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MEANING AND SCOPE OF
PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY DEFINED
Philosophy (Greek philosophia, “love of
wisdom”), the rational and critical
inquiry into basic principles.
Philosophy is often divided into four
main branches: metaphysics, the
investigation of ultimate reality;
epistemology, the study of the
origins, validity, and limits of
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knowledge; ethics, the study of the
nature of morality and judgment; and
aesthetics, the study of the nature of
beauty in the fine arts.
As used originally by the ancient
Greeks, the term philosophy meant the
pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.
Philosophy comprised all areas of
speculative thought and included the
arts, sciences, and religion. As
special methods and principles were
developed in the various areas of
knowledge, each area acquired its own
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philosophical aspect, giving rise to
the philosophy of art, of science, and
of religion. The term philosophy is
often used popularly to mean a set of
basic values and attitudes toward
life, nature, and society—thus the
phrase “philosophy of life.” Because
the lines of distinction between the
various areas of knowledge are
flexible and subject to change, the
definition of the term philosophy
remains a subject of controversy.
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Therefore philosophy involves a search
for wisdom by philosophers, who are
constantly searching for answers to
everything, and who try to come to
terms with life in the world today.
APPROACHES OF PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy is an activity with three
approaches, modes or styles namely:
Speculative, Prescriptive and
Analytic.
SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Speculative philosophy is a way of
thinking systematically about
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everything that exists. It tries to
understand how all the different
things that have been discovered
together form some sort of meaningful
totality. Speculative philosophy is
therefore a search for order and
wholesomeness applied not to
particular items or experience. It is
an attempt to find coherence in the
whole realm of thoughts and
experience.
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PRESCRIPTIVE PHILOSOPHY
This seeks to establish standards for
assessing values, judging conduct and
appraising art. It examines what we
mean by good or bad, right and wrong,
beautiful and ugly. It asks whether
these qualities are in things
themselves or whether they are
projections of our minds.
To the experimental psychologists the
varieties of human conduct are orally
either good or bad. They are simply
forms of behaviour to be studied
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empirically. But to the educator and
the prescriptive philosopher some
forms of behaviour are worthwhile and
others are not. The prescriptive
philosopher seeks to discover and to
recommend principles for describing
what actions and qualities are most
worthwhile and why they should be so.
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY
Analytic philosophy focuses on words
and meaning. The analytic philosopher
examines such notions as “causes”,
“mind”, “academic freedom”, “quality
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of opportunity”, etc. in order to
assess the different contexts, he
shows how inconsistencies may arise
when meanings appropriate in certain
contexts are imported into others. The
analytic philosopher tends to be
sceptical, cautious and disinclined to
build system of thought.
GENERAL VERSUS TECHNICAL PHILOSOPHY
The discipline of philosophy is either
general or technical. When we speak of
the worldwide philosophy; we primarily
refer to general philosophy.
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Technical philosophy applies to
recognized academic scholars, to men
of books, or more specifically to
professional and technical
philosophers, of mostly western or
European origin.
MAJOR BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY AND
THEIR APPLICATION TO EDUCATION
In terms of content philosophy is
concerned with four distinct areas of
study, which are usually called the
four branches of philosophy. These are
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Metaphysics, Epistemology, Logic and
Axiology.
Metaphysics
The term ‘Metaphysics’ in its original
meaning refers to what goes beyond (-
Meta) physics, beyond the study of
nature. Generally speaking,
metaphysics as a branch of philosophy
deals with questions that are
concerned with what lies after or
beyond the physical world of sense and
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experience; it deals with the realm of
the supra-sensible. Traditionally,
metaphysics has been subdivided into
four areas namely;
COSMOLOGY
Cosmology is the study of the universe
or cosmos. The early Greek
philosophers were interested in
explaining rationally the origin and
nature of the universe. At the time,
there existed many myths about the
ones found in African societies. Thus
philosophers addressed themselves to
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problems related to time and eternity,
to the necessity of the laws of nature
etc.
THEODICY
Theodicy developed gradually out of
cosmology. It is closely related to
theology, which deals with religious
matters, such as the nature of
religious beliefs, the meaning of the
supernatural, the existence of god
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etc. theodicy also deals with
religious sphere and inquiries into
the ultimate meaning of ‘being’, be it
God, an absolute spirit or the supra-
sensible which cannot be directly
perceived but which can be thought of.
This is called pure metaphysics.
Note: Theodicy is defence of God’s goodness. It is
an argument in defence of God’s goodness despite
the existence of evil
ONTOLOGY
This is the philosophical study of
‘being’ of whatever is. According to
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philosophers, all things, both living
and non-living have one thing in
common, ‘being’. Despite this common
element, all things or beings
participate in being in different
ways. Accordingly, minerals for
example the meaning of ‘being’ is the
primary task of ontology.
RATIONAL OR PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY
This branch of metaphysics is also
referred to as the philosophy of mind.
One of its starting points is the
awareness that we perform certain
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activities such as perceiving,
imagining, remembering, feeling,
understanding and willing. These
activities are attributed to what is
commonly called the ‘mind’ as opposed
to the body. A question is raised in
this context, with regard to the
relationship between mind and body
e.g. whether they are two totally
different types of entity. This
question pertains to the famous mind-
body problem, which is connected
rationally with trying to determine
whether the mind survives the
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destruction of the body. Attempts to
answer questions in this area of
metaphysics are rendered difficult by
the complexity of the concepts in
order and by the fact that often there
are no clear criteria for determining
the meaning of the concepts used by
different thinkers.
Metaphysics and Education
Metaphysics as a school of thought was
developed by early philosophers such
as; The African philosophic sages,
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Thales, Galileo, Plato, Aristotle and
John Locke among others. To them
learning involves observing things in
nature and act according to the
observations. A human being is able to
grow, act and learn according to the
environment he is brought up. For
example one might be bothered with a
metaphysical question whether human
life has any purpose or does God
exist? What is the origin of the
universe? Failure to answer such
questions may lead the learner to
conclude that life has no meaning or
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like the Biblical philosopher who said
that life is useless, it is like
chasing the wind.
EPISTEMOLOGY
The term epistemology dates back to
the ancient Greece. It is derived from
two Greek words ‘Episteme’ meaning
knowledge and ‘logia’ meaning study.
Thus epistemology is the systematic
inquiry into the nature and ground of
experience, belief and knowledge. It
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is called a second order discipline
concerned with the ‘how’ and ‘why’
rather than ‘what’. It does not aim
directly to add to our store of
knowledge but it is a systematic
reflection of knowledge itself. It
aims at exploring scientifically what
we can know, how we can know and how
reliable that knowledge is. The main
proponent of this school of thought is
John Dewey.
From the point of view of the teacher
who is the Key player in the learning
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processes, one of the most important
distinctions made in epistemology is
that between the different types of
knowledge. These types of knowledge
are;
REVEALED KNOWLEDGE
Revealed knowledge may be described as
knowledge that God has disclosed to
man. In his omniscience, God inspired
certain men to write down truths that
he revealed to them, so that these
truths might be known thereafter by
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all mankind. For Christians and Jews,
the word of God is contained in the
Bible, for Muslims in the Qur’an, for
Hindus in the Bhagavad-Gita and the
Upanishads. Because it is the word of
God, it is true forever.
INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE
This refers to knowledge that a person
finds within himself in a moment of
insight. Insight or intuition is the
sudden eruption into consciousness of
an idea or conclusion produced by a
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long process of unconsciousness work.
All of a sudden we see the solution to
a problem with which our
unconsciousness has been at grip for
days, months or even years.
Intuitive knowledge is also described
as knowledge that is proposed and
accepted on the strength of the
imaginative vision or private
experience of the person proposing it.
The truths embodied in the works of
arts are a form of intuitive
knowledge. All great writers like
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Homer, William Shakespeare, Ngugi
Wathiong’o etc tell us truths about
the heart of man.
Note: Epistemology seeks to answer such basic
questions as "What is true?" and "How do we
know?"
Question: Compare and contrast Revealed
knowledge and Intuitive knowledge.
RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
This is the knowledge we obtain by the
exercise of reason alone unaccompanied
by observation of actual states of
affairs. The principles of formal
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logic and pure mathematics are
paradigms of rational knowledge. The
truth is demonstrated by abstract
reasoning alone, e.g. if ‘A’ is
greater than ‘B’ and ‘B’ is greater
than ‘C’, then we conclude that ‘A’ is
greater than ‘C’. The principles of
rational knowledge may be applied to
sense experience, but they are not
deducted from it. Rational truths are
valid universally.
EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE
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This knowledge is acquired through
senses. By seeing, hearing, smelling,
feeling, and tasting we form our
conception of the world around us.
Empirical knowledge therefore is
composed of ideas formed in accordance
with observed or sensed facts.
AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE
This is knowledge that has been
accepted because it was vouched for by
authorities in the field. It is made
up of facts that have been accepted as
true. It is not subject to questioning
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or criticism. For example we accept
that Nairobi is the capital city of
Kenya, Washington is the capital city
of the United States of America, light
travels in a straight line, the battle
of Adowa took place in 1986, etc. we
feel no need to work out for ourselves
for example the table of logarithms.
Epistemology and Education
So far based on the above categories
of knowledge, below are the views of
the leading schools of philosophy
about knowledge in general and its
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relation to education. These leading
schools of thought are: Idealistic
epistemology, Realist epistemology and
Pragmatist epistemology.
IDEALIST EPISTEMOLOGY
The major proponents of idealist
epistemology include the African
sages, Priests from Egyptian Mystery
System, those who taught Plato,
Socrates and other Greek philosophers.
Other Idealists are Hegel and Immanuel
Kant. Plato and Socrates argued that
knowledge acquired through senses must
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always remain uncertain and incomplete
since the material world is only a
distorted copy of a more perfect
sphere of being. True knowledge is the
product of reason alone for reason is
the faculty that discerns the pure
spiritual forms of things beyond their
material embodiments.
Hegel argued that knowledge is valid
only in so far as forms a system.
Since ultimate reality is rational and
systematic, our knowledge of reality
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is true to the extent that is
systematic.
Most modern idealists uphold the
assertions of Immanuel Kant that the
essence of knowing is the composition
of meaning and order on information
gathered by the senses. The purpose of
teaching is to help the learner to
impose order and meaning on the
information he is presented with. The
learner should relate this information
to his own previous experiences so
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that what he learns is significant to
him personally.
Note: Epistemological idealism is a subjectivist
position in epistemology that holds that what
one knows about an object exists only in one's
mind. It is opposed to epistemological
realism.
Realist epistemology
Realist epistemologists assert that
true knowledge is the knowledge that
corresponds to the world as it is. In
the course of time the human race has
put together a stock of knowledge
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whose truth has repeatedly been
confirmed. The most important task of
the school is to impart a selection of
this knowledge on the person. The
teacher has to decide what subject
matter should be studied in class and
transmit it to the learner. To
instruct the learner in the knowledge
that matters most is the true goal of
education.
Pragmatic epistemology
Pragmatic epistemology presents a
quite different view from the idealist
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and realists. Pragmatists believe that
the mind should be active and
exploratory. The proponents of
pragmatic epistemology like William
Peirce and John Dewey asserts that
knowledge is produced by a transaction
between man and his environment. An
idea can only be true if it is proved
to work. According to them the teacher
should construct learning situations
around particular problems whose
solution will lead his pupils to a
better understanding of their social
goal and physical environment.
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Logic
Logic deals with establishing the
consistency of statements. According
to R. J. Njoroge and G.A. Bennaars
(1996), it is the study of correct
reasoning. Logic attempts to establish
the truth or falsehood of statements.
It also justifies the validity and
soundness of arguments. Traditionally,
logic is classified into three sub
branches namely: Inductive logic,
Deductive logic and Symbolic logic.
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Inductive logic
This is a process whereby general law
or conclusion is inferred from
particular instances. It starts from
the particular and reasons to the
general. In other words inductive
reasoning proceeds from a particular
to a general idea. If an event or a
process is repeated several times and
consistently, then conclusions are
drawn. For example, it has been
established that for an object to
float in water, its density should be
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less than one gram per cubic
centimetre. Therefore all objects with
such density must float in water. This
law has been held without further
inquiry.
Deductive logic
This is a process reasoning whereby a
particular conclusion is inferred or
deduced from a general premise. These
premises often take the form of
general statements or propositions.
Deductive reasoning starts from a
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general principle to a particular
principle, for example;
All men are mortal.
Mugaka is a man.
Mugaka is mortal.
All University students are bright.
Atieno is a University student.
Atieno is bright.
More technically, such reasoning is
often expressed in the form of a
syllogism i.e. the first two
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statements need to be stated before
the third.
Symbolic logic
Symbolic logic is purely mathematical.
Here symbols are used to represent
figures or ideas. For example in
mathematics;
Represents summation or total∑
number of variables.
In some mathematical problems certain
symbols or letters of the alphabet
represents certain values e.g.
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If a = 2
b = 3
c = 6
Calculate the value of;
ab
bc
2b – a
c/a
ac + 2b
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From a logical point of view an
individual is able to make concrete
conclusions. In mathematics of
equations, x is used to represent the
unknown. An individual is able to use
the laws of logic to make calculations
and comprehend the value of the
unknown. For example; x + 4 = 13. The
symbol x represents a number which
must be added to 4 to bring 13. This
follows that know the value of x, 4
must be subtracted from 13.
Logic And Education
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Logic may be applied to the act of
teaching where teaching is understood
to be a special way of making things
known to others. Here teaching is
considered as a system of actions
varied in form of content but directed
towards learning. It is the
performance of these actions and in
the interactions of the teacher with
the learners that learning takes
place.
These actions and interactions are of
course personal but they are also
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logical, in that they have a certain
structure, a certain structure, a
certain order, such that no matter
where in the world teaching takes
place, it does so in accordance with
operations that reflect the very
nature of teaching – learning
situation.
What then, are the logical operations
and how can they be analyzed? The
action of teaching involves three
variables;
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The teacher’s behaviour which is the
independent variable.
The learner’s behaviour which is the
dependent variable.
Various postulated entities, such as
memories, beliefs, needs and
inferences which are intervening
variables.
The integration of these variables
brings about teaching and effective
learning.
Note: Logic is a theory of reasoning: the branch of
philosophy that deals with the theory of deductive
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and inductive arguments and aims to distinguish
good from bad reasoning.
Axiology
Axiology is the philosophical study of
theory of values. The term axiology
has been derived from Greek words AXIA
meaning values and LOGIA meaning
study. Axiology is a very broad area
of study with several sub-branches
each dealing with a different set of
values. The main sub – branches of
axiology are: Ethics and Aesthetics.
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Ethics
This is also called moral philosophy.
It reflects on the origin and nature
of moral values. It inquires into the
meaning of what is right or wrong,
thereby distinguishing between the
good of the society. At individual
level, it focuses on human behaviour.
Aesthetics
This is the theory of beauty as
applied in the field of art,
architecture and music. Axiology is
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further concerned with social,
cultural and political values. In this
context we speak of social philosophy,
political philosophy and philosophy of
culture each of which is an area of
specialization within axiology, in as
far as all of them are concerned with
values.
Note: In Unification Thought, Axiology holds a
central position as the foundation for the theories
of Education, Art, and Ethics, which deal with how
to achieve a truthful, beautiful, and good society,
respectively.
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Axiology and Education
Values abound everywhere in education.
They are involved in every aspect of
school practice, basic to all matters
of choice and decision making. Using
values, teachers evaluate students and
students evaluate teachers, Society
evaluates courses of study, school
programmes and teaching competence.
The society itself is evaluated by
educators. When we pass judgment on an
educational practice, when we estimate
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the worth of an education policy, we
are making value judgment.
Ethics views education as a moral
enterprise. Teachers are always
drawing attention to what ought to be
said and done and how students ought
to behave. They are concerned with
imparting moral values and improving
individual and social behaviour.
Aesthetics being the study of values
and realm of beauty, aesthetic values
are difficult to access because they
are likely to be personal and
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subjective. However aesthetics can be
applied to the process of teaching and
learning. In so far as aesthetics is
concerned, the teacher should select
materials that are attractive to the
general class. The teacher himself
should not look clumsy. Unattractive
class learning makes the learners
unable to learn.
1. EDUCATION: MEANING AND SCOPE
In its wider/general sense, Education
is any act or experience which
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positively alters or forms the
intellect, character, or physical
ability of an individual. In its
technical/practical sense, education
can be defined as the process by which
society consciously and knowingly
passes on its accumulated knowledge,
skills and values from one generation
to another through institutions.
Educators see it as the best tool
available for social and economic
advancement and hence immense efforts
are made to construct, equip and staff
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schools and colleges. But what is the
meaning of education?
According to some learned people, the
word "Education" has been derived from
the Latin term "Educatum" which means
the act of teaching or training. A
group of educationists say that it has
come from another Latin word "Educare"
which means "to bring up" or "to
raise".
According to a few others, the word
"Education" has originated from
another Latin term "Educere" which
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means "to lead forth" or "to come
out". All these meanings indicate that
education seeks to nourish the good
qualities in man and draw out the best
in every individual. Education seeks
to develop the innate inner capacities
of man.
By educating an individual we attempt
to give him some desirable knowledge,
understanding, skills, interests,
attitudes and critical 'thinking. That
is, he acquires knowledge of history,
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geography, arithmetic, languages and
sciences.
He develops some understanding about
the deeper things in life, the complex
human relations, and the cause and
effect relationship and so on. He gets
some skills in writing, speaking,
calculating, drawing, operating some
equipment etc. He develops some
interests in and attitudes towards
social work, democratic living, co-
operative management and so on.
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As an individual in the society, he
has to think critically about various
issues in life and take decisions
about them being free from bias and
prejudices, superstitions and blind
beliefs. Thus, he has to learn all
these qualities of head, hand and
heart through the process of
education.
In Ancient Greece, Socrates argued
that education was about drawing out
what was already within student
(Intellectual midwifery).
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The Webster Dictionary defines
education as the process of educating
or teaching. Education is further
defined as “to develop the knowledge,
skills or character of ….. Thus from
this definition we might assume that
the purpose of education is to develop
the knowledge, skill or character of
students. Unfortunately, this
definition offers little unless we
further define words such as develop
knowledge and character. Several other
attempts have been made to define
education and here are some:
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Plato: "Education is the capacity to
feel pleasure and pain at the right
moment. It develops in the body and in
the soul of the pupil all the beauty
and all the perfection which he is
capable of."
Aristotle: "Education is the creation
of a sound mind in a sound body. It
develops man's faculty, especially his
mind so that he may be able to enjoy
the contemplation of supreme truth,
goodness and beauty of which perfect
happiness essentially consists.
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Rousseau: "Education of man commences
at his birth; before he can speak,
before he can understand he is already
instructed. Experience is the
forerunner of the perfect".
Herbert Spencer: "Education is
complete living".
Heinrich Pestalozzi: "Education is
natural harmonious and progressive
development of man's innate powers".
Friedrich Willian Froebel: "Education
is unfoldment of what is already
enfolded in the germ. It is the
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process through which the child makes
internal external".
The Penguin encyclopaedia (1965)
describes education as a process by
which material, mental, moral and
cultural inheritance of a society is
transmitted to each generation.
Morris (1996) argues that educating is
the process of forming fundamental
dispositions – intellectual and
emotional towards nature and fellow
human beings.
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Curle (1973) sees education as a
process of awakening in the
individuals mind the seeds for peace,
justice and equality.
Tanner and Tanner (1980) proposed that
education should be conceived as a
guided recapitulation of the process
of inquiry which gives rise to the
fruitful bodies of organized knowledge
comprising the established
disciplines.
G. P. Oluoch (1982) defines education
as a process of acquiring and
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developing desirable knowledge, skills
and attitudes.
Hirst et al (1983) define education as
the development of desirable qualities
in people.
From these definitions, education has
come to mean the development of an all
found person, involving intellectual,
moral, and emotional and personality
development of an individual. It can
be defined in terms of training, skill
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acquisition and formal school
attendance.
2.1 Dimensions of Education
Education is said to be a multi –
dimensional concept: We can identify
four dimensions of education namely:
The cognitive dimension
The normative dimension
The creative dimension
The dialogical dimension
(Dimensions=facets=components)
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2.1.1 The Cognitive Dimension of
Education
This dimension defines education in
terms of learning and schooling.
Psychologists, generally distinguish
between two types of learning namely:
Associative learning and Cognitive
learning.
Associative learning: This implies a
stimulus – response pattern and the
formation of conditioned associations
(Pavlov)
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Since cognitive learning is said to
result in cognition or knowing, we
find the basis for the cognitive
dimension of education.
It is concerned with the mental
process of knowing, including aspects
such as awareness, perception,
reasoning, and judgment.
2.1.2 The Normative Dimension of
Education
The Normative dimension of education
tries to define education in terms of
what ought to or should happen. This
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enters into the area of values and
ideals. According to a French
sociologist Emile Durkheim, “A society
can neither create nor recreate itself
without at the same time creating an
ideal” therefore the normative
dimension of education refers to norms
or standards that are to be
recommended for the educational
enterprise, which in turn provide
general guidelines for educational
theory and practice.
2.1.3 The Creative Dimension
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The creative dimension of education is
understood to mean making the learner
aware of his task as an actor, a
producer and a creator. It stresses
the importance of work as an integral
part of man’s task to be human. It
encourages learners to conceive new
solutions, new possibilities and to
produce original ideas.
2.1.4 Dialogical dimension
According to R.S Peters (1990) in his
book, “Ethics and Education”,
Education itself is a public form of
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experience. It intended to be a social
or public affair, a social
institution. This is a direct
reference to the social aspect or
dimension of education which is also
called the dialogical dimension.
Dialogical rather than the social
dimension of education is preferred
since education defined in real terms
involves dialogue.
The term dialogue is derived from the
Greek Word dia-logos which implies
communication between two or more
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people it means people speaking words
(logos) to each other. Dialogue is
radically different from monologue,
where only one person speaks.
Education defined as dialogue implies
people communicating with each other
on equal terms. The dialogical
dimension of education is therefore
opposed to authoritarianism in
education whereby the learner is
forced to accept the authoritative
word of the teacher without being
given a chance to question that word.
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2.2 The Importance and Purpose of
Education
In any inquiry into educational
purpose, it is important to make a
clear distinction between education
and schooling. Education is a lifelong
process. It begins with birth,
continues throughout life and ends
when one dies. Much of education is
informal and part of it formal.
Schooling on the other hand is a
process of acquiring knowledge,
attitudes, values, skills in an
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institution; it is characterised by
syllabuses to be covered, textbooks to
be used, teachers assigned to various
classes for particular subjects which
are taught at particular times,
examinations to be done at the end of
the term, year and level to mark the
end and determine the next level of
learning.
Educational Philosophers have pointed
out various purposes of education some
of which are outlined below.
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Education for discipline: Education should
aim principally at forming and
strengthening the mental faculties,
thus enabling persons to meet and
master the exigencies of life when
school days are over. Education for
character: Using any means, at its
disposal, including discipline and
knowledge, education should seek to
form morally responsible and socially
sensitive human beings.
Education for knowledge: Education should
concern itself mainly with the
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teaching of useful knowledge and
skill, which are essential to life in
the society.
Education for life: Civility and utility
are essential conditions for personal
and social decency and success.
Education should concern itself with
the teaching of relevant competencies.
Education for growth: Education should
supply opportunity for personal
growth. It should always aspire to
cultivating rather than arresting
growth.
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Education for personal fulfilment: Happiness
in life is ultimate objective, so
education should contain the means to
promote personal autonomy, an
essential condition to happiness.
Education for aesthetic refinement: Education
should prepare persons to appreciate
beauty in all its various forms and
supply standards for making aesthetic
judgments.
3.0 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
The Philosophy of education is a
branch of applied philosophy which
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analyzes the aims, forms, methods, and
results of education as both a process
and a field of study. It is influenced
both by developments within
philosophy, especially questions of
ethics and epistemology, and by
concerns arising from instructional
practice. The subject is often taught
within a department or college of
education, rather than within a
philosophy department. Philosophical
treatments of education date at least
as far back as Socrates, but the field
of inquiry only began to be recognized
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as a formal subdiscipline in the
nineteenth century. Though the field
often seems to lack the cohesion of
other areas of philosophy, it is
generally, and perhaps therefore, more
open to new approaches.
The term "philosophy of education"
might also refer to a comprehensive
normative theory of education that is
informed both by philosophical
perspectives in ethics, epistemology,
and the human condition as well as by
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psychological perspectives on human
learning and development.
3.1 Educational philosophies
A philosophy of education as a
normative theory "propound[s] views
about what education should be, what
dispositions it should cultivate, why
it ought to cultivate them, how and in
whom it should do so, and what forms
it should take." Major philosophies of
education in the United States are
essentialism, perennialism,
progressivism, social
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reconstructionism, critical theory,
and existentialism. These philosophies
are informed by philosophical
perspectives of idealism, realism,
pragmatism, existentialism, and
postmodernism; political ideologies of
liberalism, conservatism, and Marxism;
as well as by the perspectives of
behaviorism, cognitivism, humanism,
and constructivism from psychology and
education.
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IDEALISM: The realities of idealism
are spiritual, moral or mental and
unchanging. Idealism is a
philosophical approach that has as its
central tenet that ideas are the only
true reality. Truth can be found
through reasoning, intuition and
religious revelation. Teacher’s role
is to bring latent knowledge and ideas
to consciousness. Teaching methods
focus on handling ideas through
lecture, discussion, and Socratic
dialogue. Learning is an intellectual
process that involves recalling and
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working with ideas. In idealism, the
aim of education is to discover and
develop each individual’s abilities
and full moral excellence in order to
better serve society. Curriculum is
knowledge based and subject based. The
most important subjects are
philosophy, theology and mathematics
because they cultivate abstract
thinking.
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REALISM: Contends that reality is
based on natural laws, is objective
and composed of matter. People can
come to know the world through their
senses and their reasons. Aristotle
believed that everything had a purpose
and humans’ purpose is to think.
Teacher’s role is to be a moral and
spiritual leader and to be an
authority. Learning is just
exercising the mind, and logical
thinking is highest form of mental
exercise.
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The Realist curriculum emphasizes the
subject matter of the physical world,
particularly science and mathematics.
Teaching methods focus on mastery of
facts and basic skills through
demonstration and recitation.
Curriculum is knowledge based and
subject based. Most important
subjects are humanistic and scientific
subjects.
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PRAGMATISM (EXPERIMENTALISM) Reality
is based on change, process, and
relativity. Learning occurs as the
person engages in problem solving.
Both the learner and their environment
are constantly changing. Teachers’
role is to focus on critical thinking.
Teaching is more exploratory than
explanatory. Curriculum ought to be
based on the learner’s experience and
interests it also emphasizes the
inclusion of problem-solving
activities in a classroom.
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EXISTENTIALISM: The nature of reality
for Existentialists is subjective, and
lies within the individual.
Existentialism is a philosophy
concerned with finding self and the
meaning of life through free will,
choice, and personal responsibility.
Teachers’ role is to cultivate
personal choice and individual self-
definition. Teachers view the
individual as an entity within a
social context in which the learner
must confront others views to clarify
his or her own.
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Existentialists are opposed to
thinking about students as objects to
be measured, tracked, or standardized.
Such educators want the educational
experience to focus on creating
opportunities for self-direction and
self actualization. They start with
the student, rather than on curriculum
content.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES:
PERENNIALISM, ESSENTIALISM,
PROGRESSIVISM, RECONSTRUCTIONISM
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PERENNIALISM: The oldest and most
conservative educational philosophy.
It is rooted in realism and relies on
the past and stresses traditional
values. The aim of education is to
ensure that students acquire
understandings about the great ideas
of Western civilization. The focus is
to teach ideas that are everlasting,
to seek enduring truths which are
constant, and are not changing.
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The demanding curriculum focuses on
attaining cultural literacy, stressing
students’ growth in enduring
disciplines. The perennialist’s
curriculum is subject centered and
constant. It emphasizes the great
works of literature and art, the laws
or principles of science.
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ESSENTIALISM: Traditional and
conservative philosophy based on
idealism and realism. This approach
was in reaction to progressivist
approaches. Essentialists believe that
there is a common core of knowledge
that needs to be transmitted to
students in a systematic, disciplined
way. The core of the curriculum is
essential knowledge and skills and
academic rigor.
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Essentialists accept the idea that
this core curriculum may change.
Schooling should be practical,
preparing students to become valuable
members of society. Teachers are to
help students keep their non-
productive instincts in check, such as
aggression or mindlessness. Students
should be taught hard work, respect
for authority, and discipline.
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PROGRESSIVISM: It is developed from
pragmatic philosophy. Progressivists
believe that education should focus on
the whole child, rather than on the
content or the teacher. It is active,
not passive. The learner is a problem
solver and thinker who makes meaning
through his or her individual
experience in the physical and
cultural context. Progressivism
emphasized how to think, not what to
think.
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Curriculum content is derived from
student interests and questions. John
Dewey was its foremost proponent. One
of his tenets was that the school
should improve the way of life of our
citizens through experiencing freedom
and democracy in schools. Shared
decision making, planning of teachers
with students, student- selected
topics are all aspects. Books, Laptops
etc are mere tools, they are not the
authority.
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Progressivism is also opposed to: Rote
learning, authoritarian teaching,
overreliance on textbook methods,
intimidation or corporal punishment
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RECONSTRUCTIONISM: This educational
philosophy is based on socialistic
ideas. Reconstructionist educators
focus on a curriculum that highlights
social reform as the aim of education.
According to Brameld, the founder of
social reconstructionism, students and
teachers must improve society.
Learning experiences must be developed
that are in keeping with a new social-
economic-political education. Society
is always changing and the curriculum
has to change.
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For social reconstructionists and
critical theorists, curriculum focuses
on student experience and taking
social action on real problems, such
as violence, hunger, international
terrorism, and inflation.
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Conclusion: Philosophy of Education
as a field of study-with its own
methods, theories, and ways of solving
problems- We believe that no single
philosophy, old or new , should guide
decisions about schools and Learning
experiences to be preffered.
Educationists need to help improve and
design school activities in harmony
with the philosophy of the school and
community or nation.
Movements
Classical education
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The Classical education movement
advocates a form of education based in
the traditions of Western culture,
with a particular focus on education
as understood and taught in the Middle
Ages. The term "classical education"
has been used in English for several
centuries, with each era modifying the
definition and adding its own
selection of topics. By the end of the
18th century, in addition to the
trivium and quadrivium of the Middle
Ages, the definition of a classical
education embraced the study of
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literature, poetry, drama, philosophy,
history, art, and languages. In the
20th and 21st centuries it is used to
refer to a broad-based study of the
liberal arts and sciences, as opposed
to a practical or pre-professional
program.
Contemplative education
Contemplative education focuses on
bringing spiritual awareness into the
pedagogical process. Contemplative
approaches may be used in the
classroom, especially in tertiary or
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(often in modified form) in secondary
education.
Contemplative methods may also be used
by teachers in their preparation. In
this case, inspiration for enriching
the content, format, or teaching
methods may be sought through various
practices, such as consciously
reviewing the previous day's
activities; actively holding the
students in consciousness; and
contemplating inspiring pedagogical
texts. Waldorf education was one of
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the pioneers of this approach. Zigler
suggested that only through focusing
on their own spiritual development
could teachers positively impact the
spiritual development of students.
The Center for Contemplative Mind in
Society's Association for Contemplative Mind in
Higher Education was set up to foster the
use of contemplative methods in
education. Parker Palmer is a recent
pioneer in contemplative methods.
Humanistic education
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Humanistic education emphasizes issues
of moral autonomy, personal freedom,
and tolerance. Its long history can be
traced through several phases:
Classical humanism, with roots going
back to the Paideia of classical
Athens; Romantic humanism, as
presented in the works of Rousseau,
Goethe, and Pestalozzi; Existentialist
humanism, emphasizing issues of
freedom and identity and questioning
modernism's focus on the primacy of
rational thinking; and Radical
humanism, or critical pedagogy,
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emphasizing social and political
engagement, as represented by
educators such as Freire, Giroux, and
Kozol.
Critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy is an "educational
movement, guided by passion and
principle, to help students develop
consciousness of freedom, recognize
authoritarian tendencies, and connect
knowledge to power and the ability to
take constructive action." Based in
Marxist theory, critical pedagogy
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draws on radical democracy, anarchism,
feminism, and other movements for
social justice.
Democratic education
Democratic education is a theory of
learning and school governance in
which students and staff participate
freely and equally in a school
democracy. In a democratic school,
there is typically shared decision-
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making among students and staff on
matters concerning living, working,
and learning together.
Unschooling
Unschooling is a range of educational
philosophies and practices centered on
allowing children to learn through
their natural life experiences,
including child directed play, game
play, household responsibilities, work
experience, and social interaction,
rather than through a more traditional
school curriculum. Unschooling
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encourages exploration of activities
led by the children themselves,
facilitated by the adults. Unschooling
differs from conventional schooling
principally in the thesis that
standard curricula and conventional
grading methods, as well as other
features of traditional schooling, are
counterproductive to the goal of
maximizing the education of each
child.
Philosophers of education
Socrates (c. 469 BC – 399 BC)
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Socrates' important contribution to
Western thought is his dialectic
method of inquiry, known as the
Socratic method or method of
"elenchus", first described by Plato
in the Socratic Dialogues. To solve a
problem, it would be broken down into
a series of questions, the answers to
which gradually distill the answer a
person would seek. The influence of
this approach is most strongly felt
today in the use of the scientific
method, in which hypothesis is the
first stage. The development and
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practice of this method is one of
Socrates' most enduring contributions.
Plato (424/423 BCE - 348/347 BCE)
Plato's educational philosophy was
grounded in his vision of the ideal
Republic, wherein the individual was
best served by being subordinated to a
just society. He advocated removing
children from their mothers' care and
raising them as wards of the state,
with great care being taken to
differentiate children suitable to the
various castes, the highest receiving
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the most education, so that they could
act as guardians of the city and care
for the less able. Education would be
holistic, including facts, skills,
physical discipline, and music and
art, which he considered the highest
form of endeavor.
Plato believed that talent was
distributed non-genetically and thus
must be found in children born in any
social class. He builds on this by
insisting that those suitably gifted
are to be trained by the state so that
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they may be qualified to assume the
role of a ruling class. What this
establishes is essentially a system of
selective public education premised on
the assumption that an educated
minority of the population are, by
virtue of their education (and inborn
educability), sufficient for healthy
governance.
Plato's writings contain some of the
following ideas: Elementary education
would be confined to the guardian
class till the age of 18, followed by
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two years of compulsory military
training and then by higher education
for those who qualified. While
elementary education made the soul
responsive to the environment, higher
education helped the soul to search
for truth which illuminated it. Both
boys and girls receive the same kind
of education. Elementary education
consisted of music and gymnastics,
designed to train and blend gentle and
fierce qualities in the individual and
create a harmonious person.
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At the age of 20, a selection was
made. The best students would take an
advanced course in mathematics,
geometry, astronomy and harmonics. The
first course in the scheme of higher
education would last for ten years. It
would be for those who had a flair for
science. At the age of 30 there would
be another selection; those who
qualified would study dialectics and
metaphysics, logic and philosophy for
the next five years. After accepting
junior positions in the army for 15
years, a man would have completed his
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theoretical and practical education by
the age of 50.
Aristotle (384 BCE - 322 BCE)
Only fragments of Aristotle's treatise
On Education are still in existence. We
thus know of his philosophy of
education primarily through brief
passages in other works. Aristotle
considered human nature, habit and
reason to be equally important forces
to be cultivated in education. Thus,
for example, he considered repetition
to be a key tool to develop good
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habits. The teacher was to lead the
student systematically; this differs,
for example, from Socrates' emphasis
on questioning his listeners to bring
out their own ideas (though the
comparison is perhaps incongruous
since Socrates was dealing with
adults).
Aristotle placed great emphasis on
balancing the theoretical and
practical aspects of subjects taught.
Subjects he explicitly mentions as
being important included reading,
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writing and mathematics; music;
physical education; literature and
history; and a wide range of sciences.
He also mentioned the importance of
play.
One of education's primary missions
for Aristotle, perhaps its most
important, was to produce good and
virtuous citizens for the polis. All
who have meditated on the art of governing
mankind have been convinced that the fate of
empires depends on the education of youth.
Avicenna (980 - 1037)
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In the medieval Islamic world, an
elementary school was known as a
maktab, which dates back to at least
the 10th century. Like madrasahs
(which referred to higher education),
a maktab was often attached to a
mosque. In the 11th century, Ibn Sina
(known as Avicenna in the West), wrote
a chapter dealing with the maktab
entitled "The Role of the Teacher in
the Training and Upbringing of
Children", as a guide to teachers
working at maktab schools. He wrote
that children can learn better if
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taught in classes instead of
individual tuition from private
tutors, and he gave a number of
reasons for why this is the case,
citing the value of competition and
emulation among pupils as well as the
usefulness of group discussions and
debates. Ibn Sina described the
curriculum of a maktab school in some
detail, describing the curricula for
two stages of education in a maktab
school.
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Ibn Sina wrote that children should be
sent to a maktab school from the age
of 6 and be taught primary education
until they reach the age of 14. During
which time, he wrote that they should
be taught the Qur'an, Islamic
metaphysics, language, literature,
Islamic ethics, and manual skills
(which could refer to a variety of
practical skills).
Ibn Sina refers to the secondary
education stage of maktab schooling as
the period of specialization, when
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pupils should begin to acquire manual
skills, regardless of their social
status. He writes that children after
the age of 14 should be given a choice
to choose and specialize in subjects
they have an interest in, whether it
was reading, manual skills,
literature, preaching, medicine,
geometry, trade and commerce,
craftsmanship, or any other subject or
profession they would be interested in
pursuing for a future career. He wrote
that this was a transitional stage and
that there needs to be flexibility
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regarding the age in which pupils
graduate, as the student's emotional
development and chosen subjects need
to be taken into account.
The empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa'
was also developed by Ibn Sina. He
argued that the "human intellect at
birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a
pure potentiality that is actualized
through education and comes to know"
and that knowledge is attained through
"empirical familiarity with objects in
this world from which one abstracts
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universal concepts" which is developed
through a "syllogistic method of
reasoning; observations lead to
prepositional statements, which when
compounded lead to further abstract
concepts." He further argued that the
intellect itself "possesses levels of
development from the material
intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that
potentiality that can acquire
knowledge to the active intellect
(al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human
intellect in conjunction with the
perfect source of knowledge."
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Ibn Tufail (c. 1105 - 1185)
In the 12th century, the Andalusian-
Arabian philosopher and novelist Ibn
Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn
Tophail" in the West) demonstrated the
empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' as
a thought experiment through his
Arabic philosophical novel, Hayy ibn
Yaqzan, in which he depicted the
development of the mind of a feral
child "from a tabula rasa to that of
an adult, in complete isolation from
society" on a desert island, through
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experience alone. The Latin
translation of his philosophical
novel, Philosophus Autodidactus, published
by Edward Pococke the Younger in 1671,
had an influence on John Locke's
formulation of tabula rasa in "An
Essay Concerning Human Understanding".
John Locke (1632-1704)
Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education
is an outline on how to educate the
mind: he expresses the belief that
education maketh the man, or, more
fundamentally, that the mind is an
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"empty cabinet", with the statement,
"I think I may say that of all the men
we meet with, nine parts of ten are
what they are, good or evil, useful or
not, by their education."
Locke also wrote that "the little and
almost insensible impressions on our
tender infancies have very important
and lasting consequences." He argued
that the "associations of ideas" that
one makes when young are more
important than those made later
because they are the foundation of the
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self: they are, put differently, what
first mark the tabula rasa. In his Essay,
in which is introduced both of these
concepts, Locke cautioned against, for
example, letting "a foolish maid"
convince a child that "evil spirits
and devils" are linked to the night
because "darkness shall ever after
that bring with it those frightful
ideas, and they shall be so connected,
that the child can no more bear the
one than the other."
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"Associationism", as this theory would
come to be called, exerted a powerful
influence over eighteenth-century
thought, particularly educational
theory, as nearly every educational
writer warned parents not to allow
their children to develop negative
associations. It also led to the
development of psychology and other
new disciplines with David Hartley's
attempt to discover a biological
mechanism for associationism in his
Observations on Man (1749).
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Rousseau, though he paid his respects
to Plato's philosophy, rejected it as
impractical due to the decayed state
of society. Rousseau also had a
different theory of human development;
where Plato held that people are born
with skills appropriate to different
castes (though he did not regard these
skills as being inherited), Rousseau
held that there was one developmental
process common to all humans. This was
an intrinsic, natural process, of
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which the primary behavioral
manifestation was curiosity. This
differed from Locke's 'tabula rasa' in
that it was an active process deriving
from the child's nature, which drove
the child to learn and adapt to its
surroundings.
Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that
all children are perfectly designed
organisms, ready to learn from their
surroundings so as to grow into
virtuous adults, but due to the malign
influence of corrupt society, they
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often fail to do so. Rousseau
advocated an educational method which
consisted of removing the child from
society—for example, to a country home
—and alternately conditioning him
through changes to his environment and
setting traps and puzzles for him to
solve or overcome.
Rousseau was unusual in that he
recognized and addressed the potential
of a problem of legitimation for
teaching. He advocated that adults
always be truthful with children, and
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in particular that they never hide the
fact that the basis for their
authority in teaching was purely one
of physical coercion: "I'm bigger than
you." Once children reached the age of
reason, at about 12, they would be
engaged as free individuals in the
ongoing process of their own.
He once said that a child should grow
up without adult interference and that
the child must be guided to suffer
from the experience of the natural
consequences of his own acts or
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behaviour. When he experiences the
consequences of his own acts, he
advises himself.
"Rousseau divides development into
five stages (a book is devoted to
each). Education in the first two
stages seeks to the senses: only when
Émile is about 12 does the tutor begin
to work to develop his mind. Later, in
Book 5, Rousseau examines the
education of Sophie (whom Émile is to
marry). Here he sets out what he sees
as the essential differences that flow
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from sex. 'The man should be strong
and active; the woman should be weak
and passive' (Everyman edn: 322). From
this difference comes a contrasting
education. They are not to be brought
up in ignorance and kept to housework:
Nature means them to think, to will,
to love to cultivate their minds as
well as their persons; she puts these
weapons in their hands to make up for
their lack of strength and to enable
them to direct the strength of men.
They should learn many things, but
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only such things as suitable'
(Everyman edn.: 327)." Émile
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1715 –
1780)
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac was a
French philosopher and epistemologist
who studied in such areas as
psychology and the philosophy of the
mind. Condillac's collected works were
published in 1798 (23 vols.) and two
or three times subsequently; the last
edition (1822) has an introductory
dissertation by A. F. Théry. The
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Encyclopédie méthodique has a very long
article on Condillac by Naigeon.
Biographical details and criticism of
the Traité des systèmes in J. P. Damiron's
Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire de to philosophie
au dixhuitieme siècle, tome iii.; a full
criticism in V Cousin's Cours de l'histoire
de la philosophie moderne, ser. i. tome
iii. Consult also F Rethoré, Condillac ou
l'empirisme et le rationalisme (1864); L
Dewaule, Condillac et la psychologie anglaise
contemporaine (1891); histories of
philosophy.
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Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776 – 1841)
Considered the founder of pedagogy as
an academic discipline, Herbart
established a system of pedagogy built
on the preparation and then
presentation of engaging material (for
example, using genuine works of
literature rather than school
readers), analysis with the class,
review of the material, and drawing
conclusions relevant to larger
contexts. He strongly influenced the
development of pedagogy throughout
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Europe and beyond, an influence which
is still felt to this day.
Charlotte Mason (1842-1923)
Mason was a British educator who
invested her life in improving the
quality of children's education. Her
ideas led to a method used by some
homeschoolers. Mason's philosophy of
education is probably best summarized
by the principles given at the
beginning of each of her books. Two
key mottos taken from those principles
are "Education is an atmosphere, a
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discipline, a life" and "Education is
the science of relations." She
believed that children were born
persons and should be respected as
such; they should also be taught the
Way of the Will and the Way of Reason.
Her motto for students was "I am, I
can, I ought, I will." Charlotte Mason
believed that children should be
introduced to subjects through living
books, not through the use of
"compendiums, abstracts, or
selections." She used abridged books
only when the content was deemed
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inappropriate for children. She
preferred that parents or teachers
read aloud those texts (such as
Plutarch and the Old Testament),
making omissions only where necessary.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
In Democracy and Education: An Introduction to
the Philosophy of Education, Dewey stated
that education, in its broadest sense,
is the means of the "social continuity
of life" given the "primary
ineluctable facts of the birth and
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death of each one of the constituent
members in a social group". Education
is therefore a necessity, for "the
life of the group goes on." Dewey was
a proponent of Educational
Progressivism and was a relentless
campaigner for reform of education,
pointing out that the authoritarian,
strict, pre-ordained knowledge
approach of modern traditional
education was too concerned with
delivering knowledge, and not enough
with understanding students' actual
experiences.
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Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)
Steiner founded a holistic educational
impulse on the basis of his spiritual
philosophy (anthroposophy). Now known
as Steiner or Waldorf education, his
pedagogy emphasizes a balanced
development of cognitive,
affective/artistic, and practical
skills (head, heart, and hands).
Steiner's theory of child development
divides education into three discrete
developmental stages predating but
with close similarities to the stages
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of development described by Piaget.
Early childhood education occurs
through imitation; teachers provide
practical activities and a healthy
environment. Steiner believed that
young children should meet only
goodness. Elementary education is
strongly arts-based, centered on the
teacher's creative authority; the
elementary school-age child should
meet beauty. Secondary education seeks
to develop the judgment, intellect,
and practical idealism; the adolescent
should meet truth. In all stages of
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schooling, learning is
interdisciplinary, integrating
practical, artistic, and cognitive
elements and emphasizing the role of
the imagination in learning. Schools
and teachers are given considerable
freedom to define curricula and
instructional methods within collegial
structures.
Maria Montessori (1870-1952)
The Montessori method arose from Dr.
Maria Montessori's discovery of what
she referred to as "the child's true
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normal nature" in 1907, which happened
in the process of her experimental
observation of young children given
freedom in an environment prepared
with materials designed for their
self-directed learning activity. The
method itself aims to duplicate this
experimental observation of children
to bring about, sustain and support
their true natural way of being.
William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965)
William Heard Kilpatrick was a US
American philosopher of education and
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a colleague and a successor of John
Dewey. He was a major figure in the
progressive education movement of the
early 20th century. Kilpatrick
developed the Project Method for early
childhood education, which was a form
of Progressive Education organized
curriculum and classroom activities
around a subject's central theme. He
believed that the role of a teacher
should be that of a "guide" as opposed
to an authoritarian figure. Kilpatrick
believed that children should direct
their own learning according to their
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interests and should be allowed to
explore their environment,
experiencing their learning through
the natural senses.[28] Proponents of
Progressive Education and the Project
Method reject traditional schooling
that focuses on memorization, rote
learning, strictly organized
classrooms (desks in rows; students
always seated), and typical forms of
assessment.
A. S. Neill (1883-1973)
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Neill founded the Summerhill School,
the oldest existing democratic school
in Suffolk, England in 1921. He wrote
a number of books that now define much
of contemporary democratic education
philosophy. Neill believed that the
happiness of the child should be the
paramount consideration in decisions
about the child's upbringing, and that
this happiness grew from a sense of
personal freedom. He felt that
deprivation of this sense of freedom
during childhood, and the consequent
unhappiness experienced by the
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repressed child, was responsible for
many of the psychological disorders of
adulthood.
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)
Heidegger's philosophizing about
education was primarily related to
higher education. He believed that
teaching and research in the
university should be unified and aim
towards testing and interrogating the
"ontological assumptions and
presuppositions which implicitly guide
research in each domain of knowledge."
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Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental
psychologist known for his studies of
how children progressively develop
knowledge of the world, studies that
eventually described the genesis of an
exceptionally wide spectrum of human
understanding. His theory of cognitive
development, called genetic
epistemology, productively linked the
philosophical study of knowledge
formation and the psychological study
of child development. He described
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himself as an epistemologist
interested in the qualitative
development of knowledge.
Piaget placed great importance on the
education of children. As Director of
the International Bureau of Education,
he declared in 1934 that "only
education is capable of saving our
societies from possible collapse,
whether violent, or gradual." Piaget
created the International Centre for
Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955
and directed it until 1980. According
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to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget
is "the great pioneer of the
constructivist theory of knowing."
Jerome Bruner (1915- )
Bruner's The Process of Education and Toward
a Theory of Instruction are landmarks in
conceptualizing learning and
curriculum development. A major
contributor to the inquiry method in
education, Bruner argued that any
subject can be taught in some
intellectually honest form to any
child at any stage of development.
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This notion underpinned his concept of
the spiral curriculum, positing that a
curriculum should revisit basic ideas,
building on them until the student had
grasped the full formal concept. He
emphasized intuition as a neglected
but essential feature of productive
thinking. He felt that interest in the
material being learned was the best
stimulus for learning, rather than
external motivations such as grades.
Bruner developed the concept of
discovery learning which promoted
learning as a process of constructing
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new ideas based on current or past
knowledge; students are encouraged to
discover facts and relationships and
continually build on what they already
know.
Paulo Freire (1921-1997)
A Brazilian committed to the cause of
educating the impoverished peasants of
his nation and collaborating with them
in the pursuit of their liberation
from what he regarded as "oppression,"
Freire is best known for his attack on
what he called the "banking concept of
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education," in which the student was
viewed as an empty account to be
filled by the teacher. Freire also
suggests that a deep reciprocity be
inserted into our notions of teacher
and student; he comes close to
suggesting that the teacher-student
dichotomy be completely abolished,
instead promoting the roles of the
participants in the classroom as the
teacher-student (a teacher who learns)
and the student-teacher (a learner who
teaches). In its early, strong form
this kind of classroom has sometimes
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been criticized on the grounds that it
can mask rather than overcome the
teacher's authority.
Aspects of the Freirian philosophy
have been highly influential in
academic debates over "participatory
development" and development more
generally. Freire's emphasis on what
he describes as "emancipation" through
interactive participation has been
used as a rationale for the
participatory focus of development, as
it is held that 'participation' in any
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form can lead to empowerment of poor
or marginalised groups. Freire was a
proponent of critical pedagogy. "He
participated in the import of European
doctrines and ideas into Brazil,
assimilated them to the needs of a
specific socio-economic situation, and
thus expanded and refocused them in a
thought-provoking way"
Nel Noddings (1929– )
Noddings' first sole-authored book
Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral
Education (1984) followed close on the
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1982 publication of Carol Gilligan’s
ground-breaking work in the ethics of
care In a Different Voice. While her work on
ethics continued, with the publication
of Women and Evil (1989) and later works
on moral education, most of her later
publications have been on the
philosophy of education and
educational theory. Her most
significant works in these areas have
been Educating for Intelligent Belief or Unbelief
(1993) and Philosophy of Education (1995).
John Holt (1923-1985)
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In 1964 Holt published his first book,
How Children Fail, contending that the
academic failure of learners was not
notwithstanding the endeavors of the
academic institutions, but essentially
because of the schools. Not
surprisingly, How Children Fail kindled a
blaze of controversy. Holt was
catapulted into the American national
consciousness to the extent that he
made appearances on major TV talk
shows, wrote book reviews for Life
magazine, and was a guest on the To Tell
The Truth TV game show. In his follow-up
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work, How Children Learn, published in
1967, Holt tried to elucidate the
learning process of children and why
he believed school short circuits that
process.
AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Philosophy of Education in Africa
Introduction
Till recently books on the Philosophy
of Education hardly ever referred to
philosophical thinking about education
in the Third World, the implication
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being that it did not exist. In the
case of the African Philosophy of
Education, there is no such thing as
the African Philosophy of Education.
Faced with this peculiar situation one
can either leave things as they are
and remain silent or try to argue the
case for the Philosophy of Education
in Africa. We have no choice; we have
no alternative but to argue the case
as well as possible. There is ample
evidence to show that the philosophy
of education has been an on-going
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concern in Africa from time
immemorial.
This unit deals with Philosophy of
Education in Africa. We shall discuss
the principles and content of
Indigenous Education. We shall point
out the weaknesses and strengths of
Indigenous Education. We will tackle
the philosophical analysis of African
Education. We will examine the African
philosophy too. Finally, in summary
and conclusion we will deal with
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technical philosophy of Education in
Africa.
The Principles And Content Of African
Indigenous Education
The type of education prevalent in
Africa before the coming of Western
civilizations was generally known as
African traditional education or
indigenous education of the various
communities. With the penetration of
the Christian missions from the
fifteenth century, culture – notably
British and French – had begun to
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penetrate into various parts of the
continent.
The utilitarian nature of African
traditional education has been
realized to the extent that today, the
call in most African societies is for
a return to the indigenous education
system, albeit in a modified form.
The argument is that an education that
has the input of all members of the
community, and which prepares each
individual for a particular profession
or occupational activity, should be
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the norm in many African societies
today.
The society determined the content of
education in the indigenous society.
The traditional African society
expected the child to grow up and
behave according to some accepted
norms. The content or subject matter
of traditional educational systems
emanated from the physical, social and
spiritual situations of pre-colonial
African societies. The physical
environment influenced the content of
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the curriculum in that what was taught
was meant to assist the child to
adjust and adapt to the environment in
order to exploit and derive benefit
from it. Whether the child’s habitat
was dominated by mountain, plain,
river or tropical forest, he had to
learn to combat its dangers and to use
its fertility.
To come to terms with the physical
environment, the growing child learned
about landscape, the weather, and also
about both plant and animal life. As
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the child grew, he/she learned to
understand the uses of both plants and
animals in his locality, in addition
to the taboos associated with them.
Boys and girls who lived in fishing
areas, for example, learned such
skills as were required to catch,
preserve and market fish and
manufacture and mend fish-traps, nets
and canoes.
In wooded areas where the ‘cut and
burn’ system of agriculture was the
mainstay of the economy, children from
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the age of 6 acquired much knowledge
of trees and their household uses
(Rodney, 1972).The educational
practices of each society were
influenced by the physical environment
and were meant to prepare the learner
to live and work in and profit from
the given environment.
The content was patterned to achieve
the aforementioned aims. The society
determined the content of education in
the indigenous society. The
traditional African society expected
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the child to grow up and behave
according to some accepted norms.
According to Nsubuga (2000), the
content grew out on the physical and
social situation of the society.
Since in Kenya the African societies
were dominated by mountains, valleys,
plains, rivers, lakes, grasslands and
forests, the child had to learn how to
use the fruitfully as well as to avert
dangers.
The child had to learn weather and
climate of his habitat since it
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governed his economic understandings
for example agriculture, hunting,
gathering, pastoralism and fishing.
Names of trees, plants and insects and
grasses, animals, snakes and insects
as well as uses and dangers were also
learned. Boys herded livestock and
girls helped their mothers.
Boys learned how to acquire implements
and tools for example axes, spears,
pots and basketry to exploit the
environment fully. Apprenticeship was
used to select the best ore and twigs,
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to smelt and pattern whatever shapes
and sizes were appropriate. Some
specialty was needed in making
instruments for example drums, flutes,
horns and trumpets. These were made
from animal remains, trees, reds and
other grasses. Formal instruction and
training was undertaken here.
According to Nsubuga (2000), the
learner was initiated to conform to
the manners and laws of the group and
by why his services were necessary to
its defense, propagation and
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perpetuation. The philosophy
underlying this was that the child had
to be molded as a corporate member of
the society. He was taught decency of
speech and behavior to his seniors and
family gods and the sharing of common
tasks of the family, clan or ethnic
group. Parents and other adults in
the community ceaselessly gave their
children instruction in social
etiquette which upheld reciprocal
ties.
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Morally, the child was taught and
governed by clearly spelt out groups
of avoidance, prohibitions and
permission or a strict code of
morality in which individuals and
ethnic groups welfare depended. These
rules and actions were aimed at
determining conduct and carried with a
spirit of discipline. Elements of
morality were taught to bring home to
the children the nature of the family
and the social contexts which they
would be operating in. Laws governing
the ethnic group became written in the
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mid and heart of the African child and
became part of all his thinking and
feeling. This formed the discipline of
the society.
Imitative play was important in the
indigenous education. Boys made huts
and cattle pens and staged mock
battles. Girls made dolls and cooked
imaginary meals. Their roles at
family economic and defence levels
began taking shape when children
barely reached age three. Boys
internalized the facts that looking
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after livestock, defence of their
nation and clearing forests in
preparation for cultivation were their
responsibility. Girls realize that
collecting firewood, fetching water
and cooking were their main areas of
economic operations.
There was intellectual education
according to Sorobea (1992). Clan and
ethnic group, his philosophy of life,
laws and customs and development of
reasoning were taught songs and
stories were used to recall the feasts
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of the clan heroes who made the
physical survival of the group
possible.
The social environment
The survival of most traditional
communities was to a large measure
dependent upon a network of reciprocal
relationships which knit the family,
clan and tribe together. Traditional
educational systems were meant to
reinforce such relationships. It is
therefore not surprising that parents
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and other adults in the community
ceaselessly gave their children
instruction in social etiquette which
upheld reciprocal ties.
Children were taught to respect
elders, to appreciate their social
obligations and responsibilities and
above all, to subordinate their
individual interests to those of the
wider community (Ocitti, 1971,
Snelson, 1974).
It may indeed be argued that a greater
portion of indigenous education in
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Africa centered on religious training.
Religion played a key role in the life
of children and adults alike; it
provided a rallying point for the
community and backed up socially
accepted values and norms such as
honesty, generosity, diligence and
hospitality (Castle, 1966; Ocitti,
1971).
The spiritual environment; in pre-
colonial Africa, where every event
(like the birth of a child, death,
sickness, flood or drought) was
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accorded spiritual significance,
education tended to focus on religious
teaching of instruction. Yung children
received instruction on the influence
does both malevolent and benevolent
spirits, and purification practices;
they were also taught the value of
propitiating the spirits to avert such
disasters as sickness, death and
pestilence.
Question: what was the secret of Indigenous
Education despite many obstacles that survived to
this date?
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Mode of transmission
In pre-colonial Africa, initiation
ceremonies were common for education
purposes. The initiation activity
enjoyed a high degree of formalism; it
was characterized by teaching and
learning of predetermined material in
a specific physical setting where
there was a clear-cut distinction
between pupils and teachers
(Tiberondwa, 1978; Datta, 1984).
As in the training of young people for
specialized occupations, initiation
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ceremonies lasted for varying periods.
They were meant to offer specific
instruction in a wide range of areas,
including farming, weaving, fishing,
diplomacy, and history and mother
craft.
Female initiates underwent
physiological, social and moral
education to become capable mothers
and wives. Male children who were
initiated were trained to become
defenders of their villages and good
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providers for their families (Kalusa,
1998).
In most societies which practiced
initiation ceremonies, the end of the
initiation itself was marked by
circumcision for boys and
clitoridectomy for girls which in turn
symbolized the transition of the
initiated from childhood to adulthood
(Kenyatta, 1961, Datta, 1984, Rodney,
1972)
In the majority of non-literate
African societies, however, the
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greater portion of education was
informal. This kind of education was
acquired by children from the example
and behaviour of elders in the
society. Under this system of
education, methods of teaching were
less formal and the line between the
teacher and the pupil was thin.
Learning was by initiation,
observation and repetition of what
parents and other adults did and
encouraging the young to do it. It
was also done through oral literature
and play through which boys and girls
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learned about the history of their
tribe and enhanced their mental
development. They also acquired such
qualities as perseverance, self-
control, courage and endurance. In
this informal way, children developed
an aptitude to perform their masculine
and feminine roles.
In societies where education was
largely informal, parents were
predominantly responsible for teaching
their children. They inculcated good
manners, norms and values into their
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offspring, using their household as
the school. This household education
covered practical skills and continued
as long as the child lived with
his/her parents. The educational
efforts of parents were supplemented
by those of the other adults in the
community.
All elders in the society were
expected to play mother and father
roles in teaching, scolding, advising,
rewarding and punishing children in
the village or community.
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Indigenous education took place almost
everywhere; for example at home, in
the fields, law courts and grazing
ground. The home was the first
avenue. According to Shiundu (1992),
the parents acted as the first
teachers, but gradually these
responsibilities went to other family
members and eventually to the entire
community. For instance, if an adult
member of the community came across a
child who he believed was irreverent
or disrespectful to the elder, the
adult was allowed to punish the child
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in the same way the child’s parents
would have done.
Initiation ceremonies were common for
education purposes. Each community
had its own initiation ceremonies.
The solemnity with which rituals were
conducted and accomplished varied from
community to community. In most Bantu
communities, major initiation ceremony
was circumcision. Some Bantus like
the Kikuyus and the Kisii, Shiundu
(1992), says that they carried out
clitoridectormy of their female
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initiates. The Luos removed a number
of the lower front incisors to mark
this transition. Some Kalenjins also
removed lower front incisors in
addition to circumcision and
clitoridecotmy of the boys and girls
respectively. Some communities
carried out a decorative incision of
the face or did some tattooing of the
face and hands to mark this
transition. Initiation ceremonies and
rituals marked a stage of transition
from a child’s life to a dependency,
and were organized in such a way as to
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have an in-built method of testing
endurance and resistance to suffering.
Final training for adult life was
given to the initiates. Boys were
given specialized duties of a man
especially in matters of his role and
responsibilities to the family and in
defence of the clan or tribe. They
were let into certain cherished
secrets of the clan, which they were
expected and exhorted to guard
jealously as part of the store of
knowledge of their society. The girls
were tutored in the decorum befitting
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women in society as well as their
responsibilities in marriage to their
spouses and in the rearing of their
children. From the initiation camp,
the young initiates were absorbed into
their respective communities as fully
fledged adults and were admitted to
the various social institutions in
which their services would be
required. They joined the other
adults in the clan or tribe in the
education and apprenticing of the
youth. And so, education continued as
process of systematic enculturation
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much along the same lines as took
place pre-literate western societies.
Evening fireside, grindstone and beer
parties also did initiation.
A further approach to pedagogy in
African traditional education involved
the imitation of adult activities in
the first stages childhood. This was
followed by emulation of adult
activities as the youth gained
confidence and increased skills. The
boys imitated the moral skills and
killing wild animals for their meat
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and skins for shelter. They had
learned through both observation and
practical environment, the intricacies
of providing housing for themselves
and their families in adult life. It
was also done through oral literature
and play through which boys and girls
learned about the history of their
tribe and enhanced their mental
development. They also acquired such
qualities as perseverance, self-
control, courage and endurance. In
this informal way, children developed
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an attitude to perform their masculine
and feminine roles.
The methodology of indigenous African
education comprised the provision of
opportunities for the youth to listen
to and observe the elders at community
discussions or debates. Children also
learned knowledge and skills by taking
part in different aspects of social
life to which they were admitted.
Most of the training was accomplished
through peer alliances as well as
through interaction with older people
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who would have had orientation in
various aspects of community laws,
values and morality.
The sages were also used to impart
knowledge. These sages would have
achieved prominence and a high degree
of respect within the community by
virtue of their proven practical
wisdom in dealing with the problems of
the society. They provided
intellectual training for the youth
through a variety of approaches.
Devices used in intellectual training
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included general knowledge quizzes in
a number of areas related to the
experience of the community and its
life styles. For instance, the youth
were expected to be able to show
knowledge of clan history, the
geography of their clan in relation to
others, the properties of certain
plants including their economic and
medicinal worth. The quizzes helped
the youth to develop a good sense of
reasoning and judgment as well as
gaining ability in philosophical
thinking.
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Boys staged miniature fights and
learned how to wrestle. Boys
activated such qualities as courage,
determination, bravery and endurance.
Boys learned to make miniature shields
and spears. Grazing grounds were
important for play. Boys learned
practical skills for example hitting
targets. Aspects of ethnic group were
taught through common discussions,
legends, poems, songs, lullabies and
stories. Abstract thought was evoked
through riddles, sayings, folktales
ranging from the astronomical world.
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Various games also involved arithmetic
combination, geometry, property of
numerical and the ability of the eye
and hence developed the intellect of
the children.
Organization Of Indigenous Education
Indigenous education has no schools or
any of the formal organizational
systems. Teachers are for the most
part unpaid yet they prepare young
people for such essential skills as
the provision of food, shelter,
clothing and general mastery of
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environment, they introduce nature,
the seasons and their effects; they
also instil those values that provide
each society with its own unique
character.
Discipline is instilled by the use of
rewards and punishments with the
objectives of making each individual
self-controlled yet conforming to the
accepted standards of the community.
Nsubuga (2000) sees it as having clear
goals whereby education is for every
child and exists for the purpose of
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strengthening the community. There
are no dropouts because steps are
taken to ensure that promotion from
one stage to the next in the child’s
education is not based on selection
but is automatic. Technical skills are
learned on the apprenticeship
principle and the teacher – pupil
rations are very good.
Aims of Indigenous Education
It aimed at transmitting and
conserving from one generation to the
next the accumulated wisdom and
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knowledge of the clan and ethnic
group. The youth were expected to be
able to show knowledge of clan
history, the geography of their clan
in relation to others, the properties
of certain plants and their economic
and medicinal worth the quizzes
helping the youth to develop a good
sense of reasoning and judgment as
well as gaining ability in
philosophical thinking.
Indigenous education aimed at adapting
children to their relevant environment
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which was so crucial to their
survival. It acclimatized children to
their relevant areas since environment
in Africa was not similar everywhere
and since most of livelihood differed
from one region to the next. For
instance, the Maasai, Rendille and
related pastoralists adopted to the
ecology of steeps or grasslands and to
the economy related to the livestock
rising. The Abaluhya, Abagusii and
Akamba were mixed farmers who needed
to be knowledgeable about physical
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elements pertinent to their
livelihood.
The education was shaped to help
people know that the future of their
community depended on the
understanding and perpetuation of
ethnic institutions, laws, language
and values handed down to them from
their ancestors. Children were to
gain knowledge and take part in
different aspects of social life to
which they were admitted. Character
was to be shaped in the right
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direction as well as the provision of
acceptable moral qualities. The
traditional African society expected
the child to grow up and behave
according to some accepted norms.
It inspired to inculcate in children a
diligent sharing of common tasks of
their groups. This was for the
physical survival of the society,
family and ethnic group. Collective
responsibility was the philosophy
underlying Indigenous African
Education.
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Weaknesses and Strengths of African
Traditional Education
African traditional education focused
almost exclusively on the clan or
tribe and hardly prepared its
recipients for outside contact.
Practically, this meant that the
skills and knowledge possessed by a
given ethnic group could not be easily
transmitted to another tribe.
The absence of literacy implied that
the accumulated knowledge and skills
could not be preserved in a written
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form. This prevented the transfer of
the same from one locality to another
and from one generation to the next.
Many wise Africans have died with
their own wisdom!
Among some tribes in pre-colonial
Uganda, for example, there was too
much reliance on inculcation of fear
and punishment as a means of teaching.
Among the Ankole, ‘slow learners and
offenders were killed to discourage
slow learning and scare young people
from committing similar offences.
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This means of teaching could only
produce learners who, out of fear,
were obedient and submissive. They
committed to memory ideas that they
did not understand and the values they
had no right to question. Indigenous
education thus tended to kill the
spirit of initiative, innovation and
enterprise, all of which are (or
should be) promoted by modern
education in Africa.
In spite of its shortcomings,
traditional education was an effective
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way of preparing young people for
their future. It was a successful
means of maintaining the economic,
social and cultural structures and
stability of the societies in which it
was practiced. Without doubt,
indigenous education prepared both
boys and girls to come to terms with
the physical, social and spiritual
world of their time; it also prepared
them for the world of work.
Pre-colonial education was effective
because no able-bodied person in
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traditional African society was
unemployed. Children were trained in
skills which made them become
productive and useful to themselves
and to the society. Similarly, the
absence of social tension (which today
manifests itself in various crimes and
divorce rates) points to how
successful indigenous education was in
promoting and enhancing sound human
relations with pre-colonial African
societies.
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Through traditional education, young
people acquired a communal rather than
an individualistic outlook. Education
was instrumental in helping people to
subordinate their personal interests
to those of the wider community and to
appreciate the values, norms and
beliefs of heir society. Thus,
indigenous education prepared children
t play their roles in the family, clan
and the tribe as whole.
Pre-colonial Africa, educations served
as an important tool for preserving
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and passing on time-tested skills,
customs and knowledge from generation
to generation. It was indeed through
their education that young people
learned to appreciate and value the
heritage of their forebears; their
language, norms and such attributes as
chastity, honesty, diligence, velour,
hard-work, generosity and hospitality.
Once children understood and
appreciated their cultural heritage,
they too passed it on to their
offspring who in turn did the same to
their own children. In this way, the
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continuity of the tribe’s pattern of
life was assured.
African Innovations
Most eloquent of African’s leaders who
suggested an alternative way of
education is Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania; he advocated for self-
reliance, Ujamaa, which means
brotherhood and family hood. He saw
education not only as a means of
teaching the principles but of doing
so through real experience. Ujamaa
schools are an expression of the
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Tanzanian Philosophy of self-reliance.
Through these schools, education is
taken into the community in fulfilment
of the policy of education for service
to the community. The community
contributes to education much in the
same way as craftsmen share their
skills with children. Behind the
philosophy lies the goal of equality
achieved through self help and
cooperation within the community.
The spirit of self-help is evident
Kenya’s, “Harambee Schools”. These
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schools have managed to draw upon
common aspirations; skills and
determination to fulfil their
objective. National Youth Schemes
enhance the energy and enthusiasm of
young people in national
reconstruction, hence fostering
national unity and purpose.
Development of education outside
school system for example village
polytechnics which help young people
with providing education who lack the
training and resources for setting up
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business is important. The government
is trying to enhance by building youth
polytechnics at least one in every
constituency through the ministry of
the youth. All kind of vocational
skills are to be offered, the range
reflecting directly the market
opportunities that exist in each
particular area.
Essentials for Successful Innovations
For there to be success in innovating
our African indigenous education,
there needs to be adequate
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participation in planning by all those
who will be involved at various levels
and stages in implementing a project.
All concerned in the innovations must
be brought into planning how are you
doing; otherwise it will be received
with suspicion.
There should be support in principles
from those in authorities where
responsibility for education in the
area in which an innovation will
operate. When contemplating
innovation, it is necessary to get
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more than general permission from the
authorities to proceed. A clear
statement as to how far they are
prepared to support it in terms of
cash and material assistance is
needed.
Sufficient preparation to ensure that
the teachers who will be involved and
facilities at there disposal will be
capable of meeting the demands placed
upon them. One collapse of otherwise
promising strategies for change is
failure to provide either adequate
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training for teachers and
administration or sufficient equipment
and facilities for the programme.
Lastly there should be clear
identification of the limits within
which an innovation may operate and
the extent supporting services that
can be provided. The problem with
developing countries is that many
innovations are not home grown but
important because of lack of books,
equipment or trained teachers. This
posses the danger of adopting
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innovations that will prove irrelevant
to their needs.
Note: Education is a tool to fight ignorance,
disease, and poverty. That means our innovations
should be home grown not imported otherwise it
will be irrelevant to the society.
Examples of Innovations
These are schools that break with
connections in their arm, organization
or methods instruction. Some
emphasize their independence to choose
what is taught and the way the school
is run.
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Competency based education
It identifies competencies or skills
that have to be mastered by pupils.
It measures pupils’ progress and
achievement against set standards so
as to assess the effectiveness of
teaching.
Continuous Assessment
It is identifies of recording a
pupil’s record without using exams.
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It depends on carefully kept
assessments as the child’s work
throughout his course, building up
gradually into a profile of
performance.
Question: What do you say about continuous
assessment verse the final exam?
Credit system
Farrant (1980) explained credit system
as accumulation of a specified number
of credits which allows a pupil to
obtain whatever learning certificate
the school grants. The system can
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allow bright pupils to collect the
necessary number of credits in a
shorter time than others and therefore
leave school sooner.
Individualized learning
It allows pupil to pursue his own
learning in his own way and at his own
pace. In certain case especially at
higher levels of learning, the child
can choose what he wants to specialize
in hence each child can progress at
the pace suited to him and get
individual help from the teacher when
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he needs it. It helps bright children
to accelerate ahead and prevent slow
children fro being pushed too far.
The teacher must ensure that there are
sufficient learning materials for all
the children to work with and
carefully prepared assignment cards to
guide each child’s studies.
Modules
They are self-centered units of study
materials. Each modular course makes
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its own contribution, gradually
building up an accumulation of related
knowledge. They are reasonably cheap
to produce a flexible use since they
allow the pupils to choose what they
want to study.
Open plan teaching
It attempts to obtain the most
flexible allocation of teaching space.
Walls that divide classes can be
removed; teaching groups can be varied
in size; merging when desired. It is
a way of manipulating the knowledge
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and skill of the teacher and
encouraging bright pupils to exercise
their gifts. It should be restricted
to informal lessons only, but can
include practical skills, such as
tying shoelaces and social behaviour
such as relating events accurately and
road safety.
Multi-grade teaching
Multi-grade teaching refers to the
teaching of different grades in the
same classroom setting. Other
terminologies used to describe multi-
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grade teaching are: Combination
classes, Split class teaching, Multi-
level teaching and Multiple class
teaching.
In multi-grade class, teachers teach
more than one and sometimes as many as
four or five grade levels in the same
room. A successful multi-grade class
should not have more than twenty-five
pupils.
Mobile schools
This is a situation where teachers
follow the pupils where they are
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located. The nomadic communities move
looking for pasture carrying their
family members along. The concept of
mobile schools is therefore to follow
the children where the parents camp.
These kinds of schools are found in
ASAL Districts for example in Wajir
District in Kenya. The mobile school
project has inhabited and has proved
to be workable.
Double shift teaching
This is teaching approach where pupils
of the same level attend lessons in
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two sessions. That is morning and
afternoon.
Distance learning
It refers to learning taking place
outside a classroom situation and
without necessarily coming face to
face with the teacher or instructor.
All cadres/groups of learners can
benefit. Teaching can be carried out
from near or far through various ways
such as: Correspondence, Radio
broadcasting, E-learning,
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Teleconferencing, Tape recording and
Mass media etc…
Accelerated learning
This refers to learning where a child
moves to one or two grades in the same
year. Accelerated learning is applied
in cases where: A child is very bright
and goes beyond that level. An older
child is in the same level then the
learner moves and joins the next
level.
The Implications Approach
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The view that these are several
philosophies of education and each
gets inspiration and is derived from a
specific philosophical system of
thought. The starting point of a
philosophy of education is a
particular coherent world view from
which is derived implications for the
theory and practice of education.
Implications approach proposes that
valid principles for determining
educational theory and practice can be
reality inferred straight from pure
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philosophical thoughts. If
philosophers differ on the man,
reality, knowledge and so on, then
they must necessarily offer on the
kind of education ideal for men. A
particular philosophical system of
thought defines aims of education and
evaluates education against their
established theoretical frame of
reference which defines its world
view. Each system of though proposed
how education should be organized and
structured not only to resolved issues
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in education but also to maximize the
quality of an educated person.
Implication approach in emphasizing
the content of philosophy regards
philosophy itself as a primary
activity and education as a by product
and forum that implements the
theoretical principles of a
philosophy. Implication approach
removes the apparent dichotomy between
philosophy and education. Implication
approach has a number of assumptions.
A system of assumption produces and
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influences a philosophy of education.
Principles of a philosophical system
of thought can be incorporated in
curricular and are implement able
through education. Each system of
thought is capable of interpreting
education in its own special way. A
system of education propagates belief
of a certain philosophical stand
point.
Question: Where is the starting point of Philosophy
of Education?
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Implications approach was started by
John Dewey believed to be the founder
of philosophy of education under the
influence of a philosophical system of
thought called pragmatism.
Customary education in Africa was
based on sound philosophical
foundations. These foundations of
principles have been rightly
identified by Ocitti (1971) as
preparationism, functionalism,
communalism, perennialsim and
wholisticism.
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Note: The content of Indigenous education in Africa
is full of philosophy and critical thinking.
The principle of preparationism, which
underlined both formal and informal
educational practices, implied that
the role of learning and teaching was
to equip boys and girls with the
skills appropriate to their gender in
preparation for their distinctive
roles in the society.
Pre-colonial education, even in the
most centralized and stratified
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societies, was gender-based, with boys
and girls receiving the kind of
education that enabled them to fulfil
masculine and feminine
responsibilities respectively.
Male education thus produced farmers,
warriors, blacksmiths, rulers and
other male-dominated occupations from
which women were excluded
Female education was predominantly
designed to produce future wives and
mothers. The principle of
preparationism further meant that male
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and female education prepared its
recipients to adjust to the community
and to play a useful role in it.
Children developed a sense of
obligation towards the community and
grew to appreciate its history,
language, customs and values. This is
perhaps one of the greatest attributes
of indigenous education as opposed to
Western education which tended to
alienate young Africans from their
cultural heritage.
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Functionalism: pre-colonial African
societies were predominantly
utilitarian (Ocitti, 1971). It was a
participatory kind of education in
which people learned through
imitation, productive as he/she
learned and was smoothly integrated
into the community, the gap which
today exists between study and the
world of work was absent in pre-
colonial society. Indeed, there was
no unemployment in African traditional
societies.
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Note: There was no unemployment for the
graduate of Indigenous African Education
Communalism: all members of the
society owned things in common and
applied the communal spirit to life
and work. Children belonged to the
community and every member of the
community had a stake in their
upbringing. For example, if a child
misbehaved while the parents were not
around, any other adult member of the
community could discipline and correct
him/her on the spot. Cleaning,
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planting and harvesting were done in
group, on a shift basis. Complement
the ‘trade by barter’ system, whereby
farmers and craftsperson exchanged
their products for other goods and
services they needed.
Question: What do you say the advantages and
disadvantages of Communalism education?
Perennialism constituted the fourth
philosophical foundation of indigenous
education. Most traditional
communities in Africa perceived
education as a vehicle for maintaining
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or preserving the cultural heritage
and status quo. This party accounts
for why traditional teachers
discouraged pupils from experimenting
with the unknown and imposed heavy
sanctions on those who tried to do so.
In short, education in indigenous
African communities was conservative
in nature.
The fifth philosophical foundation of
customary education was holisticism or
multiple learning. A child destined
to become a fisherman, as already
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noted, learned not only to catch fish
but also to preserve and market it; to
make and mend nets; to manufacture
canoes and to erect temporary fishing
puts. The holistic nature of
customary education enabled young
people to acquire a variety of skills
which made them productive in many
ways. An individual in most non-
literate communities could, therefore,
embark on a variety of occupations
without difficulty. He could work as
a builder, farmer or fisherman, while
a woman was a gardener, housewife and
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cook, besides being a nurse to her
children, etc.
Philosophical Analysis of African
Education
Three types of Educational Thought in
Africa
The African Tradition in Education
African Indigenous Education
originated in Africa, it owes little,
if anything at all, to factors
external to Africa. Although African
Indigenous Education points to
educational practice, it also includes
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educational theory, albeit of a
general character. African Indigenous
Education was thought to be an empty
concept; it referred to educational
practice that was seen as devoid of
meaning and lacking theory or thought
to justify it.
With regard to African traditional
thought, Robin Horton, of Ife
University, Nigeria has made an
important study of the relationship
between African thought and western
science. According to Horton, whose
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view has found strong support among
many African scholars, traditional
ways of thinking were not irrational
or emotional expressions of simple
minds; on the contrary, they resemble
the modes of thought that are usually
associated with scientific theories.
In spite of several problems, several
African educationists have during the
last few decades embarked on the study
of African Indigenous Education. A
recent appraisal of what has been
achieved in this area can be found in
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the book by Brown and Hiskett (eds.)
Conflict and Harmony in Education in Tropical
Africa (1975). Although much has been
written in recent years on African
Indigenous Education, the emphasis has
generally been on educational practice
rather than on educational theory. One
can explain this one-sided emphasis on
educational practice by referring to
the great difficulty of tracing
educational ideas.
We find then that are very few studies
that have analyzed the educational
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ideas of Africa’s past. One of the few
studies, and perhaps the most
comprehensive one to date, is Pierre
Ern’s essay on traditional education,
published in French in 1972 an
translated into English by G. Wnjohi
in 1981; it is entitled The Child and his
Environment in Black Africa. Erny argues the
case for what he terms a traditional
pedagogy, and calls for an elaborate,
explicit, coherent and systematic way
of thinking about traditional
education providing detailed evidence
from all over Africa, Erny makes a
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strong case for a traditional
educational theory that is both
philosophical and scientific in
content, if not in form.
We cannot go into details here but
generally speaking one may state that
African Indigenous Education was
highly value-oriented, in as far as it
deliberately transmitted a well-
defined social ethic. Being the
outcome of a closed society which
emphasized social integration,
traditional education was not merely
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concerned with survival values, which
centre around man’s basic needs, such
as food, drink health and sex; it was
equally, if not more, concerned with
trans-survival values, which touch
directly on the quality of life. Here
we refer to values, both social and
moral, such as respect and dignity,
mutual help and social responsibility
and law and order. These values,
reinforced by the large number and
great intensity of social bonds, e.g.,
the lineage, the family, the age-
group, and internalized by what Erny
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calls ‘initiation pedagogy’, formed
the personality of the African child.
Given this concern with social and
moral values, not to mention a similar
concern with knowledge as social and
personal power, one must conclude that
African Indigenous Education points to
a true philosophy of education.
Question: African Indigenous Education has
contributed to the growth of African society. State
some of its contribution
The Islamic Tradition in Africa
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Although not indigenous to Africa, it
is a tradition of long standing,
particularly in west and east Africa,
not to mention North Africa.
Traditionally, Islamic Education has
always been greatly concerned with the
transmission of Islamic religious
values; as such it provided the
required socialization and initiation
into the Islamic way of life that is
similar all over the Islamic world. In
this respect the Islamic tradition
resembled African Indigenous
Education, which also emphasized
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social integration. But unlike the
African tradition, Islamic Education
was by tradition distinctly literate
in character. Accordingly, it sowed a
great concern with literacy, albeit
mainly for religious purposes;
furthermore, it placed great emphasis
on literary and legal authority. Here
one finds that the Islamic tradition
of education resembles the Christian
tradition of medieval Europe. Both
emphasized the authority of the sacred
scriptures, be it the Quran or the
Bible. Both considered theology and
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the study of divine law as the basic
disciplines which provided educational
theory and practice with the first
principles, fixed and not to be
questioned. In the final analysis, the
Islamic tradition of education was
highly value-oriented, where the
values were mainly religious and moral
values, as derived form the Quran, the
Prophetic Tradition and Islamic law.
One may thus speak of an Islamic
philosophy of education, which
encouraged the development of Islamic
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virtue through education and which
fostered the pursuit of religious
knowledge, guided throughout by divine
authority.
Note: Islamic education has always been greatly
concerned with the transmission of Islamic
religious values.
The Western Tradition in Africa
The western tradition encouraged the
idea of Seven Liberal Arts, namely
Logic, rhetoric, Geometry, Arithmetic,
Music, Poetry and Astronomy. Liberal
education, which valued knowledge for
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knowledge’s sake, was at the time
greatly encouraged in academic
institutions.
Not surprisingly, this kind of
academic learning was pursued and
enjoyed mainly by those who could
afford the time, i.e. by the
aristocracy, by the free citizens of
Athens, and later, by those of Rome.
Hence the term schole, from which our
term ‘school’ has been derived; in its
original meaning schole meant free time
or leisure. Liberal education, seen as
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the pursuit of knowledge for its own
sake and not for material gain, was a
matter of spending one’s leisure time;
schooling in this sense was a
privilege of the few, of the
aristocracy, of the elite.
By contrast, the slaves and the common
man had to be satisfied with laborious
instruction in useful skills and
crafts, for which the ancient Greeks
used the term techne. Hence the idea of
technical or practical education, that
is education in techne, in skills,
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which in Greek society was considered
to be entirely different from, and
definitely inferior to, ‘academic
education’.
At this point we will try to indicate
how the western tradition had a
twofold effect upon English –speaking
Africa and how this tradition provided
the Colonial Governments with a well-
defined philosophy of education.
Firstly, secondary schools were
established in the British colonies
which strongly resembled and were in
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fact modelled on the English public
schools. In east Africa we find
examples in Budo college, Uganda and
in the Alliance High School, Kenya;
similar schools were established
elsewhere in Africa, notably in Ghana
and Nigeria. Within these schools
academic education for the Christian
elites was the overall goal, where the
pursuit of ‘true’ knowledge included
the study of western civilization and
of Christianity. These schools were to
provide the Colonial Governments with
a small, selected group of loyal civil
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servants, imbued with a western
mentality.
Secondly, at the elementary level of
education a different policy was
adopted by the Colonial Government.
This policy reflected the idea
underlying elementary education in
England by the turn of the century,
which in turn can be traced back to
the old Greek idea of technical or
practical education for the slaves and
the common man. Industrial England
required workers with some elementary
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skills; hence the need for practical
education, designed specifically for
the working class. Likewise, Colonial
England required ‘native’ workers with
some elementary skills; practical or
technical education was therefore to
be imposed on the ordinary African.
The Phelps-Stokes Commission (1925)
reiterated this policy in very
specific terms. What is important here
is that underlying this policy is a
different but equally reflects the
western tradition in elementary
education.
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Trends in African Philosophy
The expression “African Philosophy”
often calls forth the question “What
is African Philosophy?” In an attempt
either to answer this question various
proposals and findings have sprung up.
A deeper analysis of them reveals the
idea that there are generally two
radically distinct senses of the usage
of the expression. In one sense
African Philosophy is explained or
defined in opposition to philosophy in
other continents but in particular to
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Western or European philosophy. It is
assumed that there is a way of
thinking or a conceptual framework
that is uniquely African and which is
at the same time radically un-
European. So African philosophy is
perceived as a body of thoughts and
beliefs produced by this unique way of
thinking. To the extent that European
philosophy is known to manifest
critical and rigorous analysis, and
logical explanation and synthesis,
African philosophy is considered to be
innocent of such characteristics. It
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is considered to be basically
intuitive, mystical and counter-or
extra rationalistic.
Philosophy is taken as a discipline
that, in the strict sense employs the
method of critical, reflective and
logical inquiry. African philosophy
then is not expected to be an
exception to this meaning of
philosophy. The talk of a uniquely
African philosophy is seen to exist
not as an essentially African
phenomenon (for most philosophical
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problems transcend cultural and racial
confines) but only as a corpus of
thoughts arising from the discussion
and appropriation of authentic
philosophical ideas by Africans or in
the African context. African
philosophy in this sense is considered
in terms of Africa’s past, current or
potential contribution to philosophy
in the strict meaning of the term.
Philosophy as a discipline that
employs analytical, reflective and
ratiocinate methodology therefore not
seen as a monopoly of Europe or any
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one race but as an activity for which
every race or people has a
potentiality.
Besides the two road senses, one is
likely to detect a third sense, i.e.
one which consists of aspects of each
of the two but which nevertheless is
not yet clearly explicit or
articulated. There are significant
differences within each of the senses.
Question: What is African Philosophy?
From the myriad of differences on the
issue of meaning and existence, four
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significant trends can be delineated:
1) Ethno-philosophy, 2) Philosophic
Sagacity, 3) Nationalist-Ideological
Philosophy and 4) Professional
Philosophy.
Ethno-Philosophy
The first trend in African Philosophy
is that whose father is Placid Templels. This is
designated Ethno-Philosophy School. Paulin
Hountonghi regards this trend as
something other than philosophy in his
African Philosophy: Myth and Reality. This is,
for him, nothing other than people's
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ways of doing things, which is in
reality cultural. Tempels realized
that the Abaluba had their own system
within which they had solutions to
their problems. He noticed that there
some basic principles known by all
Africans to which they resorted in
times of crises. This system of
principles is what Tempels called
Bantu Philosophy. This was thus a
communal philosophy.
John S. Mbiti, a Kenyan born scholar
and a long time Lecturer, also
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believed in Ethno-Philosophy. He held
that it was difficult to distinguish
between religion and philosophy in
Africa. He held that for an African
the religious attitude permeated the
whole of his life so much so that an
African is notoriously religious. In
his book, Religions and Philosophy, he
analyses the African concept of time.
He contends that the African concept
of time is two-dimensional: a long
past and a present. The future is very
limited. The past (zamani) is the
final storehouse where everything must
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move. For an African therefore,
history is backward. Folktales always
make reference to the past: "Hapo
Zamani za kale..." Therefore it is not
eschatological. He demonstrates this
fact through consideration of African
languages, which he held do not have a
word for future. His case studies are
Kikuyu and Kamba languages. Like
Tempels, Mbiti demonstrates a
hierarchy of forces: the living, the
living dead, the zamani (ancestors),
and God.
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Question: Define the meaning of Ethnophilosophy?
Criticism Of Ethno-Philosophy
The critics hold that philosophy
requires critical, systematic
thinking. It has to be discursive,
individual, independent, etc. For
Tempels and his followers, these
qualities are lacking, because it is a
communal philosophy, which is an
expression of a Weltanschauung. It is
a collective wisdom for each member of
a given community. The critics hold
that Tempels and company is not
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different from Hegel and Levy-Bruh.
Tempels denied African Philosophy but
euphemistically. Therefore his is not
philosophy but Ethno-Philosophy
because the method he uses is similar
to that used in cultural anthropology
in which he applies a philosophical
language. Therefore the method is
anthropological and the language
philosophical.
Wamba-dia-Wamba a history professor at
Dar Es Salaam University criticizing
ethnophilopshy stresses that
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philosophers are separate entity from
the rest of society. He writes:
“Philosophy doing as a relatively
autonomous social activity emerged as
a historical outcome of that
separation. In pre-class divided
communities where intellectual work
was not fundamentally separated from
manual labor philosophy as a social
activity did not exist. This does not
mean, however, that people were not
thinking. But most likely they were
not thinking systematically about
thinking.” Wamba continues to say that
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African Philosophy as a philosophizing
enterprise came out of philosophy
which was more and more complex. This
is traceable from colonial and neo-
colonial forms of separation between
manual and intellectual labor in
Africa. This separation was very
important for colonial and neo-
colonial times. First the European did
the intellectual and Africans manual
labor. Later colonialists introduced a
few Africans in the intellectual class
to act as African ideological askaris
to be watchdogs of intellectualism.
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These since were watchdogs; their work
was to manipulate others for the
Western interests. African Philosophy
was born in that manner. People like
Mbiti, Kagame, etc. are intellectual
askaris of this kind, not therefore,
to be taken seriously, He writes:
Ethno-Philosophy is a philosophy of a
dominated African. It does not matter
whether or not actual ways of thinking
of some real Africans fit in this way
of viewing things. The fact is that
this specification is discovered
theorized in the face of a humanity
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that dominates it and requires it to
be so dominated.
Professional Philosophy
Professional Philosophy is regarded by
some as the only correct form of
philosophy. The scholars in this camp
argue that philosophy is a universal
activity. Therefore African Philosophy
is as philosophical as European
philosophy. The Proponents of this
school are Kwasi Wiredu, Paulin
Hountodgii, Peter Bodunrin and Odera
Oruka. Philosophy is, for instance,
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according to Hountondjii, a rigorous,
critical and independent thought
activity.
Philosophy is not acquired by living
or sharing common experiences. It is
rather through dialogue and
discussion. For some adherents of the
Professional Philosophy School African
Philosophy is written texts by
Africans. This does not touch on the
content. If the content is what they
should have stressed then even an
American could write African
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Philosophy. Hountondgii argues that
African Philosophy consists of texts
written by Africans and qualifies as
philosophy by Africans themselves. And
for Bodunrin any philosophical work
written by an African is African
Philosophy.
Wiredu and Odera Oruka hold that
philosophy is African according to if
the subject matter is African. Odera
Oruka states that we have no grounds
for thinking that African philosophy
need to be unique to Africans neither
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is Western Philosophy unique to
Europeans. African Philosophy for him
should be defined in a sense which it
does not mean that only Africans are
and can be capable of a philosophy of
this kind. For Wiredu philosophy is
supposed to govern people's day-to-day
life and any belief, dogma is
philosophy. Therefore philosophy need
not be technical. But philosophies in
the sense of world-views are not
fitting for Africans of today because
the social milieu has changed.
Nowadays we need philosophy in the
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technical academic sense. Therefore he
gives philosophy in two senses: the
academic, technical sense and the
popular sense (weltanschauung). He
insists that when comparing Africa and
the West Philosophically we should
compare their popular types and their
technical types separately. Those who
denied Africa philosophy compared
wrongly.
Note: Professional philosophy is a philosophy but
not African. This was the criticism of Professional
philosophy.
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Sage Philosophy
Because of the criticism labeled
against even Professional Philosophy
Odera Oruka decided to get involved in
a search for a really African
Philosophy among the wise Africans
with no European and Christian
backgrounds. He came up with this view
because there was strong argument that
ethno-philosophy though African is not
Philosophy and Professional Philosophy
though Philosophy is not African. This
Sage Philosophy tries to merge the two
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by going around criticisms of both and
coming up with what is genuinely
philosophy and what is genuinely
African.
Odera Oruka wanted to find out, in
traditional African setting, people
who have no Western education and yet
exhibit a critical thinking. He makes
distinctions as follows:
a) A mere sage is a person who is
well-grounded in beliefs, customs and
traditions of his people which he can
reproduce without a critical mind.
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b) A philosophical sage is one who
besides knowing tradition transcends
them by trying to give them a rational
explanation independently and
individually.
Sage Philosophy has fallen under
attack as much as the other trends if
not more. Lansana Keita thinks this
Sage Philosophy is a fall back to
ethno-philosophy. Bodunrin Peter
contends that Philosophic Sagacity is
a joint effort such that it is wrong
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to attribute the end-result to the so-
called sage.
Dismas Masolo criticizes Odera Oruka
for basing the difference between
Ogottemelli as a mere sage and Mbuya
as a philosophic sage on the idea of
the equality of men and women as
trivial. But Masolo does not
disqualify Sagacity in the search for
African Philosophy.
Note: Sage philosophy was invented in Kenya by
Kenyan the late Odera Oruka.
Nationalist-Ideological Philosophy
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It is sometimes conceived that in the
modern world African philosophy, like
African culture, can only be revived
or authenticated on the basis of a
truly free and independent African
Society. Thus, in this sense the exact
nature and existence of African
philosophy would remain obscure unless
we seek for it on the basis of a clear
social theory for independence and the
creation of a genuine humanist social
order. Since colonialism was built in
the ruins of what was supposed to be
the cardinal ethical principle of
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traditional humanist Africa-
egalitarianism- the required social
theory, it is argued, should embrace
the basic tenets of traditional
Africa. In traditional Africa the
individual and society are said to
have egalitarian, mutual obligations:
no individual would prosper at the
expense of the society, and the
society would not ignore the
stagnation of any of its members. In
traditional Africa, Julius Nyerere
argues that the individual was rich or
poor only to the extent that the
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society was rich or poor and vice
versa.
Most of the contributors to this trend
of African philosophical literature
have been politicians or statesmen.
Some of the works do not pretend to be
philosophical. But this trend differs
from ethno-philosophy in several
important respects. Unlike the latter,
it does not assume or imply that
European thought or philosophy is
radically different from or irrelevant
to African thought. Secondly, the
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authors of this trend do not give the
impression that the philosophy they
are expounding is that of a whole
African community or continent. It is
clear that this philosophy is claimed
to be rooted in the traditional or
communal Africa, but it is explicit
that it is actually a philosophy of
the individual authors concerned.
Thirdly, this philosophy is practical
and has explicit problems to solve,
namely: those of national and
individual freedom, whereas ethno-
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philosophy appears as a political and
free for all metaphysics.
Ethnophilosophy of Education
Ethnophilosophy, as explained earlier,
refers to the attempt by scholars to
interpret African traditional systems
of thought in contemporary
philosophical terms. The famous work
by P. Tempels, Bantu Philosophy (1945),
may be called the classic example of
Ethnophilosophy. The world-views or
‘philosophies’ that have been re-
constructed from the traditional past
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through Ethnophilosophy form the
starting point for an Ethnophilosophy
of Education let us explain.
The early anthropological works on
African traditional education, notably
Jomo Kenyatta’s Facing Mount Kenya (1938)
and O. Raum’s Chagga Childhood (1940),
had laid the foundation for an
Ethnophilosophy of Education, but it
was not until 25 years later-during
the 1960s- that it became an area of
concern for African educationists by
that time it was found that the
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Implications Approach, so
characteristic of the Technical
Philosophy of Education, was not to be
restricted to western philosophies but
could also be applied to African
traditional philosophies. From then
onwards African educationists began to
study Ethnophilosophy so as to
acquaint themselves with the
traditional African ‘philosophies of
life’. Taking these traditional
systems of thought as their starting
point, they then tried to derive
educational systems implications from
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them. Here lies the formal beginning
of the Ethnophilosophy of Education
which during the 1970s developed into
a ‘popular’ area of study. As a result
many books and articles were published
on the topic; we mention here, by way
of example, A. Wandira’s Indigenous
Education in Uganda (1972) and J.
Ocitti’s African Indigenous Education
(1973).
It must be noted here that the term
‘Ethnophilosophy of Education’ was not
used at the time; it is in fact of
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recent origin. Today it is used to
draw attention to the philosophical
dimension of educational thought, as
expressed by African educationists
such as Wandra, Kajubi, Indire,
Ocitti, etc… in their writings about
African Indigenous Education. Being
educationists, they were primarily
interested in the practice of
traditional education, but in their
search for values in Othis end they
tried to identify the philosophical
foundations of African traditional
education, and in doing so they used
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the methods and technical language
commonly employed by educationists so
as to give their writings a
philosophical character. In view of
the philosophical dimension of their
thought, we speak in this respect of
‘The Ethnophilosophy of Education’.
A clear example of the approach used
is provided by J. Ocitti in the book
mentioned earlier having identified
the philosophical foundations of
African Indigenous Educaiton, Ocitti
then arrives at five distinct
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‘philosophies of education’ to be
discerned in traditional education,
namely Communalism, Perennialism,
Functionalism, Preparationism and
Wholisticism. However one evaluates
Ocitti’s study in philosophical terms,
the point we wish to make here is that
this is an attempt to use the
speculative or Implications approach
in an original manner this attempt,
like many others by African
educationists, provides a concrete
indication of what is meant by the
Ethnophilosophy of Education as a
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specific area of concern. Needless to
say, much more is required to develop
this area into a specialized field of
study within the African Philosophy of
Education.
Note: Ocitti comes with five philosophies of
education in Africa namely Communalism,
Pernnialism, Functionalism, Preparationism and
Wholisticism.
Phenomenology of African Education
‘Phenomenology’ is a technical term
which refers to the philosophical
study of human phenomena like
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education, culture, history, etc.,
this kind of study attempts to
describe and explain these phenomena
in existential terms, thereby trying
to discover the deeper meaning and
significance of these phenomena for
man in the world today. Phenomenology
points to the existential function of
Technical Philosophy, explained
earlier.
With regard to African Philosophy we
have referred to the existential
function in the context of Cultural
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Philosophy. This reference was
justified since African Philosophers
have for many years now shown a
special interest in the phenomenon of
African culture. Being comprehensive
and existential in character, this
interest has often included a definite
concern with the phenomenon of
education. Even so, the expression
‘phenomenology of African education’
has not been used in this context,
mainly because of technical reasons.
Despite their genuine concern with
education as a human phenomenon,
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African scholars lacked the technical
approach, so typical of
phenomenological thinking in modern
philosophy. All this is not surprising
considering that Existentialism and
Phenomenology are relatively recent
trends in contemporary philosophy.
Today the situation is slowly
beginning to change so that we may
begin to speak of the Phenomenology of
African Education.
Within the Third World Paulo Freire is
one of the first educational
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philosophers to have used the
phenomenological approach in a
consistent manner, e.g. in his books
Cultural Action for Freedom (1970) and
Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972). Of
special interest is Freire’s view of
education as a cultural phenomenon, as
cultural action for freedom. Like
African philosophers Freire is
interested in culture, but unlike them
he defines ‘culture’ in dynamic terms,
as an actual process rather than as a
product of the traditional past.
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Note: Culture is not static but dynamic.
We have mentioned Paulo Freire here,
not only because of his approach but
also because of his direct influence
on philosophical thinking on education
in Africa. Firstly, Freire himself has
been directly involved in African
education and as a result of this
involvement he has expressed his
thoughts on African education in a
phenomenological manner. We refer here
to Pedagogy in Process (1978), a recent
book in which he describes his
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experiences of education in Guinea-
Bissau. Secondly Freire’s ideas and
his approach are reflected in several
publications on education in Africa.
We mention here a recent article by
Ocaya-Lakidi on ‘African Philosophy of
Education’ (prospects, 1980) where the
writer stresses the need for
philosophical thinking in Freire’s
style.
Influenced by Freire, but presenting
his philosophical thought on African
education in his own unique manner, is
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former president Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania. Although well known for his
Educaiton for Self-Reliance, where
education is viewed in the light of
Ujamaa or African Socialism, Nyerere
is less known for his more recent
educational writings, as found in The
Tanzanian Experience (1980) edited by
Hinzen and Hundsdorfer. Here Nyerere
develops a phenomenology of African
education, as derived from his own
philosophical insight into the African
experience. Regarded primarily as a
statesman and as a political
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philosopher, Nyerere is also an
educational philosopher in his own
right. No longer satisfied with the
traditional definition of education,
as being the transmission of
knowledge, wisdom, values from one
generation to the next, Nyerere
proposes a new definition. The primary
purpose of education in Africa today,
according to Nyerere, is the
liberation of man. Education-in
Nyerere view-must liberate both the
mind and the body of man; it has to
make him more of a human being by
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making him aware of his potential as a
human being. Education-in Nyerere’s
view-must liberate man from the
restraints of ignorance and dependency
and must increase man’s freedom that
is his control over himself, his life
and his environment. Nyerere advocates
education for creators, not for
creatures.
Mention must also be made of the
writings of Pierre Erny, a French
scholar with a long-standing interest
in African education. In Childhood and
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cosmos (1973) he describes traditional
thought on the child in Black Africa;
in doing so he explicitly uses a
phenomenological approach.
In The Child and His Environment in Black Africa
(1981), referred to earlier, he uses
the same philosophical method to
develop a phenomenology of African
Traditional Education. In short, there
are definite indications that this new
approach to educational thinking is
beginning to bear fruits, also in the
African context; obviously, this is
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not more than a beginning but it is a
significant one nevertheless.
Note: It is useful and relevant to read the book by
Paulo Freire entitled The Pedagogy of the
Oppressed.
Critique of African Education
Philosophical thinking about
education, using the critical
approach, has found different
expressions in Africa. Here we
distinguish two important trends, the
radical and the liberal one.
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Radical criticism of African education
is often an expression of Political
Philosophy, in the radical sense of
the word. An ideological perspective,
often leftist or Marxist in
orientation, is at the basis of this
type of philosophical thinking about
education in Africa. Critical
Philosophy of Education claims to go
beyond philosophy as an academic
discipline and instead proposes a
‘philosophy of action’. Critical
thinking about education in this sense
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is revolutionary in character, as it
advocates ‘revolution by education’.
A concrete example of such radical
criticism of African education is to
be found in Samora Machel’s Mozambique;
Sowing the Seeds of Revolution (1974). From
the start, Machel distinguishes three
types of education: African
traditional education, colonial
education and Revolutionary education.
The first type, traditional education,
aims at passing on old ideas and
values and leads-in Machel’s view-to
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‘the paralysis of society’. The second
type, colonial education, is a tool of
exploitation and seeks to de-humanie
the African. Both these types should
be condemned because they perpetuate
the old order. Only the third type is
to be recommended because
revolutionary education helps to
create a new mentality, an attitude of
solidarity, a healthy and
revolutionary morality, as well as
respect for manual work, for science
and technology. In short, through
revolutionary education the New Man
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will be created and the New Society
will be born.
This kind of critical thinking about
education, as expressed here by Samora
Machel, is to be found in the writings
of several other political leaders,
e.g. in L’Arme de la Theorie, by
Amilcar Carbral. Radical social
scientists, like W. Rodney, M.
Mbilinyi, J. Saul, think along similar
lines; at this point, the distinction
between Critical Philosophy and
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Critical Sociology of Education is no
longer easy to draw.
Liberal Criticism of African education
the second trend, is often expressed
by a number of educationists, be they
African or otherwise, as well as by
social scientists. These scholars
provide a critique, which often stems
from a normative concern that is a
concern with norms, values, ideals to
be realized or transmitted through
education. Given a scientific analysis
of educational situations, the
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established facts are criticized in
the light of a normative concern that
is, to some extent, philosophical in
character. Subsequently, educational
reforms or innovations are proposed to
meet this basic concern. Many studies
on education and development in Africa
may be mentioned as examples of
liberal criticism.
This criticism is liberal in the sense
that it does not start from a definite
political ideology but reflects a wide
variety of philosophical theories,
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i.e. ‘philosophies of education’, and
a wide variety of normative concerns.
The distinction between the general
and technical philosophy of education
is not always clearly spelled out in
most cases. As a result this kind of
critics appears to be less
philosophical than it actually is.
Obviously, here lies a task for the
educational philosopher: to make
explicit the philosophical thinking
underlying critical studies of African
education. In doing so, the
educational philosopher enhances the
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philosophical character of this area
of concern.
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION IN KENYA
The philosophy of education in Kenya
is clearly spelt out in Sectional
Paper No.I of 2005 on policy framework
for Education, Training and Research.
The provision of education and
training to all Kenyans is fundamental
to the success of the Governments
overall development strategy.
First, the long term objective of the
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government is to provide every Kenyan
with basic quality education and
training including 2 years of pre-
primary 8 year of primary and 4 year
of Secondary or Technical Education.
Education also aims at enhancing the
ability of Kenyans to preserve and
utilize the environment for productive
gain and sustainable livelihoods.
Second, development of quality human
resource is central to the attainment
of national goals for industrial
development.
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Third, the realization of universal
access to basic education and training
ensures equitable access to education
and training for all children,
including disadvantaged and vulnerable
groups.
Fourth education is necessary for the
development and protection of
democratic institutions and human
rights.
Question: What is Philosophy of Education in
Kenya?
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The Vision and Mission of Education In
Kenya.
VISION: The Government’s Vision for
education is: To have quality Education and
Training for Development. This is
translated to Kiswahili as “Elimu Bora
Kwa Maendeieo”; it makes the purpose of
our education and training focus on
the development of an individual
personality to enable him or her to
fit into society as a productive and
civil individual. Education and
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Training, therefore seeks to offer
equal opportunity to all learners.
MISSION: Consistent with the Vision
above, the mission of the Ministry of
Education together with the Ministry
of Science and Technology is: To work
with the other education stake holders
to provide, promote and coordinate
qualify, training and research for
Kenyans sustainable development and
responsible citizenry.
The Ministry is responsible for
providing an appropriate regulatory
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framework, developing policies and
guidelines, providing educational
support services, mobilizing resources
for education sector inputs and
coordinating human capital development
through education and training. To
meet those challenging tasks, the
Ministry of Education and the Ministry
of Science and Technology continue to
fulfil its mandate and objectives
through strong partnerships. With
stakeholders including community Based
Organizations NGOs, religious
organizations, other Government
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institutions, developing partners and
the private sector.
Note: The aim of education in Kenya is to make an
individual fit and be responsible citizenry.
Goals And Objectives Of Education In
Kenya
The overall goals of education in
Kenya are to achieve Education For All
(EFA), by 2015, in tandem with the
national and international
commitments. In line with the EFA
goal, which has been internationally
agreed upon, the sector is to attain
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universal primary Education, UPE by
2005.
The Ministry has, therefore, set the
following specific objectives in full
cognizance of the national and
international goals.
1) To develop a comprehensive ECDE
policy paying special attention. To
gender, vulnerable and disadvantaged
children by 2005.
2) To ensure that all children
including girls, children in difficult
circumstances and those from
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marginalized and vulnerable groups
access to and complete free and
compulsory primary education by 2010.
3) To enhance access, equity and
quality at all levels of education and
training by 2010.
4) To eliminate gender and regional
disparities in primary and secondary
education by 2005.
5) To improve the quality of all
aspects of education and training so
that recognized and measurable
learning outcome are achieved,
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especially in literacy numeracy and
essential life-skills relevant to the
world of work by 2010.
6) To ensure that the learning needs
of all young people and adults are met
through equitable access to
appropriate learning and life-skills
program by 2015.
7) To achieve universal adult
literacy, especially for women by 2015
8) To promote and popularize ICT as
well as science and technology
education by 2008.
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9) To promote and popularize open and
distance education (ODE) at all levels
of education and training by 2010.
10) To improve the quality and
relevance of teaching, learning and
research at universities and TVET
institutions by 2010.
11) To increase the proportion of
woman in teaching, administration and
research at all levels of higher
institutions by 2010.
12) To introduce new modes of
operation that will provide linkages
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between all higher education and
training institutions with
communities, by 2010
13) To ensure quality management
capacities amongst education managers
and other personnel involved in
education at all levels by 2010.
Through pursuit of these objectives,
the youth and adult learners will be
prepared and equipped with knowledge;
skills and expertise to enable them
play effective roles in the life of
the nation. The ministry of Education
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and the Ministry of Science and
Technology aims at providing
conditions for full development of
talents and personalities, promotion
of social justice, ethics and
morality, social obligations and
responsibility, fostering positive
attitudes and consciousness towards
others, including addressing gender
issues in order to serve the needs of
national development and above all,
foster national unity.
Activity
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1. The Ministry of Education had as an
objective to enhance access, equity and
quality at all levels of education by 2010.
Do you think, the ministry is fulfilling the
objectives it had set?
Monitoring and Evaluation Targets
To monitor and evaluate progress
towards the achievement of the above
objectives, the Ministry has set
specific targets as follows:
Attain UPE by 2005 and EFA by 2015
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Achieve a transition rate of 70
present from primary to secondary
school level from the current rate of
47 percent, paying special attention
to girls education by 2008 without
adversely affecting the boy child.
Enhance access, equity and quality in
primary and secondary education
through capacity building for 45,000
education managers by 2005.
Construct /renovate physical
facilities /equipment in public
learning institutions in disadvantaged
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areas particularly in ASAL and urban
slums by 2008.
Develop a national training strategy
for Technical, Vocational and
Educational Training (TVET) in 2005
and ensure that TVET institutions are
appropriately funded and equipped by
2008.
Achieve 50 percent improvement of
levels of adult literacy by 2010.
Expand public universities to have a
capacity of at least 5000 students
each by 2015 and increase the
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proportion of all students studying
science related courses to 50 percent,
with at least one third of these being
women by the year 2010.
Philosophical Analysis of Education in
Kenya
The development, management,
organization and delivery of education
and training services in Kenya is
guided by the philosophy of:
“Education and Training for social
cohesion as well as Human and Economic
development”.
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Note: Education is for social cohesion first and
foremost.
This philosophy is in turn guided by
the following:
National Unity: Education and training
inculcates patriotism and nationality
without compromising responsibility on
global issues. To achieve these
objectives the ministry ensures that
the Kenyan linguistic heritage serves
these values. For this reason, the
three categories of languages, i.e.
mother tongue, the national language,
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Kiswahili and English the official
language continue to play their
respective roles in education.
However, special emphasis is given to
the role of the national language as a
tool of national unity. In addition,
admissions into provincial and
national schools keeps into account
the need to enhance national
integration.
Question: Since Africa is made up of so many
nations it would make tings easier if we could use a
few common African languages. Do you think time
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will come for Kiswahili will be the continental
language, since it is most widely spoken?
Unity of purpose: Teamwork and
striving for the national common good
forms an integral and critical
component of the education and
training system. To achieve national
integration and cohesion, our
institutions must be the media for the
promotion of the values of mutual
respect and tolerance.
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Social Responsibility: Education and
training integrates social
responsibility, including nurturing
our cultural heritage, spiritual
values, combating drugs and substance
abuse, sensitivity to the spread of
human calamities like HIV/AIDS,
developing positive attitudes to work,
promoting gender equity, as well as
care for the vulnerable regions and
groups.
Moral and ethical values: Education
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and training inculcates such values as
peace, integrity, handwork, honesty
and equity. In pursuit of these values
our education and training
institutions will be the instruments
for the fight against unethical
behaviours and pursuits through the
educational curriculum.
Science and Technology: Technology is
a critical, form of wealth to any
nation. For this reason, innovation,
research, development, Information and
Communications Technology, ICT, arid
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science and Technology will form one
of the key pillars of education and
Training.
Equity: Education and Training must
embrace equity issued such as equal
opportunities for all access,
retention and completion.
Quality: in order to meet the demands
for the 21St century, our education
and training programmes must be of the
highest quality to compete favourably
with the international standards.
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Environment: Education and training
must empower our people to conserve,
sustain and exploit our environment
for sustainable development. To serve
this purpose our schools and other
education and training institutions
must serve as the foundations for the
building of community capacities for
environmental conservation and
sustainability. As such schools should
be the channels through which
knowledge and skills are transmitted
to the communities. For this reasons,
institutional managements are required
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to ensure that their institutions
maintain clean and sustainable
environments.
Activity 2
1. To achieve national integration and
cohesion, our institutions must be the
media for the promotion of the values of
mutual respect and tolerance. Identify
some tools that make the national
integration successful.
2. Science and technology provide us with the
capacity to possess systematic knowledge
of natural and human realities and to
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improve the conditions of our material
life. Ethics helps us to identify moral
values whose application improves our
internal existence and balances our
individual and social lives. Science and
ethics are two necessary components man
uses to enjoy a good life and well being,
to realize his own essence, and to work
toward perfection. Discuss the relevance
of science and ethics in Kenya.
National Goals Of Education In Kenya
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Every nation has its own educational
objectives clearly stated to transmit,
perpetuate and develop according to
its needs. In Kenya the fundamental
goal of Education is to prepare and
equip the youth and adult learners to
be happy and useful members of
society. From this fundamental needs
arise eight specific goals of
education.
Question: What is the National goal of education in
Kenya?
Written Exercise 9
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1. What are the goals and objectives
of Education in Kenya?
2. Discuss the Philosophy of
Education in Kenya.
Education In Kenya Should:
Foster nationalism, patriotism and
promote national unity.
Kenya people belong to different
communities, races and religious, but
these differences need not divide
them. They must be able to live and
interact as Kenyans. It is a paramount
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duty of education to help the youth
acquire this sense of nationhood by
removing conflicts and by promoting
positive attitudes of mutual respect,
which enable them to give together in
harmony, and foster patriotism in
order to make a positive contribution
to the life of the national.
Promote the social economic,
technological and industrial needs for
national Development. Education should
prepare the youth of the country to
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play an effective roles and productive
role in the life of the nation.
Note: Education should help the youth of the
country to be good and helpful citizen.
Social Needs: Education in Kenya must
prepare children for the changes in
attitudes and relationships, which are
necessary for the smooth process of a
rapidly development modem economy.
There is bound to be a silent social
revolution following in the wake of
rapid modernization. Education should
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assist our youth to adapt to this
change.
Economic Needs: Education in Kenya
should produce citizens with skills,
knowledge, expertise and personal
qualities that are required to support
a growing economy, which is in need of
adequate domestic manpower.
Technology and industrial needs:
Education in Kenya should provide the
learners with the necessary skills and
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attitudes for industrial development.
Kenya recognizes the rapid industrial
and technological changes taking place
especially in the developing world.
Promote individual Development and
self—fulfilment.
Education should provide opportunities
for the fullest development of
individuals’ talents and personality.
It should help children to develop
their potential interests and
abilities. A vital aspect of
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individual development is character
building.
Promote sound moral and religious
values
Education should provide for the
development of knowledge, skills and
attitudes that will enhance
acquisition of sound moral values and
help children to grow up into self —
disciplined, self-reliant and
integrated citizens.
Promote social equality and
responsibility.
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Education should promote social
equality and foster a sense of social
responsibility
with an education system, which
provides equal educational
opportunities for all. It should give
all children varied and challenging
opportunities and corporate social
service irrespective of gender,
ability or geographical environment.
Promote respect for and development of
Kenyans rich and varied Cultures.
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Education should instil in the youth
of Kenya an understanding of past and
present cultures and their valid place
in contemporary society. The children
should be able to blend the best of
traditional values with the changed
requirements that must follow rapid
development in order to build a stable
and modern society. Promote
international Consciousness and foster
positive attitudes towards other
nations. Kenya is part of the
international community. It is part of
the complicated and interdependent
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network of peoples and nations.
Education should therefore lead the
youth of the country to accept
membership in this international
community with all the obligations and
responsibilities, rights and benefits
that this membership entails.
Promote positive attitudes towards
good health and environmental
Protection. Education should inculcate
in the youth the value of good health
in order to avoid indulging in
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activities that will lead to physical
or mental ill health. It should foster
positive attitudes towards
environmental development and
conservation. It should lead the youth
to appreciate the need for a healthy
environment.
Note: Kenyans are Kenyans not because they are
human but because they have their own unique
culture that makes them Kenyans. Our education
system should help us to be more Kenyans.
Politics And Education In Kenya
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The provision of education and
training to all Kenyans is fundaments
overall development strategy. Since
independence, the Government has
addressed various matters related to
education.
Political Commitment To Education
At independence in 1963, the New
Government recognized education as a
basic human rights and a powerful tool
for human resource and national
development. Since them policy
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documents have reiterated the
importance of education in eliminating
poverty, disease and ignorance.
To overcome various challenges facing
the education sector Kenyan education
governments have worked with various
commissions, committees and task
forces, some of which are outlined
below.
1. The Ominde Commission of 1964
2. Weir Agricultural Education
Commission of 1967.
3. Bessay Commissions of 1976
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4. Gachathi commission of 1976
5. Mackay Commission of 1981
6. Kamunge I Commission of 1988
7. Koech Commission of 1999
8. Kamunge 11 Commission of 2006
9. Gachukia Task force of 2007
These Commissions and taskforces have
taken an important part in bringing
about curriculum changes in the
country.
Activity 3
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1. Culture and education are words
that are often placed side by
side in any order of preference.
Point out and criticize from our
educational curriculum that
despise or not encourage our
culture.
2. Though stricken with poverty and
hardships, the people of Kenya
are generally literate. It's
estimated that approximately 90%
of adult males, and 80% of adult
females are able to read and
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write. While the basics are
covered, more advanced education
is not as widespread. On average,
children go to school for only 9
or 10 years. Suggest or find
solution to these problems.
Summary
Historically, the Kenya educational
system underwent drastic and rapid
changes within a short period. As in
most African countries, Kenya has been
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faced with a fast population growth
rate and low economic development that
contribute to an environment where the
educational system is very competitive
and high educational attainment does
not guarantee occupational mobility
(Buchmann 2000).
In this unit, we have discussed the
philosophy of education in Kenya and
also the vision and mission of
education in Kenya. We examined too
that Kenya having its own objectives
and goals of Education. Its goals are
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