PhD Thesis
PhD Thesis Title: Let Them Get Learning: The Promise of Education, Kenya and the World, c. 1945–1980
PhD Supervisor: Aidan Russell
Alex's doctoral research analyses how education was promised to Kenyans as a pathway to development, from late colonialism to independence and the expansion of global education governance. It follows that promise as it was repeatedly reworked — as civilising mission, Mau Mau re-education, Africanisation, community self-help and vehicle for productivity — through Kenya's shifting relationships with the world. Drawing on archives in Paris, London and Nairobi, alongside oral histories and other contemporary sources, the study investigates the transnational dynamics behind these reworkings and their effects, including the disappointments and possibilities they produced.
PROFILE
Alexander Howells is a PhD researcher in International History and Politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute. His academic work bridges the history of education, decolonisation and development with contemporary debates on international organisations and the global governance of education. Before joining the Institute, he worked at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg, where he coordinated policy dialogues, workshops and research.
Areas of expertise
- Transnational and international history of education
- Education and development in Africa
- Decolonisation and the global politics of development
- UNESCO and multilateral cooperation
- Global governance of education and lifelong learning
Selected publications and Works
- ‘Advancing Learning Cities: Lifelong learning and the creation of a learning society’. 2021. Publisher: Asian Development Bank. Authors: David Atchoarena and Alex Howells.
- ‘From unequal foundations to a shared post-2030 future for education?’ 2026. Publisher: UNESCO Futures of Education IdeasLAB.