Gender and Learning in Rwanda

An account of the establishment of an innovative and culture-shifting approach to leading and managing cultural change in Rwanda, following the devastating Genocide of 1994.

This book shows how a feminist approach to education in an innovative Master's program in Gender, Culture and Development at the Kigali Institute of Education fostered a critical approach to the development of an inclusive society and supported the role of women as leaders in Rwanda.

The book contains the scholarly reflections of the academics invited to implement and teach the program from 2011, and the accounts and recollections of the first students to undertake the course.

This book presents an unparalleled mix of aspiration and achievement, of feminist theory and practice. It does not claim to be complete or final, nor is it a snapshot of a single point in time. It falls into two parts. One part containing scholarly chapters written academics involved in developing and teaching in the innovative Master's program in Gender, Culture and development offered from 2011 at the Kigali Institute of Education in Rwanda. The second part contains statements written by students in the first cohort, most of which have been revised and updated. All the contributions are informed by a set of common experiences, but each writer presents her (or his) own perspective. This is most clearly evident in the short chapters written by the women who brought their diverse scholarly backgrounds together in their passion for the scholarly development of other women and men, in an empowering, feminist, educational experience. This mix of experiences and the diversity of writings make the book a challenging read and an invaluable resource for anyone interested in research-based approaches to social change, the weaving of personal experience into scholarly reflections, and in insights into leaders in working towards gender equality, a policy area which affects social relationships throughout a society, including at the most intimate level.

Professor Shirley Randell AO, PhD was the founding director of the Centre for Gender, Culture and Development at the Kigali Institute of Education. After over 20 years of senior policy and administrative work at Commonwealth, State and Local Government levels in Australia, she has provided specialist technical assistance to governments and agencies in Africa and the Asia Pacific Region over the last 20 years. She is a leading expert in public sector and institutional reform, teacher education, gender mainstreaming and human rights in developing countries. ORCiD: https: //orcid.org/0000-0003-0140-355X

Hilary Yerbury has worked on programs to support the development of researchers, both as students and as established academics. Appointed Adjunct Professor and formerly Associate Professor in Information Management at the University of Technology Sydney, she brings a diverse background in European social and political cultures, anthropology, librarianship and development studies to the important topic of the use of information in everyday decision-making and in social change. She is a passionate supporter of open access scholarly publishing and a mentor to young scholars. She has extensive experience in working with young people on development issues. ORCiD: https: //orcid.org/0000-0002-1525-3268

Astrid Escrig-Pinol is a lecturer and researcher, with a PhD in Public Health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research interests meet at the intersection of gender, migration, and health, using research as a tool to promote social justice and health equity. Astrid has an MA in Critical International Development Studies and a BA in Journalism. Professionally, she has extensive experience in qualitative research, teaching, and knowledge transfer and exchange. ORCiD: https: //orcid.org/0000-0001-9615-2110