African Higher Education in Emergencies Network (AHEEN)

AHEEN RDP Pathways project and the transformation of digital pedagogy

Three years ago AHEEN (African Higher Education in Emergencies — www.aheen.net) launched a very ambitious RDP Pathways (Refugee and Displaced Persons) project across our six member universities in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Burundi and South Sudan) and Southern Africa (South Africa). ADUN, in collaboration with MDF Training and Consultancy — an international training and consulting organisation that supports development, education, capacity building, and organisational strengthening — was tasked with leading the digital pedagogy training for lecturers teaching on programmes identified to support RDP students where they are, and with a particular pedagogical sensitivity to their humanitarian contexts. The training was also delivered to the remarkable RLOs (Refugee-Led Organisations) doing tremendous and innovative work in supporting the RDP students participating in the project within their local contexts.

The training programme consisted of interactive webinars, an online course, and subsequently an interactive online resource that anyone involved in teaching and learning support in this space would be able to benefit from. The training was built around the concept of transformation. To teach or design learning effectively in digitally mediated environments for RDP students, educators need to go through four transformations — the heart, the head, the hands, and the emotions:

• Transforming your understanding of the digital RDP context (Heart)
• Transforming your digital RDP pedagogy knowledge (Head)
• Transforming your digital RDP pedagogy skills (Hands)
• Transforming your social-emotional learning / teaching approach (Emotions)

The two-year process of developing and implementing new pedagogical knowledge within this emerging area of higher education was very gratifying — indeed transformative for all participants, but even more so for the ADUN creators. Thinking and working in the RDP space takes practitioners out of their comfort zone and invites creativity and innovation in keeping the success of RDP students front and centre. One also realises that the transformative thinking and practice we advocate for has just as much validity in our own more “traditional” institutions, and many of the resources developed through the project could be fruitfully applied to universities everywhere — but especially in our African higher education contexts.

Visit the AHEEN site

Explore AHEEN’s RDP Digital Teaching workshops — a four-part series on transformative digital teaching for refugee and displaced-person contexts.

Or browse the full set of frameworks, guides and research, including the CHANCE framework, teaching guides, and the augmented webinar series.