NRU :: Browsing by Author "Ejuu, Godfrey"

Browsing by Author "Ejuu, Godfrey"

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African indigenous games: Using Bame Nsamenang’s Africentric thoughts to reflect on our heritage, pedagogy, and practice in a global village
(Journal of Psychology in Africa, 2019) Ejuu, Godfrey
As we go global and begin to make early childhood practices universal, certain aspects of communities remain fixed in deep realms of their everyday living and can only be accessed by those who believe in it Believing in it requires having faith in a practice that will always be better than what others bring as “best practice” This is because that aspect is what defines who you are and changing it amounts to removing a piece of you with the intention of replacing it with an “artificial part” This may be the case with African indigenous games that have been played in various settings to define the Africanness of given communities The values that these games bring to the Africans as they try to hold on to what belongs to them, is discussed in this paper Bame Nsamenang used such thoughts to propel the Africentrism philosophy to direct thoughts into values that are African in nature, even when there are no clear boundaries of African in Africa This article focuses on Nsamenang’s Africentric arguments in line with promotion of African indigenous games as a heritage, pedagogy, and a practice
Building inclusive early learning environments for children with a disability in low-resource settings: Insights into challenges and opportunities from rural Zimbabwe
(Frontiers in Education, 2023) Tafirenyika, Joice; Mhizha, Samson; Ejuu, Godfrey
The majority of young children with a disability live in low- and middle-income countries, where access to inclusive early learning programs supported by governments or non-government organizations is usually unavailable for the majority of the population, who live in rural areas. This study explored the feasibility of leveraging materials and personnel available within local communities to provide inclusive early learning programs in rural Zimbabwe. Caregivers of young children with some disability were given the opportunity to describe their experienced challenges; ways in which they informally support their children’s early learning; and the types of skills and resources they were able and willing to offer to support the establishment and operation of a more formal groupbased inclusive early learning program. Qualitative data were generated from a purposive sample of caregivers of children with diverse impairments (n = 12) in two remote rural districts in Zimbabwe. Themes were identified in the rich qualitative data caregivers provided during individual interviews. The challenges caregivers experienced included the failure of interventions to improve their children’s level of functioning, the lack of access to assistive devices, the perception that the local school would be unable to accommodate their children, and worry about the future. Despite these stressors, caregivers actively supported their children’s self-care, social, moral and cognitive development and sought ways to save the funds that would be needed if their children could attend school. Caregivers were also willing and able to provide diverse forms of support for the establishment and operation of an inclusive early education program: food, funding, teaching and learning materials, and free labor. The insights obtained from these data informed the design of local community-controlled inclusive early education programs and the types of support caregivers and children may need to participate fully in these.
Celebrating African Men's Role in Child Care and Early Childhood Development Programs
(Childhood Education, 2016) Ejuu, Godfrey
In many cultures, early child care and education has been considered the purview of women, who were thought to be more nurturing and better suited to the role. Hand-in-hand with this notion is the historical misconception that early child care and education is unimportant, and that the most valued members of society should focus on other, more important things. Thankfully, we are recognizing the importance of early care and education and the value of both male and female involvement in child rearing. Research consistently shows the benefits of strong male role models and father figures in children’s lives. In Africa, where many local cultures have enforced traditional and strict gender divisions of labor, this change is beginning to take root. Men are increasingly joining the early child care and education profession and are proud to contribute to the positive development of their own children and the children in their communities. In this article, the author champions dedicated and passionate men in the profession, and calls for campaigns and policies to reduce discrimination against male caregivers in early childhood.
Community’s knowledge, attitude and practices towards inclusive home based early childhood education in Uganda: Lessons for scaling deep
(South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2022) Ejuu, Godfrey; Locoro, Victor; Nandera, Miria; Omoding, Martin; Mafabi, Lenard W.; Kutosi, George W.; Kharono, Irene
Most innovations that would help to provide inclusive home-based early learning for children in marginalised communities sometimes collapse when the funders pull out. One of the reasons for this has been lack of information on the dynamics in such communities that can help to sustain such innovations. Aim: This study aimed to provide information on what communities in the study area know, their attitude and practices that can sustain home-based early learning initiatives. Setting: The study setting was in rural districts with marginalised communities, two in eastern and the other two in central Uganda. Methods: This study uses an exploratory approach to collect data through interviews and focus group discussions in the selected Ugandan communities. Data were collected from 120 purposively sampled parents, caregivers and teachers using in-depth interviews. Results: (1) Participants support the establishment of inclusive home learning centres and already have learning expectations of their children by the age of 6 years. (2) While women are more available for early childhood care services, men are supportive of inclusive education. (3) Cases of children with special needs are more prevalent in the study area, suggesting that many more could be found than currently known. Conclusion: The study concludes that communities have preferences for some activities carried out in the centres if established. This study provides an advance information that is useful for planning by agencies and government departments that may want to support establishment of such centres in marginalised communities.
Cultural and Parental Standards as the Benchmark for Early Learning and Development Standards in Africa
(International Journal of Current Research, 2012) Ejuu, Godfrey
Recognition and inclusion of cultural parental expectations of their children at different stages of development is critical in formulating comprehensive early learning and development standards. While there has been significant research on ‘best practices’ from the west that are largely school based expectations of children at different stages in Uganda, there is a lack of research into traditional parental expectations of their children at different stages of development. This study explores cultural parental expectations of 160 parents of pre-schoolers that they wish to see inculcated into their children. Structured interview was used to collect data which was later analyzed descriptively. Result from this study may inform the process of developing a comprehensive early learning and development standard that is sensitive to both parental and school based standards so as to cater for a whole child.
Design Thinking and Learning Material Utilisation Creativity in Early Childhood Teacher Education: A Case of Kyambogo University, Uganda
(African Journal of Education, Science and Technology, 2023) Katungi, Juma; Ejuu, Godfrey; Lubaale, Grace
In the recent past, we have seen a lot of innovations in children’s learning materials, equipment and spaces design due to the work of famous educators like Montessori, 1912 and Froebel, 1837. This has led to the development of a new landscape of how children’s learning spaces look like. Many children’s learning centers have heavily invested in spaces design and space equipment but despite all these developments, teachers in Uganda have registered limited success in the utilization of these facilities to enrich children’s learning experiences. This study was carried out to investigate how design thinking can be used to impact teaching spaces utilization creativity (Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2016; Hakim, 2017 & Masoumi, 2020). A Quasi-experimental with a mixed design approach was used with an embedded Pretest Post-test Design (Bhattacherjee, 2012). Quantitative and qualitative data was collected from a sample of a cohort of 64 in-service teachers studying a diploma in early childhood teacher education. Data was collected using observations, focused group interviews, and entries from the field notes. Using the Art world design thinking process, an experiment was developed to induce material utilization creativity. Alongside was a creativity observation to measure creativity indicators. This was used to measure creativity exhibited at pretest and posttest in both the control and experimental group. Data analysis used descriptive statistics for preliminary analysis and an independent group’s t-test for analyzing the difference between the control and experimental group. Findings showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental group at post-test; this was attributed to the art world design thinking process.
Early Childhood Development Policy Advances in Uganda
(Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2012) Ejuu, Godfrey
Knowledge of the history and development of early childhood development in Uganda is paramount if we are to know how far we have come and where we are going. This article explores the introduction of early childhood development in Ugandan policy and government interventions from 1960 to 2011. Data was obtained from a review of available early childhood development policy documents, conference papers and tutorial handouts, and interviews with early childhood development professionals who were involved in the developments. The results indicate trends of events that have not been given full attention by young professionals, policy makers and academics in the field of early childhood development in Uganda.
Early childhood education quality indicators: Exploring the landscape of an African community perspective
(Global Studies of Childhood, 2022) Ejuu, Godfrey; Apolot, Josephine Matha
While more effort is being geared toward implementation of quality early childhood education programs, there is still debate on what quality entails. While the education officers believe they are providing quality education, some communities who are the target beneficiaries see it as meaningless and keep away from it, affecting the “Education for All” slogan. If education has to be meaningful in a manner that addresses Sustainable Development Goals 4, quality must be addressed in the perspective of the beneficiaries. This study focuses on a local community perspective of quality indicators for early childhood education and provides advice for implementers.
“Ekisaakaate” (Royal Enclosure) Living Values-Based Contextual Instruction Pedagogy and Early Childhood Moral Learning Outcomes in Buganda Kingdom in Uganda
(African Journal of Education, Science and Technology, 2023) Mugerwa, N. Sarah; Ejuu, Godfrey; Wanderi, M. Peter
The study was prompted by the increasing moral decadence among the young children in Buganda Kingdom in particular and Uganda at large with many young people not being merciful, honest and loyal. They lack moral ethics, etiquette and are not responsible. Different approaches have been suggested as effective in promoting moral development of children, with no particular mention of one that uses a cultural value-based system. This study examined the relationship between ekisaakaate living values-based contextual instruction pedagogy and early childhood moral learning outcomes in Buganda Kingdom. Methodologically, cross-sectional research design guided the study. A sample of 159 ekisaakaate trainers were systematically selected to participate in the study and data were collected with the use of questionnaires. Descriptive and statistical analyses were used to analyze data collected. Frequencies and percentages were used to show the distribution of respondents on different items. Correlation was used to establish the relationships between the variables and in order to establish the predictor variable that contributed most to moral learning outcomes, a Simple Linear Regression (SLR) Analysis was used to establish the predictor variable that contributed most to moral learning outcomes. Results empirically revealed that active cooperative learning, problem-based approach to instruction and participatory learning have a positive influence on early childhood moral learning outcomes. Hence the study recommends that stakeholders such as early childhood education directors, teachers and parents in the respective early childhood centers should encourage the use of living values-based contextual instruction pedagogy to enhance early childhood moral learning outcomes.
Exploring Adoption of Inclusive Home-Based Early Childhood Development and Learning in Marginalised Rural Communities in Zimbabwe
(A journal of the Academic Research Centre (ARC), 2022) Mhizha, Samson; Tafirenyika, Joice; Ejuu, Godfrey
Zimbabwe adopted a policy for compulsory enrolment of 3 to 5 year-olds in ECD ‘A’ and ‘B’ grades in primary schools. However, some eligible children are not attending these classes for reasons which include poverty, disability and lack of special education needs constituting marginalisation. The current study sought to evaluate community knowledge about inclusive home-based Early Childhood Development programmes, assess rural communities’ attitudes towards the establishment of inclusive home-based ECD programmes and identify practices that can be used to sustain inclusive home-based ECD programmes in selected rural communities in Zaka and Bikita districts in Masvingo province. Data were collected from 60 purposively sampled participants comprising 30 parents of children without known disabilities, 12 caregivers, six (6) ECD teachers, and 12 parents of children living with disabilities. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis. Findings showed that parents support the establishment of inclusive home-based ECD centres to increase access and promote inclusion of children with disabilities and that parents have the will and capacity to implement and sustain the centres. However, it was also apparent that communities need capacity building on how to manage the centres. The research recommends the establishment of centres that are managed by parents and supervised by ECD experts in local primary schools in the marginalised areas. These centres need to be monitored and evaluated for standardisation. This model has the capacity to increase access to ECD opportunities for children in marginalised areas and needs to be prioritised.
Implementing the early childhood development teacher training framework in Uganda: Gains and challenges
(Journal of Early Childhood Research, 2012) Ejuu, Godfrey
Training of quality early childhood development (ECD) teachers is paramount in ensuring quality ECD service provision. This exploratory study focuses on the gains and challenges met in the implementation of the Uganda ECD teacher training framework. Data were obtained using questionnaires and interviews from principals and tutors of ECD teacher training institutions (n = 106) who participated in a framework familiarization workshop. Results indicated some gains in use of the framework, while other areas still need more support for it to be effectively implemented. Major challenges were found in institutional management and administrative set ups, tutor competencies, and trainee assessment. The article concludes with specific recommendations for technical assistance to promote effective implementation of framework so as to produce better ECD teachers in Uganda.
Is this Early Childhood Development Ours? Deciphering what African Parents want their Children to Learn in Early Childhood Development
(New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, 2015) Ejuu, Godfrey
As modern Early Childhood Development begins to gain prominence in African communities, questions are beginning to emerge as to what sort of Early Childhood Development is being promoted as ‘best practices’. Thus, the discourse for and against western Early Childhood Development as opposed to indigenous Early Childhood Development, and the scope of each in a culturally ‘contaminated’ African society continues to rage on. This article highlights some of the issues and provides insights into what African Early Childhood Development researcher can do to lead the way in owning, redefining and rebuilding a more culturally relevant Early Childhood Development in the African context.
Moving in Circles along a Straight Path: The Elusiveness of Inclusive Education in Early Childhood Development in Uganda
(Journal of Childhood & Developmental Disorders, 2016) Ejuu, Godfrey
Children with disability have for long been treated with suspicion in many African communities. Some of them are usually treated either with reverence or contempt depending on the disability [1]. For example, children with albinism are revered because it is believed that their body parts have great magical powers, thus, concoctions made from albino body parts can make one rich [2]. Children with different forms of mental retardation are treated with contempt because it is believed that they are a curse to the family handed down by the gods for the family’s misdeeds [3]. To these people, such children must be mistreated or neglected because helping them will be interfering with justice that the gods have handed to such a family [1]. For fear of the justice from the gods, there are many reported cases where parents, especially men have abandoned their homes after fathering a child with disability [4]. Within the homes, these children suffer ridicule from family members; some are tortured or neglected by their parents or guardians resulting in malnutrition and death
Nurturing Ubuntu, the African Form of Human Flourishing Through Inclusive Home Based Early Childhood Education
(Frontiers in Education, 2022) Ejuu, Godfrey; Atieno Opiyo, Rose
Human flourishing has recently gained more attention in the world as a prerequisite safety net for better human resilience in uncertain times. While most Western authors believe that human flourishing is an individual issue, gained in later life, African communities that are largely communal may not have the same view. Communalism as opposed to individualism as a key pillar in African Ubuntu thinking makes it a possibility that there is a departure in the contextualisation of human flourishing and its pathways. This explores the African conceptualisation of flourishing in the Ubuntu lens and how communities are coming together to cultivate it by implementing home based early childhood learning centres. Desk review was used to learn the contextual meaning of human flourishing and different pathways to it in African community settings. Home based early learning centres operated by parents was seen as a core activity to nurture Ubuntu, as each family and community member becomes useful in provide a service that helps others to flourish at different stages of life. The paper concludes that the use of the home-based early childhood model as a flourishing intervention helps to engage every member of the community for the good of their children, bringing live the Ubuntu saying “I am a person because of other persons.” This study is significant in that it proposes home-based early learning as a more viable pathway way to human flourishing and redirects the focus of flourishing to a younger age group.
Rethinking Early Learning and Development Standards in the Ugandan Context
(Childhood Education, 2013) Ejuu, Godfrey
Early childhood development (ECD), either as a process, program, or service provided to young children from birth to 8 years of age, has always existed in Africa, although not in the form that is recognized as ECD today. Reports describe novel African child-rearing and care practices that have nurtured children to a level where they have been able to outcompete their counterparts in other parts of the world (Harkness, Super, Barry, Zeitlin, & Long, 2009). Most of these child-rearing practices and their implications for children have either not been documented or have been refused dissemination by international publishing houses that may consider them as unusual, with no Euro-American worldview (Arnett, 2008; Pence & Marfo, 2008). In the end, African communities are always expected to continue learning “best practices” in the fi eld of ECD from the West, even if they have better experiences. As ECD professionals and practitioners begin celebrating the dawn of a new era for ECD, which started in 1989 with ratifi cation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the launch of Education for All (EFA) in 1990, and a series of other conferences and publications, ECD in Africa continues along an uncertain path. Concerns that the African child is being tailored to be a “global child,” alongside other homogenizing and dominating projections, such as early learning and development standards (ELDS), have increased (Pence & Nsamenang, 2008). African communities need to be assured that global standards and global indicators will not further homogenize nations and thereby risk devaluation of traditional African practices (Kagan, Britto, & Engle, 2005)
Sexual Violence and Development Implications in Uganda Universities: The Case of Kyambogo University
(Tanzania Journal of Development Studies, 2023) Lubaale, Grace; Kebirungi, Harriet; Ejuu, Godfrey
Sexual violence (SV) remains a menace in society, a stonewall hindering the coexistence and holistic growth of all genders. It is a challenge in higher education despite the fact that relevant legal and policy frameworks intended to curtail its prevalence exist. The unwinding subsistence of SV forms the basis of this study, which specifically aims to establish its nature, causes, development implications, and the way forward for the Kyambogo University (KyU). This study was qualitative in nature, and adopted a case research design in which SV phenomenon as a lived experience was studied, described and interpreted from the victim’s point of view. Qualitative data derived from an interview guide was processed with the help of content analysis tools, while observing standard ethical considerations. Results indicate that sexual violence takes the form of sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, intimate partner sexual assault, unwanted sexual contacts, rape, showing ones genitals, masturbation and peeping at people in private sexual acts. The causes are male chauvinism, poverty, difficulty to secure evidence, corruption and stigmatization; all of which have resulted into far-reaching negative effects on the health, education achievement, research and innovations, returns on higher education and self-esteem of the victims, and the institution as a whole. Conclusively, therefore, SV is a reality in KyU, perpetuated largely by the male gender. Since it is socially constructed, it can be deconstructed. Thus, the study recommends awareness creation, enacting more stringent gender and anti-SV policies, gender responsive budgeting, plus monitoring and evaluation of every step in the SV direction so as to end this vice.
The Status of Implementation of the Education Sector Early Childhood Development Policy in Uganda
(Uganda National Commission for UNESCO, 2012) Ejuu, Godfrey
Uganda is one of the many African countries that still has majority of her people living in poverty. Although the share of Ugandans living in poverty decreased from 56.4 to 24.5 percent between 1992/3 and 2009/10 (MoFPED, 2012), there is substantial and growing urban-rural inequality and imbalance between regions. Despite the impressive growth, Uganda‟s Gini coefficient has been rising over the years, and stands at 0.426 (UNHS, 2009/2010), indicating a worrying trend towards increased income inequality (Kaduru, 2011). This inequality may mean that some children who are born into poor families are much more likely to have parents who have low levels of education attainment, low-quality jobs, and low wages, thus such children are more likely to have less access to public services, such as water and sanitation, health care, and education (Vegas & Santibanez, 2010). A number of interventions have been tried in terms of poverty alleviation such as NUSAF, SACCOs; Youth credit schemes, entandikwa, and PEAP. Even with these interventions, poverty still persists in many communities especially in the rural areas where they live on less than a dollar a day. One of the ways of poverty eradication and reduction of inequality among people is through the use of early childhood development programmes which put children on equal footing prior to starting primary schooling, regardless of the different conditions in life such as poverty, neglect and ignorance (Kisitu, 2009). This notion is expressed in a number of international declarations and frameworks like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA) goal and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), all of which have provisions for inclusion of ECD as a priority area (UCRNN, 2010). In 1990 at Jomtien in Thailand, 155 nations of the world agreed on a joint plan of action to fulfill six Education For All goals. The first goal required nations to work towards the expansion and improvement of comprehensive ECD by the year 2015. Similarly, the Dakar Framework of Action adopted by the World Education Forum, Uganda, among other participants, committed herself to attain the goals pertaining to the child with emphasis on expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Therefore, any attempts to improve the status of ECD in the country will be an effort that is geared towards the fulfillment of the Education For All (EFA) targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Using Family Partnerships to Reduce Child Abuse and Neglect in Uganda
(Research Journal of Educational Studies and Review, 2015) Ejuu, Godfrey
Every passing day, as cases of child abuse and neglect increase in number and forms meted on children in Uganda, family and community safety nets that used to act as a buffer for child protection also keep fading. The abuse is in part blamed on parents who are entering family life ill prepared to raise children while maintaining an exclusive life oblivious of a supportive community around them. Use of law enforcement to bring some of the abuse perpetrators to justice also seem not be working to meet the expectations of the public. This article explores how family and community partnerships can be used to mentor parents to become their children’s role models and minimize incidences of child abuse.

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