Reciprocal Centric Pedagogy as Ontological Reorientation: Restructuring Power and Epistemic Relations in Ugandan Universities
Nicholas Isaac Mukwana – Department of Teacher Education and Extension, School of Education, Kyambogo University
Paul Muyinda Birevu – Institute of Open Distance and eLearning, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University
Ghislain Maurice N. Isabwe – Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), University of Agder (UiA) Norway
Abstract: Reciprocal centric pedagogy (RCP) is a contemporary pedagogical paradigm which I first introduced in my PhD thesis (Mukwana & Ssebbunga, 2024) as a departure from teacher-centered pedagogy (TCP) and learner-centered pedagogy (LCP). It focuses on changing the structure of power and epistemic relations in higher education in Uganda. It is based on Barnlund’s Transactional model of Communication and Brunner’s scaffolding theories. The two theories position pedagogy beyond the basic array of instructional strat egies and methodologies and more deeply into issues of reciprocity, interpersonal relations and intercultural relations as channels for co -production and promotion of knowledge, power and creativity. The task of this research is to answer the big pedagogic al question (who has control of the learning process? Whilst TCP places control of the learning process in the hands of the teacher and the learner is in charge of the learning process under LCP, under RCP both teacher and the learner are in control of the learning process. Reciprocal learning characteristically has the practice of dialogue as a strategy for promoting comprehension, whereas RCP extends the practice of reciprocal learning at the level of epistemic and ontological reconstruction by simultaneously establishing the teacher and the learner as co-contributing agents in the construction of knowledge and meaning. Thus, this paper theorises the concept of reciprocal centric pedagogy as a paradigm shift that connects relational ontology and transactio nal pedagogy with the emphasis on the responsibility of both the teacher and learner to create reality out of the experiential perspective.
