{"title":"Institutionalising Chinese language teaching in African schools: The case of Uganda","authors":"Si-Yuan Li , Jianghua Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103394","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While existing research on Chinese language teaching (CLT) in Africa has largely focused on Confucius Institutes (CIs) and their role in higher education, limited attention has been paid to the growing presence of CLT at the pre-tertiary education level. This empirical study, adopting a Foucauldian perspective and using Uganda as a case study, investigates the institutionalisation of CLT in African schools. It first examines the institutional structure supporting CLT, then analyses the strategies that have facilitated its institutionalisation, and finally assesses the effects produced by this process. Findings reveal the emergence of an institutional structure built on three key pillars: local CLT human resources, Chinese language syllabuses, and examinations. Within this framework, institutionalising strategies such as political support, local teacher training programmes, CLT-related activities and competitions, and the provision of opportunities and incentives have been employed. The effects include 100 Ugandan secondary schools offering Chinese courses, with hundreds of students having taken the O-Level Chinese exams. However, there are certain forms of resistance, such as public scepticism, as well as challenges related to teacher retention, teacher quality, and shortages of teaching materials. Although CLT has secured an initial foothold in Ugandan schools, its overall reach remains limited.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48004,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Educational Development","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103394"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Educational Development","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059325001920","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
While existing research on Chinese language teaching (CLT) in Africa has largely focused on Confucius Institutes (CIs) and their role in higher education, limited attention has been paid to the growing presence of CLT at the pre-tertiary education level. This empirical study, adopting a Foucauldian perspective and using Uganda as a case study, investigates the institutionalisation of CLT in African schools. It first examines the institutional structure supporting CLT, then analyses the strategies that have facilitated its institutionalisation, and finally assesses the effects produced by this process. Findings reveal the emergence of an institutional structure built on three key pillars: local CLT human resources, Chinese language syllabuses, and examinations. Within this framework, institutionalising strategies such as political support, local teacher training programmes, CLT-related activities and competitions, and the provision of opportunities and incentives have been employed. The effects include 100 Ugandan secondary schools offering Chinese courses, with hundreds of students having taken the O-Level Chinese exams. However, there are certain forms of resistance, such as public scepticism, as well as challenges related to teacher retention, teacher quality, and shortages of teaching materials. Although CLT has secured an initial foothold in Ugandan schools, its overall reach remains limited.
期刊介绍:
The purpose of the International Journal of Educational Development is to foster critical debate about the role that education plays in development. IJED seeks both to develop new theoretical insights into the education-development relationship and new understandings of the extent and nature of educational change in diverse settings. It stresses the importance of understanding the interplay of local, national, regional and global contexts and dynamics in shaping education and development. Orthodox notions of development as being about growth, industrialisation or poverty reduction are increasingly questioned. There are competing accounts that stress the human dimensions of development.