Epimaque Niyibizi, E. Sibomana, Aloysie Uwizeyemariya, Sylvestre Ntabajyana, Cyprien Niyomugabo
{"title":"From an African Oral Tale to an English Picture Book: Rwandan Teachers’ Experience with Online Translation of South African Institute of Distance Education’s African Storybooks","authors":"Epimaque Niyibizi, E. Sibomana, Aloysie Uwizeyemariya, Sylvestre Ntabajyana, Cyprien Niyomugabo","doi":"10.35293/tetfle.v1i1.66","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/tetfle.v1i1.66","url":null,"abstract":"Research findings pertaining to language education and distance education point to the lack of online reading materials written in African languages and reflecting African contexts. Such a shortage is a challenge to literacy skills development in Africa. In Rwanda, although there are some graded readers to support the teaching of reading in Kinyarwanda, there is a shortage of enjoyable storybooks on which children can practice their reading skills. This paper contributes to addressing this challenge by investigating the partnership between the University of Rwanda-College of Education and South African Institute of Distance Education’s (Saide) African Storybook Initiative, which provides a website of digital storybooks in Kinyarwanda and other languages for early grade reading. Data were collected from 32 Rwandan teacher educators who participated in a workshop. Participants created online picture storybooks in Kinyarwanda, translated some from other languages and published them on the African Storybook website. The researchers firstly observed their activities during the workshop, then, all participants filled in the questionnaire and ten teachers were interviewed on opportunities offered and challenges encountered during the translation process. The key finding is that teachers’ experiences with translation revealed differences in story reading levels between the original Kinyarwanda folktales and English translated versions. They found special features of African agglutinating languages in determining reading levels, and foreignization of translated stories based on cultural clashes. Differences in length between the original and the translated stories were observed, as well as the specificity of English versions in reinforcing more critical thinking than the translated Kinyarwanda versions. The paper recommends teacher educators and translators to bear in mind that adaptation to African languages requires care and a high level of ability to maintain the meaning and moral lesson of the original tale and make it enjoyable for children. Translating and adapting stories from English into agglutinative African languages have implications for early grade reading interventions in African schools since children stories on African storybook website are available in more than 100 African languages.","PeriodicalId":335226,"journal":{"name":"Teacher Education Through Flexible Learning in Africa","volume":"119 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114092763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strengthening the Adoption of Learner-Centred Pedagogies in Teacher Education in Uganda through Video-Based Self Reflection & College-Based Mentorship System","authors":"Kisalama Robert, Abdul-Majid Kibedi","doi":"10.35293/tetfle.v1i1.70","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/tetfle.v1i1.70","url":null,"abstract":"The intermittent pedagogical support received by teacher-trainers from the central level makes it difficult to implement new practices in teacher training institutions in Uganda. This mixed-methods study investigated teacher-trainers’ perceptions of a pilot pedagogical support system implemented by college-based mentors. Qualitative and quantitative data were elicited using an online questionnaire completed by teacher- trainers (n=100) and video-records of interviews with selected college-based mentors (n=6) who reflected on their own experiences to propose ways of improving the system. The findings revealed that irrespective of years of experience, teacher-trainers appreciate the contribution of college-based mentors towards the adoption of learner-centred pedagogy. It also revealed that the opportunity for self-reflection and collegial critique afforded by video enhanced the practices of the mentees and greatly enriched the mentorship process. Nonetheless, the teacher-trainers expressed the need to broaden mentorship activities to include subject-specific pedagogical support.","PeriodicalId":335226,"journal":{"name":"Teacher Education Through Flexible Learning in Africa","volume":"205 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"113991055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reconstructing Kenya’s Educational Philosophy to steer attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and Kenya’s Vision 2030 Plan","authors":"Kisirkoi Florencea, Kariuki Michaelb","doi":"10.35293/tetfle.v1i1.64","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35293/tetfle.v1i1.64","url":null,"abstract":"Philosophy of education in Kenya needs to be constantly reconstructed given the emerging needs of society and in light of global trends. Changes in the education system over time have not eradicated education challenges that result in unemployment and social evils in Kenya. There are also global and national goals to be met. The objective of this study was to examine the role of philosophers and suggest whether professional philosophers could reconstruct philosophy of education in Kenya to guide the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Kenya Vision 2030 Plan. The SDGs and Kenya’s Vision 2030 work in tandem, and if effectively and efficiently implemented, guided by a sound philosophy of education, lives of all Kenyans would be raised to international standards. This study was conducted as desk research that employed critical conceptual philosophical literature review. A recommendation was made that experts in philosophy of education could use Dewey’s philosophy of pragmatism to facilitate the reconstruction of Kenya’s national philosophy of education as a tool to steer attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Kenya Vision 2030.","PeriodicalId":335226,"journal":{"name":"Teacher Education Through Flexible Learning in Africa","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126178909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}