IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v100y2023ics0738059323000846.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“We make do”: Experiences and beliefs of teachers working in conflict-affected Niger

Author

Listed:
  • Murugaiah, Kiruba

Abstract

This article explores Nigerien teachers’ educational beliefs through a phenomenological study of their experiences. “We make do” is a common refrain of teachers working in the Diffa region of the Republic of Niger. It speaks both to teachers’ resourcefulness and their struggles protecting and educating children during periods of extreme violence. This study narratively depicts the nuances of becoming a primary school teacher during Niger’s post-colonial period and being a teacher in Diffa during the Boko Haram insurgency. I interpret teachers’ experiences against the backdrop of Niger’s educational history and the hegemony of Western humanitarianism to elucidate teachers’ deeply held beliefs influencing their teaching practice. Taking a decolonial stance, I argue that foregrounding Nigerien teachers’ experiences and beliefs, often neglected by the humanitarian sector, is vital in tackling the cultural and ideological tensions on the purpose and value of education and improving classroom teaching practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Murugaiah, Kiruba, 2023. "“We make do”: Experiences and beliefs of teachers working in conflict-affected Niger," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:100:y:2023:i:c:s0738059323000846
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2023.102808
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059323000846
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2023.102808?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lori Hartmann-Mahmud, 2011. "Pounding Millet During School Hours: Obstacles to Girls’ Formal Education in Niger," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 23(3), pages 354-370, July.
    2. Youssoufou Hamadou Daouda, 2020. "Poverty and living conditions with Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin: the case of southeastern Niger," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(163), pages 126-134, July.
    3. Diana Saltarelli & Kenneth D. Bush, 2000. "The Two Faces of Education in Ethnic Conflict: Towards a peacebuilding education for children," Papers innins00/7, Innocenti Insights.
    4. Tessa Bold & Deon Filmer & Gayle Martin & Ezequiel Molina & Brian Stacy & Christophe Rockmore & Jakob Svensson & Waly Wane, 2017. "Enrollment without Learning: Teacher Effort, Knowledge, and Skill in Primary Schools in Africa," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 185-204, Fall.
    5. Kirsten Majgaard & Alain Mingat, 2012. "Education in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Comparative Analysis," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13143.
    6. Schweisfurth, Michele, 2015. "Learner-centred pedagogy: Towards a post-2015 agenda for teaching and learning," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 259-266.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albarrán, Pedro & Hidalgo-Hidalgo, Marisa & Iturbe-Ormaetxe, Iñigo, 2020. "Education and adult health: Is there a causal effect?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    2. Salman Asim & Stefan Dercon & Ravinder Gera Casley & Donna Harris, 2024. "Does Effective School Leadership Improve Student Progression and Test Scores? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Malawi," CSAE Working Paper Series 2024-05, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Tafere, Kibrom & Srivastava, Bhavya & Behrer, Arnold P., 2024. "Temperature and Learning Outcomes: Evidence from Ethiopia," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343693, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    5. Laitin, David D. & Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2022. "Linguistic diversity, official language choice and human capital," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Aymo Brunetti & Konstantin Büchel & Martina Jakob & Ben Jann & Daniel Steffen, 2021. "Inadequate Teacher Content Knowledge and What to Do About It: Evidence from El Salvador," University of Bern Social Sciences Working Papers 41, University of Bern, Department of Social Sciences.
    7. Mounu Prem & Juan F. Vargas & Olga Namen, 2023. "The Human Capital Peace Dividend," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(3), pages 962-1002.
    8. Lombardi, María, 2019. "Is the remedy worse than the disease? The impact of teacher remediation on teacher and student performance in Chile," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Bold, Tessa & Kimenyi, Mwangi & Mwabu, Germano & Ng’ang’a, Alice & Sandefur, Justin, 2018. "Experimental evidence on scaling up education reforms in Kenya," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 1-20.
    10. Schweisfurth, Michele, 2023. "Disaster didacticism: Pedagogical interventions and the ‘learning crisis’," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Maruyama, Takao & Kurosaki, Takashi, 2021. "Do remedial activities using math workbooks improve student learning? Empirical evidence from scaled-up interventions in Niger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    12. Jacobus Cilliers & Brahm Fleisch & Cas Prinsloo & Stephen Taylor, 2020. "How to Improve Teaching Practice?: An Experimental Comparison of Centralized Training and In-Classroom Coaching," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(3), pages 926-962.
    13. Afridi, Farzana & Barooah, Bidisha & Somanathan, Rohini, 2020. "Improving learning outcomes through information provision: Experimental evidence from Indian villages," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    14. Parul Bakhshi & Ganesh M. Babulal & Jean-Francois Trani, 2021. "Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Post-civil War in Sierra Leone," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 482-501, June.
    15. Cattaneo, Andrea & Adukia, Anjali & Brown, David L. & Christiaensen, Luc & Evans, David K. & Haakenstad, Annie & McMenomy, Theresa & Partridge, Mark & Vaz, Sara & Weiss, Daniel J., 2022. "Economic and social development along the urban–rural continuum: New opportunities to inform policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    16. Rakshit, Sonali & Sahoo, Soham, 2023. "Biased teachers and gender gap in learning outcomes: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. Congdon Fors, Heather, 2024. "Child Labour Background, Challenges, and the Role of Research in Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8.7," Working Papers in Economics 840, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    18. Ashwini Sebastian & Ana Paula de la O Campos & Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Ousmane Niang & Luca Pellerano, 2016. "Gender differences in child investment behaviour among agricultural households: Evidence from the Lesotho Child Grants Programme," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-107, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Faiza Haseeb & Shahzad Khan & Sajid Khan & Arif Alam & Ikram Shah, 2020. "Role of Peace Education in Sustainability and Development of Pakistan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 317-326.
    20. Lee Crawfurd & Todd Pugatch, 2020. "Teacher Labor Markets in Developing Countries," Working Papers 546, Center for Global Development.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:100:y:2023:i:c:s0738059323000846. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.