Whitney Hough
USA, Ph.D. Candidate in International and Comparative Education, Department of International and Transcultural Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 2025
Teachers as Transformative Agents in Protracted Conflict: The Case of Cameroon
Project Summary
“Teachers as Transformative Agents During Protracted Conflict: The Case of Cameroon” is a qualitative case study that explores the role of teachers in conflict and peacebuilding in secondary schools across six regions of Cameroon. The study aims to analyze what teachers perceive as their responsibilities in fostering peace during protracted conflict, the opportunity and risk factors they associate with adopting those responsibilities, and how they use agency to adopt, adapt, and/or resist peacebuilding efforts.
This research draws on the case of Cameroon, where conflict, education, social change, and teachers are closely interconnected. Fighting between separatist insurgents and the military has disrupted the education of over 700,000 youth in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions since 2016. Additional insecurity stems from Boko Haram attacks on schools in the north of the country and refugee influxes in the east, creating intersecting crises. Teachers in Cameroon are dually implicated in the conflict as both targets of attacks and active agents in facilitating the (dis)continuation of schooling.
Better understanding teachers’ perceptions of their roles during protracted conflict is critical to building long-term positive peace and to supporting teachers in these contexts. In conducting this research, I aim to contribute empirical findings that can translate into broader education policies that support and sustain teachers in conflict-affected contexts, specifically related to teacher management, teacher professional development, and teacher wellbeing. My research also extends scholarship by amplifying teachers’ perspectives, thereby adding key actor’s insights to theoretical knowledge about the application of conflict-related initiatives in schools. In doing so, it positions teachers as essential actors in shaping education systems and policies.
Contextually, insights from Cameroon will have relevant implications to other countries experiencing insecurity, particularly in protracted conflicts where education is politicized, history is contentious, and conflict is seen as irreconcilable.
Bio
Whitney Hough is a doctoral candidate in International and Comparative Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research centers on the intersection of education, conflict, development, and peacebuilding. She focuses specifically on the transformative agency of teachers in conflict-affected contexts and the provision of high-quality secondary education in emergencies. Outside of the doctoral program, Whitney is the Deputy Project Director for Fulbright Teacher Exchanges at IREX, a global international education development nonprofit.