Education and conflict: border schools in western Uganda

The thesis considers how the delivery of primary education might be maintained in developing countries during armed conflict. The study is located in western Uganda, a region with a history of iterative conflict. The most recent armed conflict, and the focus of the research, was that perpetrated by the ADF, a mixture of guerrilla warfare and terrorism. The research is conceptualised as an interpretive case study of the delivery of primary education in formal settings affected by iterative armed conflict. Data were collected by observation, documentation and through semi-structured interviews held with primary teachers who had experience of working in schools during recent armed conflict as well as with respondents in other key positions within the national education system of Uganda. The analysis indicates that the work and lives of teachers (seen as essential in affecting the delivery of primary education) in this area of Uganda are located within a complex network of influences which include the demands of the national education system as well as the social contexts within which teachers both live and work. The intrusion of armed conflict interacts with these influences to make the professional lives of teachers even more problematic. Given such competing influences, how should teachers respond? The study considers how a revised model of professionalism, based on autonomy, responsibility and reflection might be of relevance. Such a revised model could help teachers to make decisions in conditions when direct managerial control is not available, thereby contributing to the maintenance of primary education