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Enhancing the learning environment in Malawian universities: The challenge of neopatrimonialism Lester Brian Shawa and Ruksana Osman University of the Witwatersrand

Abstract In Malawian higher education policy documents, the concept of learning environment seems to be conceptualised narrowly as the physical environment in which lecturers or academics facilitate learning. In this article, using a policy approach, we propose a need to expand the notion to include the influence of the entire socio-political setting or ‘lifeworld’ to which Malawian universities belong. The assumption is that everyday socio-political life has a bearing on people’s behaviour and that the learning environments in universities reflect the general socio-political experiences of the country. We show that neopatrimonialism, which among others encompasses two ideas – 1) the big-man syndrome (a social behaviour characterised by the dominance of those in power or authority to achieve absolute power and the less-powerful to praise-sing those in power) and 2) patron-client mechanisms (award of personal favours to individuals and groups, usually by the big-man) – form the lifeworld of Malawians generally. We make two suggestions: first, that policy documents should acknowledge neopatrimonial aspects and, second, that there is a need to draw up elaborate national and institutional policies that could help universities to create critical spaces to challenge these aspects. Using a policy approach, we show how the latter could be achieved in Malawi. Keywords: learning environment; Malawian universities; socio-political life; lifeworld; neopatrimonialism; big-man syndrome; patron-client

Introduction The term learning environment has been defined differently by different scholars (see Brown 2004; Barker & Garvin-Doxas 2004). Brown (2004: 1) contends that while the notion remains significant, it is under-theorised in learning and teaching. In subSaharan Africa, the concept has mostly been associated with a lack of resources Shawa, LB and Osman, R. (2014) Enhancing the learning environment in Malawian universities: The challenge of neopatrimonialism. Southern African Review of Education, 20(1): 58-69.

Enhancing the learning environment in Malawian universities

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such as infrastructure and the quality of lecturers able to enhance effective learning (Ojogwu & Alutu 2009: 69). In this case, the tendency has been to conceive the term as the physical environment in which lecturers or academics facilitate students’ learning. In our view this is a narrow conceptualisation that could be a result of the many challenges such as limited resources, poor infrastructure, lack of relevant research and lack of well-qualified lecturers (Teferra & Altbach 2004: 25-31) that preoccupy policy-makers and academics in resource-constrained universities. In Malawi, this narrow understanding of the notion can be deduced from higher education policy documents where major policy propositions to improve university access, quality and governance all hinge on improving infrastructure, increasing funding to train lecturers to the level of PhD and developing higher education policy frameworks (Malawi Government 2006: 10-12). Necessary as all these propositions may be, we argue that they are limited in enhancing the learning environment in universities. Instead, we propose an expansion of the notion to include the influence of the entire socio-political life or ‘lifeworld’ to which Malawian universities belong. By lifeworld we mean a background to behaviour or a cultural context from which a shared societal meaning is derived (Habermas 1987: 130). The lifeworld, as a shared context that defines behaviour, may however be distorted and require correcting (Carr & Kemmis 1986: 130). We contend that the neopatrimonial attitudes of the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms are examples of distorted behaviour in Malawi’s socio-political life that require correcting. The big-man syndrome refers to a social behaviour characterised by the attempt/ desire of those in power or authority to achieve absolute power and the less-powerful to praise-sing those in power (Bratton & van de Walle 1997: 63). Patron-client mechanisms refer to award of personal favours to individuals and groups (Booth, Cammack, Harrigan, Kanyongolo, Mataure, & Ngwira 2006: 9), which usually augment tribal or regionalist politics in Malawi (Shawa 2011: 33-36). While neopatrimonial tendencies usually happen in a larger socio-political life, we argue that institutions such as universities operating within such realities tend to model them. We propose that apart from improving the physical environment and academic qualifications of lecturers, acknowledging the challenges of neopatrimonialism in higher education policy documents and creating elaborate national higher education policy frameworks as well institutional policies that could deal with neopatrimonialism are vital ways of enhancing the learning environment. We present this article in four sections: In the first, we briefly conceptualise the notion of learning environment. In the second, we briefly discuss the notion of neopatrimonialism in Malawi’s socio-political life. In the third, using policy examples, we suggest how national higher education policy frameworks and institutional policies (once written down) in Malawi could be implemented to assist universities to create critical spaces to challenge neopatrimonial aspects. In the fourth, we present a conclusion.

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The concept of learning environment Phillips, McNaught & Kennedy (2010: 2495) conceptualise learning environment as follows: The learning environment provides the context in which the student works. Its characteristics include the campus setting, the structure of the degree program and the student’s individual units of study. It is informed by the desired learning outcomes, and it specifies the content and resources (both traditional and electronic) which support this design. It also encompasses physical and virtual spaces, and the nature of the technology-enhanced environment. In addition, the learning environment specifies the teacher’s design of the learning and assessment activities which will facilitate the learning processes undertaken by students. What we find missing in the above conceptualisation is the connection of the learning environment to the general socio-political life of students, lecturers and administrators within the university. Drawing on a number of works in their study Utilising learning environment assessments to improve teaching practices among in-service teachers undertaking a distance-education programme in South Africa, Aldridge, Fraser & Ntuli (2009: 148) contend that learning environment refers to ‘the tone, ambience or atmosphere created by a teacher through the relationships developed within the classroom and the way in which instruction is delivered’. Here we see the stress on the role of the teacher and no explicit attempt is made to link the teachers’ behaviour to their lifeworld or socio-political influence. While there is a mention of relationships developed in the classroom in the definition, the teacher is viewed as the sole initiator of the atmosphere. We argue that this conceptualisation is limited, as all the actors within the university contribute to the atmosphere of the learning environment based on their socio-political worlds. A better conceptualisation is offered by Hiemstra (1991: 8, cited in Barker & GarvinDoxas 2004: 119), who posits that a learning environment comprises ‘all of the physical surroundings, psychosocial or emotional conditions, and social or cultural influences present in a learning situation’. Hiemstra’s idea of social or cultural influence is vital in our conceptualisation of the learning environment in Malawian universities, as we posit that universities do not exist in a vacuum but rather within a socio-political setting. Following on Hiemstra’s idea, Arthur, Gordon and Butterfield (2003, cited in Brown 2004: 2-3) argue that ‘learning environment involves behaviour, socio-cultural factors, classroom and school factors, personal factors, curriculum, instruction, nature of learning, time, physical environment, routines, communication, management strategies’. In this definition, we notice an attempt to include the sociocultural factors that are vital in understanding the notion of learning environment. By including the socio-political realities, we propound a thicker conception of the notion of learning environment. In imagining the influence of the socio-political realities on learning environment, one may look at the South African example of the apartheid history. We contend that the


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apartheid reality forms a firm lifeworld of people in South Africa, and, as such, it is pertinent that the South African higher education policy frameworks engage with the distortions of apartheid at both national higher education policy and university institutional level (see South African Government 2013). In the next section we conceptualise neopatrimonial tendencies and show that they form the lifeworld of people in Malawi to augment our argument for a need for expanding the notion of learning environment through elaborate policy frameworks.

Neopatrimonialism as lifeworld in Malawi Von Soest (2007: 623) contends that although not absolutely related to Africa, the term neopatrimonialism has been used by political scientists to explain Africa’s political, democratic and economic challenges. Thus, by associating the notion with Malawi, we are not arguing that it is typical to Malawi as there are many countries whose sociopolitical factors are similar to Malawi. As such, we hope that this article will appeal to many scholars, policy-makers and educators who work in similar environments. As used by political scientists, the notion of neopatrimonialism is used as an extension of Max Weber’s (1864-1920) term, patrimonial state, to describe pre-industrial states in which wealth belongs to the patrimony of the ruler other than to the public (Engel & Erdmann 2007: 7). In patrimonial understanding, all power represents personal relations and there is no difference between the private and the public (Booth et al. 2006: 8-9). The word neopatrimonialism is used to describe states such as Malawi, which are ruled by combining aspects of patrimony and the modern democratic logic. The lifeworld of neopatrimonial states is characterised by the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms, among other aspects (Von Soest 2007: 625-629). Within the big-man dimension, people in power at whatever level of society, such as chiefs and politicians, reveal a tendency to strive for absolute rule and expect those less powerful to look up to them or to praise-sing them [leaders]. Within the patron-client mechanisms, people in power tend to favour their kinsmen so as to revolve power around those who will easily sympathise with them to perpetuate their rule. In this web, the poor or less-powerful are enticed by the award of favours to perpetuate the big-man syndrome (Booth et al. 2006: 8-13). In Malawi, since the majority of people are poor (Gilman 2001: 46), the kinsman logic and award of favours have been used to cement tribal and regionalist politics to the detriment of national unity and cohesion. Generally, the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms in neopatrimonial states render parliaments as well as civil society weak (Cammack 2007). These countries normally show a lack of policy autonomy and the ability to formulate democratic policies as interests are caught up within the patron-client network (Booth et al. 2006: 8-13). To show that neopatrimonial thinking is ingrained in the socio-political life of Malawi, we briefly discuss the big-man syndrome using the chieftaincy and the presidency. We then briefly discuss the patron-client mechanisms

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using regionalist politics of the country.

The chieftaincy and the big-man syndrome in Malawi The chieftaincy provides a good example of the big-man syndrome. While the roles and powers of chiefs have been changing since colonial times, one can still view people in Malawi as simultaneously subjects of the chiefs and citizens of a country (Eggen 2011). The powers of the chiefs tend to be augmented by a political system, making them very strong. Shawa (2012: 46) posits that ‘in Malawi the chiefs tend to be susceptible to the ruling party and as such they also get authority over their subjects through the political space’. Historically, the chiefs have shown a tendency for absolute powers over their constituents in Malawi. Although between 1891 and 1912 the British colonial masters imposed direct rule on Malawi (Cammack, Kanyongolo & O’Neil 2009), this changed when they reorganised traditional rule in 1912, which was eventually cemented by the 1933 Native Authority Courts Ordinance (Eggen 2011: 316). Mamdani notes that following this change, ‘new administrative tasks made chiefly power more all-embracing, as previously autonomous social domains, including domestic affairs, increasingly fell within the purview of the chiefs’ (Mamdani 1996: 110) cited in (Eggen 2011: 317). While after independence in 1964, under the one party system, president Banda tried to reduce the powers of the chiefs in some ways, by opting to uphold the customary hierarchy and authority devised by the colonialists, the chieftaincy was further embedded in the country (Cammack et al. 2009). Eggen (2011: 318) notes that in general the one-party era in Malawi did not bring fundamental changes to the powers of chiefs, although their autonomy was more restricted than under colonialism. Chiefs remained attached to the political system and became vehicles of the draconian power of the Banda regime that helped to facilitate the big-man syndrome in Malawi’s socio-political life. Eggen (2011: 319) further notes that since the emergence of multiparty democracy in 1994, the authority of chiefs has increased significantly, as chiefs now constitute the locus of power previously held by the one-party regime. Urban Malawi now has ‘town chiefs’ whose powers are not in the formal political system.

The presidency and the big-man syndrome in Malawi After independence in 1964, the dictatorial regime of Banda quickly organised a repressive regime that celebrated praise by its people. Banda crowned himself life president and regarded himself as the only person fit to rule the country (Chirambo 2001: 206). Banda’s opponents were ruthlessly detained, exiled or executed (Posner 1995). He used traditional dances, especially by women, to be praised and idolised (Chirambo 2004: 148-149). His 30 year rule perpetuated the big-man thinking that still has effects on the populace’s attitudes and thinking today.


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With the emergence of multiparty democracy, it was generally hoped that the big-man attitude would change, but subsequent presidents have continued with the syndrome. Just like Banda, Muluzi (1994-2004) sustained a culture of praise-singing. He also created an idolised image of himself and used women to dance for him. President Bingu wa Mutharika (2004-2012) also provides typical examples of the big-man syndrome. For example, he used his rule to create repressive laws in the country that were aimed at reducing the freedom of the press, stifling university academic freedom and making himself the sole policy-maker in the country (Shawa 2012: 48-50). The current president, Joyce Banda, also shows problems of a lack of listening to advice. She has presented herself as the know-all following the big-man logic of thinking. The current ‘cashgate scandal’ (looting of huge sums of cash from government accounts), which is under investigation and has prompted donor countries to withhold aid to the country, shows how her government machinery works within the big-man syndrome at the expense of poor Malawians. All in all, the presidency has presented itself with a tendency to strive for absolute rule and an expectancy for the less-powerful to praise-sing them. Next, we briefly discuss patron-client mechanisms and regionalism in Malawi’s politics.

Patron-client mechanisms and regionalism in Malawi Patron-client mechanisms have been used to foster regionalist and tribal tendencies in Malawi. The origin of regionalist tendencies goes back to the colonial era’s regional demarcations of the country. While there have been recent demarcations of regions, following the colonial demarcations of 1921, Malawi is generally divided into three regions: northern, central and southern (Vail & White 1989). These regions are represented by distinct tribes, although the central and southern regions tend to be close owing to the use of Chichewa as a lingua franca, a common language used by groups of people whose first languages are different. The northern region is mostly referred to as Tumbuka-speaking, as different tribal groups of the north use Tumbuka as their lingua franca. One of the issues that helped crystallise regionalist and tribalist trends was the privileging of the Chewa language and culture at the expense of other languages and cultures in Malawi by president Banda (a Chewa by tribe) (Posner 1995). As early as 1964 Banda decided to privilege the language and culture of the Chewa, resulting in the country solely reflecting the Chewa culture. Banda claimed that many Malawians, despite coming from other regions, were in fact Chewa, only they did not realise it (Vail & White 1989). He eventually used deliberate and militant ways to privilege the Chewa language and culture (Kayambazinthu 1998: 402-403). The regionalist and tribalist trends are clearly revealed in voting patterns in Malawi

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in that they tend to be the major factor in determining election results. For example, in the first multi-party democratic presidential elections in 1994, the northern Tumbuka-speaking populace voted for their Tumbuka candidate, Chihana; the Chewa populace from the central region voted for their Chewa candidate, Banda; and the Yao populace from the southern region voted for their Yao candidate, Muluzi. Other tribal groups voted mostly against Banda and for whichever of the other two was nearest in geographical proximity (Thorod 2001: 163). The regionalist and tribalist trends in presidential elections have largely continued to the present. As noted, within the patron-client web the thinking is that supporting kinsmen will result into benefits from the big men. We posit that if such thinking is perpetuated, the country will continue to lack proper democratic governance mechanisms based on policy.

Higher education policy frameworks in Malawi While higher education policy documents in Malawi show efforts to improve the university sector, we argue that they show a lack of understanding of the sociopolitical context of the country that affects the learning environment. We contend that given the lifeworld described above, higher education policy documents ought to, among other issues, engage with the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms. The overarching vision for education in Malawi states: Education … is a catalyst for socio-economic development, industrial growth and an instrument for empowering the poor, the weak and the voiceless. Education enhances group solidarity, national consciousness and tolerance of diversity. It facilitates the development of a culture of peace which is conducive and critical for socio-economic, political and industrial development … (Malawi Government 2006: 4).

While the overarching vision refers to pertinent issues of the need for education to be a catalyst for socio-economic development, industrial growth and an instrument for empowering the poor, the weak and the voiceless, we contend that since there is no policy acknowledgement of the socio-political challenges that affect the vision, it will be difficult for the vision to be achieved. To achieve the stated vision, higher education policy documents such as the Policy and Investment Framework and the National Education Sector Plan (Malawi Government 2000, 2006) degenerate to solving issues dealing with access, quality, relevance, infrastructure and teacher training, among others. We ask how these would be achieved without engaging with the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms that impinge on democratic and policy management? Moreover, with a lack of elaborate institutional-level policies, it becomes even more difficult for universities even to imagine how to engage with neopatrimonial issues. Considering a South African example, having been aware of the challenges of apartheid as a lifeworld, policy documents show how the South African government plans to redress this past phenomenon through appropriate policy (South African Government 2013). The White Paper for Post-School Education and Training in South


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Africa states: It is close to twenty years since South Africa discarded the apartheid regime and replaced it with a democratically elected government. Much has been achieved since then, but much remains to be done to rid our country of the injustices of its colonial and apartheid past. Deep seated inequalities are rooted in our past … Most black people are poor … (South African Government 2013: 4).

Here we see that at higher education policy level, the South African Government engages with its socio-political issue of apartheid. The White Paper further stipulates: Given its history, an important over-arching goal of our society is the imperative for transformation, the elimination of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and the entrenchment of democratic norms and a culture of tolerance and human dignity (South African Government 2013: 10).

Making note of socio-political challenges at higher education policy level is important to guide implementation. Once there is elaborate policy at national higher education level, policies can be incorporated within university institutional policies to guide implementation. In South Africa, for example, the policy imperatives from government are also reflected within university missions and visions and institutional policies such as the teaching and learning policy. For instance, the mission statement of the University of KwaZulu-Natal states: A truly South African university that is academically excellent, innovative in research, critically engaged with society and ethnographically representative, redressing the disadvantages, inequities and imbalances of the past (University of KwaZulu-Natal n.d.)

Embedding socio-political issues within mission statements allows universities to devise means of implementation, thus connecting the socio-political issues to the learning environment within the universities. The socio-political imperatives inform other institutional policies, such as the teaching and learning policies. For example, principle 2 of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s policy on teaching and learning posits: Teaching and learning must respond to national imperatives of redress and success by • Ensuring equity of student access and success • Promoting alternative access of students from disadvantaged educational contexts to address lack of equity in specific programmes or disciplines and • Developing curricula, teaching methodologies and assessment methods which are responsive to educational needs of our diverse intake of students (University of KwaZulu-Natal 2012: 4).

These imperatives are given procedures and guidelines for implementation and responsible bodies are identified within the university departments. For example, according to the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Policy on Teaching and Learning, the implementation for principle 2 above requires among others the following: familiarising staff with the full range of educational contexts; ensuring appropriate articulation and progression of students among others and alerting staff to the need for training materials, teaching and assessment methodologies, which respond to the needs of a diverse student intake (University of KwaZulu-Natal 2012: 4).

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The university has appropriate bodies to facilitate these imperatives. Some of these are the University Teaching and Learning Office (UTLO), Deans: College Teaching and Learning (DCTL), School Teaching and Learning Committees (STLC) and Academic Leaders: School Teaching and Learning (ALSTL). We argue that in this way a thick understanding of the learning environment is achieved. Not only do policies acknowledge the socio-political issues, but they elaborate higher education policies at national and institutional levels to enhance the learning environment.

How neopatrimonialism could be addressed at policy level in Malawi We argue that given the foregoing there is a need for higher education policy frameworks to include the aspects of neopatrimonialism that affect the learning environment. For example, part of the overarching vision for education in Malawi or a White Paper on higher education, which is not yet available, could state the following: … Given our neopatrimonial history, an important over-arching goal of our society is to transform society and eliminate aspects of neopatriomonialism such as the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms that undermine our country’s cohesion. Our higher education system ought to engage critically with issues that undermine the poor and the helpless as a result of the big-man syndrome. Similarly, patron-client mechanisms that facilitate regionalist and tribalist tendencies have to be dealt with in order to achieve a democratic Malawi in which everyone enjoys the full benefits of citizenship ...

Such a policy initiative would show that as a country there is awareness of the sociopolitical aspects that need to be corrected. Such a policy would then be translated into mission statements and university institutional policies. Both national universities in Malawi (the University of Malawi and Mzuzu University) show a lack of understanding of the socio-political issues of neopatrimonialism in their visions and mission statements. For example, the mission statement of the University of Malawi reads as follows: To advance knowledge and to promote wisdom and understanding by engaging in teaching, research, consultancy, public and community engagement and by making provision for the dissemination, promotion and preservation of learning responsive to the needs of Malawi (The University of Malawi 2012: 2-5).

To support the assertion above, the university stipulates five pillars, which do not even touch on neopatrimonial aspects of socio-political life. The pillars discuss such issues as expanding student numbers, expanding postgraduate training, enhancing research capacity and strengthening infrastructure, among others. This shows that if the problem is not acknowledged at national policy level, it becomes difficult for universities to imagine it at an institutional level. Similarly, the Mzuzu University mission statement reads as follows: To provide high quality education, training, research and complementary services to meet the technological, social and economic needs of individuals and communities in Malawi


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In this broad mission one would expect that the university would have pillars to deal with the teething socio-political issues, but this seems not to be the case. Given the lack of understanding of the issues bordering on neopatrimonialism, there is indeed a lack of institutional will to engage with the issues. There is a need for institutional-level policies, such as the policy on teaching and learning, to enhance the learning environment. Universities would then be required to have departments such as university teaching and learning offices to enforce the implementation of stipulated policy. All in all, we propose that to enhance the learning environment in Malawian universities, first, the challenges of neopatrimonialism need to be acknowledged in the higher education policy documents and, second, there need to be elaborate national higher education policy frameworks and institutional policies that could help universities to create critical spaces to challenge these issues.

Conclusion Using a policy approach, in this article we have argued that the conceptualisation of the notion of learning environment as the physical environment in which lecturers or academics facilitate learning as revealed in higher education policy documents in Malawi is narrow. To enhance the learning environment in Malawian universities, we have proposed a thicker understanding of the notion to include the socio-political realities posed by neopatrimonial aspects of the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms in Malawi. We have argued that, first, challenges of the big-man syndrome and patron-client mechanisms ought to be acknowledged within the higher education policy documents and, second, elaborate national and institutional policies should be developed to engage with neopatrimonialism. Specifically at institutional level, we have suggested the development of policies such as a policy on teaching and learning and the identification of university-level bodies to implement policy imperatives to enhance the learning environment.

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Notes on the authors Dr Lester Brian Shawa lectures in the Department of Higher Education Training and Development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Prior to this appointment, he was the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Education at Mzuzu University in Malawi and a Research Fellow at the Wits School of Education. Professor Ruksana Osman is Personal Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Witwatersrand. She has extensive teaching and research experience in the field of higher education and teacher education. She also convenes the UNESCO Chair Forum on Teacher Education for Diversity and Development. Her teaching and research work has focused on higher education policy, student access and success, pedagogy and students lived experiences of higher education.

Address for correspondence [email protected]