African Centre for School Leadership launches research community to strengthen school leadership across Africa

The African Centre for School Leadership (ACSL) has launched a continental Research Community of Learning (CoL) to strengthen collaboration among African researchers, policymakers and practitioners and promote the use of locally generated evidence in improving school leadership across the continent.

The community was introduced at its inaugural webinar on 6 October 2026, bringing together researchers, school leaders, policymakers, practitioners and education partners to explore how research, African philosophies and indigenous knowledge systems can inform school leadership policies and practices that reflect the realities of African education systems.

According to ACSL, the initiative is designed to bridge the gap between research production and practical application, ensuring that evidence generated by African scholars contributes to policy decisions, professional development and improvements in school leadership.

The community’s WhatsApp platform has already attracted more than 500 members from different African countries, institutions and professional backgrounds, signalling growing interest in a shared platform for knowledge exchange and professional collaboration.

Speaking at the webinar, ACSL Head of Research, Dr Edmund Aalangdong, said the initiative seeks to ensure that research findings move beyond academic publications to influence decisions and practices within education systems.

We do not want to generate research that remains on the shelves. We want African-led evidence that informs policy decisions, strengthens professional development, improves school leadership practices, advances gender equality and inclusion

Aalangdong said.

He explained that the Community of Learning would extend beyond webinars and networking to provide a sustained, African-led platform where researchers, policymakers, practitioners and education partners can exchange knowledge, collaborate and learn from one another.

ACSL Research Officer, Stephen Acquah, said the community emerged from the need to connect African school leadership researchers and address identified gaps in knowledge and research capacity.

He noted that the platform would facilitate resource sharing, professional networking, mentorship, peer feedback, research methods support and research clinics to improve the quality of scholarship produced by African researchers.

“The Community of Learning is intended to provide a continental space for researchers, practitioners and policymakers to connect, share resources, exchange ideas and develop professional relationships,” Acquah said.

He added that the initiative would create opportunities for mentorship, peer learning and technical support to help researchers strengthen their work and engage more effectively with issues affecting school leadership across Africa.

Promoting African philosophies in school leadership research

A central theme of the inaugural webinar was the importance of grounding school leadership research in African philosophies, values and lived experiences rather than relying predominantly on theories developed in other contexts.

Presenting on Afrocentric Philosophies and School Leadership Research, Professor Frederick Ebot of the University of Buea, Cameroon, encouraged researchers and academic supervisors to promote the use of African theories in research and the training of emerging scholars.

He argued that universities and research institutions have a responsibility to expose students to locally grounded intellectual traditions and encourage them to draw on these perspectives when examining school leadership challenges.

“If we start using our own philosophies, our own theories, I think it will take us a long way. Only we can bring it in front of our students. If we don’t encourage them, they will continue using European philosophies,” Ebot said.

His presentation highlighted the need to strengthen African scholarship and develop leadership approaches that account for the continent’s diverse cultural, institutional and educational contexts.

The discussion also underscored the potential of indigenous knowledge systems and African-centred research to contribute to more contextually relevant approaches to school leadership policy, practice and professional development.

Building a continental network for evidence and collaboration

The inaugural webinar marks the beginning of ongoing engagement under the Research Community of Learning, with members expected to contribute resources, mentor emerging researchers, propose learning activities and identify questions from policy and practice for further research.

In her closing remarks, Dr Leila Abdullahi, Director of Research and Programme Delivery at ESSA, said the community’s growing membership and collective expertise could help strengthen African-led research and improve school leadership across the continent.

“Our collective expertise, experience, and network have tremendous potential to strengthen African-led research and school leadership,” Abdullahi said.

She identified members’ willingness to learn, share knowledge and participate in peer-to-peer exchange as important foundations for the community’s continued growth.

Participants were encouraged to take an active role in shaping the platform by sharing relevant research resources, offering mentorship, proposing collaborative learning activities and raising questions that connect research with education policy and practice.

The establishment of the community comes amid continuing efforts across Africa to strengthen school leadership as a critical component of education quality and system improvement. By connecting researchers with those responsible for shaping and implementing education policies, the initiative seeks to make research more accessible, relevant and useful to decision-makers and practitioners.

Through sustained collaboration and knowledge exchange, the ACSL Research Community of Learning aims to support a stronger body of African-led evidence capable of informing school leadership development and responding to the continent’s diverse educational needs.