School-based teacher development in Sub-Saharan Africa: building a new research agenda

This article is derived from a keynote presentation to an international conference of teacher education held in South Africa in August 2005 and a symposium presentation at AERA in April 2006. The paper analyses a number of research projects carried out by the author in collaboration with academics in a number of African Universities (note: the AERA paper was produced with a lead academic from the University of Fort Hare in South Africa). The structure of the analysis, particularly in respect of the necessity for school-based teaching and exploration of ICTs, has been the focus of seminar presentations to a number of national governments (viz. Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda) and to international organisations (viz. UNESCO, The World Bank). The paper is presented in a special edition of the journal focussing on school based teacher development