Contextual challenges of implementing learner‐centred pedagogy: the case of the problem‐solving approach in Uganda

Abstract

This article explores teachers’ experiences of implementing the problem‐solving approach; a learner centred pedagogic innovation prescribed by a centrally mandated curriculum in Uganda. It presents teachers’ interpretations of the pedagogic principles suggested by the innovation as well as their accounts of challenges of implementing the pedagogic approach. The findings suggest that the teachers’ implementation of the problem‐solving approach was far more regulated by contextual affordances and constraints within schools and the broader education system and society than by their interpretations of the official curriculum. These findings highlight the influence of structural contextual factors in regulating pedagogic practice and teachers’ take‐up of learner‐centred pedagogies in Africa. The evidence from this paper suggests the need for education researchers in developing countries such as Uganda to focus on helping teachers develop strategies for teaching large classes as learner‐centred pedagogies have a bleak future in the region.

Keywords:

• learner‐centred pedagogy
• problem‐based approach
• science education

Acknowledgements

The article is based on a PhD study conducted at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa (2003–2007). However, fieldwork for the study was conducted in eight primary schools in the Kampala district of Uganda in 2005.