They own this: Mother tongue instruction for indigenous Kuku Children in Southern Sudan

Abstract

This article details a pilot program of mother tongue instruction in five primary schools for classes one through three, in Kajokeji County, Central Equatoria State, South Sudan. The program was launched by teachers and volunteers with the support of the Jesuit Refugee Service, an international non-governmental organization. The research examines how mother tongue education impacted teaching and learning during one academic term. The article discusses the reasons for mother tongue education in Kajokeji, the implementation methods, the results of the pilot effort, and implications for educational personnel working with indigenous populations in Kajokeji, in South Sudan, and across the World.

Keywords

Academic performance language of instruction mother tongue South Sudan literacy education indigenous native language

For more than 50 years, academic researchers and policy agencies in sub-Saharan Africa have recommended the use of mother tongue (MT) instruction either instead of or alongside instruction in former colonial languages in primary education (UNESCO, 1953). Instruction in one’s native language, or in a lingua franca spoken and understood by most members of a region, has been linked to benefits including improved teaching and academic progress in both the first and second language (Heugh, 2006). On the other hand, teaching in former-colonial languages, which is the most common practice, contributes to lower academic achievement, and to the continued economic and intellectual marginalization of the continent as a whole. As Okonkwo (1983) writes:

There is little doubt that the systematic but frequently ignored differences between the language and culture of the school and the language and culture of the learner’s community have often resulted in educational programs with only marginal success at teaching anything except self-depreciation. (p. 377)

In South Sudan, mother tongue education is practically nonexistent, despite being the official policy of the South Sudan Ministry of Education. The first formal schools, under British colonial rule, used MT instruction for the early grades. However, largely because of several decades of civil war (1953–1972, 1983–2005), primary school students have not benefited from the positive effects of MT education for virtually 50 years.

This article details a pilot program of MT instruction in five government-run public schools in Kajokeji County in Central Equatoria State, South Sudan. Kajokeji is home almost exclusively to the Kuku people, whose native language is Bari. A 2008 census counted 196,422 residents of Kajokeji county. Although exact numbers are not available, it is assumed that by 2012 the population will have increased above this count as the flow of returnees from Uganda has been steady following the end of the most recent conflict in 2005 (Echo Bravo, 2010).

The program described here was carried out by teachers and volunteers from the local indigenous community with the support of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), a non-governmental organization (NGO) which has been working in Kajokeji County since 2005. This research specifically addresses early findings on how MT instruction impacts teaching and learning in the pilot schools. The importance of MT education in this particular context, the methods used for MT education implementation, the results of the effort thus far, and implications for those working in schools with indigenous populations are also discussed.

Why mother tongue?

Most sub-Saharan African schools operate in former colonial languages in which neither teachers nor students are fully fluent (Ouane & Glanz, 2010). There are many historical, political, and psychological reasons for why the former colonial languages have largely been retained. A commonly cited reason is that these colonial languages are a key to economic opportunity in a globalized world. It is assumed that maximizing students’ exposure to these languages will yield the maximum proficiency in them. Meanwhile, a fundamental pedagogical principle is that new knowledge and concepts are best built on a foundation of already existing understanding. When education from the earliest grade levels takes place only in a foreign language, this process becomes virtually impossible. Indeed, research has shown that early literacy and content areas are best taught in a child’s mother tongue (Cummins, 2000; Dutcher, 1995).

Notably absent in typical sub-Saharan schools are student-centered instructional approaches widely recognized as conducive to learning (i.e., use of differentiation techniques, open-ended questioning, student-driven inquiry, and cooperative activities; see Brock-Utne & Alidou, 2006). While one might suppose that increasing teacher training in student-centered approaches would address this problem, research has shown that simply having teachers conduct instruction in the local mother tongue can also have a positive impact on teachers’ ability to tailor instruction to meet students’ needs (Benson, 2005).

One reason that enhanced teacher training might not be enough to solve the problem of improved instruction is that the majority of teachers have not themselves mastered the former-colonial languages. With their expression and creativity limited by the unfamiliar language, teachers often use what Rubagumya (2003, p.152) calls ‘safe talk’. This is where teachers speak and write words and phrases aloud that have been copied from teaching guides. Young students who are not yet fluent in the language dutifully repeat the sounds they hear, or copy the symbols written on the chalkboard, but remain unable to formulate sentences of their own. A minority of students might eventually become literate, but most remain confused and frustrated throughout their school years (Benson, 2005). Teachers may sense the confusion and furtively switch back into the local language to provide more in depth explanations, but assignments and assessments continue to be conducted in the unfamiliar colonial language.

Baker (2006) and Heugh (2006) argue that teachers operating in a mother tongue are able to interact more naturally with students, answering their questions with greater ease, and giving students more of a voice during discussions and activities in which meaning is being negotiated. These positive impacts of MT instruction on teaching practice were documented by Francis Lavoie (2008) in Burkina Faso. Lavoie observed far more role-playing, dramatizations, singing, and drawings in the bilingual classrooms compared to the French-only exemplars, and attributed this to the increased proficiency of teachers and students in the language of instruction. Additionally, studies of the Malian Pedagogie Convergente (PC) program (Fomba et al., 2003 as cited Dembele and Lefoka, 2007), the Zambian Primary Reading Program (Sampa, 2003) and Ecoles Bilingues in Burkina Faso (Ilboudo, 2003) indicated that student-centered instruction is more commonly found when instruction occurs in languages familiar to both students and teachers.

These studies also found that MT instruction helps to make education more relevant to students’ home cultures by integrating the school with the surrounding community. Teachers using mother tongue can more easily and effectively integrate local expertise and indigenous knowledge systems into the formal curriculum. Researchers of schools using MT instruction have further observed more community-based projects in which parents can become involved, and noted that parents are better able to monitor and reinforce children’s learning when they can access it through the local language (Brock-Utne & Alidou, 2006). Finally, MT instruction is also connected to increased student involvement in learning. Lavoie’s 2008 study in Burkina Faso found that in bilingual classrooms, students are more motivated, more connected to their teachers, and more involved in their studies. Girls in particular have been seen to participate more in class, attend more frequently, and stay in school longer when they are taught in their mother tongue (Benson, 2005).

Additionally, there is evidence that MT instruction may increase academic achievement. In Mali, the PC program was launched in 1987. MT language played a central instructional role in PC during early grades. In a study of exam results from 1994 to 2000, Traoré (2001) found that PC students outperformed their French-only counterparts every year except one. In addition, grade repetition rates were far lower, just 3.7% in PC in 2000 compared to 18.1% in French-only schools (Bender, Diarra, Koffi, & Ziegler, 2007). Similarly, 2002 English exam results in Zambia improved dramatically after the introduction of the Breakthrough Literacy Project, which uses MT instruction in early grades (Sampa, 2003). And in Burkina Faso, the Ecoles Bilingues program yielded a primary school pass rate of 85%, compared to the national average of 62% (Ilboudo, 2003).

Mother tongue education can refer to the language-of-instruction (LoI), meaning that teachers use the mother tongue to communicate with students in the different subject areas. It can also refer to instruction in the mother tongue, in which literacy in the language itself is the subject (referred to as LaS or Literacy-as-Subject). Both LoI and LaS are essential components to any mother tongue program, and have been linked to student-centered culturally-relevant teaching, as well as to improved student participation and performance. There are three main advantages to using mother tongue not only as a language of instruction (i.e., LoI), but also including it as a subject of study (i.e., LaS). First of all, there are cultural advantages; according to Baker (2006) learning to read and write in a mother tongue improves the likelihood of the survival of a language that might be threatened. Second, research has shown that a foundation of vocabulary, spelling, and reading in a first language is a strong predictor of success in reading in the second language (Cummins, 1979). Conversely, if a child does not develop sufficient literacy skills in her or his first language before attempting to build them in a second, cognitive development will likely be hampered. Supporting students’ positive cognitive development is the third documented advantage to teaching mother tongue as a subject.

Why mother tongue in Kajokeji county?

Kajokeji is a peaceful county compared to other areas in South Sudan, but it is not without its share of difficulties. The economy is dependent largely on agriculture, but the roads leading to areas where food can be sold are not reliably maintained. In 2011, the rainy season was late by over one-month, leading to food shortages. Land disputes are common due to a lack of maps; there is even an ongoing disagreement over the boundary with Uganda. And, as with many parts of South Sudan, rates of malaria, HIV, and child mortality are high (UNICEF, 2011).

Additionally, the education sector faces many challenges. More than half of the primary schools have at least one permanent classroom building; however, the structures in place are rarely enough to fit the growing number of Kukus who are returning to Kajokeji from exile consequent to the most recent conflict. Many schools do not have sufficient books, latrines, desks, or water. Further, in early 2010, there were school closures due to teacher strikes caused by unified reaction to late and underpaid salaries. Midway through the year, many teachers were transferred between schools, or ‘downsized’ (fired). This disrupted the schedules and class allocations, as well as the relationships between teachers, students, and communities. Then, towards the end of the year, many teachers were recruited to help with the January 2011 referendum, in which Southern Sudan voted to secede from the north. Schools were left with only a fraction of their regular teaching staff for several months. These factors, combined with quick population growth due to continued post-war resettlement, have contributed to overcrowded classrooms (Echo Bravo, 2010).

A 2010 independent evaluation of government schools supported by JRS found that teachers were ineffective due to a lack of subject area knowledge, over-reliance on teacher-centered instructional approaches, and an overall lack of training (Echo Bravo, 2010). Some of these problems are direct outcomes of the civil wars. Many teachers were trained in Uganda, and the government of South Sudan does not always accept their credentials. This means that if they do manage to get hired as teachers, their wages often do not correspond to their qualifications. Many eventually quit and find more rewarding work, but because their names are still ‘in the system,’ the central government can be slow to replace them. These types of bureaucratic mistakes inevitably leave schools understaffed.

JRS, UNICEF, local officials, and other NGOs have been working to address many of these challenges for the past several years by training and supporting teachers, building schools, giving supplies to students and teachers, installing rain water harvesting systems, building latrines, paying school fees for vulnerable children, and sensitizing parents to the importance of education, particularly for girls. Since the end of the war in 2006, more than 30 schools have been built, over 100 teachers have been trained, and many thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies have been given to teachers and students. Nevertheless, it is clear that much work remains to be done toward improving classroom learning in Kajokeji.

In Kajokeji, English is the primary language of instruction in nursery, primary, and secondary school, yet mother tongue is used regularly at every level of government schools for actual teaching. Some private schools insist on English and even inflict corporal punishment when students speak in mother tongue on school property. Instructional practices in Kajokeji resemble those described by researchers in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa: Concepts are explained in MT and then written on the chalkboard in English. Students in Kajokeji copy whatever is written into their notebooks and later attempt to memorize it in preparation for exams. English classes in Kajokeji represent children’s only exposure to literacy skills; yet there are few actual skills being taught. Children learn vocabulary in a choral response format. These new words come from the textbooks, and are grouped thematically, not according to phonetics. For example, hair, foot, and arm might be introduced on the same day, including practice in saying them and copying the way they are written from the chalkboard. Yet no explicit instruction is given on the sounds in these words or the connection of these sounds to the letters embedded in the words. Furthermore, children and teachers in English classes across the county rarely use books in class, despite the fact that many schools have them locked away in the storage room.

Building classrooms and latrines, training teachers, and giving out books are not enough if the children in Kajokeji do not learn how to read. In an assessment of literacy conducted by JRS in June 2011, 90% of students in grades 2 through 4 were unable to read simple words such as head and body. Children who had written pages of notes from the chalkboard in their exercise books could not name the letters in the words they had written, or even read the words for themselves. The current system of inconsistent LoI and an absence of literacy instruction leaves students particularly stranded when they reach the fourth grade (P4). For primary classes 1 through 3, teachers orally translate exams into MT for students and then fill in answers that students can express orally. In P4, students are expected to be able to read their own exams, write their own sentences, or complete complicated grammar exercises. Not surprisingly, the P4 classes in Kajokeji are overcrowded with students forced to repeat the grade because they failed their exams. Their only exposure to literacy has been in a language that they do not speak and that they have not been taught explicitly how to read or write. As demonstrated by the research of Thomas and Collier (1997), merely improving the teaching of literacy in English is not enough when it is not the student’s native language. There are less than half as many children in 7th grade as there are in 1st grade. Many drop out before reaching secondary school; even those who persevere and finish 7th grade are unable to express themselves in writing or acquire knowledge through reading.

Kajokeji is well positioned to implement MT instruction thanks to the linguistic uniformity of the population and the value placed on education by the Kuku people (Echo Bravo, 2010). The region also benefits from the availability of basic readers and teacher guides in mother tongue that have been created by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), an international NGO specializing in mother tongue literacy. Furthermore, because the government of Central Equatoria State has put MT as LoI and as LaS in the curriculum for the new country’s syllabus, a supportive policy environment is in place at the state and national level. This is also an important step towards successful implementation of a MT program (State Ministry of Education, 2010).

Implementation of LoI and LaS

Partner agency

JRS has been working with the Kuku population for ten years, both in refugee camps in Uganda (2001–2005) and in Kajokeji (2006–2011). JRS currently supports 25 primary and five secondary schools in Kajokeji County through a variety of programs, including construction, provision of scholastic materials, support and supervision for teachers and administrators, teacher training, scholarships for students and teachers, and collaborative consultation with government officials.

Program and schools

During the 2010 school year, several headmasters expressed interest in implementing MT instruction in their schools. Some of these headmasters had been educated in MT, either in South Sudan before the second war or as refugees in Uganda. They felt that MT education benefited them and they wanted the same for the students in their schools. All of the headmasters had noticed a problem with reading in the classroom and in the examinations. Thus, they decided that a mother tongue instruction program might help.

In early 2011, the research team met with these headmasters, community elders, and government officials. It was agreed that a preliminary program would be designed wherein finances would be the responsibility of the schools and parents, supervision of teachers would be the responsibility of headmasters and government officials, and teaching materials would be provided through JRS in cooperation with Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Next, the above parties met with the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) of schools that had expressed interest in the program. Both groups overwhelmingly supported the program at these meetings. In schools where no teacher was qualified to teach Bari, the parent organizations agreed to pay additional school fees that would be used to hire part-time Bari teachers. This practice of hiring ‘volunteer’ teachers paid by parents is common throughout schools in the county due to the low numbers of available government teachers for the high student population.

As Table 1 shows, the training levels of the Bari teachers is on a par with that of other teachers in Kajokeji schools supported by JRS, especially for lower primary classes (see Table 1, Bari teacher education/training levels versus average for teachers at their schools and JRS supported schools).

Table 1.

Descriptive data of Bari pilot schools

Pilot school name	Student population	Number of Bari teachers and who pays them	Teachers training levels*: Bari (and school average)
Kinyiba Girls	172	3, government	Grade III, in-service, (In-service)
Leikor	475	2, government	Senior 2, Grade III, (Grade III)
Modikolok	500	2, volunteer	Intermediate 2, Senior 3, (In-service)
Jalimo	614	1, volunteer	Intermediate (In-service)
Kajokeji Town	529	1, volunteer	Diploma** (In-service)
Average school in Kajokeji	337	N/A	(In-service)

Training levels are as follows (in order of years of education): Intermediate; Senior 1, 2, 3; O Level, A Level, In-Service (some teacher training course beyond Intermediate or Secondary School), Grade III (a certificate program in education), Grade V (a diploma in education.).

Teacher has a diploma in theology.

The schools that expressed interest in the pilot program have more students than the average school in Kajokeji County (see Table 1, student populations). This is because they are closer to population centers. An exception is Kinyiba Girls, which is in a remote area, and serves only girls. This is why its student population is smaller than the other pilot schools. The large populations of the pilot schools helped them to implement the program, as more children means that more school fees are collected, and therefore more money is available to pay volunteer teachers, including Bari teachers. There are three other schools supported by JRS within the county who were included in the control group whose populations mirror or exceed that of the Bari pilot schools.

Bari instruction, both LaS and LoI, began in the pilot schools in February, 2011, the start of the new academic year. Bari LaS teachers used alphabet story books provided by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and they also created their own alphabet and basic phoneme charts for their classrooms. As Marshall (2010) describes, implementation of MT both as LoI and as LaS requires creative use of available materials, and this program was no exception. In order to assess their instruction, Bari teachers from all five schools collaborated to create an examination which measured the information that they had taught over the first term.

In this pilot program, participating schools were encouraged to use mother tongue as a LoI and as a LaS for primary classes 1 through 3. Research has clearly documented that the benefits of mother tongue instruction can only really accrue after more than three years of instruction, before transition to ‘English-only’ (Heugh, 2006; Thomas & Collier, 1997). Because of its focus on only the early primary classes, this program is a first step into successful practice and should not be taken as a comprehensive solution on its own. More emphasis was put on creating and monitoring LaS classes, as MT had already been unofficially used as LoI. Bari is one of the more common languages in South Sudan, and MT education in Kajokeji had always been in Bari (State Ministry of Education, 2010).

Throughout the program’s implementation, the researchers and Bari teachers sought to include county level officials in all meetings and discussions. Officials participated in early meetings with parent and community groups, promoted MT instruction in meetings with education stakeholders, and liaised with the state government on long-term implementation plans.

Assessing teaching and learning

Throughout the first trimester of 2011 (14-weeks), instruction in the Bari pilot classrooms was observed, documented, and compared with practices observed in 20 non-pilot schools supported by JRS. Classes in primary grades 1 through 4 were observed, at least two times each, for the duration of each class period (between 30–70 minutes), in each school (Note: Each school has one class per grade level, so each grade was observed as a class two times). Observations were conducted by JRS staff, including the researchers, using a qualitative scoring guide designed by the NGO and used for the past several years within the organization. This tool has space for observer-feedback on lesson preparation, presentation, class management, and assessment. Additionally, photos and videos were taken of teachers in action. The data from these assessments were analysed by the researchers for thematic and concrete (verbal, photographic, paper-based) evidence of active, cooperative, culturally-sensitive, student-centered learning as described by the other researchers.

Towards the end of the trimester Bari and English LaS teachers, for primary classes 1 through 3 (P1–P3), completed questionnaires asking them to reflect on their own instruction. These questionnaires asked them to write about what they had been teaching, their favorite lesson of the term, and their estimate of how many students they believed would pass the examination at the end of the term. The data collected in the questionnaires supplemented the information gathered from observations. At the end of the term, results from county-wide exams were also gathered from both pilot and non-pilot JRS-supported schools for comparison. Finally, the data from an unrelated early literacy assessment conducted by the JRS Primary Department, which asked students in eight non-pilot schools to identify letters in a chart, were compared to the data from Bari pupils completing the same letter-identification task. The average number of letters identified in non-pilot schools was then compared to the averages in pilot schools.

Pilot program progress

Bari as LoI in the P1–P3 subject area classes proved more challenging to implement because all available textbooks are in English, and teachers rely heavily on these to prepare lessons. Despite encouragement from headmasters to conduct instruction and assessment in Bari, teachers were either unable or unwilling to deviate from the books. Even though content was translated and explained orally into Bari, class notes, formal, and informal assessments remained in English. In fact, as mentioned, this is the de facto practice in most schools in Kajokeji, and so in this regard, in spite of the pilot program’s intentions, many of the pilot school subject-area classrooms (mathematics, science, social studies, agriculture) did not differ much from the non-pilot schools. Bari as LaS, on the other hand, was successfully implemented in all five schools. Findings for teaching, learning, and performance in Bari LaS classrooms and some further details on Bari as LoI are described below.

Classroom observations revealed that teachers in both English and Bari LaS classes made use of a choral-response teaching format, in which the teacher asks a question of the class, and students are expected to respond in unison with a certain word or phrase. However, the data collected indicate that English classes relied more heavily on this technique (Table 2 and Table 3). Furthermore, Bari teachers were more likely to first ask a pupil to say the word written on the board, then repeat what the pupil had said, and then ask the class to repeat in chorus what he said. English speaking teachers, with one exception, always read the word and had students repeat it. While both Bari and English speaking teachers drew pictures of new vocabulary words on the board, Bari teachers were more likely to use these drawings to connect with children’s experience.

Table 2.

Classroom observations of Bari language teachers versus English language teachers*

Bari teachers (N = 9)**	English teachers (N = 23)
Presentation	Choral response; mixed questioning drawings of new words; acting singing, good use of teaching aids (posters, objects etc.); physical activity incorporated; early literacy instruction (letters, phonemes, words, writing); at most, three new words introduced; lecture format, spontaneous student participation	Choral response; low level questioning; drawings of new words; use of teaching aids (posters, objects, etc.); early literacy instruction (letters, words, writing); at most, eight new words introduced, lecture format
Class management	Calling on students individually, moving throughout classroom, occasional verbal reminders to pay attention	Calling on students individually, moving throughout classroom, frequent verbal reminders to pay attention
Assessment	Mixed level questions posed throughout lesson, written work in exercise books, on chalkboard, games, contests	Low level questions posed throughout lesson, written work in exercise books, on chalkboard

These are based on comments written by JRS Primary Education Team during observations of classes.

Number of teachers observed are written in parentheses.

Table 3.

Observation of mathematics class: Teachers using Bari language versus English language as mode of instruction (LoI)

Teaching in Bari (N = 5)	Teaching in English (N = 20)
Presentation	Choral response, chalkboard work, use of learning, teaching aids	Choral response, chalkboard work
Management	Girls raising hands as much as boys
Assessment	Written exercises	Written exercises

Bari language classrooms, and classrooms using Bari as the LoI, were more interactive, differentiated and likely to have meaningful forms of presentation and assessment. There was more movement, such as learning new words through dance and gestures, and better use of teaching aids such as flash cards and phoneme charts. Teachers did not have to stop and translate into Bari and then back into English, so the lessons flowed more smoothly from one part to the next. There appeared to be fewer behavior problems from students, which also meant fewer interruptions in the instruction. Bari teachers also appeared to have a more realistic expectation for what students could learn during a class period, for example targeting three words per lesson rather than eight (see Table 2).

Bari language classes (LaS) focused more on appropriate level literacy skills than did the English classes. Bari teachers taught not only the sounds and shapes of individual letters, but also basic phonemes that act as building blocks for words. Whereas English classes in P1 through P3 taught vocabulary or polite oral English, Bari language class for P1 through P3 taught students how to read. This unique finding builds on the additional benefits that MT LaS might have for Kuku children, especially given the current low reading level of children in Kajokeji primary schools.

For assessment of learning, English teachers relied more on safe talk, such as I am going to church. I am going to where? (Answer, in unison: Church!). This technique might suggest that learning has taken place, but in fact it does not allow teachers to assess whether students understand or are simply repeating sounds they have just heard. It also makes individualized assessment impossible. English teachers also tended to write questions on the board whose answers were written right next to the question itself. Thus, the written assessments only checked children’s abilities to copy sequences of letters from the board. There was no evidence of creative thinking or literacy skills beyond copying (See Tables 2 and 3). When asked later by their teachers or the JRS observers, most students were unable to read back or explain what they had written in their own notes.

Instead of relying on safe talk and safe chalk, some Bari teachers used games, like having children match upper and lower case letters written on cards, to assess learning. In addition, Bari teachers asked varied questions throughout their lessons. These questions drew on children’s own experience yet managed to tie into the lesson at hand. For example (translated to the researcher by the Bari teacher afterwards):

Teacher: Have you ever been to the river close by to here?

Student A: Yes, it’s the small one near to Poni’s house.

Student B: It is a small river.

Student C: With lots of rocks!

Teacher: Yes, there is a special word for this type of small river, with lots of rocks, and it has the same sound as these other words we are learning: KA.

Children wrote words in their notebooks that were connected with a story, a drawing, an action—or sometimes all three. When asked about what they had written, children were able to explain.

Bari language teachers demonstrated an understanding of students’ progress not only over the course of a lesson, but also over the course of the term. On their end-of -term questionnaires, various English teachers estimated that between the 40% and 90% of their students would pass the final exam, with 90% being the most common estimate. Bari teachers estimated that between 40% and 50% would pass, with 50% being the most common estimate. When the results came in, Bari language students passed at a rate of around 50%, while students of English language passed their exams at a rate of less than 30%.

Observations in English LoI classes revealed that when teachers questioned students about material covered earlier in the lesson, students would randomly call out a recently mentioned word. In one geography class, the teacher pointed to the word river and asked what it said. Students guessed lake, mountain, and plateau—all words that had been introduced that day—before arriving at the correct word. In Bari LoI and LaS classrooms on the other hand, children asked spontaneous questions throughout lessons and were likely to respond accurately to questions about recently covered content. Documentation of classroom observations indicated that, in Bari classrooms, teachers and students shared more laughter, and that girls were more likely to volunteer answers than in English LoI and LaS classes.

When the time came for end-of-term exams, Bari students outscored English-only students in letter identification in all grades (see Table 4). While this was a fairly simple exercise, identifying a letter is a prerequisite to sounding out a word, and sounding out words allows one to make meaning out of text, even when the words are unfamiliar. Thus, it appeared that students learning Bari LaS had an advantage. Third grade students, who had not had any Bari LaS instruction, were able to identify only slightly less than half of the letters (41% girls, 48% boys, see Table 4). On the other hand, students who had been taught Bari for one trimester could identify 70% (girls) or 86% (boys) of the letters.

Table 4.

Early literacy: Students’ letter recognition ability in pilot versus non-pilot schools percentage of letters read correctly

School	P1		P2		P3
School	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys
Bari Schools (816 students assessed)	40%	40%	50%	45%	70%	86%
Non-Bari schools (480 students assessed)	5%	11%	12%	15%	41%	48%

However, on the subject area exams, no major differences appeared between students who had Bari as LaS and those who had not (see Table 5). This could be because the exams were given in English and then translated and administered orally at a school level, so all students had the benefit of being examined in MT. Bari is fairly widely used as a de-facto LoI across the schools in Kajokeji County, so it may also be that using examination results to determine how MT as LoI helps students’ overall performance in Kajokeji is not a good indicator. This question would be better answered if LoI was consistent (the language spoken was the language on the chalkboard) in pilot schools versus non-pilot schools and if exams were in MT.

Table 5.

Term 1 exam passing rates of students in pilot and non-pilot schools

School	P1 % of Students Passing		P2 % of Students Passing		P3 % of Students Passing
School	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys
Bari Schools (816 students)	64	66	95	94	95	90
Non-Bari schools (1,471 students)	68	68	96	94	88	81

Implications

Implications for Kajokeji county and South Sudan

This was a short term pilot study, lasting only for one 14-week trimester. The observed benefits to teaching and learning might be attributable in part to the enthusiasm of the participants at being involved in this initiative. At the same time, there are reasons to believe that this enthusiasm might not be a temporary phenomenon. MT instruction in Kajokeji has been embraced by students, parents, teachers, and government officials. Over the course of the term, word spread throughout the county that the pilot program was taking place. Five additional schools began implementing MT instruction on their own, and many more have expressed interest for the second term and for next school year. As of July 2011, county level education leaders in Kajokeji were looking for ways to add volunteer Bari teachers to the schools’ official payrolls. They have also committed to adding Bari to the official examinations for all 79 primary schools in the county—both as a subject and as the language of examination for grades P1-P3.

As South Sudan sets out as an independent nation, this program offers a concrete example of how one county has taken ownership of its education system. As the new nation continues to develop, bottom-up efforts such as this one have the potential to demonstrate to central government figures what is possible and how well-intentioned but under-resourced polices can be implemented. MT instruction has the potential to support academic achievement and to accelerate social and economic development. For this reason, it is our recommendation that implementation of MT instruction become an educational priority at the national level in South Sudan.

At the same time, the latest research on MT education makes it clear that the model set forth in South Sudan’s national curriculum is not ambitious enough to yield lasting benefits. The official policy of terminating MT instruction after P3 is a subtractive approach. Heugh (2006), Thomas and Collier (1997), and many others argue convincingly that maximum benefits to students can be obtained through a late-exit, additive approach, in which MT is maintained as LoI and LaS for at least six years, preferably even longer in an under-resourced setting (Heugh, 2006). Colonial languages can be introduced as LaS once a solid literacy foundation exists in the MT, and eventually, students can transition to using the former-colonial language as LoI. A model such as this one would serve South Sudan better than the current practice.

Implications for those working in schools

School psychologists are in an excellent position to aid in this type of programming because of their unique training in research, data collection, working with parents, and knowledge of the needs of learners. At the same time, a program like this runs the risk of being ‘owned’ by outside experts. Given the dearth of native school psychologists in most parts of Africa (Cook, Jimerson, & Begeny, 2010; Jimerson, Stewart, Skokut, Cardenas, & Malone, 2009), it is likely that a practitioner initiating such a program in a sub-Saharan school with indigenous children would be considered an outsider. As Pfaffe (1995) has stated:

The issue of literacy and schooling must be seen within the broader context of human rights and self development. Within such a framework, the main objective will be to achieve empowerment with dignity. In order to achieve such a goal, any form of handout must be regarded as detrimental to the overall philosophy of creating self-sufficiency for the target group. (p. 46)

When an outsider is involved, a ‘handout mentality’ may ensue and a dependency relationship generated. And yet, if MT education is truly ‘owned’ by the community, then researchers may encounter challenges in creating a sound study. While many education stakeholders in Kajokeji have expressed their support for this program, their reasons have been different from those of the researchers. Instead of thinking in terms of pedagogy, assessment, and participation that one might wish to improve, the thoughts of the indigenous populace have often focused on ensuring that children stay connected to their local culture through knowledge of the language. These goals are not necessarily opposed but can lead to confusion in implementation. Perhaps one reason that this pilot program has enjoyed as much support is that it was not created by the researchers, but grew from the instincts of teachers, parents and community elders.

With MT education in South Sudan, there is a possibility for a powerful synergy between best educational practices and the authentic goals of a community. In Kajokeji, this has certainly been the case. School psychologists are well suited to advocate for such programs, and given the abundance of research demonstrating the value of MT instruction, in collaboration with communities, they should do so.

This advocacy could be in the form of further research, or it could be more applied, through consultation and collaboration with government officials, heads of schools, and teachers. Finally, the types of issues discussed in this final section and the possible role school psychologists may play are also raised in the other pieces in this special edition. These include Indigenous Australians (Yeung, Craven, & Ali, 2013); rural Javanese villagers in Indonesia specifically post natural disaster (Seyle, Widyatmoko, & Cohen Silver, 2012); the Maori in New Zealand (Little, Akin-Little, & Johansen, 2013); Native American students in the USA (Fryberg, Covarrubias, & Burack, 2013); and the Naskapi youth of Canada (Burack and colleagues, 2013). Readers are strongly encouraged to review these other articles particularly if they are working with indigenous populations in both rural and urban areas.

Footnotes

Notes

Ana Isabel Laguarda was an Assistant Primary Education Coordinator for Jesuit Refugee Service, South Sudan. She is now working as a School Psychologist for Salem Community Charter School in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. She earned her MA and Certificate in Advanced Graduate Study in school psychology from Tufts University in Medford, MA in 2006 and is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist in the USA. Address: 1 Manning Street, Apartment 2, Ipswich, MA, 01938, USA. Email: Laguarda@post.harvard.edu

Walter Pierce Woodward was an Assistant Project Director for Jesuit Refugee Service, South Sudan. He is now working as a teacher for Community Day Public Charter School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He earned a MA in secondary English education from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Address: 1 Manning Street, Apartment 2, Ipswich, MA, 01938, USA.

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