In 1968 the African country of Equatorial Guinea gained its independence after 200 years of Spanish colonial rule. Shortly thereafter it found itself under a difficult authoritarian regime which went as far as closing down its schools in 1975. When the schools were reopened in 1979 the devastated country left the schools languishing in disrepair. In 2006 a public-private partnership between the HESS Oil Corporation and the government of Equatorial Guinea proved a catalyst for an education reform entitled Programa para el Desarrollo Educativo de Guinea Ecuatorial (PRODEGE). The partnership contracted the Academy of Educational Development (AED) who designed a program of active learning based on the policy of Escuela Nueva. AED was given $50 million dollars to implement the program in the country's primary rural schools.

    This dissertation follows this transfer of the Escuela Nueva policy into Africa. Few researchers have been allowed into the country and as such this is one of the only dissertations written about the Equatoguinean schooling system. The study explores the current literature on policy transfer and seeks to expand the theories to encompass more complex endeavors as the findings of this study suggest is needed. Vertical case study methods lead to an analysis of how the country's four decades under authoritarian rule have formed an unexpected cultural response to the transfer of this very democratically principled, bottom up policy.