Ashesi Hosts Inaugural Conference on Reimagining Education in Africa
September 18, 2025
By
University Communications
As part of an effort to drive more engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) on the continent, Ashesi hosted an inaugural SoTL Africa Conference on September 10 and 11. The conference, led by the Office of the Provost, brought together faculty, researchers, students, and leaders from 20 universities under the theme “From Reflection to Transformation: Reimagining Teaching Through Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in Africa.”
“In research, a problem is an invitation to share new knowledge,” explained Professor Owusu-Ansah, Provost at Ashesi, as she welcomed participants. “But in teaching, a problem is often seen as an accusation. With the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), however, a teaching problem becomes an opportunity for collaboration with peers and, most importantly, with students. This offers us the opportunity to build ourselves into quality faculty and to educate new recruits about quality teaching. It also allows us to integrate African values and perspectives into global knowledge systems.”
Sessions on the first day of the conference included workshops led by Prof. Earle Abrahamson, Dr. Peter Felten, and Dr. Nancy Chick. Prof. Abrahamson, who took participants through the foundations of SoTL and introduced key SoTL concepts and practices.
The second day of the Conference also featured a panel discussion on “Embedding SoTL in the African Education Landscape: Making Our Voices Heard,” with contributions from Professor Michael Anthony Samuel, Dr. Patrick Maher, Prof. Abrahamson, and Dr. Bryan Dewsbury, moderated by Dr. Hassan Wahab of Ashesi University.
Panelists noted that SoTL begins with curiosity about one’s own teaching practice and classroom dynamics, and urged researchers to ask context-driven questions, adopt rigorous methods, and share findings boldly. They emphasized that student voice and activism have been central to transforming higher education in Africa, and must remain integral to SoTL’s growth. They also stressed that while global knowledge has value, African SoTL should be grounded in local experiences and perspectives. Finally, they cautioned that collaboration must be approached with respect and reciprocity to be truly impactful.
The conference also featured research presentations, including:
Prof. Earle Abrahamson’s presentation on grounding African SoTL in philosophies like ubuntu
Eugene Eluerkeh’s on a systems-thinking model for entrepreneurship education
Dr. Rebecca Awuah and Dr. Eric Ocran’s on key predictors for success in a project-based statistics course
Dr. Vida Korang and Bernard Kusi’s on integrating circular economy concepts into waste management
Other presentations included Kwan Lee’s on implementing high-impact practices to shift student focus from grades to meaningful engagement, Prof. Angela Owusu-Ansah’s on revitalizing post-COVID campus culture at Ashesi, and Sampson Kofi Nani’s on mindset changes in first-year engineering students after a design-build project.
Participants described the conference as transformative. Rosemary Osei, Head of the Social Science Department at the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong, shared that she gained a “deeper appreciation of how intentionality can transform teaching.”
Dr. Phanuel Wunu, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast School of Business, also found the conference “eye-opening,” and believed he was leaving with “a concrete take-home plan” to implement SoTL practices.
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