Across Africa, educators are asking a fundamental question: Who gets to shape the knowledge that defines teaching and learning?
That question was at the center of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Africa Conference (SoTL), where more than 100 educators and researchers from more than 10 universities worldwide gathered to consider how African universities can build a stronger culture of inquiry around teaching.
For Prof. Angela Owusu-Ansah, Provost of Ashesi University, the value of SoTL lies precisely in challenging the assumption that good teaching automatically produces good learning.
“What SoTL does is that end part where you assume that learning has happened, it requires you to analyze and systematically check to see whether learning has truly happened,” she said.
Across the two-day conference, educators from different institutions shared experiences and practical approaches to improving teaching and learning.
Starting with the questions educators already have
At the Conference, Prof. Earl Abrahamson introduced participants to SoTL as a form of inquiry that can begin with the ordinary problems educators encounter in their classrooms.
The session explored how questions about teaching can emerge from everyday classroom practice. Key insights from this session included recognizing everyday classroom challenges as valuable starting points for rigorous SoTL inquiry. The session also explored the idea of “public SoTL”: sharing research and insights beyond traditional academic publications so that useful ideas can reach educators more quickly to inform teaching practice.
Dr. El Hadji Yaya Koné, Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Graduate and Post-Doctoral Programs in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, challenged African educators to rethink how knowledge about teaching and learning on the Continent is produced and shared.
The Continent, he said, needs educators who are willing to generate knowledge from its own classrooms and communities. “Storytelling and oral traditions, for example, can offer useful approaches to improving learning when they are thoughtfully studied and applied in educational settings,” he said.
Dr. Koné encouraged educators to embrace the influence of digital technologies and artificial intelligence while cautioning against the assumption that technology alone improves learning. At the same time, he cautioned against assuming that technology alone improves learning.
From teaching experience to evidence
Paper presentations by participating faculty and researchers were another highlight of the Conference. Themes explored included learner-centered teaching and strengthening teaching practice through professional development, among others. Together, the presentations highlighted the importance of giving students greater ownership of their learning for better outcomes.
For some participants, the conference was also an opportunity to examine their own teaching practices more closely. Dr. Oluwakemi Dawodu-Sipe, a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, remarked that the conference’s emphasis on continuous learning resonated with her. “The experience prompted me to think more critically about the relationship between the effort put into teaching and the intended learning outcomes,” she added.
Dr. Emmanuel Larbi Appaw of the Presbyterian College of Education also shared: “Coming to this Conference has reminded me that improving my teaching is about constantly questioning my practices and adapting to the needs of students and the context.”
