School of Education Professor, MacGregor, Empowers Students in Africa

04/21/16

In Cameroon, sub-Saharan Africa, there are only three doctoral programs in the field of education. College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) professor S. Kim MacGregor helped create one of them.

The PhD in business administration was pre-existing when MacGregor visited the Information and Communication Technology University (ICT-U) in Yaounde, Cameroon in September 2014. From there, she helped the university develop a full-fledged curriculum for a PhD in the Science of Education.

MacGregor’s connection with the university began in 2013, when she provided consulting for the development of the new doctoral program. Since then, MacGregor has maintained a close relationship with the school and visited Cameroon for the first time in 2014 to conduct seminars on research methodology. She now serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the university.

“Above all, my teaching experience was the most rewarding part of my visit. The students, even with limited resources, demonstrated their aspirations to become educated at the highest levels and to apply their knowledge to the economic and social development of their country,” Dr. MacGregor said.

Julius Fomboh, a student of ICT-U and an Inspector with the Cameroon Ministry of Secondary Education, said he is studying at ICT to make an impact in his community

“As an educationist, you must have the knowledge in what you are doing and my stay at ICT-U is making that possible,” Fomboh said. “The knowledge acquired will help me train the younger generation.”

Aïcha Walet Mohamed is the first woman in Mali to be on track to earn a PhD and is enrolled in the program at ICT-U.  She has an administrative position with the Malian Ministry of Higher Education and says she is studying at ICT to train the nomad students in Mali.

“We have to teach them the kind of ICTs to use, when and how. The nomads are always moving, so they need this particular training to be able to get an education.”

The new doctoral program at ICT-U is one of very few in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, and the only one dedicated to the field of education that offers an online outreach Ph.D. program for students in remote areas of Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and Mali. MacGregor said she wanted to design a curriculum that would inspire students to pursue continual professional education and a passion to teach. Additionally, ICT-U is only the second university in Cameroon to offer classes in English.

“It’s the only program in that part of Africa in which students can actually learn about education as a discipline, learn how to build their own curriculums, and learn how to transfer the knowledge they learn to empower others,” MacGregor said.

MacGregor’s work in Cameroon doesn’t stop there—during her second visit to the school in November 2015, she conducted a symposium on the empowerment and development of leadership for university women. The conference was hosted by ICT-U, but women from universities in Nigeria and Uganda also attended.

MacGregor will return to Cameroon in July 2016 to conduct another symposium on a variety of topics, including female empowerment, networking, and research methodology, as well as participate in the university’s inaugural commencement ceremony.

“The teaching is what’s important,” MacGregor said. “I like to call this endeavor my ‘educational mission work’ because it is truly my goal to help students in that area succeed beyond their dreams.”

Since the program’s inception in 2013, 12 students completed the MS in Education and three have completed the PhD in Science of Education at ITC-U; 40 students are currently enrolled in the master’s program and 16 are enrolled in the doctoral program.

About SOE

The LSU School of Education (SOE) offers graduate and undergraduate programs in Curriculum and Instruction and in Educational Leadership, Research, and Counseling. The School’s mission is to prepare P-12 educational professionals to be leaders, practitioners and scholars knowledgeable in contemporary educational issues.

Visit the School of Education at lsu.edu/education

About CHSE

The College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division of Louisiana State University. The College is comprised of the School of Education, the School of Leadership and Human Resource Development, the School of Kinesiology, the School of Library and Information Science, the School of Social Work, and the University Laboratory School. These combined schools offer 8 undergraduate degree programs and 18 graduate programs, enrolling more than 1,900 undergraduate and 977 graduate students. The College is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research, and service and is continually working to improve its programs.

Visit the College of Human Sciences & Education at chse.lsu.edu.