Experiencing Change: Lived Perspectives on Multimodal Pedagogical Shifts

Abstract

This phenomenological study investigates the lived experiences of lecturers at a private higher learning institution in Rwanda in integrating multimodal pedagogical resources. Amid national efforts to transition toward a knowledge-based economy and implement English as the medium of instruction, lecturers are challenged to move beyond traditional text-based teaching and incorporate digital, visual, and symbolic modes. Using a purposive sample of eight lecturers, in-depth semi-structured interviews were analyzed through a social semiotic lens, revealing three interconnected themes. First, The Digital Divide as a Semiotic Barrier underscores how unreliable infrastructure and limited technological resources constrain the expressive potential of multimodal teaching. Second, Translanguaging and the Complexity of Meaning-Making highlights lecturers’ strategic use of Kinyarwanda, French, and English to support comprehension, particularly when interpreting complex or visually dense content. Third, Resourcefulness in Practice: The Pedagogy of the Immediate illustrates the deliberate deployment of low-tech, embodied, and improvisational strategies—gestures, voice modulation, and instant visuals—to bridge gaps created by systemic constraints. The findings demonstrate that effective multimodal pedagogy in resource-constrained contexts depends less on technological sophistication and more on lecturer agency, pedagogical creativity, and context-sensitive adaptation. Based on these insights, the study recommends targeted professional development to enhance multimodal flexibility, sustainable investment in low-bandwidth infrastructure, and policy adjustments that formally recognize multilingual scaffolding alongside English. By foregrounding the interplay among infrastructure, language policy, and educator agency, this study offers a nuanced understanding of multimodal teaching in private higher education in Rwanda and provides actionable guidance for policymakers, institutional leaders, and educators in similar resource-limited contexts.