African style education, the term is not one I can say I have heard readily if ever used. It is something that is important and should be considered whenever one discusses Africa and how she has moved into modern times. Did the colonial peoples understand the way their educational system would or would not mesh with any cultures that were encountered? I would like to think our understanding of even the smallest impact upon another’s culture has advanced significantly since colonial days, and by so granting them a level of pardonable ignorance. What we know of them, does not present a favorable outlook, but Folger, Poole and Stutman propose that “when the offended person is able to empathize with the offender, attribute the behavior to understandable causes, or see his or her own flaws as similar to the offender’s forgiveness may occur” (p.245). Focusing on the negative impacts of the past will harm the future.
How these ties into an African style education is putting in place a way for a culture to learn and teach that fits. To say the European style that was imparted on much of Africa did them a disservice is an understatement, and according to Assie’-Lumumba “by the time formal colonization ended, symbolized by individual countries acquiring their independence, European education had taken root in the social soil of Africa” (2016). Referring to how the European style, weight of topics of importance and how those topics should be learned from, were a large step away from a traditional African Style Education. Much of a European education can be determined to be learned facts and such that may or may not have any day to day significance. Assie’-Lumumba continues by stating “all of the colonial powers created systems of education that aimed to create “new” Africans totally saturated by colonial education” (2016). The disregard for traditional ways of learning and adherence to ubuntu’s core philosophy have created a system that is dysfunctional and does not serve the needs of the people.
The desert of practical application may not mesh well with the daily hardships and challenges of the youth of a small tribe. Diop states that “African intellectuals should study the past not for their pleasure but to learn useful lessons” (1996, p.137). In thinking about the context in which information is of value to the student, this makes sense. The belief of the European style as the superior, ‘one-size fits all’ due to it being so awesome may not be the most enlightened way for a worldwide approach moving forward. For example, the African languages are so different from western understanding their use of gender goes in a very different direction. Assie’-Lumumba explains “the exclusive use of either of the two genders also makes it possible to avoid any ambiguity regarding the case of separate spheres of control and power, although the philosophical foundation of human relations is profoundly communal as captured in ubuntu” (2016).For Africa, a return to an ubuntu frame-work may be the most valuable way to heal and move forward from the impacts of colonization.
References:
PSU. (2018) OLEAD 410. Lesson 14. Africa. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1942644/modules/items/24935460
Folger, J.P., Poole, M.S., and Stutman, R.K., (2013). Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups and Organizations. Seventh Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Assie’-Lumumba, N. T., (2016). Resistance, perverts effects of the single system paradox and the ubuntu framework for renewal. Springer Science + Buisiness Medai Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2016.
https://link-springer-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11159-016-9547-8.pdf
Diop, C. A. (1996). Towards the African renaissance: Essays in African culture and development, 1946-1960. London: Karnak House.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.