Building a University Partnership to Support Early Grade Reading in Nigeria
The Case of the Nigeria Centre for Reading, Research and Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v13i5.3652Keywords:
capacity development, higher education, literacy, Nigeria, university partnershipsAbstract
While most international educational development projects are engaged in capacity development, trainings rarely have enough depth to result in lasting changes in the capacity of local stakeholders. The case of the Nigeria Centre for Reading, Research and Development (NCRRD) at Bayero University Kano used a different model. Six NCRRD faculty spent six months at Florida State University (FSU) attending courses on literacy and elementary education, attending grant writing trainings and reading seminars, observing literacy instruction in schools, and participating in conferences. After returning to Nigeria, the fellows were mentored by FSU faculty through the stages of a research project; all fellows subsequently submitted articles to international journals. FSU supported the administrative structures of NCRRD, assisting in the development of financial and compliance infrastructure. The outcomes of the partnership included 1) the establishment of the NCRRD as a center for excellence in reading in West Africa, 2) the publication of contextually relevant literature to inform policymakers and practitioners, and 3) the establishment of graduate programs in reading. This paper discusses the challenges faced by the institutions during the establishment of the NCRRD and makes recommendations for institutions interested in developing long-term international partnerships.
References
Adamu, A., Tsiga, A. U., & Zuilkowski, S. S. (2020). Teaching reading in northern Nigeria: The challenges of large class size. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1-18. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2020.1794948
Adriansen, H. K., & Madsen, L. M. (2019). Capacity-building projects in African higher education: Issues of coloniality in international academic collaboration. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, 12(2), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2019.120202
Altbach, P. G., & Reisberg, L. (2018). Global Trends and Future Uncertainties. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(3-4), 63-67.Asare, S., Mitchell, R., & Rose, P. (2020). How equitable are South-North partnerships in education research? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 1-20. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2020.1811638
Barnes, A. E., Boyle, H., Zuilkowski, S. S., & Bello, Z. N. (2019). Reforming teacher education in Nigeria: Laying a foundation for the future. Teaching and Teacher Education, 79, 153-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.12.017
Blessinger, P., & Cozza, B. (Eds.). (2017). University partnerships for international development. Emerald.
Confraria, H., Blanckenberg, J., & Swart, C. (2018). The characteristics of highly cited researchers in Africa. Research Evaluation, 27(3), 222-237. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvy017
Craveiro, I., Carvalho, A., & Ferrinho, P. (2020). "Get us partnerships!" - A qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics' experiences with North/South partnerships. Globalization and Health, 16(33). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-00562-7
Dean, L., Njelesani, J., Smith, H., & Bates, I. (2015). Promoting sustainable research partnerships: A mixed-method evaluation of a United Kingdom-Africa capacity strengthening award scheme. Health Research Policy & Systems, 13(81), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-015-0071-2
Fonn, S., Ayiro, L. P., Cotton, P., Habib, A., Mbithi, P. M. F., Mtenje, A., Nawangwe, B., Ogunbodede, E. O., Olayinka, I., Golooba-Mutebi, F., & Ezeh, A. (2018). Repositioning Africa in global knowledge production. The Lancet, 392(10153), 1163-1166. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31068-7
Frantz, J. M., Leach, L., Pharaoh, H., Bassett, S. H., Roman, N. V., Smith, M. R., & Travill, A. (2014). Research capacity development in a South African higher education institution through a north-south collaboration. South African Journal of Higher Education, 28(4), 1216-1229. http://hdl.handle.net/10566/2250
Gomo, E. (2011). Towards sustainable research capacity development and research ownership for academic institutes in developing countries: The Malawian research support centre model. Journal of Research Administration, 42(1), 38-45.
Gonzalez-Alcaide, G., Menchi-Elanzi, M., Nacarapa, E., & Ramos-Rincon, J.-M. (2020). HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: Participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships. Globalization and Health, 16(83). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-00609-9
Grieve, T., & Mitchell, R. (2020). Promoting meaningful and equitable relationships? Exploring the UK's global challenges research fund (GCRF) funding criteria from the perspectives of African partners. European Journal of Development Research, 32, 514-528. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-020-00274-z
Maringe, F., & Foskett, N. (Eds.). (2010). Globalization and internationalization in higher education: Theoretical, strategic, and management perspectives. Continuum
McCowan, T. (2016). Universities and the post-2015 development agenda: An analytical framework. Higher Education, 72(4), 505-523. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0035-7
Mitchell, R., Rose, P., & Asare, S. (2020). Education research in sub-saharan Africa: Quality, visibility, and agendas. Comparative Education Review, 64(3), 363-383. https://doi.org/10.1086/709428
Mock, J., Kawamura, H., & Naganuma, N. (2016). The impact of internationalization on Japanese higher education: Is Japanese education really changing? Sense.
Mouton, J., & Blanckenberg, J. (2018). African science: A bibliometric analysis. In C. Beaudry, J. Mouton, & H. Prozesky (Eds.), The next generation of scientists in Africa (pp. 13-26). African Minds.
Owusu, F., Kalipeni, E., Awortwi, N., & Kiiru, J. M. M. (2017). Building research capacity for African institutions: Confronting the research leadership gap and lessons from African research leaders. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 20(2), 220. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2015.1046497
Rumbley, L., Altbach, P., & Reisberg, L. (2012). Internationalization within the Higher Education Context. In D. K. Deardorff, H. d. Wit, & J. D. Heyl (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of international higher education (pp. 3-26). Sage.
Serpell, R. (2014). Promotion of literacy in sub-Saharan Africa: Goals and prospects of CAPOLSA at the University of Zambia. Human Technology, 10(1), 22-38. https://doi.org/10.17011/ht/urn.201405281858
Thomas, M. A. M. (2018). Research capacity and dissemination among academics in Tanzania: examining knowledge production and the perceived binary of “local” and “international” journals. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(2), 281-298. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1318046
Tsiga, I. A., Zuilkowski, S. S., & Barnes, A. E. (Eds.). (2020). Issues in the teaching of early grade reading in Nigeria. Havilah.
Walsh, A., Brugha, R., & Byrne, E. (2016). “The way the country has been carved up by researchers”: Ethics and power in north--south public health research. International Journal for Equity in Health, 15(204), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-016-0488-4
Wanni, N., Hinz, S., & Day, R. (2010). Good practices in educational partnerships guide. Africa Unit, Association of Commonwealth Universities. http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/343913
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The findings, interpretations, conclusions, and views expressed in Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to CIES, HESIG, or the sponsoring universities of the Editorial Staff. These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute articles that appear in JCIHE as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and JCIHE, it is distributed for non-commercial purposes only, and no alteration or transformation is made in the work. All other uses must be approved by the author(s) or JCIHE. By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to transfer without charge the following rights to JCIHE upon acceptance of the manuscript: first worldwide serial publication rights and the right for JCIHE to grant permissions as its editors judge appropriate for the redistribution of the article, its abstract, and metadata associated with the article in professional indexing and reference services.
