Applying first world
theories to third
world education: a
study of the
application of
Piagetian theory to
Ugandan Education
Practices
Student Number:
Module Code:
Tutor:
Assessment Criteria: AL3, BL3, CL3, FL3, GL3.
Word Count: 8602
Pages: 41
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Abstract:
This study aims to use a library based research approach to investigate the
concept of using theories such as Piaget’s Constructivism theories in the
educational policies and practices of Ugandan education. As well as this it
will examine the current educational practices within Uganda and the outside
factors which contribute to any issues experienced by the children in Uganda
in receiving their education, such as poverty, lifestyle, lack of funding and
lack of available teachers.
Using previous reports on the state of education in Uganda as well as work
on Piaget’s theories, both supporting and critiquing, this study will attempt to
establish whether or not Western theories can be considered universal and
therefore whether or not learning is a universal process or one which differs
in response to cultural, social and political differences.
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Introduction
Throughout the three years of this course various theorists have been
covered and the educational policies and practices of other countries have
been referred to; this study aims to combine the two and investigate whether
or not educational theories are universal or change depending on social,
economic and cultural differences by taking Piaget’s ‘cognitive development
theory’ and applying it to educational policies and classroom initiatives in
Uganda.
The deliberation of whether or not theories such as Piaget’s ‘CognitiveDevelopment Theory’ can be applied to the teaching practices in third world
counties such as those in Uganda are of interest when one is considering
voluntary teaching in these areas. In particular this study will focus on the
teaching principles in Uganda as this is an area which has lately received
much publicity through films such as ‘Machine Gun Preacher’ released in
November 2011 (IMDB) and the recent viral spread of a thirty minute
campaign video by Invisible Children which urged viewers to get involved
through donations and by spreading the video to raise awareness
(Kony2012). The film and the campaign focus on the atrocities committed by
Joseph Kony during a twenty year tirade on Ugandan people, forcing
children to become child sex slaves and child soldiers. Although it is true that
Kony has now left Uganda and moved on to terrorising other African counties
the damage he has left behind is still an ongoing problem and it is felt that
there is much need for a rebuilding of schools and introduction of a firm
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education for the children of Uganda. However, as many criticisms of the
viral video have suggested, it may not always be appropriate for those from
across the world to become involved in situations they have little or no
knowledge of without considering the opinions of the people involved
themselves. In regards to the Kony2012 video this was highlighted by outcry
from victims in Uganda who objected to the video (the guardian 2012). It is
important to consider whether the interruption of Western theories into
Ugandan education might also have the same unwelcome and insulted
response, although of course Uganda was a part of the British Empire until
1962 and the English language is the official language of the country, though
not many speak it as a mother tongue (Jelmert Jorgensen 1981).
Firstly Piaget’s theories are of interest when considering the cognitive
development of any child. Can a child’s learning and development be
documented and judged by a set standard of age defined guidelines, and if
so can there be exceptions to this? Predominantly Piaget’s theories rely on
an adult or significant more knowledgeable other to initiate learning and then
assume the child will continue to learn and increase comprehension through
their own desire for knowledge (Long 2000). This study hopes to test the
validity of these claims and question whether or not a child has an inbuilt
desire to learn or if Piaget may have been making assumptions in his
knowledge of child psychology.
Psychology, particularly psychology of children, has been a keen interest of
mine since before starting this course as for some time I considered
becoming a psychiatrist before choosing the role of educator. At A-Level I
studied English Language and first came across Piaget’s stages of cognition
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when exploring how children first learn to speak and interact. Whilst studying
this I realised that a sound knowledge of how children learn is not simply
important for educators but also for parents, an aim of which I have always
had regardless of my career choices. I have continuously questioned
Piaget’s ‘stages of development’ (Piaget 1972) after witnessing my own
young relative reach each stage at a more delayed time than Piaget
suggests. However later my niece did come to meet Piaget’s guidelines and
it was suggested that only a level of shyness had kept her from outwardly
expressing her inner cognitive developments. This ambiguity has stirred my
curiosity and I aim to further investigate the validity of Piaget’s work
throughout this study.
The reason I have chosen to apply Piaget’s theories to education in Uganda,
other than because of the popular media Uganda has been receiving, is due
to a desire I have to work abroad in developing countries for some time after
graduation. Partly my interest stems from a desire to see the world but
mostly I hope to come to understand their culture and thus grow to
appreciate our cultural differences and similarities, helping in whatever way I
am able, if possible.
To thoroughly understand education in Uganda I must attempt to thoroughly
understand the Ugandan lifestyle; its history, its policy, its people and its way
of life. To do this I will thoroughly research life in Uganda using books written
by those who have done studies in Uganda and, possibly more importantly,
by those who have experienced life in Uganda. I will consult Ugandan
government websites, historical documents and other researchers work in an
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attempt to gain a complete view of Ugandan life in order to understand the
value and importance of education for its people.
I intend to cover all aspects of Ugandan education from the almost nonexistent pre-school to University level. With the instigation of the UPE
(Universal Primary Education) initiative in 1997, which stated that primary
education for the first four children in each family would be provided for free
in an attempt to increase access to education, there have been many
changes in Ugandan education in recent years – more access, more funds
and a closing in the gap between male and female students who attend
primary schools (Pascal Al Amin 2012). This was further improved in 2007
when secondary education was made free as well. This would seem like a
strong victory for education however across Uganda there is opposition and
resentment of the notion of having this free education forced on them as a
condition of debt relief. Some people feel that the increased number of
students able to learn has put pressure on the education system and when
combined with the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) this pressure can
only lead to a crumbling of the system (Bunting 2012). The Millennium
Development goals are a set of aims which were set out in an attempt to
achieve the following:








Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
(United Nations Development Programme 2012)
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This study will also investigate the outside influences on Ugandan
educational aims and policies to try and confirm if an outside interference is
needed, useful or even welcomed by the people of Uganda. Education is
widely considered to be a human right and so it is understandable that
people would seek to provide education for everyone in Uganda, however,
freedom of choice is also a human right so it must be questioned how much
freedom of choice was given when these policy changes were made. Do the
people of Uganda hold this kind of education in the same view we do, if not
then what do they think and feel about it? I hope this study brings to light not
only the current state of affairs regarding policy and practice, but also how
the people of Uganda feel about this and whether or not something needs to
be changed in order to facilitate their needs.
I hope that this study will equip me with a stronger understanding of both the
Piagetian theories on cognitive development and also the educational
practices within Uganda. Through this study I would like to grow more
confident in my ability to have a positive impact on the students I may one
day have in Uganda by having a more in depth comprehension of what it is
they need from their education and factors outside of the classroom which
may be affecting their learning. Not only do I wish to discover whether or not
Piaget has a place within the Ugandan classroom, I hope to find out if I have
a place there either.
As well as this I hope to test my own abilities to work independently, collect
relevant materials from a wide source of information available and present
my findings in an organised and coherent manner so that my studies can be
used by others to further their knowledge in this area. I chose a topic which I
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considered to be more ambitious in an attempt to push myself in my own
learning and challenge myself to work harder to engage with a subject I have
a strong interest in. It could be claimed that even this is in some way
evidence of Piaget’s theory at work. Through my time at university I have
learnt and experienced new things through facilitation by my tutors and peers
and now it is my turn to attempt to turn my ‘area of work negotiated’ into my
own research and experience in order to gain an understanding of my topic.
Key terms within this study will be ‘cognitive development theory’ which
refers to Piaget’s theory of how children learn, ‘stages of development’ which
are the stages at which Piaget felt each level was reached and
‘accommodation and assimilation’ which is the process by which Piaget
believed children learn – first acquiring knowledge/information and then
through experience growing to understand it (Bartlett and Burton 2012,
Piaget 1972, Barrelet, J.M and Perret-Clermont, A.N. 2008). The key
organisations which may be referred to are UNESO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), UBOS (Uganda Bureau of
Statistics) and USAID (United States Agency for International Development).
I will also be using personal opinions from various sources as well as
newspaper articles and the research of others.
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Piaget – a literary overview
Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel in Switzerland in 1896 and later attended
the University of Neuchâtel in 1918 which was followed by a successful
career in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology. His work has
had quite a strong impact within the educational arena, though it is not
without its criticisms (Barrelet and Perret-Clermont 2007).
Throughout his work Piaget maintained that his ‘central aim has always been
the search for the mechanisms of biological adaptation and the analysis and
epistemological interpretation of that higher form of adaptation which
manifests itself as scientific thought’ (Piaget 1977, p.xi). This pursuit of
understanding of thought led to the creation of Piaget’s ‘cognitive
development theory’ which was highly influenced by Kant’s constructivist
model of knowledge but did have some differences (Bartlett and Burton
2000). Piaget believed that the growth of cognition relied on the child being
driven by an internal need to understand the word. His theory was that
maturation of the child’s learning coincides with the child’s experience of the
world and therefore ‘progress through the sequence of discoveries occurs
slowly and at any one age the child has a particular general view of the
world, a particular logic or structure that dominates the way they explore and
manipulate the world. (Bartlett and Burton 2000 p113).
From this Piaget then created the concept of the ‘stages of cognitive
development’:
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Sensori-motor stage
senses
-
learning is through physical action and the
(0 to 2 years)
Preoperational stage
learning
-
now mental control guides actions and helps the
(2 to 7 years)
Concrete operational stage
thinking
-
interest in explanation and using symbolic
(7 to 11 years)
Formal operations
hypothetical
-
able to think abstract conceptions, logic, the
(11+ years)
(Bartlett and Burton 2000).
Piaget’s ‘stages of development’ have been used in the past to assess a
child’s level of cognitive ability and in some cases to diagnose if the child is
in some way delayed in his or her development. While this can be useful for
some children if they are experiencing a difficulty, many feel that assigning
an age to the stages was unfair and did not take in to consideration outside
factors, though these objections also had criticisms (Lourenco and Machad
1996). A key concept was the idea that new learning occurs through
accommodation and assimilation of knowledge and experience:
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(Pollard 2002)
Piaget viewed the progression of the learner’s cognition as being linked to
their own desire for growth. He felt that intellectual development was
sequential to moral development and as one progressed so did the other as
the learner moved through each stage. (Piaget, J. 1977) He believed that the
process of ‘adaption’ led the learner through these stages as with each new
experience and interaction with the world the learner would mature in their
understanding. The strategies through which the learners adapted are
referred to as ‘operations’. These were the new skills and mental activities
used by the child to find the solution and could only be learned sequentially.
For example, a child cannot learn to add or subtract without first learning to
count. Piaget felt that at any one time a learner had a particular view of the
world and only with experience could the learner realise the issues with their
views and change it to become closer to the truth. (Bartlett and Burton 2000,
p113).
One test he did to show this was the three mountains test in which children
were asked to describe what they could see and then switch point of view to
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the opposite and again describe what they saw. This most children could
achieve easily however when asked to describe what the person (doll)
across from them could see they could not to as they were unable to imagine
the view from someone else’s perspective. At this point the child is working
within a particular schema (a cognitive framework or concept that helps
organise and interpret information) which has certain characteristics about
how the world works as discovered through the child’s experience of the
world. As the child has only experienced the world from their own viewpoint
and is a victim of ‘egocentric illusion’ (Donaldson 1978) it is difficult to
imagine the scene from someone else’s perspective however if the child is
able to acknowledge that there is a difference in the view from each side
then they can change their logic to create a new schema and a new stage in
their cognition can be reached. Thus the child has progressed there
cognition through the process of assimilating information and changing their
schema to accommodate this new change as a result of their new
experience
(Piaget 1970).
http://www.cog.brown.edu/courses/cg63/images/3_mountains.gif
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However one issue with this idea of assimilation and accommodation is the
idea that age can be assigned to these experiences; it does not take into
consideration individual differences, social context or modes of learning
(Bartlett and Burton 2000, p114). It disregards the notion that each child has
a different level of interaction with the world and therefore applying age
related stages rather than experience labelled stages may be unjust to some
children. This is in particular an issue when considering the education and
cognitive development of children from different socio-economic and cultural
back grounds. If one child does not receive information which they can
assimilate and accommodate at the same stage as another are they to be
considered any less able to achieve cognitive development? How can their
life experiences be compared and analysed? (Donaldson 1978).
Lourenco and Machad (1996) describe ten common criticisms of Piaget’s
theory:
1. Piaget's Theory Underestimates the Competence of Children
2. Piaget's Theory Establishes Age Norms Discontinued by the Data
3. Piaget Characterizes Development Negatively
4. Piaget's Theory Is an Extreme Competence Theory
5. Piaget's Theory Neglects the Role of Social Factors in Development
6. Piaget's Theory Predicts Developmental Synchronies Not Corroborated by
the Data
7. Piaget's Theory Describes but Does Not Explain
8. Piaget’s Theory Is Paradoxical Because It Assesses Thinking Through
Language
9. Piaget's Theory Ignores Post-adolescence Development
10. Piaget's Theory Appeals to Inappropriate Models of Logic
However their text titled ‘In Defense of Piaget's Theory: A Reply to 10
Common Criticisms’ then goes on to systematically defend Piaget’s work
against each of these claims. They generally find the objections to Piaget’s
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work are of a small nature or are due to a misunderstanding of the intentions
and meanings of Piaget’s work. They tend to agree with Beilin that any view
of Piaget’s work as being lacking is more due to a lack of understanding or
research on the part of the critic rather than on Piaget’s part – it is "highly
ironic that a number of otherwise astute investigators, in a short-sighted view
of our history, have faulted Piaget for underestimating the cognitive
competencies of young children" (Beilin 1992, p202).
Other criticisms include critiques of the methodology used in Piaget’s
research e.g. dissatisfaction with the sample size, lack of empirical analysis
and issues with the tests which are used at each stage. However it could be
argued that Piaget saw this methodology as appropriate for his time; he
never claimed that his theories were universal and could be applied to every
child’s cognitive development, only those involved in his research and others
like them (Sutton-Smith 1966). Since Piaget conducted his original tests
many others have carried out similar studies, though in some ways varied,
and the majority have mostly concurred with his findings (Raven’s Coloured
Progression Matrices, Otaala’s studies in Uganda and other repetitions of
cognitive developmental exercises).
Piaget did write on social interaction and its role in cognitive development,
though he seemed to feel that it had little or no relevance because he
believed that the most important source of cognition is the children
themselves. Piaget emphasised the role of an inbuilt (biological) tendency to
adapt to the environment, by a process of self-discovery and play and
viewed the child as a ‘little scientist’. He argued that after initial input from an
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adult or more knowledgeable other the child had to learn for themselves from
their own desire to understand the world around them; this is a major way in
which Piaget differed from other theorists.
The table below shows the differences between the various theories on how
children acquire knowledge and improve their cognitive development. The
behaviourist view, as taken by theorist such as Pavlov and Skinner
emphasises a focus on knowledge being passed down from the facilitator to
the child. In this way children take a more passive role in their learning and
are simply expected to absorb the information they are provided. The
Constructivist approach and the Social Constructivist approach are similar in
many ways as they believe children construct their cognition gradually
through experience, the main difference being that constructivists such as
Piaget believe in independent experience as being of predominate
importance whereas Social Constructivists such as Vygotsky emphasise the
importance of an adult or more knowledgeable other in the child’s progress
through a more back and forward system of trying, feedback and trying once
again. Vygotsky believes that language is a sign of early socialisation (Long,
2000) as language is a key skill picked up at a young age which suggests
that being able to communicate is key to our lifestyle. An argument against
this could be that communicating needs is essential, social communication is
not necessarily a primary function of language.
Vygotsky also emphasised the role of culture and experience because he
believed that what drives cognitive development is social interaction – a
child’s experience with other people. He claimed that it is culture which is
needed to shape cognition which can be referred to as viewing the ‘child as
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apprentice’ in contrast to Piaget’s view of the child as a ‘little scientist’.
Piaget’s idea of accommodation and assimilation worked off the principle that
cognitive development is a constructive process where individuals construct
their own understanding through ‘…building up structures by structuring
reality’ requiring very little feedback after the initial contact with the facilitator
(Piaget, 1971, p.27).
(POLLARD 1990)
Evaluation of both the constructivist and behaviourist approaches would
suggest that a constructivist approach is most productive as it allows
learners to have a more active role in their own learning rather than simply
memorising information, however whether or not they learn better through
the ‘active individual’ or ‘active social’ is still debatable. In current
educational practices in the UK examples of all three of these approaches
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can be seen in the way learners are taught. In primary school students are
often taught the alphabet and basic mathematics through a behaviourist
approach of repetition and memorising however once these basic skills have
been learnt they are more able to be creative with their new knowledge and
investigate it independently (little scientists/ active individual) or through trial
and error with facilitator feedback (little apprentice/ active social). This would
suggest that all three approaches have some validity in enabling the
cognitive development of learners, although the presence of classroom
practices such as ‘circle time’ do seem to suggest that importance is placed
upon the role of social interaction as ‘quality circle time provides the group
listening system for enhancing self esteem, promoting moral values,
enhancing social skills and building teamwork’ (Mosely 2005). This also
takes the emphasis off mere academic learning and focuses on other skills
learned within an educational setting such as social skills, moral code and
self-awareness. Can these things be taught through a behaviourist
approach?
Overall though Piaget’s theories do have their criticisms they seem to be
most useful when considering how children should be taught and the only
valid objection to be made is the concern expressed over learners who are
left to their own devices without experiencing enough help in the ‘area of
work and activity negotiated’ stage of learning and their lack of
understanding is unnoticed for some time they will be at a strong
disadvantage. However it can also be noted that an overbearing facilitator is
a risk with Vygotsky’s ‘little apprentice’ approach and this could easily turn
into a behaviourist method in which the learner is merely passively receiving
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information. As long as it is thoroughly checked that the child has been given
accurate assistance and information at the start of their attempt to progress a
Piagetian approach is the most suitable to encourage a child to learn for
themselves as it creates the desire to learn which will assist the child to
become an independent learner and look beyond the information they are
provided.
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Ugandan History and Education – a literary review
To consider the educational history and practices of Uganda one must first
define what is ‘education’ and what is the difference between policies and
practices. Education is the process by which information and skills are
passed from one person (a more knowledgeable other or a facilitator) to
another lesser knowledgeable learner (Bartlett and Burton 2000). These
skills and pieces of information take many forms and are generally believed
to be of importance to the learner’s life and cognitive development.
Educational policy is the term used to refer to the guidelines and rules which
are set out by an authoritative organisation, usually the government, which
control or monitor the practices and progress of education. Uganda has a
decentralized system of governance and several functions have been ceded
to the local governments. However, 'the central government retains the role
of making policy, setting standards, and supervising' (Uganda Demographic
and Health Survey 2006, p1).
The ‘practice of education’ refers to the manner in which the teachers or
facilitators impart knowledge to the learners. The difference between this and
policy is that while policy can cover the monetary/financial and academic
achievement standards the practice refers only to the manner in which the
students are taught (usually based on work by educational theorist e.g.
Piaget, Vygotsky, Skinner).
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The system of education in Uganda has a structure of 7 years of primary
education,6 years of secondary education (divided into 4 years of lower
secondary and 2 years of upper secondary school), and 3 to 5 years of postsecondary education (Pascal Al Amin 2012). IN 1997 the UPE act –
Universal Primary Education Act meant that for four children in every family
primary education would be provided for free. While this did lead to an
increase in the number of students attending primary education it was also
found that the system would need many improvements in order to be able to
provide for its pupils at upper levels. ‘The central conclusion of the multilevel
analysis was that equality of access to formal primary education did not
necessarily translate to equality of outcomes’ (Leibbrandt and Zuze 2010).
People from lower socio-economic backgrounds are still struggling to pay for
the added necessities that accompany an education such as uniform and
books or other provisions. This is particularly an issue for families with higher
numbers of children as other than through passing down of clothes and
provisions there are few ways they can save on the cost of education in
order to be able to send all of their children to school – ‘because of the
narrow definition of free education, households were still required to make
substantial contributions to schooling’ (Leibbrandt and Zuze 2010).
In addition to this, the 2005 MOES report showed that the number of
teachers and schools increased by 41% while the student number increased
by 171% between 1997 and 2004. This shows that the percentage of
students increased by over four times the percentage of teachers and
suggests that this could mean teachers were then attempting to teach up to
four times more students. Some classes class sizes go up to seventy pupils
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and more per classroom, most especially in lower classes (Nakabugo Et Al
2008) where ‘class sizes grew to over 100’(Buczkiewiczand Carnegie 2000)
compared to classes in England which are classified as being ‘large’ if they
have above 25-30 students (Smith & Warburton 1997).
Problems for teachers can be issues of management, lack of flexibility and
student diversity. For the students the issues experienced could be related to
minimum teacher attention and access to materials, hesitation to ask
questions and the need for individual effort challenge the students (Ives
2000). If students feel that the teacher is not giving them the attention they
deserve, or alternatively if students feel the lack of attention they are given
means they do not need to try hard, then this could discourage students from
putting in the effort required for satisfactory learning. Research shows that
classes smaller than 20 in the early years of primary school lead to improved
performance. However, this number is not realistic in developing countries
and is even beyond the resources of some industrialised countries
(O’Sullivan 2005),
This suggests that it is not simply enough to provide the access to education
but also the government needs to work on ensuring that the level of
education provided is adequate to provide the students with a basic
education that will be enough to get them into the next stage of learning,
whether that is more studies or life skills. Studies have shown that
educational level is strongly associated with contraceptive use, fertility, and
the general health status, morbidity, and mortality of children (Uganda
Demographic and Health Survey 2006, p23).
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Another possible issue with the UPE scheme is the manner in which the
grants are awarded. Currently the grants are given to each primary school
based on how many pupils it has. This could possibly encourage schools to
take on high levels of students or even to hold students back in order to
receive maximum funding and salary for the teachers. While there is no
evidence that this has been an incentive for schools as of yet, the possibility
remains and therefore it might be advisable to modify the funding to avoid
this (Nishimura, Takashi and Sasaoka 2006).
In particular those who are struggling to receive an adequate education are
those in rural areas. Often children will need to walk great distances to get to
and from school, as well as having domestic responsibilities whilst at home.
This can tire out the students and discourage some from attending. As well
as this some families may need their children to assist with the care of other
children or work around the home/farm (Mutonyi and Norton 2007. Most
policies and curriculum materials in Uganda view educational communities
as homogeneous groups and do not take into account the social and political
histories of different local settings, particularly with respect to discrepancies
between rural and urban settings (Mutonyi and Norton 2007, p 267).
Despite the recent changes in policy and the efforts to increase attendance
and education in primary aged students there are still many children who do
not make it to school at age six. There are more males then females
amongst those who have never been to school; nearly one in four females
(23%) age six years or older in Uganda has never been to school, compared
with 12%of males (Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2006, p23).
Many of these children do not attend in the rural areas due to the reasons
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listed above. To counter this the government needs to make more changes
such as providing more local schools or improving the parental awareness of
the importance of a good education so that they are more inclined to
encourage their children to attend. Uganda, like many countries in the
developing world, faces enormous challenges of poverty, political instability,
gender inequities and HIV/AIDS. In 2001, the population below the poverty
line was estimated at 35%, and the literacy rate was approximately 70%, with
males at 80% and females at 60% (UBOS, 2002). The Ministry of Education
and Sports has begun efforts to pay special attention to schools in the “
hard-to-reach” areas, they have topped-up salary and improved the
provision of housing for teachers; though internal inefficiency, such as
delayed enrolment and repetition, remains a major problem in primary
education (Nishimura, Takashi and Sasaoka 2006).
Ugandan education could also be suffering due to a lack of technology which
many classrooms in better-developed countries make use of in every day
teaching. Whilst 14% of the world’s population was using the Internet by
2004, over half the population in developed regions had access to the
Internet, compared to 7% in developing countries and less than 1% in the 50
‘least developed countries’ (UNDESA, 2006). This lack of access to internet
information could be reducing the productivity of teaching and a plan to
initiate more internet involvement in Uganda would be advisable, particularly
as outside of developing countries the internet and computers are used for
almost all aspects of work and life.
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The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 promotes the notion of
education as being a basic human right and the government’s requirement to
facilitate this in the following statements:





All Ugandans enjoy rights and opportunities and access to education,
health services, clean and safe water, work, decent shelter, adequate
clothing, food security and pension and retirement benefits. (p16 )
The State shall promote free and compulsory basic education.
The State shall take appropriate measures to afford every citizen
equal opportunity to attain the highest educational standard possible.
Individuals, religious bodies and other nongovernmental organisations
shall be free to found and operate educational institutions if they
comply with the general educational policy of the country and maintain
national standards.( P17)
30. Right to education - All persons have a right to education (p31)
Whilst these notions are admirable some Ugandan people feel that the
changes made to enable free primary education were unjustly forced upon
them as a condition of debt relief. Some feel that the increased number of
students able to learn has put pressure on the education system and when
combined with the MDG (Millennium Development Goals – a list of eight key
goals which need to be met) this pressure can only lead to a crumbling of the
system (Bunting 2012). This can be compared with the UK governments
insistence on achieving higher GCSE’s pushing teachers to focus more on
grade-achievements than the actual learning or the government’s aims to
have 50% of students reach Higher Education without creating enough
spaces for them. Policies created simply for the effect of looking good on
government agendas are not for the best of the people the government is
supposedly trying to help. In Uganda only 35% of post-secondary pupils are
able to secure a place at university due to the lack of universities. Makerere
University takes on 95% of all university students whilst the remaining 5%
24
are left to find places at smaller universities leaving 65% of post-secondary
students looking for alternative options (EdUniversalRanking 1999).
Overall, whilst the Ugandan government has done well to increase access to
education at primary levels it needs to focus on ensuring this education is of
a good standard and that students are provided with the opportunity to
progress to secondary and post-secondary education.
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Applying Piaget to Ugandan Education
For this section it will be assumed that the issues outlined in the previous
section will have been rectified and that the only concern for education is the
manner in which the students are taught.
To begin with one must question why there is any need for any form of
theory to be applied to the classroom, surely the important thing in the
classroom is for the children to be given information to learn so they can do
well in exams and progress there education. Piaget would argue against this
and suggest that an education system which focuses only on results is not
correctly supporting its learners. He feels that children should be encouraged
to learn by creating within them a desire for knowledge. This will enable them
to continue to learn and grow cognitively even outside the classroom or after
their time with education has passed.
‘There are two places we can look for ideas about education. One is the
future: what kind of world are today’s young people going to inhabit; and
what skills and qualities will they need to thrive therein? And the second
source of practical inspiration is theory: what are the best ideas available
about the potentialities of the human mind and spirit, and about how minds
and spirits grow?’
(Wells & Claxton 2002, p1).
Piaget’s concern with the mechanisms of biological adaptation and the
higher form of scientific thought, the epistemological interpretation being his
focus, meant that he was not simply concerned with finding the best way to
enable learners to progress, but also with how and why they progress and
26
the effects this can have on them after they leave the learning arena. (Piaget
1977) He wished to create learners which were ‘little scientists’ and who
were led by their own desire to learn rather than students who were made to
learn in order to achieve grades (Alexander and Potter 2005).
In relation to Uganda this approach could be of much use to the students due
to the large class numbers and the common lack of an educated sibling or
parent to encourage the learning. In these situations the students must strive
to learn from their own desires for knowledge and not because they are told
to. In Uganda there is a particular issue with more educated elders as during
the 20 year tirade of war and destruction by Joseph Kony many of the
Ugandan people neglected their education to focus on things which were
deemed more important such as staying safe or fighting. This unfortunately
led to a generation which had many uneducated members who could either
not understand their children’s learning or came to view it as unimportant
which led to a lack of support for the learners. For this reason encouraging
independent learning is crucial to maintaining the learners focus on their
education.
Whilst it could be said that those who missed out on education in Uganda
have found other ways to lead productive lives the Dakar 2000 demand for
Education for All by 2015 is based on the premise that education is a human
right that enables people to improve their lives and transform their societies
(UNESCO, 2000, p8). This is not the same as claiming that education should
be mandatory for all, but instead states that having access to education can
not only improve the learner’s cognitive growth but can help them in areas of
27
their lives outside of the classroom and thus improve their lifestyles and the
state of the society.
Using Piaget’s theory in Uganda allows for us to draw comparisons between
them and ourselves; a theory can allow us to find similarities and differences
across different learning contexts– e.g. sitting in a lecture theatre at
university and sitting on the carpet in a primary classroom or even sitting
outside underneath a tree as many classes in Uganda still do. It allows us to
consider the importance of the various roles within the classroom; those of
the learners, of the teachers, of the peers and of those outside the classroom
who create the policies. It is important when thinking about the notions of
assimilation and accommodation to progress cognitive development that we
realise that we do not need to learn the same subject matter, as long as we
learn the function of adjusting our schemata whenever we realise there is a
change to be made the fundamental processes will be picked up and we will
progress - ‘if something is interesting you learn very quickly, if you are bored
you hardly learn anything’ (Alexander and Potter, 2005). There is no reason
to insist that learners have to experience the same things or be taught the
same subjects in order to progress cognitively, therefore Piaget’s theories of
cognitive development can be considered to be universal as long as learners
are progressing through their own ambitions to learn.
When considering the motivation for Ugandan citizens to focus their attention
and resources on their education it is important to consider how important to
their day to day lives they consider an education to be, As stated before
many Ugandan people said they felt the changes to the education system
had been forced upon them (Bunting 2012) and this is supported further by
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the research of ..... which found that education came sixth in a list of factors
which the Ugandan people felt it was important for their government to be
focusing on.
By viewing these results it is quite clear that Maslow’s theory of the
‘hierarchy of needs’ comes into play significantly.
The Mosby Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Professions 8th Ed
describes Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs as being ‘a hierarchic
categorization of the basic needs of humans’. On the base level the most
basic of needs are met such as those required for the physical needs of the
body – the biological or physiological needs; these include the necessities for
the continuation of life such as air, food and water. Next is the need to live
safely with shelter and protection from fear and anxiety. Following this are
the needs felt for the desire to ‘belong’ – to feel love, followed by the need for
self esteem and finally a desire for self-actualisation. To get from one stage
to the next the basic needs must first be satisfied. One cannot reach selfactualisation if they are unfed, unsheltered and have no self-esteem.
(Huitt, W. 2007)
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The prioritising of needs such as food, housing and safety over education
means that currently many people in Uganda feel that they are still struggling
to find their needs met on even the basic needs in Maslow’s hierarchy –
‘physiological’ and ‘safety’. Maslow states that these are the basic and most
prioritised needs so until these needs are met there will be little or no desire
for the feelings of belonging, esteem or self-actualisation that a structured
educational environment might provide (Maslow 1999).
Finally one must consider again the definition of education and learning. If
education is the passing down of knowledge from a facilitator/more
knowledgeable other to the learner and the learning is the picking up of this
information or skill then surely it is restrictive to classify this as being
something which must take place within a classroom environment. Piaget’s
theory applies only to the manner in which learners acquire cognitive
development; he does not specify the topic of learning or even the manner of
learning (auditory, written, practical) and therefore as long as the children of
Uganda continue to experience new things and adapt their schemata to
assimilate to the new information they have received in order to
accommodate it then surely their cognitive development will progress
regardless of the setting.
Right now until the needs of the Ugandan people are met on Maslow’s most
basic level of the hierarchy of needs then the focus in Uganda, or at least the
focus of the people of Uganda, regardless of government policy will be on
30
learning life-skills which will aid them in securing the basic necessities in
order to have the luxury of seeking goals higher up the hierarchy. These lifeskills can be defined in many ways, Buczkiewiczand Carnegie (2000)
described them as ‘a range of psycho-social competencies such as decision
making, problem solving, critical and creative thinking, communication and
interpersonal skills, empathy and self-awareness, and coping with stress and
emotion’ which is a useful psychological viewpoint of the life skills required
but also these can be described in more practical terms as the skills and
knowledge required to provide the basic levels of need; the knowledge of
how to build shelter, find or hunt food and stay safe from danger.
Ultimately, as the saying goes:
‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will
eat for a life time’
(Unknown Source)
As long as people are taking the constructivist approach of learning and
‘doing’ for themselves rather than the behaviourist approach of being ‘force
fed’ information then Piaget is relevant.
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Conclusion
Engaging in this study brought the realisation that there are far more issues
surrounding the application of theory into practice than simply ‘can it be
applied?’ - One must also consider ‘should it be applied?’
Firstly from this study the question was raised whether or not the theories of
Piaget are worthy of being used as a basis for educational policy decisions in
any country, not just Uganda specifically. There are many critiques of
Piaget’s work but mostly these apply to his manner in which he carried out
his studies or the application of age barriers, not the logic in his theories.
This was in some ways recovered by other theorists repeating his tests with
different groups of children in more controlled settings to establish the validity
of his work. In the majority it was found that further attempts to research and
document the ‘stages of cognitive development’ agreed with Piaget’s initial
findings (Otaala, Raven). Although some may still disagree with the use of
age brackets in the ‘stages of development’ it has been found repeatedly that
the majority of children will fall inside Piaget’s guidelines and arguments for
changing them have had little or no premise on which to prove they are
inaccurate.
It was interesting to compare the constructivist theories of Piaget against the
opposing behaviourist theories of people such as Skinner as I found that I
was able to consider both points of view and come to my own conclusion
about which I most found myself agreeing with. I discovered through this
32
study that I am inclined towards a Constructivist approach to cognitive
development although my personal approach would be a mixture of active
individual and active social.
Secondly the concerns over the ‘life experience’ of the child affecting the
progression of their cognitive development were also in some ways
eradicated; through thorough examining of the criteria Piaget outlined in his
theories it became evident that the experiences of the child could be varied
as long as they were able to realise new things and change apply changes to
their schemata at various points they would progress cognitively; they did not
need to all experience the same events, merely they needed to experience
life to learn that their original preconceptions and ideas about how the world
worked might be flawed and in need of change. Previous to this study I had
assumed that without a firm educational structure similar to that which we
have in the UK Piaget’s stages could not be reached at a similar time in
Uganda, however Otaala’s study showed that even without preschool or any
formal learning the Ugandan children 6+ were on similar levels with Piaget’s
‘stages of development’ showing that it is experience of life, not experience
of the classroom, which allows learners to move through the stages of
cognition and become more able learners - they simply learnt about things
more relevant to their lifestyles.
I was surprised to learn that many of Piaget’s theories have already been
taken into consideration within Ugandan schools; some schools were
actually named after Piaget such as the Piaget Junior School. This
highlighted another point about Western involvement in Ugandan education;
if there is to be involvement then the outside parties wishing to become
33
involved should ensure that they educate themselves appropriately before
heading into the classroom environment and initiating any changes. Had I
gone to Uganda prior to this study I would have had preconceived notions of
a nation in need of my ‘Western expertise’ and theoretical knowledge about
education; I assumed that they would not have already established Piagetian
based policies simply because of their tumultuous history. I believe that in
this case I was suffering from my own state of egocentric illusion and could
only view the situation in Uganda from my own outside perspective using my
preconceptions to imagine what the situation would be inside Uganda
instead of researching it. This study has illuminated many facts and
abolished many untrue presumptions held prior to the investigation.
In regards to the current educational practices in Uganda the study found
that in the last two decades much effort has been put into improving the
access to and standard of education provided. However it was noted that the
attempts to improve access to education had several flaws which
predominately led to issues with the quality of education provided. This
relates directly into the notion of Piaget’s ‘little scientist’ because although
Piaget does claim that children learn best independently he also
acknowledges the necessity for an original input from a facilitator and in
classes of 40-80 students this input could be lacking and the learner may be
unable to progress. Certainly in Vygotsky’s eyes these standards would be
unacceptable as the children would not be receiving enough guidance and
input to allow them to be ‘little apprentices’, unless this input was given by an
older more knowledgeable student.
34
Therefore it seems that the notion of applying Piaget’s constructivist theories
on cognitive development is valid, however it would seem the issue is not
‘are the theories applicable?’ but rather ‘can they be applied?’ - meaning is
the current level of educational provision in Uganda, particularly in its more
struggling rural areas, adequate enough that teachers are able to apply his
work to their teaching styles or are they likely to be swamped with high class
numbers and distracted by poor living agreements. Currently the Ugandan
government is working to improve conditions for both students and teachers
by improving the number of schools and increasing the standard of pay and
living situations for teachers. As well as this the government is aiming to
improve teacher training and better equip the teachers to facilitate the
learning of their students. Hopefully once these changes are complete
Ugandan’s ‘little scientists’ will be able to receive an education which will
enable them not only to do well in primary school but also to desire to learn
and continue on through secondary school and possibly post-secondary,
although there are issues also with secondary and post-secondary education
which will need to be addressed.
If I were able to extend this study I would like to extend it to include other
countries throughout the world. In particular I am intrigued by the concept of
looking at education in countries with more rigorous governmental controls
and less focus on the individual such as Soviet Russia or China – does the
level of governmental control affect the manner in which education is
provided and does this then have a knock on effect to how children learn.
Even within England it is possible to see where inappropriate teaching styles
can leave children without an ability to learn for themselves; I would be
35
interested to know if any other countries still have a routine within
classrooms that is so vigorously regimented and monitored that children are
force-fed information to achieve results rather than encouraged to learn
independently for the sake of learning. In contrast to this I would also like to
look at countries were independent learning is more strongly encouraged
than in the UK such as in Sweden or Norway. These pupils reportedly gain
high levels of attainment in exams – could this be said to be attributed to
Piaget’s theories of assimilation and accommodation? Is it better to
encourage children to learn more independently and have the learning
facilitators take a more back ground role in children’s’ educations?
As well as this I would like to branch out the study into investigating the
problem of preconceived notions held by different countries about each
other. Should there be a stronger attempt to teach students about other
cultures and the history of other countries. It may be possible to discover
these things in particular subjects such as history or social studies but should
more emphasis be placed in main subject areas to allow for the widening of
knowledge about other cultures to remove the sense of ‘otherness’ we feel
about countries we have not visited and their people? Or is this kind of
progress not conducive to achieving high attainment in the core subjects so
therefore deemed unnecessary? I would argue that broadening students’
knowledge of the world is an important factor of their education, particularly
now that the world has become more of a global concept and it is much more
common to experience life in other countries due to the ease of travel.
Students should be taught about the world as a whole in order to make them
functioning members of this wider community. It is no longer simply a case of
36
understanding your own culture and nationality; in an ever changing world
which is constantly creating opportunities for travel and relations with other
countries it is arguable that people should be learning more about the
lifestyles of their peers in other countries.
37
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