Zehlia Babaci Wilhite

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Dr. Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite is an Affiliated Scholar/ Lecturer at the University of California- Berkeley, a lecturer at San Jose State University and an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, Saint Mary´s College of California and Notre Dame de Namur University where she teaches Language, Culture and Human Rights, Applied Linguistics as well as Critical Thinking, TESOL and French. She has taught courses and workshops in the USA, Norway, Japan, and India, France & Nigeria on issues related to language and culture & human rights. Her research interests include Language and Human Right in Education, Comparative and International Education, Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Critical Thinking and Cross-Cultural Critical Thinking as well as STEM and STEAM. Through her recent research projects, she has developed an interest in the critical pedagogy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) putting the “A” for Arts in STEM and building the evolution of the acronym into STEAM. Currently she is developing a project at UC-Berkeley on Integrating Natural Language Processing (NLP) into Bilingual and Multilingual Education to address the intersection between NLP and Linguistics. She has written numerous articles published in tier one academic journals, contributed chapters for many books, and authored two monographs entitled, Language Development Aid and Human Rights in Education published by Palgrave Macmillan, and Local Languages as a Human Right in Education published by Sense Publishers, both in 2015. Dr. Babaci-Wilhite also edited several book published in 2014 entitled Giving Space to African Voices: Rights to local curriculum and local language and a second volume entitled Human Rights in Language and STEM Education: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics published by Sense Publishers in 2016, Promoting Human Rights in Education through STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, Springer in 2019 as well as an Anthology entitled: Learning Critical Thinking Skills Beyond 21ST Century Literacies For Multidisciplinary Courses, with an online platform published by Cognella in 2020. She finalized the first edition of her new book in French entitled French for Multidisciplinary Courses published by Cognella in 2021. She is fluent in French, English, Norwegian, Japanese and Berber with basic knowledge of Arabic, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Swahili and Igbo. Her email is: [email protected] and/or [email protected]

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Papers by Zehlia Babaci Wilhite

Knowledge and Language a Human Right in Aid: The Case of Education in Tanzania

The continued use of English, French and Portuguese for educational purposes in Africa monopolize... more The continued use of English, French and Portuguese for educational purposes in Africa monopolizes the control of national educational policies and goals. This paper explores the constraints of these linguistic choices, which are core to quality schooling and inclusive development based on a study of a curriculum change in Zanzibar in which English has replaced Kiswahili as the language of instruction. This paper will critically examine the debates for considering the use of a local language in Mathematics and Science as a right in education. Relying on several field visits over a period of three years, involving observation in classrooms and interviews with policy makers, primary teachers and tertiary institution scholars. The study further investigates the reasons behind the curriculum change, the extent to which teachers and schools are prepared for the change, and the consequences of the change for the learning environment. The findings of the study show that local language use and localized curriculum are at the core of quality education - right in education. From the perspective of a rights-capability-based educational approach, the study concludes that non-localized curriculum or the non-preservation of local language or at the other end, the promotion of foreign language policies violate right in education in Zanzibar.

Local language of instruction for quality learning and social equity in Tanzania

A Critique and Rethink of Modern Education in Africa’s Development in the 21st Century

There has been an educational reform in Africa which has included an opening of educational syste... more There has been an educational reform in Africa which has included an opening of educational systems to market liberalization. In this paper we will illustrate the ways in which these reforms have been negative rather than positive for African education. The paper will critically analyze the reasons why the reforms have been inefficient. We will show how increasing social inequity and poverty are related to decreasing educational quality and increasing drop out rates. Africa is the only continent in which the illiteracy rates are the highest in the world. The educational system is not contributing adequately to the development of Africa’s human capabilities. Africa’s knowledge has been omitted from standard education curriculum. We claim that as long as local knowledge is not included, Africa will not develop on its own terms. We will conclude with some suggestions on ways in which to correct the problems created by market reforms and to move towards education which is relevant to th...

Babaci-Wilhite, Zehlia & Geo-JaJa, M. A (2014). Human rights in development aid: Nordic case for education in Tanzania, In: Elinor L. Brown, Paul C. Gorski, & Gabriella Lazaridis (Eds), Intersection of Poverty, Class, and Schooling. Global Perspectives on Economic Justice and Educational Equity, ...

Human Rights in Development Experience in Africa: the Foreign Aid and Policy Nexus in OECD and China Aid

World Studies in Education, 2012

ABSTRACT This paper studies the nexus associated with human rights in development aid and the pow... more ABSTRACT This paper studies the nexus associated with human rights in development aid and the powerful confluences of bilateral aid flows, considered “global apartheid”, that are the reasons for the economic conditions in receiving countries. The reality of aid and the exigencies of instrumental economicism in aid has left recipients hostage to global wealth. We find considerable evidence that the Beijing Consensus architecture serves as a more effective alternative development framework for Africa in contrast to the dominant Washington Consensus model articulated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which emphasizes markets and a minimal role for the state. From the criteria of per- formability, the implicit contrast in the case of China is delinking foreign policy from foreign aid which acknowledges the critical role of human rights and mutual benefit policy, as opposed to focus on geopolitical interests and strategic considerations correlate to colonial past. We conclude that Official Development Assistance (ODA) which remains the corner- stone of OECD DAC foreign policy has not helped to pull countless people in Africa out of poverty trap.

LANGUAGE AND LEARNING : Why is the choice of the language of instruction in which students learn best seldom made?

The objective of this project is to examine how children in African societies can be taught in wa... more The objective of this project is to examine how children in African societies can be taught in ways that provide the highest quality learning environment. The study will examine why mother-tongue education is not used in schools in Africa when study after study shows that this creates the best learning environment. Language is the tool which makes learning

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Educational Tools to Teach STEAM Subjects Integrating Linguistic Rights, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking

Promoting Language and STEAM as Human Rights in Education, 2018

In this chapter, I will examine how the introduction of the Arts into the teaching of science, te... more In this chapter, I will examine how the introduction of the Arts into the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects represents a new model of education that improves science learning and satisfies human rights criteria for education. I will argue that the incorporation of the Arts into an open and investigate process, based on the “inquiry-based approach”, using local languages and cultural references will improve learning and strengthen human rights. This model is particularly important in educational systems which today use dominant languages and culture in their instruction, disregarding local languages and local knowledge. In contrast to conventional approaches to education, I argue that teaching is more effective when it is based in local languages and culture which include the Arts. Therefore, I introduce a pedagogic model that expands the traditional STEM method to include the Arts. I will conclude with a discussion of the importance of nat...

Local Languages in Schooling as a Right in Education. A Case Study of Curriculum Reform in Zanzibar

This thesis explores the consequences of linguistic choices for quality education, selfdetermined... more This thesis explores the consequences of linguistic choices for quality education, selfdetermined development and children's rights in education. The analysis centers on a case study of a curriculum change in Zanzibar in which English has replaced Kiswahili as the language of instruction in the last years of primary school in Mathematics and Science subjects. The case study is grounded in an extensive review of theory and practices on the relationship between language of instruction, learning and rights in education. The research design encompassed several field visits to Zanzibar over a period of three years, and deployed qualitative methods, including observation in classrooms and an extensive set of interviews with policy makers, teachers and Tanzanian academics. The field study researched the reasons behind the curriculum change, the extent to which schools were prepared for the change, and the consequences of the change for the learning environment. 2 Review of the literature on language policy in African education and its implications for quality learning and identity..

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Linguistic and Cultural Rights in STEAM Education: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics

The premise for this chapter is that the integration of African languages into the teaching of Sc... more The premise for this chapter is that the integration of African languages into the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects is an imperative and will make education more accessible and creative at all levels. This chapter provides tools and strategies for organizing and managing interdisciplinary learning and teaching based on successful collaborations between applied linguists, human rights advocates, STEM researchers, practitioners, and artists in the fields of Arts and STEM subjects, which creates the acronym STEAM. Through a literature review and collaborative works, this chapter will address how the learning of STEM can be improved through acknowledgment of local languages and cultural context by inserting an “A” for Arts in STEM. This will be demonstrated with cases from Africa with a focus on Tanzania, Nigeria, and Malawi. Based on contributions from educators, scientists, scholars, linguists, and artists from these countries and around th...

Education Futures: Language and Human Rights in Global Literacy

Third International Handbook of Globalisation, Education and Policy Research, 2021

The continued use of English, French and Portuguese for educational purposes in Africa monopolize... more The continued use of English, French and Portuguese for educational purposes in Africa monopolizes the control of national educational policies and goals. This chapter explores the constraints of these linguistic choices through the report of the cultural agency of the United Nations about falling education standards in the world. This chapter involves an extensive review of theory and practices regarding the consequences of the use of local languages in school in order to explore the effects of language choices on learning. Based on several field visits over a period of many years, involving observation in classrooms and interviews, the findings examine how the use of local language affects the learning in Africa. The study finds that the use of colonial languages as languages of schooling has been influenced by the still powerful notion throughout Africa that learning in a foreign language will promote development and modernization. This research shows that local languages and local curriculum need to be valued as a Human Rights and children need to be prepared in order to be reflective, critical, knowledgeable and mobile in the world, and that this will support African development.

A Rights-Based Approach in North-South Academic Collaboration within the Context of Development Aid

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

This chapter describes and assesses initiatives by Norad to improve and expand collaboration with... more This chapter describes and assesses initiatives by Norad to improve and expand collaboration with universities in developing nations through the sponsorship of university partnerships between Norwegian universities and universities in the South. This chapter uses as a case study of collaboration between the University of Oslo and the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania from 2009 entitled “Programme for Institutional Transformation, Research and Outreach” (PITRO). The overall goal of the PITRO collaboration was to increase the contribution of the University of Dar-es-Salaam to Tanzania’s efforts to stimulate economic growth, reduce poverty and improve social well-being through the transformation of the education and science sectors. The core objective of PITRO was to ensure equitable access to high-quality tertiary education in order to acquire necessary knowledge and skills both for increasing economic productivity and for reducing poverty.

Science Literacy and Mathematics as a Human Right

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

In this chapter I will address why many educational practitioners and policy makers continue to i... more In this chapter I will address why many educational practitioners and policy makers continue to ignore local languages and culture as central ingredients in science literacy and the consequences of this policy for learning. As discussed in Chapter 7, past projects in Africa and especially in Nigeria, as well as case studies in some Asian countries, have shown how literacy and science can be better achieved in a local language, yet Zanzibar recently changed its LoI from a local language to English in science and mathematics.

Linguistic Rights for Appropriate Development in Education

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Education in many African and Asian countries today has a range of serious harmful consequences, ... more Education in many African and Asian countries today has a range of serious harmful consequences, which violate various aspects of African and Asian linguistic rights in education and perpetuate poverty. Binding educational linguistic rights, including a right to MT-medium education in schools, is essential at primary level, and should be supplemented at the secondary and tertiary levels with good teaching of a local language as a second language. English should be taught as a foreign language. As it is, most children in Africa and Asia have to accept “subtractive” education through the medium of a foreign language. Children learn a dominant language at the cost of the MT, which is displaced, and later often replaced, by a foreign language. Teaching through a foreign language subtracts from the child’s linguistic repertoire, instead of adding to it. Educational models for indigenous language in schools for children which use foreign languages as a LoI can and do have extremely negative consequences for the achievement of an effective learning process. In this chapter I provide the background on human rights conventions and argue that the use of local languages and local curricula in education should be regarded as a human right — a right in education.

Educational Aid in a Human Rights Perspective

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

In the previous chapter I explored problems and issues with development aid to Africa and Asia. I... more In the previous chapter I explored problems and issues with development aid to Africa and Asia. In this chapter I focus on the application of a human rights perspective to aid in education, making the case that the use of local language as a LoI is crucial to quality learning and self-directed development. A systematic integration of rights into development programs is essential to the improvement of education and the amelioration of poverty’s multi-dimensionalities (Babaci-Wilhite et al., 2012). To put it succinctly, there is a need for a paradigm shift in national education policies for African development grounded in the Rights-Based Approach. The Rights-Based Approach can contribute to arresting the processes of exclusion and marginalization that are impacting on the lives of so many children in Africa and Asia in the wake of globalization.

Introduction: The Paradigm Shift in Language Choices in Education

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

In this book I explore the consequences of educational choices for quality education, self-determ... more In this book I explore the consequences of educational choices for quality education, self-determined development and children’s rights in education for democracy in some African and Asian countries. I review theory and educational practices involving the relationship between local knowledge and language of instruction (LoI), and especially their applications to teaching and implications for rights in education. I show that current educational reforms in some African and Asian countries are failing in their efforts to improve education and suggest how educational systems and education itself in these countries could respond to children’s learning from the ground up in a more authentic and relevant way. I also reflect on education policies designed to improve literacy and numeracy in the global context and the consequences of a failure of these policies for increased socioeconomic inequality. Further, the book addresses how international, Asian and African educational reformers are attempting to deliver meaningful learning to their pupils through expanding access to schooling and confronting the challenges of simultaneously improving student learning. These analyses draw on my extensive work and research experiences on educational systems and reforms in developing countries, both in Africa (the United Republic of Tanzania (URT), South Africa, Rwanda and Nigeria) and in Asia (Malaysia, India and Bangladesh).1

Conclusions and Recommendations: Local Languages and Knowledge for Sustainable Development

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

In recent decades, most Sub-Saharan African countries have instituted educational reforms, partic... more In recent decades, most Sub-Saharan African countries have instituted educational reforms, particularly the development of new curricula; however, implementation has not always been suited to the reality, even if the policies were well thought out. Development aid support from international institutions and international development agencies has not prioritized local languages as languages of instruction. Moreover, contextual and material supports are likely to have poor outcomes when implemented in a foreign language. There is a large body of evidence referenced throughout this book confirming that educational reforms in developing countries have rarely been effectively implemented and have often failed to achieve their objectives. Many mistakes in African implementation get repeated because governments model their changes on previous, faulty changes. Cumulative and comparative research knowledge and experiences could be used to describe the successes and failures of implementation and contribute to improvements in new efforts. As discussed in my previous book (Babaci-Wilhite, 2014), the focus in curriculum changes has been on the reforms and not on the implementation process, therefore there is an urgent need to give the process more attention so that methods can be developed to address them.

Language-in-Education Policy

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

The focus in this chapter is on two comparisons of the role of LoI in language-in-education polic... more The focus in this chapter is on two comparisons of the role of LoI in language-in-education policy, first of all comparing Tanzania and Nigeria and secondly comparing Zanzibar with Malaysia. All of these countries have a British colonial legacy and a history characterized by debates about language politics and the choice of language in education. It is important to mention that Tanzania and Zanzibar are one country. Tanganyika gained its independence from Britain on December 9th, 1961 and Zanzibar was declared independent on December 10th, 1963. Tanganyika and Zanzibar united on April 26th, 1964 to form the URT, however, the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has considerable autonomy over its internal affairs administratively, and has its own legislative body and executive functions including its own ministries.

Development Aid in Education

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Development Aid in Education This chapter reviews development aid in education in Africa and in A... more Development Aid in Education This chapter reviews development aid in education in Africa and in Asia, with a focus on the historical role of international donors in recipient countries. The picture that emerges from this exercise is counter-intuitive; instead of producing positive outcomes, development strategies have actually worsened the problems. The top-down strategies of the international donor agencies have entrenched mechanisms of exploitation and dependency. According to Steve Klees and Omar Qargha (2013), Roger Riddell observed as late as 2007 that in the case of official development assistance (ODA) programs, although there is evidence for both significant success and noticeable failures, we still do not know if most programs have worked or failed. We have our work cut out for us. Any true assessment of the role of international aid in education in Africa and Asia must begin with the clarification of the fundamental issue of the very purpose of education. Geo-JaJa and Azaiki (2010) point to a lack of common understanding of the relationship between donors and recipients, and to relational impairments that amount to "voicelessness and powerlessness" on the part of local players and to poor education. Thus, what Africa and Asia need is empowering local and global literacy within education. This will enable these regions to break out of the vicious cycle of powerlessness, poverty and marginalized dependent development. Education that holds its own inherent value is at the center of asset building which expands the real freedom that nations value for both social and economic sustainability. For example, literacy is essential for participation in economic, political and social life, but which kind of literacy are we imparting to children? 27

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Human Rights in Development AID for STEM Education in Nigerian Languages

Human Rights in Language and STEM Education, 2016

This chapter assesses the weaknesses in the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Enginee... more This chapter assesses the weaknesses in the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in Africa, and proposes new development approaches to STEM teaching and learning. Implicit to these approaches is an acknowledgement that African knowledge and African languages are critical to the effectiveness of STEM teaching and learning.

Giving space to African voices: Rights in local languages and local curriculum

Education as Change, 2015

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Knowledge and Language a Human Right in Aid: The Case of Education in Tanzania

Local language of instruction for quality learning and social equity in Tanzania

A Critique and Rethink of Modern Education in Africa’s Development in the 21st Century

Human Rights in Development Experience in Africa: the Foreign Aid and Policy Nexus in OECD and China Aid

World Studies in Education, 2012

LANGUAGE AND LEARNING : Why is the choice of the language of instruction in which students learn best seldom made?

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Educational Tools to Teach STEAM Subjects Integrating Linguistic Rights, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking

Promoting Language and STEAM as Human Rights in Education, 2018

Local Languages in Schooling as a Right in Education. A Case Study of Curriculum Reform in Zanzibar

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Linguistic and Cultural Rights in STEAM Education: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics

Education Futures: Language and Human Rights in Global Literacy

Third International Handbook of Globalisation, Education and Policy Research, 2021

The continued use of English, French and Portuguese for educational purposes in Africa monopolize... more The continued use of English, French and Portuguese for educational purposes in Africa monopolizes the control of national educational policies and goals. This chapter explores the constraints of these linguistic choices through the report of the cultural agency of the United Nations about falling education standards in the world. This chapter involves an extensive review of theory and practices regarding the consequences of the use of local languages in school in order to explore the effects of language choices on learning. Based on several field visits over a period of many years, involving observation in classrooms and interviews, the findings examine how the use of local language affects the learning in Africa. The study finds that the use of colonial languages as languages of schooling has been influenced by the still powerful notion throughout Africa that learning in a foreign language will promote development and modernization. This research shows that local languages and local curriculum need to be valued as a Human Rights and children need to be prepared in order to be reflective, critical, knowledgeable and mobile in the world, and that this will support African development.

A Rights-Based Approach in North-South Academic Collaboration within the Context of Development Aid

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Science Literacy and Mathematics as a Human Right

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Linguistic Rights for Appropriate Development in Education

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Educational Aid in a Human Rights Perspective

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Introduction: The Paradigm Shift in Language Choices in Education

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Conclusions and Recommendations: Local Languages and Knowledge for Sustainable Development

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Language-in-Education Policy

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

Development Aid in Education

Language, Development Aid and Human Rights in Education, 2015

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Human Rights in Development AID for STEM Education in Nigerian Languages

Human Rights in Language and STEM Education, 2016

Giving space to African voices: Rights in local languages and local curriculum

Education as Change, 2015

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