ABSTRACT
Little educational research has been published on The Gambia, the smallest country in Africa. The Gambia has a strong commitment in policy to inclusive and emancipatory education. This chapter illustrates how contextual factors have shaped its education policy in relation to Learner Centred Education (LCE) and to the practical implementation of LCE. It refers to 'emancipatory' and 'preparation' narratives which focus on different purposes of education. The context of national scale has implications for educational change. Policy-making and implementation in the Gambia are moved by individuals. The chapter finds challenges of teacher and teacher educator capacity, where teaching is not a particularly desirable or motivating profession, and where there has been little experiential exposure to LCE practice. It also finds mixed messages regarding culture, as the global and the local, and the traditional and the modern, meet and mix. LCE is seen as part of the modern, global world, and this brings with it both resistance and desire.
