Problem solving in East Africa: A contextual definition

Abstract

Over the years, the conceptualisation of problem solving as a transferable skill has led to the emergence of various constructs and framings. While the models and the defined stages of problem solving are similar across the available research studies, some have warned that the context in which problems are defined and solved matters and cannot be overlooked. This study, through an ethnographic design with 230 participants (113 males, 117 females), explored the meanings and understandings of problem solving within varied cultural contexts in Kenya (80 participants), Tanzania (55 participants), and Uganda (95 participants). The interview protocol was structured around three sections: (i) location and participant background information (9 items); (ii) definition of problem solving (4 items, all open-ended); and (iii) characterised traits of a problem solver (9 questions, all open-ended). A thematic and synthetic data analysis was applied obtaining a final system of categories and codes. The comparison of the findings of contextualisation studies on problem solving in the three countries shows significant similarities and only minor differences. The steps of this process that emerge from the interviews in the three countries surveyed are: identification of the problem; understanding the causes and consequences of the problem; asking for community members’ advice and opinions about the problem; evaluating the possible solutions; and adopting the best one. Subskills, dispositions, and values linked to problem solving are influenced by the understanding of the self as being part of a community. Overall, the communitarian approach to problem solving—supported by the institutions available in each community and fuelled by values such as confidentiality, love, and trust—emerges as the most unique premise in the contextualised understanding of problem solving in East Africa.