Understanding Place-based education in Nigeria: A structured narrative review of its status, barriers, and African comparative insights

Place-Based Education (PBE) is increasingly recognized as essential for culturally grounded and community-responsive learning across Africa; however, its status in Nigeria remains underexplored. This structured narrative review synthesizes 28 studies (2010–2025) to examine PBE's presence in Nigerian curriculum, teacher preparation, and policy; the systemic barriers constraining its adoption; and relevant African experiences that suggest context-appropriate possibilities rather than models for direct emulation. The review finds that PBE in Nigeria exists mainly as isolated, teacher-led practices (such as outdoor learning, local examples, and indigenous knowledge use) rather than as an integral feature of national policy frameworks. Barriers are predominantly structural, including curriculum centralization, limited teacher autonomy, insufficient preparation for contextual pedagogy, and the dominance of Western epistemologies. While examples from Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Botswana do not serve as direct templates, they demonstrate how African countries have adapted PBE principles within their own contexts. These insights clarify what is institutionally feasible in Nigeria, highlighting the need for reforms that embed contextual adaptation into policy, curriculum development, and teacher education systems.