WHAT IS AFRICAN INDIGENOUS
EDUCATION? PHILOSOPHICAL
BASES OF AFRICAN INDIGENOUS
EDUCATION.STRENGTHS AND
LIMITATIONS OF THIS EDUCATION,
AND RELEVANT IS IT TO THE
MODERN EDUCATION TODAY.
FEBRUARY 8, 2012 DARISOANJ LEAVE A COMMENT
African indigenous education was a lifelong process of learning where by a person
progressed through predetermined stages of life of graduation from cradle to grave. Cameroon &
Dodd (1970). This implies that African indigenous education was continuous throughout lifetime
from childhood to old-age
Mushi (2009) defines African indigenous education as a process of passing among the
tribal members and from one generation to another the inherited knowledge, skills, cultural
traditions norms and values of the tribe.
In www.eric.ed.gov/../recordDetail. African indigenous education is defined as the native,
locally developed form of bringing up the youngsters by the older and more experienced
members of the society. Being native is by no means to deny the fact that indigenous learning
goals, content, structures and methods have not been enriched, or for that matter, polluted or both
by outside influences.
African indigenous education can generally be defined as the form of learning in Africa
traditional societies in which knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the tribe, were passed from
elders to children, by means of oral instructions and practical activities.
The main characteristics of African indigenous education included the following.
Traditional African indigenous education was community oriented, geared to solving the
problems of the community. The instructional activities were therefore, directed towards the
social life of the community, so as to prepare the learners to fit into their community.
Kenyatta (1961 in Mushi 2009) holds it that;
It was taught in relation to a ‘concrete’ situation. The boys and girls learnt about birds that were
harmful, how they could be controlled, and what birds could be eaten. In the same way they
learnt about trees that were good for firewood, building or for propping crops like banana and
yams as well as those which resisted ants.
It was illiterate. The learning experiences were made orally and the knowledge was
stored in the heads of elders. The instructors were carefully selected from the family or clan.
Their task was to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes to the young, informally at the didactic
and practical levels. Nyerere (1975) says, “at the didactic level the teaching process took the
form of the stories, legends, riddles, and songs; while at the practical level individuals enacted
what they had learnt didactically, by imitating and watching what their elders performed”.
It put emphasis on practical learning and the young adult learned by watching,
participating and executing what they learnt. The skills like carving, masonry, clay working,
cloth making, building canoe making, cooking, and home management were insisted among the
children in the community. These were the skills opened to all, as they consisted of the basic
skills, knowledge and attitudes that enabled individuals to live and function effectively in their
tribe.
The question of learning by doing is very important. The best way to learn sewing is to sew; the
best way to learn farming is to farm; the best way to learn cooking is to cook the best way to
learn how to teach is to teach and so on. Nyerere (1975 in Mushi 2009)
It was not separated from other spheres of community activity. This implies that it was
the whole life of the community and it had no special time of a day or life when it took place.
Instead it took place in the entire span of life it can therefore be viewed as a life-long process in
which an individual acquired skills, knowledge and values from womb to tomb. Mush (2009)
comments that in this case education was essentially part of life and not separated from the
societal culture.
It was functional. The knowledge skills and values that were imparted were relevant to
the socio-economic activities of an individual. The learners learned the skills that were for
immediate and long term activities. Mushi spotlights the Bena society and has the following to
say;
In Bena society, the individual who were earmarked for various community roles like guards,
leaders or teachers, received training around the chiefs (ntemi) residence. The compulsory
subjects comprised fighting, religion, law, history, agriculture and animal husbandry. Upon
completion of their training they were appointed as guards, teachers and warriors.(ibid)
It had no paper word-testing and certificates but learners graduated ceremoniously. There
were basically no formal exams at the end of a specific level of training, but a learner was
considered a graduate when he/she was able to practice what s/he had learnt throughout the
period of training. The ceremony was held to mark the completion o training and thus assuming
more community responsibilities. This was common especially during what Mushi referred to as
‘coming of age’ ceremonies and ‘the rites of passage’
African indigenous education did no develop in a vacuum, it had its own philosophical bases on
which it was built. Having looked at the main characteristics of African indigenous education
lets examine its philosophical bases. The following should be considered as philosophical bases
for African indigenous education
Preparedness/preparationism. This implies that the role of teaching and learning was to
equip boys and girls with the skills appropriate to their gender in preparation for their distinctive
roles the society. In most African traditional societies such as Sukuma, Zanaki, Kurya, masai,
Nyamwezi most girls were taught how to become good mothers and how to handle their
husbands soon after marriage, and boys were prepared to become warriors, manual farmers, good
fathers (the heads of the family) and other male dominated occupations.(ibid)
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Functionalism. This was another philosophical base in which the knowledge, skills and
attitudes imparted were relevant to the social economic activities of an individual. And so
education was for utility value. It was provided for immediate induction into real life in the
society. Learners learnt by observing, imitating and initiation ceremonies. Mushi has the
following to say on it
Indigenous African education was functional, the knowledge, skills and values that were
imparted were relevant to the socio-economic activities of the individual … this was evident in
the fields of agriculture, building, fishing, iron smelting, canoe making dancing or child rearing.
(ibid)
Communalism. In African traditional society learners learned/acquired a common
spirit to work and life and that the means of production were owned communally. The education
was also an integral part of culture and history. For example children upbringing was a whole
community’s role. If for instance a child misbehaved in the absence of his/her parents any adult
member of the community was responsible to correct him/her on spot. That implies that even
children belonged to the society.
Holisticism/multiple learning. In this philosophical base a learner was required to
acquire multiple skills. They were either not allowed to specialize in specific occupation, or a
very little room for specialization did exist. When a learner learnt about a certain skill, say
farming s/he was obliged to learn all other skills related to farming such as, how to prepare
farms, hoeing, food preservation, how to fight with diseases attacking crops and so on. Also he
had to learn other skills like, hunting, house building, cookery, and principles required for the
wellbeing of an individual, clan and ethnic groups. The learner learnt multiple skills and
mastered them all.
Perennialism. This philosophical base ensured that the traditional communities in
Africa use education as a necessary tool for preserving the status quo of the tribe. Based on this
fact it did not allow the progressive influence of on the mind of young people and so it was
viewed as conservative in nature. Learners were viewed as passive recipients and could not
contribute anything to the learning process. Mushi says on this that, “criticism about what they
were taught was discouraged and knowledge was not to be questioned. Questions seeking
clarification on aspects not clearly understood were encouraged” (2009:39)
African indigenous education displayed the following strengths to its recipients and the
society at large.
Every member of the community was employed. Children learnt the skills that prepared
them to immediately utilize their physical environment for self-employment. The skills acquired
by watching, and imitating the elders were immediately put into practical use. And thus the
children became productive and useful members in the society.
It was successful in maintaining the socio-economic and cultural structures of the society.
The learners were taught among other things, to preserve their own culture and to get rid of
external influences. Also the skills like masonry, clay working, carving, cloth making, building
canoe making and tinsmithery, were taught in the view of maintaining the socio-economic and
cultural heritage of the society.
The learners/recipients acquired communal attitudes rather than individual. From
communalism philosophical base point of view, learners were taught to respect the properties of
the whole society, and they used their acquired knowledge for service of the society. The Masai
moran for example protected the whole society and the properties therein.
Despite its strengths, African indigenous education did not go without limitations. Below are
some of the limitations that befell African indigenous education.
It was confined to a particular clan or society and covered that aspect considered being of
immediate relevance to them and it did not go beyond the borders of the society. Worse enough
the elders who were teachers hardly entertained any challenge. That is what Mushi expresses in
this paragraph; “traditional education had a specific body of knowledge to be learnt which never
changed, and which concentrated only on the transmission of cultural heritage, i.e. of traditions,
values, and norms among the members of the tribe from childhood to adulthood…”
The accumulated knowledge and skills could not be preserved in written form. It lacked
proper methods of storing knowledge and relied on the memories of the elders. Because it was
not documented it was difficult to spread from one place to another. Mush says “it was not easy
to describe, compare, and estimate distance, volume, weight, and size of different objects
because figures or letters were unknown to traditional African societies” (ibid).
Intellectual training occupied a very small place in traditional African education. This
means that greater emphasis was placed on the ‘concrete’ rather than the ‘abstract’. It ignored
other cognitive abilities like reasoning, which although it was imperative, was insufficiently
developed. So sometimes, everything happening, be it good or bad was attributed to God’s will.
It is correct to argue that traditional African societies had their own ways of reasoning, but to
some people this kind of reasoning could not enable them to imagine alternatives to decision
arrived at, a factor that was partly attributed to the emphasis placed on traditions i.e. beliefs and
their threats”(ibid)
Learning was lineal; the young people were taught by elders who had experiences in
societal life. The young people were not given chance as they were considered to have no
experiences that would help them contribute in the learning process; they were required to listen
and internalize what they were taught by elders. That limited their creative and innovative mental
development, thus leading to slow development of a traditional society.
In traditional society some members were prevented from eating certain types of food,
such as eggs, fruits, chicken, fish, and milk. In those societies if the forefathers did not eat such
types of foods it was generalized that even the subsequent generations should not eat. Some
beliefs were attached to such foods for example if eggs were to be eaten by expectant mothers it
was believed that she would give birth to a bald-headed child. This was a big misconception
since it was not realistically true.
In traditional societies, women were seen as the source of labour, they did not own
means of production neither did they take part in decision making, but men heavily exploited
their labour. Even in learning segregation took place as womwn were isolated from men and
were supposed to learn skills realated to home management, mid wifery, healthcare weaving and
farming. On the other hand men attended to those skills considered irrelevant to women, these
included; masonry, building, or fishery.{ibid)
African indigenous education is relevant to the modern education today in the following
cases.
African indigenouos education is the basis for the foundation of Education for Self-
relience in modern education. During the establishment of ESR in 1967, Nyerere recalled how
the traditonal education was relevant to the community life-especially learning by doing, and
included it in modern education. Learners pareticiation in learning is highly encouraged by
morden educators.
Furthermore, it prepared its recepients for life duties in their societies, likewise modern
education is no exceptonal. It prepares the learners to enter the world of work, and more
specifically it changes with time. For example the introduction of information and
communication technology course in colleges and universities responds to the current demands
of information and communication technology, traditional education also changed in response to
societal problems, like how to combart the emerging diseases, wild animals, enemies etc.
African indigenouos education has also greately influenced the need for development of
more appropriate problem solving educational curriculumand the promotion of life-long
education. Some aspects of African indigenouos education have continued to feature in policy
and practice of education.
Basically African indigenouos education managed to provide education to all members
of the community, althogh it differed from tribe to tribe. With the coming of western education
however African indigenouos education was seen inadequate to contribete to modern world’s
demads and the need for new skills. The isolationism of African indigenouos education was
broken up as societis were now introduced into a larger world of modern knowledge and
technology.
REFERENCES
Cameroon, J. and Dodd. W. (1970) Society, Schools and
Progress in Tanzania 1919-1970.
London: James Currey
Kenyatta, (1961), Facing Mountain Kenya. The Tribal
Life of the Kikuyu. London: Secker
and Warburg Ltd
Mushi PA K. (2009) History of Education in
Tanzania. Dar-es-Salaam: Dar-es-Salaam
University Press
Nyerere, J.K(1975)Education Never Ends, the 1969
and 1970 New Years Eve address to
the Nation in NAEAT Adult Education and
Development in Tanzania.
Dar-es-Salaam.
Nyerere J.K (1979a) Education for Self Reliance in
Hinzen, H and Hundsdorfer, V H
(Eds) Education for Liberation and
Development. The Tanzania Experience Hamburg
and Evans
www.eric.ed.gov/../recordDetail visited on 10th Jan 2011
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