23 English 

home language speaking students who completed the 
survey showed empathy towards students who were 
additional language speakers of English. They explained 
that having the tutorial assignments translated into 
IsiXhosa and Afrikaans was an innovative idea because 
these students would better understand what the as-
signments were about, which could assist them in doing 
better in their modules. Certain students provided the 
following recommendations for the way forward:

• I	feel	it	will	benefit	second	language	students
tremendously.

• I think the translated tutorials do assist students,
as	English	is	not	their	first	language.

• Basically, I think translated tutorials are good
because some students struggle to understand in
English.

Moreover, one student felt that this initiative could 
lower the dropout rates. An inference can be made that 
the student was aware that learning in English is chal-
lenging for additional language speaking students and 
that it could be one of the reasons why many students 
fail and do not complete their degree programmes 
on time. Thus, the student thought that receiving the 
tutorial instructions and explanations in Afrikaans or 
IsiXhosa would aid the students’ understanding and 
strengthen their chances of passing their subjects, 
which correlates with the aim and objectives of this 
paper.

Sub-theme 4: Creating equality
One student noted:
• I think they are a good venture, they create a

sense of equality.
The comment from the student implies that he/she 

thought that the translations levelled the playing field.

That is, students who were additional language 
speakers of English could make sense of and under-
stand the tutorial assignments better because it was in 
their mother tongue (similar to students who received 
it in English and who were English home-language 
speaking students). In this instance, an inference could 
be made that this response alluded to decolonising the 
curriculum and breaking the dominance of English in 
the classroom, on the one hand, and providing these 
students with an equal opportunity to pass their re-
spective subjects, on the other hand.

Theme 2: Challenges identified
Sub-theme 1: A need to translate the assignments 
into other languages
Nine students suggested that the assignments’ 

instructions, questions and explanations should also 
be translated into other languages and not only into 
IsiXhosa and Afrikaans. Below are some of the students’ 
suggestions:

• IsiZulu must be catered for.
• I think all 11 languages should be catered for.
• Consider adding other languages.
These students’ responses indicate a need for lan-

guage support and that IsiXhosa and Afrikaans speak-
ing students benefited from the support, but they did 
not. It thus provides evidence for the argument in this 
paper, which is that English additional language speak-
ing students need transformative language support 
interventions to improve their understanding of in-
structions, questions and explanations given in tutorial 
assignments, tests and examinations in their different 
subjects. 

Sub-theme 2: Not making use of the translation 
provided
Seven students indicated that they did not down-

load the translated assignments because they were 
“lazy” and thereby not “creating more work” for them-
selves. The students concurred with the response 
below:

• I was too lazy to download the translations.
This response is not uncommon, as there will be

students who do not want to make the extra effort to 
help themselves. At least they were honest in explaining 
why they did not use the support provided



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 52

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Discussion
The analysis in the previous section focuses on 

three main issues, namely: 
1. The language distribution of the first-year students

who were registered for the Management 131 sub-
ject;

2. The results of the students in the two tutorial as-
signments that were translated, and

3. The students’ survey responses, which can be
grouped into three findings: First, the translations
aided the students’ understanding of the content
in the module. Second, it was an innovative trans-
formative idea to provide language support in the
form of translations to English additional language
speaking students. Third, translations of the forma-
tive assessments should also be provided to stu-
dents who speak other South African languages.

Figure 1 shows the language distribution of the
first-year students registered for the Management 
(MAN 131) subject in the first semester of 2017, where 
most of the downloads occurred. However, if one com-
pares this finding with the results in Table 1, it is only 
the IsiXhosa finding that correlates with the number 
of students who reported IsiXhosa as their first lan-
guage. Table 1 reflects that only 47 students indicated 
that Afrikaans is their first language, but 163 Afrikaans 
translations were downloaded for the first assignment 
and 112 for the second. 

A possible reason for the discrepancy in the Afri-
kaans downloads could be that the same students could 
have downloaded the translations more than once. It 
could also be that some of the students who indicated 
that they were English home language speakers down-
loaded the translations as well because they came from 
Afrikaans-speaking home environments. This inference 
points to the dominance of English and the fact that it is 
regarded as the ‘language of choice’ (Bada, 2017; Heu-
gh, 2013; Xue & Zuo, 2013). Moreover, both students 
and their parents regard English as ‘superior’ to the 
other indigenous languages, as it is seen as the ‘global 
language that can open doors’ and as a result, parents 
would intentionally use English to communicate with 
their children so that the children can become fluent 
in the English language (Dyers, 1996, 2001; Xue & Zuo, 
2013). That is why the children, when they come to uni-
versity, regard English as their first language, despite 
their parents speaking Afrikaans (Dyers, 1996, 2001). It 
could be argued that the preference for the English lan-
guage is one of the reasons why the other indigenous

languages in South Africa are not further developed and 
strengthened (Masino & Nino-Zarazua, 2015; Matsinhe, 
2004; Mgqwashu, 2011).

However, this inference also speaks to Cummins’ 
(2008) division of BICS and CALP and his explanation 
of language proficiency in a social situation (BICS), 
which is characterised by interpersonal interaction and 
requires only basic interpersonal language proficiency 
from the communicator because meaning is negotiated 
by the participants in the conversation and is conveyed 
using language. As such, students who come from an Af-
rikaans-speaking background and switched to English 
only will have BICS that is better developed than their 
CALP. As a result, they will think that they have mas-
tered the English language and will regard themselves 
as English mother tongue students. However, when it 
comes to CALP, they will need assistance, which could 
be why more Afrikaans downloads were made (163 and 
112) than the number of students (47) who reported
they were Afrikaans-speaking.

The second finding that emerged from the data is 
the results presented in Figure 2. The results reflect 
that the Afrikaans-speaking students’ performance 
(78.6%) was higher than the English-speaking students 
(76.21%), followed by the IsiXhosa-speaking students’ 
performance (71.90%). Thus, the results validate what 
the students reported in the survey – the translated 
tutorial assignments improved their understanding of 
what was required of them and, in so doing, enhanced 
their performance in the two assessments. In addi-
tion, the fact that their results compared favourably 
to the results of their English counterparts is further 
proof that the transformative translation intervention 
strategy produced the desired result. When students 
are empowered to understand better instructions, 
questions and explanations given in formative assess-
ments, they could perform close to, or better than, the 
English mother tongue students, as the results showed. 
This finding is also in line with what Cummins (2008) 
argues for - that English additional language speaking 
students require language support to succeed academ-
ically since they have to learn the language of instruc-
tion and, at the same time, learn the academic content. 
It also speaks to an element of transformative learning 
in that the students were provided with the opportuni-
ty to read and understand the instructions in their own 
language, and not in the colonial language.

However, the authors are mindful that other factors 
(such as having sufficient time to complete the tutorial 
assignments and consultation with the lecturer and



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 53

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

tutors) could have also contributed to the students’ 
good performance. Also, since this was a pilot project, 
there were no previous findings that could be used to 
compare or benchmark the students’ performance. 
The only comparison that could be made was with the 
overall pass and failure rates of the MAN 131 subject in 
2016, where there was a 74.2% pass rate and a 25.8% 
failure rate. The pass rate of MAN 131 in 2017 was 
89.5%, and the failure rate was 10.5% (Department 
of Management, 2017). This means that there was an 
increase of more than 15% in the pass rate in 2017. The 
authors propose that the provision of translations in 
the students’ mother tongues contributed to the in-
crease in the pass rate in the module in 2017.

Lastly, the fact that the English home language stu-
dents and the students who downloaded the translated 
assignments felt that the intervention strategy was an 
innovative and much-needed step, underscores the 
need for students to be taught in their native language 
as it will improve and enhance their understanding of 
what they read and learn (Cummins, 2008; Department 
of Basic Education, 2018, 2019; Whiteside, Gooch & 
Norbury, 2017). This need for mother-tongue education 
is further highlighted by the nine students who indi-
cated that translations into their first languages should 
also be provided since they spoke some of the other 
eleven languages. 

Smith (1999) and Chilisa (2012) advocate that the 
concepts of “deconstruction and reconstruction” ques-
tion that which is understood as “the norm” in order 
to rewrite history so that indigenous people’s norms, 
traditions and cultures rightfully be acknowledged as 
legitimate and valid. Similarly, transformative learning 
pedagogy emphasises the need to question and chal-
lenge experiences and perceptions from a colonial na-
ture. These should be critically analysed, and students 
should be empowered and encouraged to exercise their 
agency in a transformative manner. In this regard, the 
additional language-speaking students exercised their 
right to construct meaning in their home languages, 
which form part of their culture, values and traditions. 
They were pleased that they were provided with the 
opportunity to receive the instructions, questions and 
explanations of the tutorial assignments in their moth-
er tongues. Therefore, the translation intervention 
strategy validated the students’ knowledge and lived 
realities, which is what Gentry (2022), Hurst and Mona 
(2017) and Cranton and Taylor (2012) also argued for.

Equally important is the comment by another stu-
dent - “…they [the translated instructions, questions 

and explanations] create a sense of equality.” The two 
responses (an innovative idea and equality) drive the 
message home – that indigenous languages should be 
acknowledged, respected, and embraced so that trans-
formative learning can occur. The authors propose that 
students and the broader communities in South Afri-
ca and elsewhere should be allowed to practise their 
right to be taught in their home languages. If that is not 
feasible (as is the current situation in South Africa), 
transformative language support interventions should 
be in place to assist these students, which is what Tinto 
(2009), Cummins (2007, 2008), Strydom and Mentz 
(2010) and Whiteside et al. (2017) (amongst others) 
suggest should happen.

Conclusion and Recommendations
Three overall findings could be inferred from the 

analysis and discussion of the data collected for this 
pilot project. 
• There are still more students who are English addi-

tional language speaking students in the business
faculty at the university than those who are English
mother tongue speakers;

• The translation intervention strategy aided the
English additional language speaking students’
comprehension of the instructions, questions and
explanations received in the tutorial assignments.
In so doing, it levelled the playing field and enabled
them to perform optimally, which increased the
pass rate in the Management 131 subject.

• The acknowledgement from English-speaking stu-
dents that the intervention strategy was an inno-
vative idea, together with the additional language
speaking students who suggested that it should be
done for their languages as well, is a strong indica-
tion that there is a need for transformative language
support for students whose first language is not
English.

Therefore, it is recommended that more language
support interventions be created and implemented for 
additional-language-speaking students of English to 
assist them in better understanding the content of their 
different subjects.

A second recommendation is that the faculty and 
the university management attempt to provide more 
financial support so that translation interventions are 
also offered to students who speak the other official 
languages.



McGhie & Dos Reis, Translations as Language Support 54

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

The last recommendation is that the translation 
support intervention should also be extended to second 
and third-year students so that they, too, can bene-
fit from an enhanced understanding of instructions, 
questions and explanations in their assignments and be 
able to perform as well as the English home language 
speaking students and even better, as was the case for 
the Afrikaans-speaking students.

The authors acknowledge that this was a pilot proj-
ect, and they did not have a control group or a pre-and 
post-test to compare the results. However, the fact that 
the students passed the two assignments well, none 
of them failed, and the overall pass rate in the module 
increased by 15% demonstrates that language support 
interventions are essential enablers for students who 
are not mother-tongue speakers of English at post-sec-
ondary institutions. 

Therefore, the findings discussed draw attention 
to the fact that higher education institutions globally 
should take the lead in supporting and advocating for 
language support interventions in the form of transla-
tions for both formative and summative assessments 
for their students who are non-native speakers of 
English. In so doing, undergraduate students’ retention 
and success rates would increase. Finally, providing 
innovative translations as a form of language support 
will instil a sense of equality among all students regard-
less of their home languages. Such provisions will assist 
with the quest for transformative education.

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1 Venicia McGhie (vfmcghie@uwc.ac.za) is an Associate 
Professor in the Faculty of Economic and Management 
Sciences, University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South 
Africa.

2 Karen Dos Reis (kdosreis@sun.ac.za) is a Research 
Associate as the University of Stellenboch, Stellenbosch, 
South Africa.

Authors

https://www.insideeducation.org/featured/south-africa-high-drop-rate-first-year-university-students/
https://www.insideeducation.org/featured/south-africa-high-drop-rate-first-year-university-students/
https://southafrica-info.com/arts-culture/11-languages-south-africa
https://southafrica-info.com/arts-culture/11-languages-south-africa


Abstract
Storytelling is a universal practice which can be traced back to the beginning 

of human existence. Research on language development indicates that 
storytelling strategies are beneficial for supporting oral language development 
in young students (Kennedy, 2016). Story cubes, used as a reflective, culturally 
relevant instructional strategy, is highly motivating because they encourage 
students’ personal, relevant contributions while addressing the language needs 
of Dual Language Learners. When acquiring a second language, these students 
face unique challenges in overall acquisition of literacy skills (Amodei & Strong, 
2019). This article describes a study conducted at a trilingual preschool. 
Four preschool teachers and 60 PreK students ages 3-5 years participated in 
the study designed to explore the use of story cubes in their classrooms as a 
culturally responsive and reflective strategy. Accomplished through small and 
large group engagement with story cubes, researchers collected qualitative and 
quantitative data using observational field notes, Likert scale questionnaire 
responses and narrative interview transcript responses. 
Keywords: Storytelling, Early childhood, Oral language, Culturally relevant strategies, ELL/DLL,  Story cubes

Strong, L. & Amodei, M. Global Journal of 
Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4   
pp 57-64.  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36882

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Strong & Amodei. 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which 
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

The Impact of Story: One Preschool’s Experience using Story 
Cubes as a Culturally Relevant Oral Language Strategy

Laura Strong1 and Michelle Amodei2

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Miss Ana takes a colorful object out of the basket and 
rolls it on the carpet in front of the thirteen preschoolers 
in her trilingual classroom. They lean forward expectant-
ly, waiting for the cube to stop tumbling so they can see 
which side faces upward. “Love”, Miss Ana whispers softly, 
crossing her hands over her heart. The children wiggle 
around and scoot closer to inspect the brightly colored 
hearts on the top of the cube. 

“How can you show someone you love them?” Miss 
Ana asks, observing the thoughtful gazes and raised 
hands. 

“Give them a million presents!” Emilio shouts. 
“Tell them ‘I love you,’” Nedra adds. 
After a few more children volunteer to share their 

experiences, Miss Ana rolls the cube again. This time, the 
upward facing facet depicts a different emotion: “scared”.

“What is another word for scared? Was there a time 
when you felt scared? Can you tell us a story about that?” 
Miss Ana prompts.

Amir states anxiously, “When I thinked there was a 
monster in my closet, I said to my dad to come and get it 
out...”.

One by one, students share stories describing their 
emotions, including “excitement” and “happiness”. The 
teacher ends their sharing time by promising to use the 
cubes again later, after snack time.  

Oral stories, like the ones in the vignette above, 
have been shared universally across cultures for cen-
turies, regardless of social class, languages spoken, or 
knowledge and skills of the people. Sharing stories has 
been essential to the development of humankind as far 
back as can be traced by historians (Del Negro & Kim-
ball, 2021; Zipes, 2012). Storytelling encourages both 
receptive language learning (listening and understand-
ing) and expressive language learning (gesture and 
talk). It provides an opportunity for language learners 
to develop listening skills prior to production of expres-
sive language, and then offers a low-stress environment 
in which to practice oral language (Bateman, et al,

57



Strong & Amodei, The Impact of Story 58

2017). It is well-established that oral language skills in 
a person’s first language (L1) are a significant contribu-
tor to the development of second language (L2) knowl-
edge and skills (Tabors, 2009).  Young Dual Language 
Learners (DLL), therefore, face specific challenges 
when learning a second language because their home 
language is not yet fully developed. Teachers of young 
DLL students must possess and implement a variety 
of instructional tools that are meaningful, engaging, 
culturally responsive, tactile, and have the capacity to 
allow students to make personal connections. 

Theoretical Framework
Two Theories

The theoretical lenses through which this study 
is framed include culturally responsive pedagogy 
(Ladson-Billings, 1994) and transformative learning 
theory (Mezirow, 2003). According to the literature 
(Lynch, 2016), culturally responsive pedagogy is a 
student-centered approach to teaching and learning. 
This theory aligns with pedagogical approaches 
which seek to empower students through strategies 
which include “concepts that are related to the 
personal interests and experiences of students” 
(Howard, 2010, p.4). As outlined in the culturally 
responsive elements of teaching (Howard, 2010), 
the first principle states that “students are affirmed 
in their cultural connections” (p. 4). Teachers serve 
as the “cultural liaison” between students’ cultures 
and the school’s culture. Teachers are tasked with 
building a “communication bridge” by which equitable 
opportunities are made available to students and 
fosters development of bicultural citizenship (Howard, 
2010). Fusing both the elements and strategies 
described as culturally responsive pedagogy, the 
participants (teachers) in this study were able to use 
storytelling and story cubing strategies to support 
building that communication and cultural bridge for 
dual language learners. Teachers and students mutually 
benefitted from the implementation of these student-
centered strategies.

The second theoretical framework’s central 
construct includes reflection, a critical component 
of transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1990). 
Though his original work focuses more on adult 
learning, Mezirow (1990) posits “the most significant 
learning experiences…involve critical [reflection]—
reassessing our own orientation to perceiving, 
knowing, believing, feeling, and acting” (p. 13, as cited 
in Taylor, 2017, p. 77). In this study, teachers imple-

mented storytelling and story cubing strategies which 
targeted these specific opportunities for students. The 
practical activity of reflecting on their own individual 
orientations to their cultures, their worlds, their be-
liefs, and feelings provided outlets of expression, oral 
communication practice, and connections to their peers 
and the classroom community. Young dual language 
learners who faced challenges due to language barriers 
improved oral language skills embedded in the reflec-
tive storytelling and story cubing approaches.

Oral Traditions 
Oral traditions exist in every culture around the 

globe. In many African countries, elders pass along 
the stories of their ancestors through weekly tribal 
meetings. Youngsters eagerly anticipate their role in 
the stories they have become familiar with hearing 
and look forward to the chance to be included in the 
performances (Tuwe, 2016). In several Latino commu-
nities, students are taught very early the importance 
of remembering and maintaining the heritage of their 
people. Through storytelling, families share the rich 
culture and traditions of historically significant events 
and triumphs they have faced. These stories are wo-
ven into the fabric of their lives (McCabe, 1997). These 
cultural practices are significant components to the 
modern, developmentally appropriate, early childhood 
classroom because they are a natural motivator, and 
complement a culturally responsive pedagogy. McAd-
ams (1996), explains that “stories create a shared his-
tory, linking people in time and event as actors, tellers, 
and audience” (p. 28). Young DLL students benefit from 
opportunities to practice oral language, and engaging in 
storytelling activities is one meaningful way to provide 
this practice. 

Second Language Learning 
Young students who are learning a language in ad-

dition to their native one will develop needed language 
and literacy skills differently from their peers who 
are not learning an additional language. Most often, 
students who are three years of age and older learn a 
second or additional language through the process of 
sequential acquisition (Tabors, 2009). Sequential acqui-
sition of a language occurs when a person already has a 
dominant home language. The process of learning that 
new language will be different than exposure to a na-
tive language from a young age, particularly in the area 
of vocabulary skills and interpersonal communication 
(Hammer et al., 2014). The use of storytelling strategies

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



59

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

can be highly effective for learning new vocabulary, un-
derstanding new contexts, and according to Isik (2016), 
help students to feel connected to their social environ-
ment. The ability to create stories or narratives plays a 
significant role in a DLL’s language acquisition because 
they enable those social connections students need in 
classroom settings (Demir & Goldin Meadow, 2015). 

Sorting through the complexity of second language 
acquisition in the early childhood classroom can be 
made easier when there is an intentional focus on en-
couraging young students to practice speaking and lis-
tening in both L1 and L2 (Limlingan et al., 2020). When 
students have opportunities to practice oral language 
in both their home and emerging languages, they are at 
a distinct advantage as they progress into elementary 
school where the cognitive demand is higher as they 
are expected to read and write with fluency in their 
acquired language (Tabors, 2009). Research indicates 
that when young students can create and articulate 
narratives competently, they are more likely to experi-
ence future academic success (Kennedy, 2016). To this 
end, teachers of young students need strategies that are 
engaging, meaningful, and flexible to support students 
in creating and sharing their narratives about a variety 
of topics and themes. 

Story Cubes as an Instructional Strategy 
Story cubes offer teachers and students multiple 

ways to engage in language development that is inter-
active and meaningful. Storytelling using cubes is highly 
motivating because the student’s contributions are 
personal and relevant. In the seminal educational work 
by Montessori with young learners at the turn of the 
twentieth century (as cited in Stapleton, 2014), the use 
of hand-held objects allowed them to excel and learn 
language. Educators who provide their students with 
such manipulatives and hands-on learning experiences 
are really helping to reinforce concepts and instruction 
that is delivered visually and auditorily (Copple & Bre-
dekamp, 2009). 

The benefits of story cubes as a storytelling tool 
are wide-ranging. They are an effective, creative tool 
used by educators to serve a variety of students and 
purposes, especially by educators who subscribe to 
Constructivist learning approaches in early childhood 
classrooms. From all linguistic and cultural back-
grounds, students benefit from the broad possibilities 
story cubes offer. Al-Hazza and Bucher (2008) believe 
that story cubes, which are based upon Arab students’ 
literature, can help bridge the gap between cultures.

According to Golsteijn and den Hoven (2013), commu-
nication can be strengthened by photo cubes, which is 
a variation of story cubes. Townsend (2011) wrote that 
Rory’s Story Cubes has become one of the most popular 
games purchased on Amazon. Other products, such as: 
roll-a-story, foam story starter cubes, wooden blocks, 
and wipe-off marker/foam blocks are available from 
multiple sources. Simply searching a few key words 
online will yield several sources where these items can 
be accessed or purchased. 

Research Questions
Two questions guided the research study: 
1. In what ways can story cubes enrich the oral

language development of Dual Language Learn-
ers (DLLs), ages 3-5 years?

2. How can teachers implement story cube strate-
gies to mediate the relationship between DLLs’
social engagement and experiential story telling
practice to increase oral language production?

Methodology
Participants 

Because the study required a linguistically diverse 
population, demographic location was a primary con-
sideration for choosing this population to sample. Lo-
cated in a diverse, urban area, each of the 4 classrooms 
consisted of approximately 85% Dual Language Learn-
ers. Four female teachers, one of whom was bilingual in 
Spanish and English were the respondents to the study. 
Four Pre-K classrooms in a trilingual urban preschool 
were the sites of the study, within which 42 students, 
ages 3-5 years, engaged with story cubes. 

Research Design 
This triangulated mixed-methods study was de-

signed by equally weighting both quantitative and qual-
itative data concurrently (Gay et al., 2006) to determine 
how preschool teachers at a trilingual early childhood 
program use story cubes as a language development 
tool with their DLL students, and to assess the effective-
ness of these practices. The quantitative tool used was a 
five-question survey using a 5-point Likert scale (ap-
pendix A). Additionally, qualitative data were collected 
using three open-ended questions (appendix B), and 
a template for observational field notes (appendix C) 
collected by two principal investigators. 

Teachers received resources on strategies for using 
story cubes with their students, and the researchers 
spent time in their classrooms observing activities that 

Strong & Amodei, The Impact of Story



60

included using them. Teachers were supplied with 
materials including cube templates on card stock and 
booklets with suggested activities and instructions for 
use of the cubes. 

Procedures 
Co-investigators conducted a preliminary overview 

and training with a group of six preschool teachers 
and the director of the school, four weeks prior to data 
collection. The training booklet consisted of eight sug-
gested strategies designed by the co-investigators and 
grounded in research for developmentally appropriate 
practice with young language learners. Teachers were 
encouraged to choose a few strategies or feel free to im-
plement their own creative ideas using the story cubes. 
Site approval for collecting data was obtained prior to 
visiting and observing the four preschool classrooms. 
Of the six, four preschool teachers agreed to include the 
use of story cubes as part of their small and large group 
activities. Permission was granted in writing by the 
participating program for the principal investigators to 
observe and collect photographs and field notes while 
students engaged in the activities. 

On two separate occasions occurring four weeks 
apart, co-investigators visited the classrooms to ob-
serve teachers implementing strategies and preschool-
ers engaging with the story cubes. Co-investigators 
collected observational data through field notes as 
preschool teachers and students interacted with the 
story cubes and engaged in various storytelling activ-
ities. Teachers were given a list of suggested activities 
for engaging with students in story cubes; however, 
teachers were also encouraged to be creative and im-
plement original uses. A standardized template served 
as an observational protocol tool; this was used by each 
investigator to increase inter-rater reliability. 

Following each field observation of data collection, 
principal investigators conducted in person interviews 
with preschool teachers. The interviews consisted of 
5 Likert scale questions which measured the degree 
of satisfaction for increasing oral language production 
using the story cubes. Additionally, three open-ended 
questions were asked which prompted teachers to 
provide narrative descriptions of their experiences.

Measures, Data Collection, & Analysis
Familiarization of the data from field notes and 

narrative interview transcript responses enabled 
the researchers to code the qualitative data and 
identify emerging themes to conduct thematic

analysis of the data. Quantitative results obtained 
from the Likert-scale questionnaire were also used 
to reinforce the relevance of identified themes. Co-in-
vestigators tested the hypothesized model in which 
storytelling cube implementation mediates the rela-
tionship between engagement with social and experi-
ential hands-on storytelling practice and oral language 
production. 

Data Analysis 
Principal investigators combed through multiple 

data sources. Familiarization of the data from field 
notes, and narrative interview transcript responses en-
abled the researchers to code the qualitative data and 
identify emerging themes to conduct thematic analysis 
of the data. Qualtrics was utilized to summarize quali-
tative data from interviews; additionally, this software 
was useful in synthesizing quantitative results. Quan-
titative results obtained from the Likert-scale ques-
tionnaire were also used to reinforce the relevance of 
identified themes. 

Findings 
The Likert scale results indicated teachers’ high 

regard for the use of the cubes with a range of 3 to 5 
on individual statements with 1 being ineffective and 5 
being highly effective. 

In addition, analysis of open-ended questions re-
sulted in preliminary thematic threads: 

1. Increased engagement of students.
2. More complex use of oral language.
3. Heightened social connections among students

and teachers.
4. Intentional use of open-ended prompting that

enhanced oral language production.

Open-ended interview questions yielded insightful 
responses from the preschool teachers’ experiences. T1 
indicated that intentional teacher prompting seemed to 
encourage an increased amount of oral language pro-
duction. Specifically, she mentioned that dual language 
learners who were usually more reluctant to speak had

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Strong & Amodei, The Impact of Story



61

an increase in production when using the Emoji Cubes 
strategy. Also, more complex use of oral language 
was linked to teacher prompting with story cubes. T2 
described students’ resulting oral language use as, “…
using more background knowledge when describing”, 
and that they moved beyond “yes or no” answers when 
viewing pictures on the cubes. Overall, all teachers 
indicated an increase in the engagement level of the 
preschoolers, noting that some strategies using the 
cubes were more “popular” than others. In addition to 
the strategy highlighting emotions, students told stories 
about “community helpers” such as firefighters, police 
officers, doctors, etc. and demonstrated an increase in 
social connections as a result. 

Conclusions and Discussion
Overall, principal investigators observed multiple 

positive outcomes. Students were engaging in oral 
language with increased frequency. Students interacted 
with peers and teachers to share creative stories, built 
communication bridges, and reflected on the world 
through their own unique cultural lens. As teachers re-
flected on the implementation of the culturally respon-
sive strategies, they indicated they enjoyed using the 
story cubes, and students were highly engaged. Consis-
tent results across data collection methods indicated 
that students benefited socially from engagement with 
others as they participated in the story cube activities, 
and that oral language production was increased as 
they participated in the reflective storytelling and story 
cube activities. 

While data analysis revealed emerging themes of 
increased engagement, complex use of oral language, 
increased social connections and intentional teach-
er-prompting which resulted in increased oral language 
production, the researchers believe further investiga-
tion is needed that considers language learners of vary-
ing ages from infancy through elementary school-aged 
students, and additionally, utilizes larger sample sizes.
Due to limitations of the study, such as small sample 
size and individual location which contributes to lower 
generalizability of results, the researchers are confident 
that a larger sample size at multiple locations could 
improve validity and reliability of study results. Possi-
ble implications for future study include increasing the 
number of participants, selecting both rural and urban 
locations for comparison of implementation and out-
comes, and developing an observation protocol which 
measures pre- and post- oral language production as 
part of the quantitative measurement.

The goals of this study were to learn how the use of 
story cubes could benefit young dual language learners 
and how their teachers could implement those cul-
turally responsive strategies. Throughout this project, 
researchers not only documented benefits of oral lan-
guage usage, but also gained new insights to the multi-
faceted ways in which young students in the observed 
classrooms were able to make enhanced social connec-
tions with their peers and teachers. Story cubing strat-
egies show potential for impacts on young students’ 
language development, but also for their social/emo-
tional growth. Based upon the study results, research-
ers believe that providing young students and their 
teachers with a variety of story cubing strategies will 
increase oral language usage and provide opportunities 
to explore culturally relevant, meaningful, creative, and 
reflective ways of self-expressive communication.

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1 Laura Strong (laura.strong@sru.edu) is an Instructor in 
the Department of Curriculum, Instruction & Educational 
Leadership at Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, 
Pennsylvania, USA.

2 Michelle Amodei (michelle.amodei@sru.edu) is an 
Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum, 
Instruction & Educational Leadership at Slippery Rock 
University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, USA.

Authors

Strong & Amodei, The Impact of Story

https://www.ghequityinstitute.com/keynotes/keynote_main.htm
https://www.theedadvocate.org/what-is-culturally-responsive-pedagogy/
https://www.theedadvocate.org/what-is-culturally-responsive-pedagogy/


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Appendix A

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Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Strong & Amodei, The Impact of Story

Appendix B



Abstract
Strategic innovation ecosystems have complex forces for the transformative development of human so-

ciety through higher education. The sustainability of socio-economic development of Cameroon requires a 
robust national and regional innovation ecosystem in which higher education plays an important role in value 
and wealth creation. The challenge with Cameroon’s higher education is a transition from the traditional rigid 
bureaucratic system to a more dynamic performance-based management ecosystem that can mainstream re-
silience and recognise excellence. The study adopted the innovation ecosystem approach to explain the trans-
formative potential of higher education, using correlational research design. We selected nine advanced schools 
of technology, engineering, and management from public and private sectors across four regions of Cameroon, 
including a purposive and simple random sampling of 370 respondents. Spearman correlational ranking tested 
our three hypotheses. All three hypotheses were significant at PV=0.000 or 95% with the predictive coefficient 
of 59.7%, 55.8% and 71.3% respectively. We concluded that the transformative potential of higher education 
is evident through development of technological knowledge networks, innovation/knowledge clusters, and 
transformative digital governance in enhancing transformative learning. We recommend that higher education 
institutional leadership should consider these transformative development indicators as institutional bench-
marks for higher education quality assurance, responsiveness assessments, and governance practices. These 
can ensure the emergence of the clustered innovation ecosystems and competitive intelligence at the national 
and regional university environments that contribute to sustainable socio-economic development of Cameroon 
and Africa.
Keywords: Strategic Innovation Ecosystem, Technological transfer, Transformative Development, Fourth Indus-
trial Revolution, Competitive intelligence, Strategic institutional governance 

Bafon, J.N., Tanyi, A. M., Kamdjo, C.V., & Djeumeni, M. T. 
Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4  
pp 65-76.  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36663

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Bafon, Tanyi, Kamdjo, Djeumeni, 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 
Attribution NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), 
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

The Transformative Development Potential of Higher 
Education in the 4th Industrial Revolution:  
A strategic innovation ecosystem approach for technological 
development and knowledge transfer in the 21st century Cameroon

Joel N. Bafon,1 Adolphe M. Tanyi,2  Carole V. Kamdjo3, Marcelline T. Djeumeni4

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
The sustainability of socio-economic development 

in Africa requires a robust national and regional inno-
vation ecosystem. Higher education plays an important 
role in mainstreaming the national and regional devel-
opment agenda through knowledge production and 
open innovation ecosystems (Yan, Wang, Yan & Zhai, 
2020). In this light, the challenge with Cameroon’s high-
er education is a transition from the traditional rigid 
system to a more dynamic knowledge society and value 
creation ecosystem. Over the years, there have been 
many policy innovations at system level since 2005 

leading to new institutional governance (Njebakal, & 
Teneng, 2017). However, there exist institutional dis-
crepancies in building a robust institutional knowledge 
actualisation and crystallisation for higher education 
innovation ecosystem (Fagerberg, 2015). There have 
been many limitations to research and development in 
fostering technological innovation and relevant core 
competencies that respond adequately to competitive 
leverage of the fourth industrial estate (Fagerberg, 
2015).

The fourth industrial revolution is marked by indi-
cators such as virtual reality, the internet of things, ar-
tificial intelligence, and block-chain innovations. These 
variables have had significant but disruptive contribu-

65



Bafon, Tanyi, Kamdjo, & Djeumeni, Transformative Development Potential of Higher Education 66

tions to knowledge management, pedagogic inno-
vation, quality assurance and strategic institutional 
governance in higher education today (Igel, Ullrich, 
& Kravcik, 2018). The transformative development 
in education in Africa and in Cameroon, in particular, 
requires an endogenous knowledge and competencies 
built on competitive intelligence as means of guarantee-
ing new technological transformation for a sustainable 
and inclusive growth (Arbeiter, & Buča, 2021). These 
innovative processes need well-developed pre-incu-
bators, incubators, science parks, clusters and inter-
national research collaboration networks in scientific 
knowledge sharing and exchange (Ablaev, 2018). 
Therefore, adopting the cluster innovation ecosystem, 
transformative digital governance, digital knowledge 
networks and strategic-competitive intelligence in in-
novation development and knowledge provide strategic 
institutional capabilities of higher education to contri-
bution to sustainable socio-economic development of 
Cameroon and Africa (Bell, 2016).

Theoretical Framework
Strategic Innovation Ecosystem

“The innovation ecosystem is defined as groups 
of symbiotically interacting ‘players’ which 
include companies and other players such as the 
providers of knowledge, resources, and ‘rules of 
the game’. It is the companies which constitute 
the economic ‘engine’ of the ecosystem since they 
create value for consumer-users, output, and 
employment.” (Fransman, 2014, p. 5). 
The higher education innovation ecosystem will 

integrate pedagogical innovation research systems, 
community development systems, and institutional 
governance systems. The symbioses of these complex 
transformative systems provide avenues for knowl-
edge distillation and valorisation (Johansen, 2018). 
According to Godin (2015) the early history of the the 
term “innovation” gives a pejorative connotation to the 
concept. To him, the term was first used by anthropol-
ogists and sociologists, and it has been popularised by 
economists and the management world. 

“Everyone agrees that innovation is crucial for 
the performance over time of both companies 
and countries. However, there is far less agree-
ment regarding two key questions: - How does 
innovation happen? - How can we make innova-
tion happen?” (Fransman, 2014, p. 5) 

Innovation therefore is an important indicator in 
the transformative development of knowledge economy 
through higher education. This concept deals with the 
creation and development of ideas, products, organ-
isations and quality management (Spinoglio, 2015). 
The implications of globalisation through the develop-
ment of information and communication technologies 
demands organisations to be more innovative to be 
competitive in the local and global knowledge environ-
ments (Fransman, 2014). In this line, the “strategic in-
novation” is crucial to aligning organisational processes 
and ensuring the success of its managerial operations 
(Palmer & Kaplan, 2007). Bridging the ecosystem and 
strategic innovation framework will give an organisa-
tion a sustainable strategic performance in the organ-
isational management in the disruptive knowledge 
ecosystem. The University as a non-profit organisation 
in the 21st century must adapt to new knowledge 
changes in order to be relevant to its environment. The 
effective and efficient deployment of resources depends 
on institutional innovation strategic ecosystems (Re-
ichert, 2019). 

According to Kotsemir, Abroskin, and Dirk (2013), 
the traditional reading of innovation from the Schum-
peterian concept see innovation as “a historic and irre-
versible change in the production of thing and creative 
destruction.” (p. 4) Our faculties and departments still 
lack the disruptive and creative destruction potential 
because there are no practical sites for innovation 
especially from the organisational configuration stand-
point. University knowledge production should be able 
to build an irreversible change that brings values and 
wealth creation to the community (Brennan et al 2014). 
Innovation is the “establishment or enlargement of 
organisation processes, methods assimilation, and ex-
ploitation of novelty” (Spinoglio, 2015, p. 5). Newness 
and change are the driving forces of innovation which 
can be manifested in organisational structures or pro-
cesses. But when institutions are hostile to innovation, 
rigidity will continue to plague its effective functioning 
(Lawal, 2017). Innovation is also seen as “incremental.” 
This is the process in which new products emerge. So, 
as total quality management in educational reforms are 
built on the strategic innovation, it is then the respon-
sibility of strategic leaders at the corporate level to 
design the development of strategic innovation (Palmer 
& Kaplan, 2014) as well as, foster the development of 
an innovation ecosystem (Reirchart, 2019). These ap-
proaches are more pragmatic in skills and competency 
development. The ecosystem reinforces the university 

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capacity in knowledge production and dissemination 
and the interconnected knowledge networks and 
collaboration. The concept of innovation has received 
varied scholarly attention since the dawn of the 20th 
century. Most scholars used innovation and creativity 
interchangeably, but from the onset they were never 
use as related terms (Godin, 2015). Innovation is per-
ceived by some scholars as an extension or the modifi-
cation of invention and production of new ideas (Godin, 
2015). 

This definition is very applicable in knowledge pro-
duction and dissemination when it concerns research 
and development. To improve university teaching, cur-
riculum innovation in Africa is key in the production of 
relevant content and not the duplication of the western 
norms. Lotz-Sisitka, (2015) notes that innovations bring 
competitiveness to the organisation. Also, distinctive 
innovation deals with development and re-engineering 
of knowledge, content methodologies and approach-
es, and disruptive innovation. The term also includes 
assimilation, transformation, exploitation, and transla-
tion of new knowledge in the practical context (Godin, 
2015). 

“Innovation ecosystem as co-innovation net-
works, in which actors from organizations con-
cerned with the functions of knowledge produc-
tion, wealth creation and norm control interact 
with each other in forming co-evolution and 
interdependent relations (both direct or indirect) 
in cross-geographical contexts, and, through 
which new ideas and approaches from various 
internal and external sources are integrated into 
a platform to generate shared values for the sus-
tainable transformation of the society.”(Cai, Ma, 
& Chen, 2020, pp.)

Alkhanbouli (2022) explored the typology of inno-
vation ecosystems based on the university innovation 
ecosystem in the United Arab Emirate universities. 
The study explored university incubators and research 
centres with entrepreneurial mentality. In this typology. 
The research identified six innovation ecosystems:  cor-
porate innovation ecosystem, digital innovation ecosys-
tem, city-based innovation ecosystem, high-tech- SMEs 
centre ecosystem, hyper-local innovation ecosystem, 
and university-based innovation ecosystem. In the con-
text of Cameroon all these typologies of the ecosystem 
can be applicable. These micro innovation ecosystems 
are interconnected in building the macro higher educa-
tion innovation ecosystem. Cai, Ma, and Chen (2020) 

outlined the overarching framework of higher educa-
tion and innovation ecosystem. Knowledge economy 
ecosystem, new knowledge and technologies employs 
an ambidexterity in the exploration and exploitation 
of knowledge. In the knowledge innovation ecosystem, 
system relation to the university and economic devel-
opment are very important. in this way, higher educa-
tion become a driving engine of economic growth in the 
macro innovation ecosystem (Fagerberg, 2015). Tier-
ney and Lanford (2016) think that these new trends in 
public life demands knowledge, innovative frameworks, 
and social intelligence competences in institutional 
knowledge management (Viviers, Saayman, Muller, & 
Calof, 2002). Yan, Wang, Yan, & Zhai (2020) examined 
the open innovation ecosystem of higher education. In 
their research, they suggested that the higher educa-
tion open system concerns the university capability to 
create open sources of knowledge that contribute to 
innovation outcomes. The open innovation ecosystem 
enhances the flow of ideas knowledge, information 
and data. The open innovation provides opportunities, 
efficiency in research transformation and valorisa-
tion as well as commercialisation. Knowledge-driven 
innovations in internationalised environment create 
avenues for the organisational competitive advantage 
and institutional visibility. The study concluded that 
the open innovation ecosystem could have a positive 
effect on the development of higher education. This 
kind of innovation provides auto-financing strategies 
and wealth creation opportunities for the universities 
to fulfill their third mission through knowledge and 
technological transfer. The research also found that the 
university innovation ecosystem influences a student’s 
creative potential as they navigate the innovation 
ecosystems with creative ideas and exchange avenues 
(Bocket et al 2020).

Ansgar, Bernardo and Gerhard (2016) examined the 
role of innovation in public policy. Even though innova-
tion has been perceived as more of a business concept, 
the concept is well-rooted in public policy and corpo-
rate governance. Disruptive environmental changes and 
extensive globalisation informs innovations in public 
policy. The sustainability and relevance of public policy 
today relies on the continuous strategic innovation 
processes in institutional governance. Higher education 
public policy has equally undergone the innovation pro-
cesses. The knowledge driven Fourth Industrial Estate 
demands incessant innovative strategies which mutual-
ly build strategic innovation ecosystems for the univer-
sity in the effective implementation of public policy and 

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68

university contribution to national and regional eco-
nomic development. In the innovation ecosystem, 
sustainable strategic management is one of the driving 
forces of imaginative thinking in policy development. 
In this view, balancing production and governance 
innovation are some ambidextrous strategies that an 
institution may harness in order to remain responsive 
to external environmental exigencies (Akin ,2016). 
Vlasov (2021) analysed the influence of massification 
on internalisation and state funding on higher educa-
tion on innovation development. The internalisation of 
funding leads to infrastructural development which can 
mitigate massification challenges, creativities, and inno-
vative competences for the fourth Industrial Revolution 
(Nakano & Wechsler, 2018).

 Stukalenko, et al, (2016) analysed innovation tech-
nologies of learning in the modern education teacher’s 
professional preparedness. Higher education innova-
tion ecosystems enable stakeholders to build clusters 
and incubators which enhance pedagogic transfor-
mative proficiency and professional preparedness for 
the fourth industrial complex (Lawal, 2017). Rashidi, 
Azma, Sami, and Sobhoni (2020) note that universities 
in disruptive advanced technologies knowledge-based 
organisations can only adapt to national and regional 
economies by reinforcing national relation with indus-
tries. They set out to develop a value creation univer-
sity framework based on higher education innovation 
indicators. They employed exploratory and taxonom-
ical approaches. The result of the study showed that 
financial and pragmatic strategies have positive effects 
on university adaptability. Also, social outcomes and 
intra-organisational platforms equally have positive ef-
fects. Value creation and higher education have positive 
impacts on institutional change and competitive intelli-
gence (Pellissier & Nenzhelele, 2013).

 Lappalainen, Markkula, and Kune (2015) focused 
on finished construction clusters on building a region-
al innovation ecosystem. This study involves action 
research methods, digital modelling, co-development 
process parallel research, development and innovation, 
pathfinders, prototype development, radical innova-
tion, human development, and leadership. These are 
key ecosystem indicators in a knowledge-based econ-
omy. In this perspective, Brito (2018) explored deeper 
understanding and the dynamics of the university as a 
promoter of the development of innovation ecosystems. 
In this setting, universities are perceived as leaders and 
integrators into this ecosystem. Their contributions are 
in three-dimensions: knowledge, transformative talent

of the university, and university industrial linkage 
as well as long-term relation strategy. However, the 
Cameroon higher education institutions still need much 
resource deployment and policy effectiveness for this 
structural transformation to take place. Institution-
al leadership in higher education in Cameroon must 
consider these new strategic innovation approaches to 
ensure sustainable structural configuration and system 
innovation. There is also a need for the integrators of 
diversity of actors’ resources and competences. From 
this approach, we urge that the university role in the in-
novation ecosystem be adaptive, complex, and dynamic 
in order to ensure sustainable strategic innovation and 
knowledge valorisation processes. This strategic man-
agement dimension can guarantee sustainable social 
economic development, specifically in Cameroon and 
in Africa in general (Cabeza-Pullés, Fernández-Pérez, & 
Rodán-Bravo, 2020).

Statement of Research Problem
Cameroon, and, in general, Africa, are still facing 

many challenges in embracing the Fourth Industrial 
Revolution due to the lack of digital infrastructure that 
adequately ushers in this industrial estate. The con-
sciousness of African governments and higher educa-
tion institutions is crucial in this direction. This is kind 
of industrial estate needs a digital technological cluster, 
a security cluster, knowledge management clusters, 
and high levels of digital governance to inform deci-
sion-making through data analyses. The combination 
of these variables will morph into a robust strategic 
innovation ecosystem. Therefore, to what extent does 
transformation potential of higher education from the 
strategic ecosystemic approaches respond to techno-
logical development and knowledge transfer in the 
emerging fourth industrial complex in Cameroon?

Research Objectives
i) To examine the relationship between digital tech-

nological knowledge networks and transformative
learning in Cameroon’s higher education.

ii) To examine the relationship between innovation/
knowledge clusters and transformative learning in
Cameroon’s higher education.

iii) To examine relationships between transformative
digital governance and transformative learning in
Cameroon’s higher education.

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Research Questions
i) What is the relationship between digital technolog-

ical knowledge networks transformative learning
Cameroon higher education? ii) Is there a rela-
tionship between innovation/knowledge clusters
and transformative learning in Cameroon’s higher
education?

iii) Is there a relationship between transformative
digital governance and transformative learning in
higher education in Cameroon?

Research Hypotheses
i) Ha1: There is no significant relationship between

digital technological knowledge networks and
transformative learning in higher education in Cam-
eroon.

ii) Ha2: There is a significant relationship between
innovation and knowledge clusters and transforma-
tive learning in Cameroon in higher education.

iii) Ha3: There is no significant relationship between
transformative digital governance and transforma-
tive learning in Cameroon in higher education.

Significance of the Study
 This study is important in that it highlights the 

current technological and economic changes that are 
affecting higher education in Cameroon. The adoption 
of an innovation ecosystem approach to explain digital 
technological knowledge networks, innovation/knowl-
edge clusters, and transformative digital governance 
demonstrates the importance of these variables in the 
Fourth Industrial Revolution. This variable addresses 
the needs of transformative education at the higher 
education level. It is necessary for universities in Cam-
eroon to build innovation ecosystems that will create 
avenues for wealth and value creation, knowledge 
management and technological infrastructure, as well 
as human capital. There is need for continuous devel-
opment of new skills and competences such that higher 
education can adapt to the complex-dynamics of digital 
innovations.

Research Methodology
In this study we used the quantitative approach 

with correctional research design 

Sampling Procedures
 This study was conducted in nine public and pri-

vate higher education institutions across four regions of 
Cameroon. The target population was students in 

public and private higher education institutions from 
four regions of Cameroon. These regions include the 
northwest, southwest, littoral and the centre regions.

Table 1 presents the accessible population com-
prised of 10,185 students. The respondents were 
selected through simple random sampling and pur-
poseful techniques that allowed every member of the 
target population to be selected. In this regard, research 
students were more involved in pedagogical, adminis-
trative, and research activities. In this study, only col-
leges of technology and engineering were considered. 
Statistics were drawn from the 2021 Higher Education 
Annual Statistics. We worked with a sample size of the 
370 respondents. After administering 435 copies of 
questionnaires, 370 questionnaires were submitted 
with a retention rate of 85.52%. Therefore, 370 respon-
dents were engaged in the study, of which 224 (60.5%) 
of the respondents were males and 146 (39.5%) of 
respondents were females.

Data collection instrument
 The instrument used for data collection was a 

questionnaire that was analyzed to measure the rela-
tionships between variables. The questionnaire was 
operationalised into four sections containing the con-
struct of the study. These constructs had seven items 
each. After the development of the questionnaire, it 
was submitted for expert evaluation of content validity, 
clarity, and coherence were confirmed. We also admin-
istered the questionnaire to ten students within the 
target population of the students at 0.85. The question-
naire was shown to be consistent and reliable for our 
study.

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Reliability of the Instrument 
 After one month of pretesting the questionnaire, it 

was redistributed to the respondents. From obtaining 
the copies of the questionnaires, the responses were 
computed into the SPPS software in which we obtained 
a reliability coefficient stability score of 0.86. the 
coefficient showed the coherence and reliability of the 
instrument after recurring tests.

Data Presentation and Interpretation

Relationship between digital technological knowl-
edge networks and transformative learning

 Table 2 shows patterns in respondents’ views on 
digital technological knowledge networks in higher 
education in Cameroon. The seven items designed to 
measure digital technological knowledge networks had 
a mean above 2.5. In the first item, 349 (94.6%) of the 
respondents generally agreed that “Your institution 
promotes digital collaboration and knowledge net-
working ecosystems.”  The second item shows that 348 
(94.1%) of the respondents generally agreed with the 
statement, “There exists open access to digital knowl-

edge sharing opportunities and talent development 
in your institutions”. For the third item, 333 (90.0%) 
of the respondents generally agreed that. “There exist 
continuous or digital lifelong learning programmes in 
your institution.” In the fourth item, 321 (86.7%) of the 
respondents agreed that their institution promotes the 
development of regional digital knowledge ecosystems. 
In the fifth item, 224 (60.5%) of the respondents gen-
erally agreed with the view that their institution pro-
motes the development of regional digital knowledge 
ecosystems. The sixth item shows that 277 (74.4%) 
of the respondents agreed on the opinion that their 
institution creates an attractive environment for digital 
investment. Finally, in the seventh item, 323 (87.3%) of 
the respondents generally agreed that there are digital 
opportunities for the commercialisation of research 
findings. From the results of the research question 
one, the majority of the respondents generally agreed 
at an overall percentage of 84.7% that digital techno-
logical knowledge networks have significant relation 
with transformative learning in higher education with 
a cutoff mean of 3.1 and with a standard deviation of 
2.4, which is above a normal cutoff mean of 2.5. Digital 
technological knowledge networks have significant 
influence over transformative learning capabilities in 
higher education. 

Relationship between innovation/knowledge clus-
ters and transformative learning 

Table 3 presents the results from the respondents’ 
views on innovation/knowledge clusters in higher 
education in Cameroon. Among the items are ones 
designed to assess innovation/ innovation clusters in 
higher education in Cameroon. All seven items had a 
mean above the normal cut off mean of 2.5. In the first 
item, 284 (76.8%) of the respondents generally agreed 
that their institution encourages entrepreneurship and 
start-up ecosystems. The second item shows that 319 
(86.2%) of the respondents generally agreed with the 
statement, “There are emerging technological-based 
ventures.” For the third item, 327 (98.3%) of the re-
spondents generally agreed with the statement, “There 
is accessibility to funding and mentoring in innovative 
research.” The fourth item indicated that 189 (51.1%) 
of the respondents agreed that “There are knowledge 
brokers and accelerators within the innovation clus-
ters.” The fifth item shows that 267 (72.2%) of the 
respondents generally agreed with the view that “There 
is the concentration of knowledge and expertise within

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clusters.” The sixth item shows that 255 (66.9%) of the 
respondents agreed with the opinion that “There is the 
concentration of knowledge and expertise within clus-
ters and knowledge clusters have industrial-relevant 
skills and competences.” Finally, in the seventh item, 
288 (78.0%) of the respondents generally agreed that 
“Your institution ensures the stimulation of local eco-
nomic growth through research and cooperation pro-
grammes.” For research question 2, findings portrayed 
that the majority of respondents generally agreed 
(75.6%) that innovation/knowledge clusters have sig-
nificant relations with transformative learning in higher 
education, with a cutoff mean 2.9 and with a standard 
deviation of 2.1, which is above a normal cutoff mean 
of 2.5. Innovation knowledge clusters have significant 
contributions towards building a transformative learn-
ing capability in Cameroon’s higher education. 

Relationship between transformative digital gover-
nance and transformative learning

Table 5 describes respondents’ perceptions on 
transformative digital governance in higher education 
in Cameroon. In the seven construction items to

measure transformative digital governance, six of the 
seven items have means above 2.5 which is a nor-
mal distribution. In the first item, 275 (74.3%) of the 
respondents generally agreed that there is availability 
up-to-date and quality digital infrastructures in their 
institutions. The second item shows that 187 (50.5%) 
of the respondents generally agreed with the statement 
that “There is effective steering of electronic manage-
ment systems in the internal management processes.” 
For the third item, 218 (64.3%) of the respondents gen-
erally agreed with the view that their institution fosters 
data analytics for informed digital decision making. The 
fourth item, 213 (80.3%) of the respondents agreed 
that there are facilities for content personalisation and 
mobility. In the fifth item, 253 (68.4%) of the respon-
dents generally agreed with the view there is online 
dashboard/ or portal for institutional change manage-
ment. The sixth item shows that 288 (87.8%) of the 
respondents agreed on the opinion that There is a dig-
ital framework for transparency and accountability in 
institutional management performance. in the seventh 
item, 276 (74.6%) of the respondents generally agreed 
that there exist digital collaboration and engagement in 
soliciting feedback, ideas and suggestions for the best 
institutional management performance. Drawn from 
the results of the research question three, the majority

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of the respondents generally agreed at an overall 
percentage of 71.4% that transformative digital gover-
nance has a significant relationship with transformative 
learning in Cameroon higher education with a cut off 
mean 2.8 with standard deviation 1.87 which is above a 
normal cut off mean 2.5. Transformative digital gover-
nance has significant contribution in building transfor-
mative learning capabilities sin higher education.

Table 5 presents respondents’ views on transforma-
tive learning capabilities in Cameroon higher education. 
Based on the items designed to measure this variable, 
all the 7 items have a mean which is above the normal 
cutoff mean of 2.5. This implies that the respondents 
generally agreed on the importance of transformative 
learning in Cameroon’s higher education in the Fourth 
Industrial Revolution. In the first item, 298 (81.2%) of 
the respondents generally agreed that there is a high-
er need for an open knowledge sharing process. The 
second item shows 286 (77.3%) of the respondents 
generally agreed with the statement that “Continuous 
curriculum development and innovation is a require-
ment in knowledge transfer.” For the third item, 260 
(70.3%) of the respondents generally agreed with the 
view that project-based and experiential learning

approaches foster knowledge creation. The fourth item, 
253 (68.5%) of the respondents agreed that prob-
lem-solving and strategic thinking competences pro-
mote the development of products. In the fifth item, 168 
(61.6%) of the respondents generally agreed with the 
view that knowledge resources mobilisation enhances 
efficiency in knowledge development and transfers. The 
sixth item shows that 310 (83.7%) of the respondents 
agreed on the opinion that strategic monitoring and 
evaluation ensure quality and incremental innovation. 
In the seventh item, 315 (85.2%) of the respondents 
generally agreed that the creation of effective com-
munities of practice facilitate knowledge transfer. The 
findings of the of the dependent variable shows that, 
the respondents generally agreed at an overall per-
centage of 75.4%. More so, all the items designed to 
measure transformative learning in Cameroon’s higher 
education with a cutoff mean of 2.8 with a standard 
deviation of 2.04, which is above a normal cutoff mean 
of 2.5. This implies that higher education stakeholders 
should foster transformative learning capabilities in 
higher education.

Hypotheses Testing
H01: There is a significant relationship between digital 

technological knowledge networks and transfor-
mative learning in Cameroon’s higher education.

H02: There is a significant relationship between in-
novation/knowledge clusters and transformative 
learning in Cameroon’s higher education.

H03: There is a significant relationship between trans-
formative digital governance and transformative 
learning in Cameroon’s higher education.

Table 6 shows a significant correlation between 
digital technological networks and transformative 
learning capabilities in higher education in Cameroon. 
(r=0.597, p = 0.00,  =0.005). The correlation coef-
ficient signifies that a unit increase of digital techno-
logical networks influences transformative education 
capabilities at 59.7%. Therefore, the Spearman’s rank 
correlation coefficient suggests that an improvement 
in digital technological knowledge networks will lead 
to an exceptional increase of transformative education 
capability in Cameroon’s higher education. Institutional 
managers should strive to promote the development 
of digital technological networks by means of boosting 
transformation in learning.

Table 6 also shows the correlation between innova-
tion/knowledge clusters and transformative education

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Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

capabilities in higher education in Cameroon. 
(r=0.558, p=0.00,  =0.005). This implies that there is 
statistically significant relationship between innova-
tion/knowledge clusters and transformative learning 
in Cameroon’s higher education. The spearman correla-
tion coefficient signifies that innovation/knowledge 
clusters impact transformative learning capability in 
Cameroon’s higher education correlated at 55.8%. 
Therefore, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient 
indicates that an incremental unit of development in 
innovation knowledge clusters should yield a corre-
sponding increase in the transformative education in 
capabilities in Cameroon’s higher education.

The third block in Table 6 shows the correlation be-
tween transformative digital governance and transfor-
mative education (r=0.713, p=0.00,  =0.005). There is 
a statistically significant correlation between transfor-
mative digital governance and transformative learning 
in Cameroon’s higher education. The correlation coef-
ficient means that transformative digital governance 
has an influence on transformative learning capability 
in education at 71.3%. Therefore, the Spearman’s rank 
correlation coefficient reveals that the effective imple-
mentation of transformative digital governance may

lead to an extraordinary impact on transforma-
tive education capabilities in Cameroon’s higher 
education.

Discussion
Digital Technological Knowledge Networks 

Digital technological knowledge networks 
have an important role in Cameroon’s higher 
education in knowledge transformation and 
economic growth. The findings of the study 
revealed at the level of descriptive statistics that 
the respondents generally agreed at 84.7% on 
the different measurements of technological 
knowledge networks (Reirchart, 2019). These 
findings were shown to corroborate Sivasankaran 
and Karthikeyan (2021). This signifies that the 
promotion of digital collaboration and knowledge 
networking ecosystems, open access to digital 
knowledge sharing opportunities, talent devel-
opment, continuous or digital lifelong learning 
programmes, institutional promotion of the 
development of regional digital knowledge eco-
systems, and an attractive environment for digital 
investment are indispensable in the sustainabil-
ity of an institutional technological knowledge 
network and transformative learning capabilities 
in higher education in Cameroon (Sivasankaran 

& Karthikeyan, 2021). Also, the inferential statistics 
revealed that digital technological knowledge networks 
have a significant relationship with transformative 
learning in Cameroon’s higher education with a predic-
tive coefficient of 59.7%. Our study corroborates with 
Akan (2020) which focused on developing hyper-local 
innovation ecosystems (Yan, Wang, Yan, & Zhai, 2020). 
Findings demonstrate that higher education in the re-
gionalisation and decentralisation processes work with 
regional and local authorities in developing a robust 
and completive innovation ecosystem. Findings also 
show that digital technological knowledge networks in 
the innovation ecosystem will facilitate value creation 
(Cai, Ma, & Chen, 2022). Therefore, higher education 
has a transformative potential in the emerging Fourth 
Industrial Revolution.

Innovation Clusters
Innovation/knowledge clusters in higher education 

stimulate entrepreneurial initiative and build a robust 
innovation ecosystem. From our findings, innovation 
and knowledge clusters have a significant relationship 
with transformative education capabilities in 

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Cameroon’s higher education. This relationship affects 
transformative learning capabilities at 55.8%. Clusters 
and incubators are the building blocks of a national 
and regional innovation ecosystem. Higher education 
institutions are motors that drive these ecosystems 
through innovation production and dissemination 
(Reirchart, 2019). These results show the positive effect 
of innovation clusters on knowledge and competences 
development (Yan, Wang, Yan, & Zhai, 2020). Therefore, 
entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystems, emerging 
technological-based ventures, accessibility to funding 
and mentoring innovative research, knowledge brokers 
and accelerators within the innovation clusters, con-
centration of knowledge and expertise within clusters 
and industrial-relevant skills, competences and the 
stimulation of local economic growth through research 
and cooperation are indispensable indications of in-
novation clusters in the micro-meso-macro innovation 
ecosystems. These findings are supported by Bocket et 
al, 2020. 

To further confirm these innovation ecosystem 
benchmarking indicators, the descriptive statistics 
show that 75.6% of respondents generally agreed that 
innovation/knowledge clusters have a significant rela-
tionship with transformative learning in higher educa-
tion in Cameroon, which is above a normal cutoff mean. 
Innovation knowledge clusters have significant contri-
butions towards building a transformative learning ca-
pability in Cameroon’s higher education (Sivasankaran 
& Karthikeyan, 2021). Knowledge and innovative 
cluster promote knowledge and technological transfer 
(Bocket et al, 2020).

Transformative Digital Governance
 The integration and sustainable appropriation of 

transformative digital governance strategies is central 
to transformative education capabilities in the Fourth 
Industrial Revolution in Cameroon’s higher education. 
The findings of our study reveal that transformative 
digital governance has a predictive coefficient of 71.3%. 
These results implied that, availability of up-to-date 
and quality digital infrastructures, effective steering of 
electronic management systems, internal management 
processes, data analytics for informed digital decision 
making, content personalisation and mobility, online 
dashboard or a portal for institutional change manage-
ment, a digital framework for transparency and ac-
countability in institutional management performance 
and digital collaboration, and engagement in soliciting 
feedback, ideas and suggestions for the best institu-

tional management performance are key digital gov-
ernance assessment methodology indicator(Vlesov, 
2021). The development and provision of digital infra-
structures in an institution of higher education improve 
efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the institutional 
resource-based management. Moreso, the respondents 
generally agreed at an overall descriptive score of 
71.4% that digital transformative digital governance 
has a significant relationship with transformative learn-
ing capabilities in higher education. Transformative 
digital governance strategies will foster tremendous 
transformative learning capabilities in higher education 
(Lotz-Sisitka1 et al, 2015). Digital governance indi-
cators in higher education are primordial in shaping 
research development, pedagogical innovation, knowl-
edge flows, and institutional steering for quality assur-
ance and community outreach (Brito, 2018)

Conclusions
 This paper evaluated the relationship between 

transformative development in the Fourth Industrial 
Revolution and transformative education capabilities 
in Cameroon’s higher education as a means of fostering 
technological development and knowledge transfer for 
the strategic innovation ecosystem approach. At a more 
in-depth level, the paper focused on digital technologi-
cal networks, innovation/knowledge clusters, transfor-
mative digital governance, and transformative educa-
tion capabilities. The strategic innovation ecosystem 
theory demonstrated that higher education is a major 
stakeholder in the leading national and regional inno-
vation ecosystems through decentralisation and region-
alisation in Cameroon’s higher education (Reirchart, 
2019). The promotion of digital collaboration and 
knowledge networking ecosystems in the community 
and at inter-university levels fosters ecosystem de-
velopment, open access to digital knowledge sharing 
opportunities just as talent development creates trans-
formative communities of practice, and continuous or 
digital lifelong learning programmes. These also foster 
entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystems, emerging 
technological-based ventures, and accessibility to fund-
ing and mentoring innovative research.

Knowledge brokers and accelerators are innovation 
opportunities that build students’ communities and 
create a competitive knowledge environment, as well 
as promote excellence in research and development. 
Further, they offer developing data analytics tools for 
informed digital decision making, harnessing content-
personalisation and mobility frameworks. Also crucial

Bafon, Tanyi, Kamdjo, & Djeumeni, Transformative Development Potential of Higher Education



75

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

are an appropriation of online dashboard/or portal 
for institutional change management, a digital 
framework for transparency and accountability in 
institutional management performance pragmatic 
digital approach to transformative education. We 
therefore conclude that higher education knowledge 
and innovation practices from an exosystemic approach 
have indispensable contributions to transformative 
education in Cameroon’s higher education. 
Consequently, institutions of higher education 
must develop transformative digital governance, 
technological knowledge, and benchmarking 
frameworks to ensure continuous improvement, 
sustainability, competitiveness, visibility in knowledge 
production, and commercialisation in Cameroon’s 
higher education (Njebakal, & Teneng, 2017).

Recommendations
 Policies makers and institutional administrators 

should consider concentrating investments on 
technological infrastructures that pay attention to the 
realities of the emerging Fourth Industrial estate while 
equipping human resources with digital capabilities 
through knowledge networks and innovation clusters 
that create a competitive leverage for universities in 
the global knowledge society. Also, providing students 
with up-to-date digital tools resources which are 
fundamental to the formation of the responsive human 
capital is a crucial component. That said, effectiveness, 
efficiency, transparency, and equity of institutional 
governance also depend on the appropriation and 
crystallisation of digital technology into a university 
management system. This digitalised infrastructure will 
facilitate data analytics, which could greatly contribute 
to informed decision-making in higher education. 
Institutional administrators must continuously 
improve their knowledge infrastructures and network 
ecosystems for a transformative education.

New Perspective
 This study focuses on technological knowledge 

networks, innovation and knowledge clusters, 
transformative digital governance in higher education 
in the emerging Fourth-Industrial Revolution. A future 
study has the possibility of extending the research 
to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications in 
transformative education in Africa or in Cameroon’s 
higher education. 

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1 Joel N. Bafon (bafonnshom@gmail.com) is a doctoral 
student in the Department of Curriculum and Evaluation 
at University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon.
2 Adolphe M. Tanyi (tanyiadolf@yahoo.fr) is an Lecturer in 
the Department of Didactics at SUniversity of Yaounde I, 
Yaounde, Cameroon

3Carole V. Kamdjo (carole.kamdjo@fse-uy1.cm) is a 
doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum 
and Evaluation at University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, 
Cameroon.

Authors

4Marcelline T. Djeumeni (marcelline.djeumenictamabe@
yahoo.fr) is an Associate Professor, H.TT.C, at University 
of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon.

Bafon, Tanyi, Kamdjo, & Djeumeni, Transformative Development Potential of Higher Education

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Amadiok, D., Abroampa, W.K., & Osei, E.O.  
Global Journal of  Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4  
pp 77-88.  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36683

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Amadiok, Abroampa, & Osei. 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 
Attribution NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), 
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

Students’ Use Behaviors of E-Learning Management Systems in 
Ghanaian Public Universities: What do the demographics say?

Daniel Amadiok,1 Winston Kwame Abroampa,2 & Eric Opoku Osei3

Abstract
It is crucial to identify and offer intense training to groups of students who underutilize e-learning 

management systems. This study used a quantitative research methodology to evaluate demographic 
differences in students’ use of e-LMS in Ghanaian public universities. A questionnaire was used to collect 
data from 531 students. The techniques for data analysis included independent t-tests, mean computation, 
percentage estimation, and standard deviation estimation. Based on age and educational level, the results 
showed that there were no statistically significant variations in how students used e-LMSs. Nevertheless, 
a statistically significant variation in their use behavior with regard to gender and academic major was 
established. Particularly, social science majors and female students in Ghana’s public universities showed low 
use behavior of e-LMS. Therefore, it is recommended that students majoring in social sciences and those who 
are female undergo enhanced training on using the e-LMS platform. 

Keywords: Demographic characteristics, e-Learning management systems, Use behavior 

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of 

technology in education, particularly in higher educa-
tion, where it has become an absolute necessity rather 
than an option. Technology integration has become 
crucial for every educational organization in the twen-
ty-first century (Alshehri, 2020). When compared to 
conventional classroom approaches, technology has a 
number of benefits for education that greatly speed up 
the teaching and learning processes (Aldowah, Ghazal, 
Umar, & Muniandy, 2017). With the use of digital tools, 
educators may more quickly and effectively impart 
knowledge, look for answers to students’ learning 
problems, and offer assistance. Technology also gives 
teachers the tools to interact with students who may be 
dispersed across various geographical regions. Addi-
tionally, technology helps students study more efficient-
ly and gives them the tools they need to take charge of 
their own education. Through digital tools, students 
have access to a wide range of educational resources, 
enabling them to customize their learning to meet their 
unique needs. Due to the crucial role that digital tools 

play in the administration and delivery of higher 
education, numerous educational institutions through-
out the world have made significant investments in 
digital technologies to assist teaching and learning. The 
e-learning management system is one such piece of
technology that is essential to many academic endeav-
ors (Kasim & Khalid, 2016; Wichadee, 2015).

E-learning management systems are comprehen-
sive software solutions created for the creation, man-
agement, and dissemination of educational informa-
tion to students (Lang & Pirani, 2014). These systems 
are referred to by a variety of titles in the academic 
community, including virtual learning environments, 
course management systems, and learning content 
management systems (Ghilay, 2019). The varied names 
associated with these platforms naturally reflect their 
main objectives, which center on course management 
and learning facilitation. Numerous studies also offer 
various viewpoints on e-learning management systems. 
They are frequently portrayed as self-contained online 
learning platforms with storage capabilities that enable 
instructors to create and distribute educational content 
while also keeping track of student involvement (Tseng, 
2020). They also function as centralized hubs for uni-

77



Amadiok, Abroampa, Osei, Student Use of eLearning Mgmt Systems 78

versities, enabling academic institutions to efficiently 
plan and manage online teaching and learning (Nicho-
las-Omoregbe, Azeta, Chiazor, & Omoregbe, 2017). As 
Sharma, Gaur, Saddikuti, and Rastogi (2017) suggested, 
these systems can also distribute instructional infor-
mation through the Internet, enabling flexible lesson 
planning to accommodate students who are spread out 
geographically. E-learning management systems are 
web-based solutions that encourage teacher-student 
interaction and collaboration, foster the dissemination 
of knowledge, and strengthen the learning process. 
Colleges use these systems to perform both synchro-
nous and asynchronous e-learning activities, as well as 
hybridized deliveries, giving online education a flexible 
and all-encompassing approach.

The variety of e-LMSs used in higher education 
institutions is expanding because of the development of 
information and communication technologies. Because 
there are so many alternatives, different institutions 
choose particular systems (Xhaferi, Bahiti, & Imeri, 
2015). Notable e-learning management systems include 
Moodle, eCollege, Canvas, Sakai, and WebCT (An-
namalai, Ramayah, Kumar, & Osman, 2021; Matarirano, 
Jere, Sibanda, & Panicker, 2020). These e-LMSs provide 
a wide range of functionality, such as discussion fo-
rums, gradebooks, announcement tools, and file man-
agement capabilities, to help students and educators 
navigate virtual learning environments (Biney, 2020). 
Additionally, some of the applications might include 
extra functionality, including content creation, delivery, 
management, assessment, email, chat, list servers, in-
stant messaging, and discussion forums (Akay & Gumu-
soglu, 2020).

Through e-learning management systems, edu-
cators have access to a variety of big data like never 
before. To incorporate learning analytics into the teach-
ing and learning process, these systems automatically 
generate enormous amounts of data, which are subse-
quently examined using statistical tools (Ismail, Hamid, 
& Chiroma, 2019; Matsebula & Mnkandla, 2017; Lenar, 
Jamila, Ego, & Rustem, 2019). Predictive algorithms and 
forecasting tools that draw on data from educational in-
stitutions are used in e-learning management systems. 
Institutions can better understand students’ learning 
patterns and forecast their chances of success by care-
fully evaluating the data kept in log files within these 
systems (Yu & Jo, 2014). Importantly, in these learning 
environments, several elements, including study time, 
peer relationships, adherence to study schedules, and 
frequency of downloads, have a significant impact on

students’ academic development. Dashboards in 
e-learning management systems track and assess
students’ academic progress over time, producing
important metrics including completion rates, involve-
ment in the e-LMS, attendance data, and the likelihood
of academic success. These indicators give educational
authorities the ability to glean important insights into
the growth and achievement of their students. Institu-
tions use the data collected from teacher and student
actions inside these systems to improve and hone their
pedagogical strategies.

The broad adoption and effective implementation 
of e-learning systems in educational institutions de-
pend on their acceptance by three crucial stakehold-
ers: educational institutions themselves, teachers, and 
students (Edumadze et al., 2014). However, it is crucial 
to acknowledge the notable discrepancies in students’, 
instructors’, and administrators’ readiness to use 
e-LMSs (Ansong, Boateng, & Boateng, 2016). The level
of e-learning system use in higher education institu-
tions is determined by elements like the educational
content’s quality and the accessibility of necessary
resources like chat platforms, forums, and collabora-
tive features. Several studies (Ayouni, Menzli, Hajjej,
Maddeh & Al-Otaibi, 2021; Kuadey et al., 2022; Mtebe,
2015; Juhanak, Zounek & Rohlikova, 2019) have con-
firmed the widespread adoption of e-LMSs at institu-
tions of education and universities around the world.
They also highlighted the growing adoption tendency in
both well-resourced and under-resourced institutions.
The high adoption of e-LMSs has failed to transfer into
proportionate students’ use behavior of the platforms
in sub-Saharan Africa (Dampson, 2021; Mtebe, 2015).
While studies (Dampson, 2021; Tagoe & Cole, 2020;
Asamoah, 2020; Sahoo, Odame, Reddy & Khan, 2020)
acknowledge the general underutilization of e-LMSs in
public universities in Ghana, there is a dearth of knowl-
edge and empirical findings on the influence of demo-
graphic factors on the overall non-use of e-LMSs by stu-
dents. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly examine
various demographic groups to determine those con-
tributing to the underutilization of e-LMSs within Gha-
na’s public universities. In fact, analyzing student usage
behavior based on demographic categories can give
university administrators insightful information that
will help them customize support programs to meet the
specific requirements of these groups. Furthermore, a
thorough comprehension of the variations in students’
use of e-LMSs has enormous promise for developing
applicable regulations and enhancing training meth-

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



79

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

ods in higher education. Thus, the research questions 
this paper sought to answer are:
1. What are students’ use behaviors of e-learning man-

agement systems?
2. What	statistically	significant	differences	exist	in

students’ use behaviors of e-learning management
systems based on their demographic characteristics?
To add contextual knowledge to the research ques-

tions, the ensuing section presents a review of studies 
related to the themes extracted from the research 
questions.

Students’ use behavior of e-LMS
The words “use behavior,” “actual use,” or “actual 

usage” are widely used interchangeably in numerous 
studies in the field of information systems. These phras-
es jointly express the idea of a firm commitment to us-
ing a certain technology or information system (Black, 
1982). Students’ usage behavior of e-learning manage-
ment systems in the specific context of education serves 
as a visible indication of their persistent dedication to 
utilizing these educational platforms (Yakubu & Dasuki, 
2018). The importance of behavioral intentions and 
perceived behavioral control in determining the actual 
use of information systems is stressed by theoretical 
frameworks like the Technology Acceptance Model 
(Davis, 1986), the Theory of Planned Behavior (Azjen, 
1991), and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use 
of Technology (Vankesh, Thong, & Xu, 2016). These 
theories stress that people’s intentions and perceptions 
of their level of control over their behavior are the 
primary forces behind their actual interactions with 
technology. Assessment of students’ use behavior of 
the teaching and learning platform is a crucial compo-
nent of this study. Such an assessment not only clarifies 
the degree of their contact with the systems but also 
provides priceless information about the platform’s 
overall influence on their academic endeavors. As a 
result, a thorough examination of students’ actual use 
behavior serves as a vital benchmark for determining 
the usefulness and efficacy of the platform in improv-
ing the educational experience of students. Numerous 
studies have acknowledged students’ actual use behav-
iors of e-LMSs in advanced countries as extremely high. 
However, these same studies have pronounced that the 
application is underutilized in the sub-Saharan African 
context (Dampson, 2021; Tagoe & Cole, 2020; Asamoah, 
2020; Mtebe, 2015). Some groups of students are the 
cause of the underutilization and must be identified.

Gender segregation in e-LMS use
In several studies examining students’ uses of 

technology, the influence of gender as a demographic 
element has been examined. According to Cai, Fan, and 
Du’s (2017) research, the gender gap in technology use 
has only minimally closed, indicating that there is still a 
significant gap between males and females. In a similar 
vein, Mumporeze and Prieler’s (2017) study indicated 
that women utilize technology on average less than 
men do, and Qazi et al. (2021) discovered that men 
are more likely to use ICTs than women. Additionally, 
Alshorman and Bawaneh (2018) found that men tend 
to have more positive sentiments toward their use 
of technology than do women. Men utilize learning 
management systems more actively than women, 
according to Borokhovski, Tamim, Pickup, Rabah, and 
Obukhova (2019). In addition, Lim et al. (2020) used 
factorial invariance analysis to distinguish between 
how men and women use e-learning management 
systems. Dahlstrom & Bichsel (2014) reported that 
men and women use technology equally, which is 
in opposition to these findings. They asserted that 
inequalities in attitude are to blame for the disparities 
in technology use. Dahlstrom and Bichsel’s (2014) 
assertion is supported by the studies (Alshorman & 
Bawaneh, 2018; Yalman, Basaran, & Gonen, 2016). 
There are few studies that prove the distinctions 
between male and female students’ uses of e-learning 
management systems in Ghana’s public universities. 
Thus, this current study proposes the hypothesis:

H01:	There	is	no	statistically	significant	difference	in	
students’ use behaviors of e-learning management 
systems based on their gender.

Age segregation in e-LMS use
Numerous studies have shown that age can have 

a variety of effects on how people use technology. 
Researchers (Scherer, Siddiq, & Teo, 2015; John, 2015; 
Guillén-Gámez, Lugonesb, & Mayorga-Fernándezh, 
2019) have noted that age influences how people 
utilize technology. According to Cabero and Barroso’s 
(2016) research, younger males tend to excel at 
technology and utilize it more frequently than their 
older counterparts. This assertion was supported by a 
similar study by Gudmundsdottir and Hatlevik (2018), 
which emphasized that younger students have better 
technology usage abilities than older people. Guillén-
Gámez, Lugonesb, and Mayorga-Fernándezh (2019) 
backed up the conclusions made by the studies (Cabero 

Amadiok, Abroampa, Osei, Student Use of eLearning Mgmt Systems



80

& Barroso, 2016; Gudmundsdottir & Hatlevik, 2018) 
by emphasizing that younger students use technology 
more frequently than their older peers. Furthermore, 
Onyeaka, Romero, Healy, and Celano (2020) discovered 
that younger students engage with a larger variety of 
technologies than their older counterparts and have 
more expertise in using technology. In contrast, John 
(2015) found that those over the age of 30 had more 
favorable opinions about their usage of technology than 
people under that age. Despite these diverse findings, 
only a small number of studies have looked at how age 
affects how students use e-learning management sys-
tems. Particularly, there has not been much coverage of 
the higher education scene in Ghana. Consequently, to 
investigate this assertion, the following hypothesis has 
been formulated:

H02:	There	is	no	statistically	significant	difference	in	
students’ use behaviors of e-learning management 
systems based on their age.

Educational level segregation in e-LMS use
Students are normally divided into two groups in 

universities all around the world: undergraduates and 
postgraduates. There are differences between how 
these two groups of students use technology. Several 
studies have examined these student groups’ perspec-
tives on how they use e-learning management systems. 
For instance, postgraduate students exhibit a high level 
of proficiency when utilizing e-learning management 
systems, according to Buthelezi and Wyk’s (2020) 
research. Postgraduate students, on the other hand, 
exhibit little involvement with e-learning management 
systems (Kite et al., 2020). According to Dahlstrom 
and Bichsel’s (2014) research, undergraduates did not 
show a lot of enthusiasm for using e-learning manage-
ment systems in practice. In contrast to Sahoo, Odame, 
Reddy, and Khan’s (2020) finding that undergraduates 
are skilled at using these systems, Firat’s (2016) study 
emphasized distinct usage habits with regard to un-
dergraduates’ use of e-learning management systems. 
It is clear from reading these studies that we still don’t 
fully grasp the differences between undergraduates and 
postgraduates in terms of how they use e-learning man-
agement systems. To address this gap, the following 
hypothesis has been formulated:

H03:	There	is	no	statistically	significant	difference	in
students’ use behavior of e-learning management 
systems based on their educational level.

Academic major segregation in e-LMS use
Academic majors are split into two groups in 

Binyamin’s (2019) taxonomy of university courses: 
science and social science. According to Binyamin, 
science students concentrate on fields like medicine, 
applied sciences (like computer science and engineer-
ing), and natural sciences (like biology, physics, and 
chemistry). In contrast, social science students focus 
on the humanities (such as history, religion, education, 
languages, and management). Ngah et al.’s (2022) study 
pointed out that there are variances in how students 
use technology. Students studying pure science out-
performed those studying social science in terms of 
technology use. This occurrence was explained by the 
fact that students studying pure science are engaged 
in practical activities and want to employ technology. 
Despite this categorization, a limited number of studies 
have explored the variations in technology usage based 
on these divisions. Consequently, this study aimed to 
investigate the disparities in students’ use behavior of 
e-LMSs based on their academic major. To examine this
assertion, the hypothesis below has been formulated:

H04:	there	is	no	statistically	significant	difference	in	
students use behavior of e-learning management 
systems based on their academic major.

Methodology
All students enrolled in Ghanaian public universi-

ties who had used their institution’s e-Learning Man-
agement System (e-LMS) for at least a year comprised 
the study’s target population. The accessible population 
involved three public universities in Ghana because of 
their use of structures that enable students to collect 
data for academic purposes. However, Saunders, Lewis, 
and Thornhill (2019) advise using a multistage random 
sample strategy, which the researchers did because of 
the geographically scattered distribution of students 
within the universities. The faculties, along with their 
corresponding departments, made up the study’s nat-
ural clusters. The sampling procedure was conducted 
in stages, with the first stage involving the selection of 
one faculty (within a specific division in a college) from 
each of the three universities using the lottery method. 
The second stage involved choosing one department 
from each of the three faculties selected using the 
lottery technique once more, without replacement. In 
the final stage, student participants were selected using 
simple random sampling with the randomizer software 
as suggested by Creswell and Creswell (2018).

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81

The accessible population, which included 4,002 
students, consisted of those from the three universities 
that were selected during the initial sampling phase. 
Using a chart created by Krejcie and Morgan in 1970, 
a sample size of 825 was determined. After a thorough 
assessment of the literature, a paper-based question-
naire was created and given to the respondents. This 
decision was because, as Binyamin (2019) suggests, 
print versions have a higher response rate than online 
distribution. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to 
rate the adapted questionnaire items. Three ICT lectur-
ers reviewed the questionnaire items to make sure they 
were valid. The questionnaire’s pre-testing produced 
a reliability index for Cronbach’s alpha of 0.957. The 
respondents were given a total of 825 questionnaires; 
however, only 598 of these were filled out and returned. 
Sixty-seven questionnaires were declared unsuitable 
for further analysis after a preliminary evaluation be-
cause of missing values and suspicious patterns. Con-
sequently, 531 questionnaires, accounting for 64.4% of 
the total, were included in the final analysis. Research 
question 1, which was descriptive, involved looking 
at frequencies, percentages, averages, and standard 
deviations. Contrarily, an independent t-test was used 
to analyze research question 2, which was inferential in 
nature.

Data analysis
Demographic data 

The study elicited students’ gender, age, educational 
level, and academic major as demographic data. Table 1 
presents the demographic data of 
the respondents. 

Data in Table 1 show that 
males and females made up 
54.4% and 45.6%, respectively, of 
the total number of respondents. 
The mean age of the respondents 
was 23.82. Students below the 
mean age and students above the 
mean age were (302) 56.9% and 
(229) 43.1%, respectively, of the
total respondents. Undergradu-
ates were 449 (84.6%), whereas
postgraduates were 82 (15.4%).
Students who had science as
their academic major were 197
(37.1%), whereas those with
social science as their academic
major were 334 (62.9%).

In summary, the analysis of Table 1 suggests that, 
firstly, there were more male respondents than female 
respondents. Secondly, the number of students below 
the mean age exceeded those above the mean age. 
Thirdly, undergraduates outnumbered postgraduates. 
Lastly, there were more respondents with a background 
in the social sciences compared to those with a pure 
science background in this study.

Students’ use behavior of e-LMS
Frequency, percentage, mean, and standard 

deviation were computed from the data on students’ 
use behavior of e-LMS. Table 2 depicts the results.

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82

The data in Table 2 show that students 
agree (M = 3.43; SD = 1.149) that they use their 
university’s e-LMS frequently. Again, the data 
in Table 2 show that students were unsure (M 
= 3.28; SD = 1.179) that they depend on the 
university’s e-LMS for their studies. Moreover, 
from the table, students agreed (M = 3.71; SD = 
1.043) that they tend to use their university’s 
e-LMS for as long as is necessary. Finally, the
data in Table 2 show that students were unsure
(M = 3.43; SD = 1.061) of the fact that they
tend to use many features of their university’s
e-LMS.

Summarily, Table 2 shows that students
were unsure (M = 3.46; SD = 1.11) of their use 
behavior of their university’s e-LMS. It is, thus, 
deduced that in public universities in Ghana, 
students are unsure of their usage behavior of 
e-LMSs.

Students’ use behavior of e-LMS in terms of 
their demographic characteristics

The results of the analysis of students’ use behavior 
of e-LMSs based on their demographic characteristics 
are presented in this section. The demographic 
characteristics are gender, age, academic level, and 
academic major. The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 reveals a statistically significant difference 
(p = 0.004;    = 0.05) between males and females in 
their use behavior of e-LMS. The table indicates that the 
mean of males (M = 3.567; SD = 0.9309) is higher than 
the mean of females (M = 3.336; SD = 0.9257). Thus, H01 
was rejected. It is, therefore, imperative that males have 
a higher use behavior of e-LMS than females.

Also, there was no statistically significant difference 
(p = 0.690;  = 0.05) between below-mean age and 
above-mean age in terms of their use behavior of 
e-LMS. Thus, H02 was accepted. A look at the mean
scores in Table 3 shows that the mean score of students
below the mean age (M = 3.476; SD = 0.9326) is similar
to the mean score of students above the mean age (M
= 3.443; SD = 0.9395). It can, thus, be deduced that
students with their ages below the mean age have
use behavior of e-LMS similar to that of students with
their ages above the mean age in Ghanaian public
universities.

Table 3 further shows that there was no statistically 
significant difference (p = 0.312;  = 0.05) between 
undergraduate and postgraduate students in terms of 
their e-LMS use behavior. Thus, H03 was accepted.

A look at the mean scores in Table 3 shows that the 
mean score of undergraduate students (M = 3.444; SD 
= 0.9431) is similar to the mean score of postgraduate 
students (M = 3.558; SD = 0.8874). Thus, it indicates 
that undergraduate and postgraduate students have 
similar use behaviors of e-LMS in Ghanaian public 
universities.

Finally, Table 3 indicates that there was a 
statistically significant difference (p = 0.01;  = 0.05) 
between students in the sciences and social sciences 
in terms of their use behavior of e-LMS, so H04 was 
rejected. Table 3 shows that the mean score of students 
with an academic major in science (M = 3.643; SD = 
0.942) is higher than the mean score of students with 
an academic major in social science (M = 3.355; SD = 
0.915). Thus, it implies that students in the sciences 
have a higher use behavior of e-LMSs than those in the 
social sciences in Ghanaian public universities.

Discussion
The study revealed that students were unsure 

(M = 3.46; SD = 1.11) of their use behaviors of their 
university’s e-LMS. This result corroborates the 
studies of Dampson (2021), Tagoe and Cole (2020), 
Asamoah (2020), and Mtebe (2015), which revealed 
that students underutilize e-LMSs in universities in the 
sub-Saharan context. These findings are attributable to 
a specific subset of students who either demonstrate a 
limited level of engagement with e-LMSs or, in some.

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83

cases, do not engage with them at all.
It also became known that there was a statistically 

significant difference (p = 0.004;  = 0.05) in students’ 
use behavior of e-LMSs based on their gender. This 
result aligns with studies that claim that there is a 
gender imbalance in the use of e-learning systems 
and that males use e-LMSs more frequently than 
females. The study by Li, Wang, and Campbell (2015) 
found that male students use e-LMS more regularly 
than females. Moreover, Alshorman and Bawaneh’s 
(2018) study found that males have higher attitudes 
toward technology than females. Contrary to this study, 
Alblassi’s (2016) study revealed that e-LMS use among 
males and females was the same. Likewise, Dahlstrom 
and Bichsel’s (2014) study found that males and 
females have the same abilities for utilizing information 
technologies. Moreover, the study by Cai, Fan, and Du 
(2017) found a reduction in the gap between men and 
women in terms of technology utilization. This finding 
of the study is in congruent with most studies regarding 
information technology utilization. The result indicates 
that female students in Ghanaian public universities 
need more training on e-LMSs to build optimal 
utilization behavior. This result might have occurred 
because males are more tech-savvy than females and 
would want to use more technology in their activities 
(Dahlstrom & Bichsel, 2014). 

The study also found that there was no statistically 
significant difference (p = 0.690;  = 0.05) in students’ 
use behavior of e-LMS based on their age. This result 
is inconsistent with most of the studies (Cabero & 
Barroso, 2016; Gudmundsdottir & Hatlevik, 2018; 
Guillén-Gámez, Lugonesb, & Mayorga-Fernándezh, 
2019) in this research area. These studies found that 
younger students tend to use e-LMSs more than older 
students. The findings of this current study seem to 
have occurred because the age differences among 
respondents was small. All ages in the 21st century 
have equal access to various kinds of technologies and 
skill development, which may be influencing their use 
behaviors of e-LMS, hence this result.

It was realized that there was no statistically 
significant difference (p = 0.312;  = 0.05) in students’ 
use behavior of e-LMS based on their educational 
level. This result indicates that undergraduates and 
postgraduates have the same use behavior for e-LMS. 
Several studies (Sahoo, Odame, Reddy, & Khan, 2020; 
Buthelezi & Wyk, 2020; Firat, 2016) in this research 
area have considered students use of e-LMSs based on 
either undergraduates or postgraduates. However, this

study compared both groups use of e-LMSs. The result 
might have occurred because both undergraduate and 
postgraduate students are subjected to e-LMS use in 
the same way.

The study further found that there was a 
statistically significant difference (p = 0.01;  = 0.05) 
in students’ use behavior of e-LMS based on their 
academic major. This finding indicates that students 
with an academic major in science have a higher use 
behavior of e-LMS than students with an academic 
major in social science. This corroborates the study 
of Ngah et al. (2022), which revealed that there was a 
statistically significant difference between pure science 
and social science students in terms of their usage of 
technologies. Pure science students utilize technologies 
that offer them more firsthand practical activities than 
social science students. This finding is not surprising in 
the Ghanaian higher education context because science 
students tend to be more practice-oriented and prefer 
to use technologies in their studies than social science 
students. Science students have specialized ICT tools 
for modeling, data analysis, and simulations in their 
course areas.

In summary, there was no difference in students’ 
use behaviors of e-LMSs in terms of age and educational 
level. However, there was a difference in students use 
behaviors of e-LMS based on their gender and academic 
majors. Female and social science students underutilize 
e-LMSs; therefore, enough training on e-LMS usage
should be offered to them. The management of public
universities in Ghana should give special attention to
females and social science students when strategies
and policies on e-LMS are being applied to them. It is
imperative that the capacity of all students, irrespective
of their background, be developed to enable them to
conveniently use LMS.

The potential limitation of this study is that it 
relied on a self-reported survey. However, respondents 
were informed of the ethical conditions under which 
the study was being conducted, to encourage genuine 
responses to the questionnaire. 

Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to examine the 

demographic differences in students’ e-LMS usage 
behavior. According to the study’s findings, neither 
students’ age nor educational level significantly 
affected how they used an e-LMS. However, there were 
noticeable differences in how students used the e-LMS 
based on their academic major and gender. As a result,

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84

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

we suggest that e-LMS usage regulations and proce-
dures be applied consistently to all students. However, 
special attention should be given to female students 
and students majoring in social science areas. It is 
significant to emphasize that the generalizability of 
this study is constrained to Ghana’s traditional public 
universities. Further research involving technical and 
private universities is advised in order to have a more 
thorough picture of e-LMS usage patterns across all uni-
versities in Ghana. This increased research effort would 
provide a more comprehensive viewpoint on e-LMS use 
behavior within the Ghanaian higher education sector.

Acknowledgement
Dr. Partrick Swanzy, the entire staff, and the entire 

student body of the Department of Teacher Education 
at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technol-
ogy are all acknowledged and thanked for their encour-
agement, which has led to this paper.

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1 Daniel Amadiok (danieladmadiok@gmail.com) is a 
Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Teacher 
Education at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and 
Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

2 Winston Kwame Abroampa (wynxtin@yahoo.com) is 
an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher 
Education at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and 
Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Authors

3 Eric Opoku Osei (eoosei@gmail.com) is a Senior 
Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at 
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 
Kumasi, GhanaNetwork, Accra, Ghana.

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87Amadiok, Abroampa, Osei, Student Use of eLearning Mgmt Systems

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Hanson, M. A, & Beem, H. Global Journal of 
Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4   
pp 88-104.  DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36705

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Hanson & Beem. 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which 
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

Transitioning Hands-On STEM Teacher Training in Ghana 
from an In-Person to Online Modality

Mawuena A. Hanson1 & Heather Beem2

Abstract
COVID-19 provided an avenue for teaching and learning to be done remotely, hence Practical Education 

Network (PEN), a nonprofit organization in Ghana, took advantage of this to transition from an in-person to on-
line training mode. This study aimed to determine how the efficacy of hands-on STEM teacher training in Ghana 
compared between fully in-person and fully online modalities as well as the best practices that can be elucidat-
ed from a Ghanaian training provider’s transition between the two. In-person training content was converted 
into videos and PowerPoint presentations accessed asynchronously together with synchronous Zoom sessions 
for discussions. Between 2020-2021, two hundred and twenty (220) teachers who teach Science, Math and ICT 
were selected from 10 Regions of Ghana to participate across five (5) cohorts. Relying fully on locally available 
materials, PEN successfully implemented an online training on hands-on content, which is arguably a “pandem-
ic-proof” approach. Results showed that teacher confidence and feasibility to implement hands-on activities 
increased with statistical significance and large effect size for both in-person and online training offerings. 
Hence, even with minimal technology, teachers across Africa could be trained online and experience meaning-
ful learning. The key difference between the two modalities was the time involved, as the online offering was 
spread out over a longer period of time. This work can motivate other African education providers to pursue 
online offerings, as they are lower-cost, and can still be effective, despite contextual challenges.
Keywords: STEM, Teacher training, In-person training, Online training, Locally available materials, Hands-on 

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
The vast majority of education providers in Africa 

have traditionally relied exclusively on in-person offer-
ings (Crawfurd, Evans, Hares, & Sandefur, 2021). The 
COVID-19 pandemic triggered a need for education and 
learning opportunities to be made available remotely. 
Closure of schools in the wake of the pandemic implied 
that innovative strategies needed to be employed for 
teaching and learning to continue while students were 
home. This was necessary to avoid disruptions in the 
educational sector (Addae, Amponsah, & Gborti, 2021). 
This presented a significant obstacle to be surmounted, 
given contextual challenges with online learning such 
as poor internet connectivity, low digital literacy levels, 
and the familiarity with in-person engagements for 
establishing connection.

Existing teacher training landscape in Africa
Teacher professional development is a necessary 

component of the provision of quality education. To be

effective and remain relevant, teachers need to have 
periodic in-service training. However, an insufficient 
proportion of teachers in Ghana and Africa at large are 
afforded the opportunity to engage in this regularly 
(Sanyal & UNESCO, 2013). Several teacher training ser-
vice providers operate in Africa, however most of them 
focus on general pedagogical practice. Only a few utilize 
digital modalities for training delivery, even after the 
pandemic. And even fewer focus on the unique needs 
that STEM teachers have.

Ghana is a rapidly developing economy, and the 
country is actively implementing a number of educa-
tion reforms. Nonetheless, the same gaps mentioned 
in Africa’s teacher training landscape hold in Ghana: 
few of them leverage digital approaches or provide 
STEM-specific content. The digital education interven-
tions that exist in Ghana are generally directed at stu-
dents, such as studying past questions for the national 
exams (eCampus, 2023) or learning to code (Suacode.
ai, 2023). Almost no digital interventions in Ghana fo-
cused on teachers prior to the pandemic. The Center for 
National Distance Learning and Open Schooling 

88



Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 89

(CENDLOS, 2023)and Ghana Society for Education-
al Technology (GSET, 2023) are two exceptions. The 
EdTech Readiness Index (Marin, Cobo, Cloutier & 
Lambert-Porter, 2021) shows six pillars on which a 
country’s readiness to adopt EdTech could be found-
ed. Many African countries will score relatively low on 
this. STEM-specific training content is highly needed in 
Ghana, given that those subjects are known to be most 
effective when taught in an experiential manner. The 
lack of hands-on learning is something that is often 
lamented amongst Ghanaian education stakeholders, 
utilizing the phrase “chew and pour” to describe the 
rote approach that pervades practice (Owusu-Acheaw, 
2014), especially in STEM subjects. The traditional 
approach tends to encourage memorization and repro-
duction of facts, limiting learning outcomes (Nugba & 
Quansah, 2020). Regarding hands-on learning in Ghana, 
a small number of training providers include it in their 
offerings, mostly approaching it from a play-based 
learning approach, albeit not in STEM (Foundation 
First, 2023; Sabre Education, 2023; Right to Play, 2023). 
In addition to the Ghana Association of Science Teach-
ers (GAST), Practical Education Network (PEN) is one 
of the few STEM teacher training providers in Ghana, 
and its program will be the subject of this study. PEN’s 
approach of in-person training of teachers to leverage 
low-cost materials to teach hands-on activities in STEM 
subjects has had a significant impact on student atti-
tudes and learning outcomes in Ghana (Babb & Stocke-
ro, 2020; Practical Education Network, 2020). The Af-
rican and Ghanaian education landscapes experience a 
gap in training offerings for teachers both in the digital 
modalities and in a pedagogical approach targeted at 
hands-on learning. There is a need to scale up existing 
interventions that are effectively filling the gap.

Response of education stakeholders to COVID-19 in 
Africa 

The disruption of education due to COVID-19 called 
for the development of innovation that could help the 
delivery of education remotely (Mukute, Burt, Fran-
cis, & De Souza, 2020). Most governments around the 
world called on their teachers to ensure continued 
learning in the pandemic, but few African governments 
were able to offer training or specific support for them 
to do so (Vegas, 2020). Nonetheless, several interesting 
interventions emerged on the continent. They can be 
categorized into those that facilitated passive learning 
and those that facilitated active learning.

African governments launched several educational

programs, and largely passive learning approaches such 
as leveraged television and radio to do so (EdTech Hub, 
2020). Countries like Nigeria, Tanzania and Sierra Le-
one broadcasted lessons on TV (Osman, & Keevy, 2021). 
Radio emerged as a popular tool for remote learning 
during the pandemic. Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Basic 
and Senior Secondary Education turned to “Education 
Radio” (Government of Sierra Leone, 2020), “Rising on 
Air,” an initiative from Rising Academies, was adapted 
for use in more than 10 countries (Flood, 2020), and 
Yiya AirScience in Uganda supported remote and out-
of-school children (Kisakye, 2020). Challenges with 
radio include its ephemeral nature, the difficulty of 
monitoring its use, and the minimal interactivity levels 
it facilitates (Damani & Mitchell, 2020).

A few interventions emerged for active learning on 
the continent. Zoom and other video conferencing were 
some of the most popular online platforms for teaching 
and learning during the pandemic (Erna, Genisa, Mus-
laini, & Suhartini, 2022). Lower bandwidth options like 
WhatsApp were also used for running teacher training, 
as led by Nigeria’s CCHub (Tijani, Madu, Falade, & Dele-
Ajayi, 2021). In Sierra Leone, phone calls were used 
for live tutoring (Crawfurd, Evans, Hares, & Sandefur, 
2021). More active approaches, such as these, should be 
considered as preferred options for learning. The role 
of the teacher is important for roles such as facilitat-
ing two-way dialogue, addressing misconceptions and 
increasing engagement (Munna & Kalam, 2021). To the 
authors’ knowledge, no African service providers devel-
oped a digital offering for teacher training, and which 
facilitated a hands-on approach. 

Response of education stakeholders to COVID-19 in 
Ghana

Ghana’s national education response in the 
COVID-19 pandemic centered around the Ministry of 
Education’s production of a TV broadcast of lessons 
for students (Dome & Armah-Attoh, 2020) and a radio 
reading program (US Embassy in Ghana, 2023). For 
the TV program, each class for primary and JHS had 35 
minutes of content, whereas each class for SHS had 60 
minutes of content per day (Ghana Education Service, 
2020) As mentioned earlier, this platform facilitates 
passive learning, which has inherent limitations. High-
end private schools were able to transition to fully re-
mote offerings so as to enable a more active approach. 
This, however, only benefited a small minority of the 
population. Most students in Ghana found themselves 
largely devoid from structured learning from March to

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



90

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

December 2020. At the grassroots level, a few other 
interventions also emerged, such as a radio program in 
the Western Region. These did not, however, attempt 
to cover hands-on learning, and focused on delivering 
content knowledge.

Methods employed by hands-on education provid-
ers to transition online/remote

Globally, prior to the pandemic, most online courses 
lacked significant hands-on components (Eisenberg 
& Fischer, 2014). Enabling hands-on content online 
is a challenge that most education providers had not 
tackled until the COVID-19 pandemic provided a strong 
impetus. Efforts to transition hands-on learning online 
can generally be grouped into three categories. 
1) Materials kits for each student. Several universities

adopted this approach, packaging kits and shipping
them to students (Halpern, 2021; Hart et al, 2021;
Leung & Chu, 2020; McQuate, 2020; Travaglini,
Sheppard, Chen, & Nittali, 2021; Wu et al, 2020).

2) Remote labs where students either observe a lab
technician/teacher conduct an experiment or
remotely control a pre-made experimental setup
(Yeung, 2020).

3) Virtual labs using computer-based representations
or simulations, usually involving animations (Ad-
vanced Tools for e-Learning, 2023; Pivot Interac-
tives, 2023; University of Colorado Boulder, 2019).
These can be programmed for pre-determined

modes of interactivity. Some of these virtual labs had 
been around for decades prior to the pandemic. Papers 
comparing all of these approaches (Bishop et al, 2021; 
Fox, 2020; Wijenayake et al, 2021) reveal challenges 
such as equitable distribution of materials and cost of 
implementation.

Using or adapting any of these three approaches to 
the African context presents a few challenges. With the 
first approach, the cost of shipping materials is high. At 
the onset of the pandemic, Ashesi University in Ghana 
adopted this approach to send engineering kits to all 
students (Ashesi University, 2020) but the cost prohib-
ited its continued use. The cost involved in delivering 
materials to the “last mile” in rural Africa is significant. 
The need for using readily available materials has been 
mentioned (Larson & Farnsworth, 2020). A few educa-
tors developed innovative approaches for guiding their 
students to use materials they had around them, such 
as using a smartphone to measure focal length (Girot, 
Goy, Vilquin, & Delabre, 2020). With the second and 
third approaches, remote and virtual labs evade the

tactical experience that facilitates deeper engagement, 
flexibility to test variations beyond the guided prompts 
and therefore greater connection to each individual’s 
existing knowledge and constructs. Remote labs are 
more difficult to carry out given the generally low band-
width and therefore short duration that video connec-
tion can be maintained in a group. Virtual labs inher-
ently present a layer of artificiality to lab work which, 
in the authors’ opinions, continues to evade the goal of 
engaging in real experiences students are craving. Also, 
these tools have not necessarily been designed for mo-
bile usage, which is the dominant platform that African 
teachers would be using. There is a need for developing 
approaches to deploying hands-on learning remotely 
in a manner that is contextually appropriate for the 
African continent.

Practical Education Network (PEN) is a Ghanaian 
NGO with a mission to enable every African child to 
learn by doing. PEN’s core programming is a hands-on 
STEM teacher training program, which builds capac-
ity to leverage low-cost, locally available materials 
(Practical Education Network, 2024). PEN’s definition 
of hands-on learning comes from the constructivist 
approach and necessarily utilizes physical materials 
to facilitate learning. PEN leaned into the challenges 
presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully 
translated its hands-on teacher training from a fully 
in-person to a fully online offering. This paper high-
lights aspects of this translation, key lessons learned in 
the process, and the effect of the online training.

Two research questions are explored in this paper. 
RQ1: “How does the efficacy of hands-on STEM 

teacher training in Ghana compare between 
fully in-person and fully online modalities?” 

RQ2: “What best practices can be elucidated from 
a Ghanaian training provider’s transition from 
in-person to online modalities?”

The translation process and resultant learnings are 
presented in this paper, with suggestions for how this 
model can be employed by other training providers on 
the continent to similarly transition to online modali-
ties.

Methodology
COVID-19 challenged PEN to translate its purely 

in-person training into a fully online mode. Hence its 
content was converted into videos and PowerPoint pre-
sentations for participants to access asynchronously. 
This was complemented with live training and discus-
sion sessions held on Zoom as well as assignments

Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality



Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 91

offered in Google Classroom, a Learning Management 
System (LMS). To have an effective and successful on-
line training, inclusion criteria were set. Teachers who 
had a good internet connectivity, access to a smart-
phone, laptop or desktop computer, and who were mo-
tivated and committed to completing an online training 
were included in the online training. Teachers’ com-
mitment to completing the training included attending 
all live training sessions, completing and submitting 
assignments. The assignments were in the form of

watching videos and replicating hands-on activities in 
their classroom and uploading these videos on the LMS. 

Figure 1 shows the process involved in imple-
menting PEN’s in-person and online training modes. 
Although both begin similarly, the online modality has a 
few additional elements that facilitate its delivery over 
a period of time. In the online training, a WhatsApp 
group was formed to facilitate communication between 
the organization and the participants. Then the same 
content was broken down into short modules complet-

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 92

ed over time. A cycle of live Zoom sessions and assign-
ments on an LMS was repeated multiple times. The 
Zoom session served to first orient teachers to the pro-
gram and then later served as a platform for experience 
sharing based on what they completed as their assign-
ments. Short instructional videos on how to conduct 
each hands-on activity were shared on the LMS, the 
teacher was guided to gather the local materials in their 
own locality, reproduce the activity on their own, and 
upload a short video of them conducting the activity.

Over the period of 2014-2019, the in-person train-
ing program was rolled out for several cohorts across 
Ghana. In 2020-2021, this training program was rolled 
out fully online and for five different cohorts. Details 
of the online training cohorts are captured in Table 1. 
These covered various Districts and Regions within 
Ghana, some being urban, some peri-urban and some 
rural. The funder type also varied. In all cases, Ghana 
Education Service (GES) was closely consulted in the 
implementation. The cohorts will be referred to by their 
abbreviated names henceforth in this paper.

Baseline Information
A pre- survey, a digital literacy and access to IT 

equipment survey, and a consent form, developed as 
Google Forms, were administered prior to the training 
to collect baseline data. The pre-survey was used to 
assess teachers’ teaching practice and knowledge of 
teaching using hands-on methods. The digital literacy

and access to IT equipment survey collected data on the 
digital literacy levels of teachers prior to the interven-
tion, whereas the consent form was used to officially 
seek the consent of teachers to participate in the online 
training. However, data analyzed to obtain baseline 
information was from the digital literacy and access 
to IT equipment survey. Data such as teachers’ usage 
of video conferencing tools, participation in an online 
course before the training, access to digital devices and 
challenges faced while using the internet was collected 
and analyzed using simple descriptives. The survey had 
closed-ended questions which were analyzed quanti-
tatively. The categories of questions asked sought to 
find out about teachers’ proficiency in the use of video 
conferencing tools, challenges teachers faced while 
using the internet, teachers experience with taking 
courses online, among others as shown in the Appen-
dix. The questions asked included “Have you taken an 
online professional course or class before, and Likert-
scale questions on teacher confidence and feasibility of 
conducting hands-on activities in their classrooms.

Endline Information
A post-survey in the form of a Google Form was 

also used to collect data on the impact of the training 
on teachers. The course completion rate of the train-
ing compared to other Massive Open Online Courses 
(MOOCs) and challenges teachers faced while partici-
pating were determined at the end of the online train-

ing. The course completion 
was calculated as the percent-
age of teachers who completed 
PEN’s online training divided 
by the percentage of teachers 
who signed up for the training. 
This figure was compared to 
that of other online courses. 
Both pre and post surveys 
asked the same close-ended 
questions on confidence and 
feasibility. These were an-
alyzed quantitatively using 
simple descriptives. Sample 
questions asked included: “I 
can now carry out STEM-re-
lated hands-on activities in 
my classroom,” “I know what 
to do to increase my students’ 
engagement during a science 
lesson,” “I am confident I can

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Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 93

teach my students using a hands-on approach today,” 
“I am confident that I can address most of my students’ 
concerns during science lesson using a hands-on ap-
proach.” Pre-post comparison of teachers’ confidence 
levels and feasibility to carry out hands-on activities 
during their lessons was done to determine change 
in teacher skills and attitudes over the course of the 
training. Paired t-tests, to determine p-values for 
statistical significance (p < 0.05) and Hedge’s g test, to 
determine the effect size were done. The effect size was 
considered to be small if |g| >0.2, medium if |g| >0.5, 
and large if |g| >0.8. These compared the change in 
confidence and feasibility levels from both the in-per-
son versus online training modes. Learning gains were 
also determined for both online and in-person teacher 
participants. Teachers’ learning gains per unit time 
were calculated as the difference in average scores of 
confidence and feasibility indicators, before and after 
the training, divided by the amount of time spent with 
each training cohort. 

Figure 2 illustrates the key components of the 
training format, namely providing instructional video 
content that the teachers could watch asynchronous-
ly, teacher replicating the activities themselves and 
uploading a video as evidence, and finally a group Zoom 
session used to share experiences on the hands-on 
activities they carried out.

Field Visits and Interviews
After the training program was complete, PEN staff 
followed up on some teachers who were randomly 
selected from the Greater Accra Western and Ashanti 
Regions of Ghana. The selected teachers in the Greater 
Accra Region were visited in their schools and those in 
the Western and Ashanti Regions were interviewed on

the phone six months 
after being trained. 
Pictures of teachers 
and their learners 
were taken, and the 
beneficiary teachers 
were also inter-
viewed face-to-face 
during the field visits. 
Teachers in other re-
gions outside Accra, 
were interviewed 
via phone calls. All 
interviews were tran-
scribed verbatim, and 

stories were developed out of them. 

Results
Participant Demographics

In total, across the five cohorts, 220 teachers who 
teach Science, Math and Information and Communi-
cation Technology (ICT) were selected from 10 out of 
the 16 regions in Ghana to participate in PEN’s online 
teacher training in the use of hands-on methods to 
teach STEM subjects. They were between the ages of 18 
and 50 years. 57% of the teachers were males and 43% 
were females.

Baseline Information
Figures 3 to 8 capture key results obtained from the 

baseline data. These help to create a picture of teachers’ 
access to digital devices as well as their digital literacy 
levels prior to the training.

Figure 3 shows teachers’ exposure to selected 
video conferencing tools. Teachers surveyed across five 
training groups were generally not exposed to using 
video conferencing tools. However, teachers were more 
exposed to Zoom compared to other video conferencing 
tools.

Comparing teachers who had never used Zoom 
to those who had before the training, data collected 
showed that many teachers described themselves as 
being very good at using Zoom. 40% of the teachers 
were very good at using Zoom compared to 10% who 
had never used it. These exposure levels that teachers 
reported did not differ significantly whether they were 
based in rural or urban areas.

Figure 4 details the percentage of teachers who had 
taken any online course before the training. Baseline 
data collected before the online training. Baseline data

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 94

collected before the online training showed that 
teachers were not used to or exposed to doing online 
courses or training. About 73% of the teachers had 
never done an online training prior to PEN training. 
Generally, teachers in all the training cohorts had a 
low level of exposure to taking an online course prior 
to the training. However, teachers from Nzema East 
which is a largely rural District had a relatively higher 
value (56%) for percentage of exposure to online 
training. This could be attributed to lower reliability, 
given that the Nzema East cohort had the smallest 
sample size. 

Percentage of teachers who had access to a digital 
device prior to the training is shown in Figure 5. This 
data reveals that smartphones are by far the device 
which are most accessible to this teacher population, 
and therefore they will be relying mainly on them to 
engage with the online training. Only 6% of teachers 
owned desktop computers and 27% of them owned 
laptops.

Figure 6 shows the percentage of teachers who 
reported generally facing challenges while using the 
internet before the training. In aggregate across the 
five training groups, about 55% of the teachers sur-
veyed said they faced challenges using the internet. 
Generally, the five cohorts reported similar respons-
es, except for Nzema East, which again is likely attrib-
utable to the low sample size in that cohort.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 95

Figures 7 and 8 show the type of challenges teach-
ers faced while using the internet prior to the training. 
The types of challenges faced include cost of purchasing 
internet data, poor internet connectivity, faulty device, 
and inability of device to download certain apps. Cost 
of data was the major challenge faced, with 44% of the 
teachers attesting to that, followed by poor internet 
connectivity (34%), inability of device to download 
certain apps (14%) and faulty device (8%). 

Endline Information
In Figure 9, the percentage of teachers who suc-

cessfully completed the training program is presented. 
Teachers in the SECF training cohort had the highest 
percentage (85%) of teachers completing the training. 
Ahanta West training cohort had the least percentage 
(14%) of teachers completing the training. Across all 
cohorts the online training had an overall course com-
pletion rate of 48%. 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality 96

Table 2 shows the p-values of t-tests 
conducted on teachers’ confidence and feasi-
bility levels (scale of 1 to 5) before and after 
PEN’s in-person and online hands-on train-
ing. The increase in teacher perceptions was 
statistically significant (p < 0.05) for both 
teachers participating online and in-person, 
and with large effect size (|g|>0.8). Teach-
ers who participated in either online and 
in-person training all increased significantly 
in confidence and feasibility levels in the use 
of hands-on methods to teach STEM subjects 
after the training. 

The learning gains achieved were high-
er per unit time in-person than they were 
online as presented in Table 3. On average, 
in-person training had 7.2 times higher 
learning gains per week than the online ver-
sion, based on the feasibility metric.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4



97

Table 4 shows that on average, in-person training 
had 8.1 times higher learning gains per week than the 
online version, based on the confidence metric. Deliver-
ing the same training content online required a longer 
interaction time. Hence, although both modalities 
resulted in significant gains and with large effect size, 
the online modality required a longer time. It should 
be noted that the participants differed between the 
in-person and online cohorts, hence there is a limita-
tion on how directly comparative this analysis can be. 
Nonetheless this highlights the main point that both 
offerings are effective, however, the online offering like-
ly requires a longer time to achieve the same learning 
outcomes.

Field Visits and Interviews
Staff from PEN visited a few of the training par-

ticipants in their respective schools six months after 
finishing the online training. The following three stories 
from the field and quotes 
capture some ways in 
which the online training 
was seen to have made an 
impact on teachers and 
students.  These teachers 
shared staggering testi-
monies about the positive 
effect of the training. They 
testified about the signifi-
cant knowledge and skills 
they have gained to help 
improve the teaching and 
learning of STEM subjects.

Madam Ama (pseudoname) teaches Primary 5 in 
one of the public basic schools in Accra. After receiv-
ing PEN’s training, she now uses hands-on methods 
to teach science, and this is empowering her students. 
This was very evident in the confidence with which 
her learners answered science questions asked them 
during our visit. As seen in Figure 10, the students 
happily showed some innovations they created out of 
their experiences with hands-on teaching and learning. 
They went beyond the curriculum and decided to apply 
the hands-on approach to creating designs of ideas 
they generated. Madam Ama informed us that all the 
students in her class, even those who previously were 
not doing well in science, gained more interest, became 
innovative and performed better in their science tests.

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98

Madam Efe (pseudoname) says that before attend-
ing this training, when she needed to teach her learners 
about temperature, she would walk to a nearby hospi-
tal to borrow a thermometer. But after being exposed 
to the possibility of using everyday materials in our 
environment, she now uses her own plastic bottles, 
alcohol, and straws to demonstrate the concept. She 
has seen that her students understand concepts better 
than before and do not easily forget them. Moreover, 
her students always inquire about what the next topic 
to be treated is, so that they can help look for the as-
sociated local materials and bring them for their next 
science lesson. Madam Efe even noted that truancy 
levels reduced because her students have become more 
engaged in her lessons. Figure 11 shows an example 
set of local materials that a teacher and their students 
gathered to facilitate this type of learning.

Madam Helen (pseudoname) is a Primary 5 teach-
er in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. She is a class 
teacher who teaches subjects including science in a 
public school. Madam Helen mentioned that prior to 
the intervention, most of her students were not inter-
ested in science, hence were not doing well in it. How-
ever, when we visited the school, we clearly observed 
learners who were actively engaged in their science 
class. Madam Helen testified of a particular learner of 
hers who was originally quite disinterested in science 
and math, but now had become proactive and eager to 
engage in lessons, whenever practical activities were

involved. She testified of yet another learner in her 
class who surprised her with a significant positive 
change. Even that learner’s mother noticed the changes 
in her attitude towards learning, since before she saw 
her as being duller than her siblings. However, that 
learner now eagerly volunteers to act as secretary for 
her group and contributes during lessons. Previously, 
she did not like doing assignments that were given - her 
work was mostly incomplete - but she now does well to 
complete them.

The quotes below exemplify some of the feedback 
received from teachers when they were interviewed. 

“Thank you. What I have to say is that this train-
ing is not only teaching us practical science. We 
have also learned educational technology using 
the phone. With this new curriculum, we can see 
that most of the topics need IT in teaching the 
children.”- Female (Maths and Science Teach-
er-Greater Accra Region)

“We came in empty but now we can say that we 
are full because there is a change in behavior. 
Learning has also taken place. Sometimes when 
it is time for science lessons, it becomes so dull 
especially with the new curriculum because we 
do not have any approach to get the practical 
way of teaching this lesson. But this time it is 
not that.” - Female (Science Teacher-Greater 
Accra Region)

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99

“I personally enjoyed it because I am not the sci-
ence type. But this has given me courage to teach 
my kids. It has boosted my confidence to teach 
a science topic and I never regretted joining the 
course.”- Female (Science Teacher-Western 
Region)

“With the aid of PEN, I have learned how to 
improvise with available materials for my science 
practicals.”- Male (Science Teacher-Western 
Region)

“Previously, I taught science using the ‘lecture 
method’ where I just talked and talked. We had 
limited teaching aids, and my teaching was 
mainly me standing in front of the class and just 
talking. My headteacher recommended me for 
this training and I must say this training has 
expanded my horizon. I will say, I had a holistic 
experience. First, we started off learning how to 
use Zoom and Google classroom. This was a plus 
for me as I am now literate in the use of these 
tools.” - Female (Science Teacher-Ashanti 
Region)

The teachers who benefited from PEN’s training 
shared very positive feedback about the impact of the 
training, revealing it to be a unique offering within the 
ecosystem and highly effective in spite of the online 
nature. They testified of significant improvements in 
their teaching, increases in their students’ interest, and 
improvements in their students’ learning outcomes in 
STEM subjects, even highlighting “turnaround” cases 
for specific learners.

Discussion and Conclusion
An online version of a hands-on STEM teacher 

training offering was successfully created and imple-
mented across five training cohorts in Ghana. This 
offering fills a unique gap in the African education land-
scape and opens up possibilities for what other service 
providers can similarly do. Leveraging its focus on the 
use of locally available materials, PEN has arguably 
created a “pandemic-proof” model of its training. By 
relying fully on the use of items that can be procured or 
gathered in one’s own environment, hands-on educa-
tion can continue to be offered. Moreover, this offering 
was successfully deployed in a landscape where the 
use of digital tools has been relatively nascent. This fact 
should also challenge education providers to lean into

this in order to scale impactful interventions on the 
continent. 

In answering Research Question 1, the evidence 
suggests that the fully online modality of this hands-
on STEM teacher training in Ghana had equally strong 
outcomes on participating teachers as those who 
participated in the fully in-person version. For the two 
key metrics measured regarding outcomes at the teach-
er-level, confidence to teach using a hands-on approach 
and feasibility of teaching with a hands-on approach, 
both in-person and online participants experienced sta-
tistically significant gains and with large effect sizes as 
a result of this training. This indicates that regardless of 
the modality, the training offering is impactful. The key 
distinction between the two offerings is the duration 
of time required. In translating the training content to 
an online modality, the material was broken down into 
short components so as to enable the participants to 
go through the material without demanding too much 
data at a time and without experiencing digital fatigue. 
This meant that while the same training (Introduction 
to Hands-on Science) was covered during a one day 
in-person session, it required being spread out over 
several weeks when offered in an online format. 

In answering Research Question 2, two best practic-
es are put forward. One is to leverage the use of locally 
available materials so as to enable hands-on, experien-
tial education. Even in a remote learning setting, one 
need not ship materials to each participant nor set up 
a virtual lab in order to ensure that practical learning 
takes place. Second is to translate existing training con-
tent into short videos that can be accessed asynchro-
nously and provide specific instructions. This ensures 
that participants are engaged in the digital setting and 
that they also are guided on specifically what they can 
practice. 

This online training can be considered as a strong 
alternative along different dimensions. First, it is 
comparatively cost-effective especially with the use of 
locally available materials which are readily available 
in each person’s respective environment. The use of 
pre-recorded videos makes watching and/or down-
loading them more feasible than streaming live videos, 
both from a cost and flexibility in time standpoint. The 
completion rate for this online training based on data 
collected was 48%. This is relatively higher than the 
completion rate of most MOOCs. A study conducted in 
Indonesia saw 100% completion rate of a teacher train-
ing in-person or hybrid, but only a 31% completion rate 
when offered online (Burns, 2013). Again, the average

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality



100

completion rate of courses offered at University of 
Pennsylvania through Coursera ranged from 2-14% 
(Perna et al, 2013). 

Persistence levels through the training varied by 
cohort. A separate study investigated the factors at play 
in the course completion rate for these cohorts (Hanson 
& Beem, 2022). It revealed that the majority of teach-
ers who made it to the Onboarding stage, persisted 
through to course completion. The largest drop-off was 
between signing up (Enrolling) and attending the first 
zoom session (Onboarding). Hence, the level of sensi-
tization to the concept of online training may be one 
of the most significant factors to address to improve 
persistence. For most teachers, if they commenced 
the training, their individual motivation and drive saw 
them through to the end. Although it is easy to fall on 
the dominant narrative that poor internet connectivity 
is the key factor in inhibiting digital modes of education 
from sticking in this context, other factors such as the 
motivation level of the participant and the commitment 
level of the field partner should be considered. In spite 
of the expected challenges associated with delivering an 
online training in this context, many teachers persisted 
to complete the training, and those who did benefited 
tremendously. Based on field visits to some of their 
schools and phone interviews with others, multiple 
stories and anecdotes were shared of how this training 
impacted their teaching and their learners’ learning. 
This study can serve as an example to other African 
education service providers to lean into the opportuni-
ties that translating their content into digital modes can 
provide. 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality

1 Mawuena A. Hanson (mahanson@
practicaleducationnetwork.com) is a Research, 
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer at Practical 
Education Network, Accra, Ghana.

2 Heather Beem (hbeem@ashesi.edu.gh) is a Senior 
Lecturer at Ashesi University, and CEO of Practical 
Education Network, Accra, Ghana.

Authors



101

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Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

APPENDIX
PEN Online Teacher Training- Digital Access & Literacy Survey

1. Full Name (as it appears on your ID card)
 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Telephone/WhatsApp Number
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. What position(s) do you hold in your school? e.g. head teacher
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. What STEM subject(s) do you teach? e.g. integrated science
Ο   Integrated Science
Ο  Mathematics
Ο   Other …………………………………………………………………..

5. What is the name of you school?
………………………………………………………………………………...

6. Which class(es) do you teach currently?
Ο   J.H.S 3
Ο   J.H.S 2
Ο   J.H.S 1
Ο   Class 6
Ο   Class 5
Ο   Class 4
Ο   Class 3
Ο   Class 2
Ο   Class 1

7. Type of school/institution
Ο   Private
Ο   Public/Government

8. In which region is your school located? e.g. Ashanti Region
………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. In which district is your school located? e.g. Ahanta West District
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10. Which of the following devices do you own and can use consistently throughout the months of
the online training? (Select all that apply)
Ο   Laptop
Ο   Desktop computer
Ο   Smart phone

11. What is/are your preferred social media channel(s)? (Select all that apply)
Ο   WhatsApp
Ο   Instagram
Ο   Twitter
Ο   Facebook
Ο   LinkedIn

Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality



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Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

12. Do you have challenges when using the internet?
Ο   Yes
Ο   No

13. If yes, what are the challenges you face when using the internet? (Select all that
apply)
Ο   I cannot afford the cost of buying data continuously
Ο   The internet connectivity is poor at my location
Ο   I have a problem connecting to the internet with my device
Ο   The specification of my device makes it challenging to download apps
Ο   Other…………………………………………………………………………………..

14. What best describes your proficiency/usage level in using any of these video
conferencing tools? (Range = Very Good - Never Used it)

15. Have you ever used the Google Classroom?
Ο   Not at all
Ο   Very little
Ο   To some extent
Ο   A lot

16. What days of the week will be most favourable to participate in live sessions?
Ο   Monday
Ο   Tuesday
Ο   Wednesday
Ο   Thursday
Ο   Friday
Ο   Saturday
Ο   Sunday

17. What time of the day will be most favourable to participate in live training sessions?
Ο   9-11am
Ο   12pm - 2pm
Ο   3pm - 5pm

18. Have you taken an online professional course or class before?
Ο   Yes
Ο   No

19. How has COVID-19 affected your professional development?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hanson & Beem, Transitioning STEM Teacher Training to Online Modality



Editorial Board. Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024), Vol 4

Open Access

Global Journal of Transformative Education
Open Call for Papers 

The Global Journal of Transformative Education (GJTE). is an open-access journal that presents to learners, 
educators and researchers the optimal instructional strategies, transformative leadership, and inquiry methods 
that lead to better educational and research outcomes for their students and the society. GJTE is published by the 
Global Institute for Transformative Education (GITE). 

The editorial board of the GJTE invites authors to submit manuscripts relating to research about transformative 
education, innovative teaching strategies or curricula, policy issues, the role schools have in transforming commu-
nities and society, and resources that can help educators and policy makers enact meaningful reforms that contrib-
ute to transformative education.

GJTE publishes at least one issue of the journal each year, and we offer an open call for manuscripts submitted 
by authors around the world. There are no submission deadlines for our regular issues, and authors may submit 
manuscripts at any time. Special “themed” editions may be produced with guest editors. GJTE will post Calls for 
Papers on the journal’s website to announce those issues.

Manuscripts should be limited to about 8000 words, and may include photos, diagrams, tables, graphs and fig-
ures. Longer manuscripts may be accepted if the content warrants the length. 

Authors should consider the specifications listed in the GJTE Author Submissions page. In addition to images, 
authors may include hyperlinks to supplemental materials such as lesson plans, assessments, large data files, and 
video or other media. For more detailed formatting instructions, authors can download the GJTE Formatting 
Guide and GJTE Manuscript Checklist.

GJTE does not charge authors a publication fee. Authors retain ownership of the content of the article that will 
be published under a Creative Commons 4.0 BY-NC-ND license. 

Submitted manuscripts undergo a double-blind review process, and authors may be asked to revise text or 
images before final publication. Communications about submitted articles will be managed through GJTE’s Author 
Submissions system.

Call for Reviewers
Authors and other individuals are invited to apply to be Reviewers. Reviewers may be asked to read and assess 

submitted manuscripts as part of the peer review process, and will be listed as members of GJTE’s Editorial Review 
Panel. This panel is an important part of a rigorous publication process, and we invite a diverse group of reviewers 
from a variety of relevant areas of expertise.  Click here to Register as a Reviewer.

Please direct any questions about submissions to the editors:
gjtemanager@gmail.com

Michael T. Ndemanu, Ph.D.
Educational Studies
Ball State University 
Muncie, Indiana, USA

Managing Editor  
Tom J. McConnell, Ph.D.
Biology
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana, USA

Editors-in-Chief 
Serafín M. Coronel-Molina, Ph.D.
Curriculum and Instruction
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana, USA

105

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