The potential role of European professors in the context of Rwandan civil engineering education: Reflections after a teaching experience

Abstract

The number of students in civil engineering in some sub-Saharan African developing countries is strongly increasing, as consequence of an increasing demand of their capabilities. However, current efforts to educate civil engineers in Africa and, specifically, in Rwandan higher education institutions are hindered by the lack of local qualified teachers. On the other hand, in some European countries, university teachers are increasingly considering the effects of globalization on both civil engineering education and profession. In this situation, the educational potential of a European teacher can gain an innovative perspective, since it would be of great use if it were beneficial to a big number of students in a country where qualified teachers are scarce. It cannot be hidden that thanks to such a change of perspective, the inner motivation to carry out academic activity would also benefit. The Authors try answering three main questions: In which way a European teacher can contribute to civil engineering education in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular reference to the Rwandan context? What impact can a European type of teaching have in the Rwandan context, especially with regard to the methodological approach? How do Rwandan students perceive a learning experience with different characteristics from the usual ones? Beyond writing a report of the activities done during a personal teaching experience of one of the authors in a Rwandan university, this paper aims at explaining the lesson learnt from this experience, under both human and professional viewpoint. Although the experience of a single teacher has proved to be a privileged way to build a larger project in the framework of the Erasmus Plus program, which was subsequently eligible for funding, this paper is not focused on the network construction, but only on the preceding indispensable step. In fact, the paper describes on the one hand the challenges faced by the teacher during a direct teaching experience and, on the other hand, the results obtained and the perception by the students, expressed through an evaluation questionnaire. The paper proposes an example of successful and profitable experience of a European professor in the field of civil engineering in the context of a Rwandan higher education institution, with the awareness that it cannot become paradigmatic of a wider academic practice orientation, but at least an example of a professional way of being. This model offers opportunity of knowledge sharing, in the wider perspective of future Rwandan development, but it is also an opportunity for exchange in terms of culture and values.