PI: Francisco Ramirez Co-PI: Susan Garnett Russell Institution: Stanford University
This project will investigate the politics of curriculum reform and the role of education policy in promoting reconciliation, social reconstruction, and civic identity at the community level in Rwanda in the post-genocide period. This research will utilize a mixed methodology approach combining quantitative data from surveys with qualitative data from interviews, classroom observations, and content analysis of textbooks and policy documents.
Broader Impacts: This research informs education and curricular policy in post-conflict nations. In societies that have undergone inter-group conflict and must deal with past human rights violations and mass atrocities, the construction of a new civic identity and interpretation of past events is paramount for societal reconstruction and for preventing future conflicts.
Funding from the NSF Dissertation Completion Grant was used to support the collection of field data for a dissertation on the role of education in promoting reconciliation and civic identity in a post-conflict context. Funds from the grant were used to support travel and research expenses related to the collection of survey and interview data. While in the field, the co-PI collected data at both the nataionl and school levels utilizing a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology. National policy and curricular documents and school textbooks for history and civics courses were collected for content analysis. Further, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants in the government, international inter-governmental, and non-governmental organizations. At the school level, a survey was administered to secondary school students; additionally, interviews were conducted with teachers and students. The recipient of the award is currently in the process of analyzing data collected in the field and writing up findings. This funding provided critical support necessary to collect first-hand data at the national and school levels on education policy and civic attitudes and identity in Rwanda. Preliminary findings indicate findings a presence of global norms influenced by international actors, especially related to gender and human rights, both at the national policy level, as well as at the school and student level. Further, while civics and history education are utilized in schools to promote reconciliation and a unified identity, new boundaries have emerged along linguistic and cognitive lines. Nonetheless, students across different regions and in both urban and rural areas have a basic knowledge of civic culture, gender, human rights, and the history of the genocide. Initial findings related to gender on "Gender in Education in Rwanda: Discourse at the National and School Levels" were presented at a conference on Education and Employment in Rwanda: Applied Gender Perspectives held in Kigali, Rwanda. Once data analysis has been completed, additional findings will be presented at future academic conferences and papers will be developed for publication.
