Localizing Education Research

Colonial legacies still influence and shape educational practices and research in post-colonial Africa. These legacies are pervasive and manifest themselves in different forms in education and knowledge production systems. One of the most important and enduring consequences of this situation is the marginalization of African knowledge systems by persisting colonial-era power dynamics that determine who sets research agendas, what knowledge is deemed relevant, and who can produce relevant knowledge and whose voices are heard.  

This project will generate evidence and practical recommendations to help make policy-oriented education research in Africa more decolonized, equitable, and inclusive. It will look at how colonial legacies continue to shape knowledge production, what barriers stand in the way of more inclusive research, and which promising practices can help strengthen African-led research systems in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. 

The project will be carried out in Kenya, Mozambique, and Senegal, representing Africa’s three main colonial legacies: Anglophone, Lusophone, and Francophone.  

Led by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), the consortium will bring together Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA) and researchers from East, West, and Central Africa.