PhD Thesis
This participatory action research study, founded on Nycrcre’s idea of education for self-reliance
(ESR) and my lived experience with education and community development practices, aimed at
developing solutions for enhanced relevant learning at primary education level. Specifically the
study strived to facilitate local processes oriented towards larger integration of everyday
experiences in learning, using farm as a pedagogical resource. In an attempt to achieve the
above, 1 solidly mapped the school practice and contextual realities and negotiated the desired
future of school and community development practices. This I did in collaboration with a
research team, consisting of university based members, and actors from the field, such as
teachers, parents, community development officers, administrators and local policy makers. This
mapping informed the process of development and implementation of an action plan to realize
the envisioned future in Tanzania rural settings. We used Nyandira primary school and
community as a case. We approached the study from an interdisciplinary perspective embedded
in cooperation, participation and democratic values.
The thesis includes three articles corresponding to the main project phases: planning, acting,
observing and reflecting. The first article draws from the planning phase of the project and aims
to identify theoretical approaches that can support sustainable revitalization of ESR in Tanzania.
The article has two parts; the first part advances arguments for revitalization of ESR philosophy
to guide primary education in rural areas as an effort to improve learning outcomes both
cognitively and affectively. The second part outlines the first phase of the project processes and
the significance of democratic and extensive initial consultation with the community.
The second article draws from both the planning and acting phases. Based on comprehensive
preparation leading up to a two-day dialogue conference, facilitation and observation of the
conference and reflections during and after the conference, we discuss the potential and function
of dialogue conferences as a democratic platform for empowering local participants to take
responsibility and ownership of change processes. The study reveals that dialogue conferences as
a PAR method has immanent potential for uniting cooperative learning, research, and thus
opening up opportunities for self-empowerment. However, throughout the processes, we realize
that facilitating dialogue conferences requires familiarity with and sensitivity to the contextual
and socio-cultural characteristics of the participants and their experiences.
The third article mostly draws from the phases of actions and evaluation. The article
discusses the implementation of the collaboratively developed action plan. Central themes
covered arc the extent to which stakeholders honored commitments made during planning and
the degree to which the stakeholders found proposed solutions appropriate in the actual
implementation process. Reflecting on the overall project processes, the article highlights the
successes recorded, challenges encountered and their mitigation. Overall, PAR well facilitated,
can have an integrating function that prompts social connections and establishing of structures
for meaningful engagement and bottom up generation of practical knowledge and interventions.
In the process, self-empowerment among the participants become possible. We suggest that the
use of farm as a pedagogical resource in Tanzanian rural contexts might be a promising strategy
for strengthening school-community linkages. Strong links with immediate communities are
likely to make schools more effective and relevant. Relevant primary education is an essential
condition for development of sustainable livelihoods.