What works in citizenship and values education : attitudes of high school leavers towards the Itorero training in post-genocide Rwanda

Abstract: This piece of research contributes to the existing literature on citizenship and values education practices in post-conflict contexts. It set out to investigate ways in which high school leavers (HSLs) appreciate Itorero – a non-formal citizenship and values education platform in post-genocide Rwanda. The purpose of the study was also to establish the best predictor of the success of Itorero training according to HSLs’ perceptions. The research to be reported here used a survey questionnaire and focus groups with HSLs. It is revealed that while HSLs are happy with the content, they seem to be displeased with the quality of trainers, organization and training environment. The article also shows that the factor “trainers” consistute the best predictor of the success of Itorero. This finding raises serious concerns because Itorero trainers are seen as deficient in a number of ways. The article raises the question of trainers preparation in citizenship and values education. We argue that there is a tendency to neglect this aspect and assume that everyone can contribute to citizenship and values education. We maintain that the quality of trainers is critical for optimal results in citizenship and values education

Identification and critique of the citizenship notion informing the Itorero training scheme for high school leavers in post-genocide Rwanda

There is a dearth of research on citizenship education in post-genocide countries. The present article investigates the citizenship concept informing Itorero, a non-formal citizenship education platform meant for High School Leavers (hereafter HSLs) in post-genocide Rwanda. To this end, the paper engages with classical notions of citizenship (civic republicanism, liberalism and communitarianism), and modern ones (cosmopolitanism and radical democracy) in a bid to identify the notion deemed preferable to competing notions. It is revealed that the Itorero training relies heavily on the civic republican/communitarian concepts of citizenship. The paper argues that while these concepts contain constructive elements, such as fostering courage, self-sacrifice, patriotism, connectedness, and common good concern, excessive pursuit of this citizenship model might not be helpful for post-genocide Rwanda. The civic republican/communitarian paradigm – as it is practiced in Itorerotraining – is likely to produce uncritical, docile, dependent, short-sighted and child-like citizens; it encourages fanaticism.

Variability of study skills in higher education: The case of Rwanda undergraduate students at National Police College

This study extends knowledge production about students’ study skills in higher education. It is intended to unpack variations among undergraduate students’ study skills based on demographic characteristics. The article uses a comparative cross-sectional design drawing on a survey questionnaire distributed among 398 students of three programs of study at the University of Rwanda (UR), National Police College (NPC). These are Professional Police Studies (PPS), Law and Computer Science (CS) with the option of Information Security. Results indicate that students’ features primarily gender, age, marital status, year of study, program of study and working experience are relevant categories to study skills. These features were found to have an effect on all study skills investigated except gender which influence test preparation and test-taking only. We argue that strategies for improving study skills at all levels of higher education should take cognizance of students’ demographic features

'No-One Can Tell a Story Better than the One Who Lived It': Reworking Constructions of Childhood and Trauma Through the Arts in Rwanda

The intergenerational legacies of conflict and violence for children and young people are typically approached within research and interventions through the lens of trauma. Understandings of childhood and trauma are based on bio-psychological frameworks emanating from the Global North, often at odds with the historical, political, economic, social and cultural contexts in which interventions are enacted, and neglect the diversity of knowledge, experiences and practices. Within this paper we explore these concerns in the context of Rwanda and the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. We reflect on two qualitative case studies: Connective Memories and Mobile Arts for Peace which both used arts-based approaches drawing on the richness of Rwandan cultural forms, such as proverbs and storytelling practices, to explore knowledge and processes of meaning-making about trauma, memory, and everyday forms of conflict from the perspectives of children and young people. We draw on these findings to argue that there is a need to refine and elaborate understandings of intergenerational transmission of trauma in Rwanda informed by: the historical and cultural context; intersections of structural and ‘everyday’ forms of conflict and social trauma embedded in intergenerational relations; and a reworking of notions of trauma ‘transmission’ to encompass the multiple connectivities between generations, temporalities and expressions of trauma