Wenda K. Bauchspies

The Community Water Jar: Gender and Technology in Guinea

Access to clean water and water transportation systems have been long-standing signifiers of ‘modernity.’ Current statistics of availability to improved water sources suggest that Guineans are living outside of accepted norms for modern life. This paper explores daily life through the lens of water workers, water collection, water sources and water containers in order to understand the day-to-day reality behind these statistics and to explore the meaning of modern life in urban West Africa. My point of entrance parallels this measurement of ‘modernity’ and asks how does water arrive in the homes of West African urban families? For a mid-sized West African city there are various pathways that deliver water to households that all involve water workers and technologies: this paper documents and explores them in order to think critically about avenues of development that aim to improve the flow and access to clean water. The research is based upon participant observation, in-depth interviews and surveys of concessions in a mid-sized West African city.

Cultural Re-Constructions of an Adoptive Child: Science

In this article, I take the idea of science as a cultural construct in order to understand the formation of boundaries, the maintenance of boundaries, and the permeability of margins within and between cultures. I use the metaphor of the child, my experiences working in science education on two continents, and my social theory toolbox to structure my discussion. I begin by describing the relationship between science and inquiry, and how inquiry organizes and structures human reality. Then a brief history is provided of education in Togo, West Africa. The next section addresses the classroom and schooling practices I observed in Togo in the 1990s. Using western theories I identify and characterize the cultures of training and education and analyze their implications for education. The final section offers interpretations and warnings on the use of ‘science’ in order to highlight the use of boundaries and our own colonialization.

Exploring Social Dynamics in School Science Context: An Ethnographic Case Study

The purpose of this study was to explore the socio-cultural practices and interactions of learning science in a science classroom within the concept of communities of practice. Our qualitative data were collected through observing, taking field notes, and conducting interviews in a public science classroom during an entire school year. The study occurred in a seventh-grade classroom with a veteran physical science teacher, with more than 10 years teaching experience, and 22 students. For this article, we presented two classroom vignettes that reflect a sample of the participation, practice, and community that was observed in the science classroom on a daily basis. The first vignette illustrated a typical formula of Initiation–Response–Feedback (I-R-F) that transfers knowledge to students through a teacher-led discussion with the entire class. The second vignette described a laboratory activity designed to allow students to apply or discover knowledge through practical experience, while taking responsibility for their learning through small-group work. The normative practices and routine behaviors of the science classroom are highlighted through the description of material resources, and different modes of participation accompanied by assigned roles and responsibilities. What we observed was that laboratory activities reproduced the epistemic authority of the I-R-F rather than creating collective cognitive responsibility where students have the independence to explore and create authentic science experiences.

Images of mathematics in Togo, West Africa

On a stroll down a neighbourhood street in Togo, one is likely to see: little boys playing with homemade toys that roll and can be pushed with a stick or pulled on a string; girls helping their mother around the house and tending younger siblings; men sitting chatting with friends, smoking and playing dice games or zipping by on a variety of two-wheelers; women waiting at the pump for their turn to fill their basins before 2 p.m. when the pump is locked for the day and girls doing errands or selling small items.