Peter Lang AG is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Counterpoints.http://www.jstor.orgPeter Lang AGCHAPTER FIVE: African Philosophies of Education: Deconstructing the Colonial and Reconstructing the Indigenous Author(s): Ali Abdi Source:Counterpoints, Vol. 379, Indigenous Philosophies and Critical Education: A READER (2011), pp. 80-91Published by:Peter Lang AGStable URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/42980886Accessed: 11-08-2015 09:14 UTCREFERENCESLinked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42980886?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contentsYou may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jspJSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsCHAPTERFIVE African Philosophies ofEducation Deconstructing theColonialand Reconstructing the Indigenous AnAbdi Philosophy,has been defined which in was many at one ways, point and appreciated withas many as the analytical, quasi-straight pedagogical, line of the and love socio-cultural of wisdom, has been definedin manyways, and withas manyanalytical,pedagogical, and socio-cultural intentionsand emphasis. At leastwithinand aroundthe parameters of academic projects,philoso- phymight be seen as thefluidbut ongoingstudy and analysis that pertain to all aspects of the way we live in a given timeand space, how we criticallyinquire aboutsocial contextsand relationships that would, eitherin alignment, or in contrario, describeand institutionally locate theintersections of thoselife systems. Withthat understanding, and witheducation being an importantcomponent of social life, one wouldassumethatno group,nation, or continentwouldbe denied uponlaying some claim on the philosophicalviability of itslife systems, and how learning to live and succeed (in rel- ative terms) would be defined by formalizedor informalclustersof the philosophy of education, whichwouldcomment upon, and potentiallyshape the qualities as well as thestructuresof all indige- nous systems of education.In factual terms, thatshouldnotbe a difficultthemeto understand, but in the history of extensively colonized Africa, the imposition of Europeanphilosophies and theo- riesof knowledge,complementedby thedenialthattheancientcontinenthad anyphilosophy,phi- losophy of education, or othercoherent thoughtsystems(Abdi, 2008; Achebe, 2000; Mudimbe, 1988), has perhaps done as much damage as any other project of the imperialenterprise.Indeed, as Nyerere(1968) and Rodney(1982) cogentlydiscussed, the ontological as well as the epistemolog- ica! colonizationof Africaled to the ongoingde-development of the continent, and in Ngugi wa Thiongo'sterms, theeducational terrain,especially thede-Africanizationofthat terrain, has affirmed the processes ofmentalcolonizationthatare still afflicting thelives ofAfricans (wa Thiongo,1986, 2005). It is also centralto noteherethatone of themain plunders(there are many) of the postcolonial Africanelitewas thecontinuationof colonial philosophies and epistemologies as themaindefiners of educationand development in the continent.In this chapter, I intendto challenge the false This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsAFRICANPHILOSOPHIESOF EDUCATION | 81 assumptions aboutAfricaneducationand philosophies of education,ways of knowing and attached systems of life.I will start by talking abouteducational types, withsome focuson how pre-colonial informal systems of learning in Africawere effective platforms of educationaland social develop- ment, and as Nyerere(1968) among othershave pointedout, Africa'sstunted progress in the past two centuriescould actually be tracedback to thosemomentswhen people's learning and social devel- opmentplatforms were deliberatelydestroyedby the colonial forces.From those observational platforms, I will introduceselect descriptive and analyticalpoints that pertain to the pedagogical revi- talizationofAfrican philosophies of education, and how, frombothhistoricaland contemporaneous terms, Africaneducationwas steeped in indigenousphilosophies thatwerenot necessarily structured as Europe's butwere put into place to servethe situation-specific needs of theAfrican people. In all the analysis I deploy in this chapter, the subjectivity of thecase shouldbe clear. As an Africanman myself, I have lived through and continueto live in thethickof the early for- mationsof the major philosophical and pedagogical discoursesthathave affirmedthe theoretical supremacy of theideas of theWestas they relatedto theworldof thecolonized (Bessis, 2003) and as they were later perforcepracticalized to effectthe global ontological and physical lifedivisions thatexist today. As I interactwiththese realities, I can clearly locate the beginnings of the concep- tualand philosophical linesthathave suppressed the place of Indigenousphilosophies of education, whichbecause thesewerethecarriersof and conductorsof indigenousknowledge, the capacity for indigenous advancementin educational,political, and economictermswas to be stuntedfor many centuriesand intothe writing ofthis chapter. This does not necessarily meanthatAfrican knowledge systems would have alwaysdeveloped better by themselves;indeed,knowledge, as I will note later, is a human project thatwas only achievablein the spirit as well as the actionsof human together- ness, and itis via this reality, thatitcan servewell thelives of people. But by disallowing the expan- sive and essentialcontributionsof whole populations, not only in Africabutas well in many other places including the highlydeveloped systems thatexisted in pre-Columbian Americas (Mann, 2006), theissue will be so muchmorethan just marginalizing the evolvingepistemicspace of those societies, and it certainlyspeaks abouttheminimalizationof the directcontributionstheseknowl- edges could make to the well-being of the humano-ecologicalsystems thatattachus to theoverall cosmologies we inhabit.Withtheextensive subjective locationsthat heavily informthis chapter, the workwill also extensivelybenefit, forits generalobservations,perspectives, and conclusions, from thevoluminousliteraturethathas been mostlyproducedby postcolonial writerswho have, like me, lived through thediscursiveand practicalexperiencespresented here. GENERALEDUCATIONALTYPESANDCHARACTERISTICS In speaking aboutthe types of educationused in different learningsituations, one may discuss for- mal systems of education, informal systems of learning, and non-formal systems of education.As global learningsystems are structured today, themostinstitutionalizedof theseis formaleducation whichhas been, especially in its currentformand structure, introducedto theAfricancontinent by European colonialism.This does not mean, though, thatsome formalinstructionaland learning arrangements wereneverin place in pre-colonial Africa.As studentsofAfricancivilizationsinclud- ing themanwho may be the doyen of the area, thelate Senegalese scholar, CheikhAnta Diop, have shownthe world, for manyyears before Europeans decided to carve up Africafortheireconomic benefits, thecontinentwas highly endowedin itsintellectual development and had some of thefirst This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions82 I INDIGENOUSKNOWLEDGESASPHILOSOPHYANDTHEIMPLICATIONSOF DECOLONIZATION comprehensivelearning institutions including thoseachieved by theMali kingdoms in the early cen- turiesof thesecond millennium.While these systems of higher educationand some of theearliest librarysystems locatedtherehave been knownto many of us fora numberof years, thenewestdis- coveries actually accentuatehow thelevel of epistemic and epistemologicalsophistications achieved therewas more impressive thanwas ever thought. That being as it is, one can still safelysay thatcur- rent programs of formal education, as they are practiced in the world,fairly followa Europeanway of philosophizing,teaching, and knowing. With my focusbelow moreon thehistorical validity and current importance of indigenous informal education, letme briefly notethatnon-formaleducation is probably theleast ubiquitous of thethree types of learning, as it usually focuseson limited, sem- inar-styletrainingprograms that organizations and institutions design and implement fortheknowl- edge advancementof their employees.Occasionally,though, one might come across this type of learningbeing used interchangeably withinformaleducation. My own understanding is thatthetwo shouldbe different, and thatshouldbecome cleareras I say moreaboutthelatterin the following lines. The focus (albeitbrieflyhere) on informaleducationis important in any historical,philosoph- ical, and culturalstudiesoftheAfricancontinent.As themost extensive,temporallylongest, andthere- fore,socially mosteffective learningsystems in pre-colonial Africantraditional societies, this type of educationhas shaped the developmental and general life management schemesoftheAfrican peo- ple (Abdi, 2002; Semali, 1999). One important characteristicof this type of learning is its openness whereit is notrestricted by any organizational or governanceconditionalities, and as such accords all thechanceas well as theselective capacity to learn. Beyond theindividualorthe grouplevel, infor- mal educationwould always have a regional or even continental quality thatmakesitconformmore to the geographical and relatedenvironmentalneeds of the populace. In termsof theassumedran- domnessof informal education, one needsto qualify the point. Whileinformaleducationwas notas structurally restricted as, say, currentformsof schooling, it is clear thatin some community-sanc- tioned contexts, it actually has had select and ongoing time-and age-boundexpectations, even restrictionsand evaluativemeasuresthatassuredits relevance,timeliness, and effectivenessin rela- tionto theneedsforwhichitwas undertaken (see, inter alia,Achebe,2000; wa Thiongo,1993,2005). As Semali (1999) pointedout, traditionalAfricaneducationalso had an effective knowledge and sci- entific repertoire thatallowed it to effectivelyrespond, not only to social and governance needs of the community, but as well, to the ecological literacy, and to the agricultural and medicalneeds of people. Indeed, it is via thisformof learning thatAfricanshave thrivedand constructivelymanaged theirlives over millennia. Yet, withthe arrivalof colonialism, all African systems of learning and modes of development were deridedas useless and notfitto be used. From there, these highly reli- able and time-tested projects of learning were perforce rescindedfromall learningcontexts, and European systems of education,languages, educational philosophies, and epistemologies were imposed on colonized populations. The history of this tragicstory is well knownto many, ithas been magisterially discussedand multi-perspectively studiedand critiquedby such brilliantthinkersas Julius Nyerere who in his book, Freedomand Socialism (1968) analyzed the lasting effectsof these extensivecolonial projects on the being of the persona Africana.These issues have also been stud- ied by thelate Guyanese scholarWalter Rodney, who in his classic, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa(1982), emphasized the centrality of indigenouslyinduced,designed, and implementedsys- temsof learning forboththeimmediateneeds as well as the long-termwell-being of thecommuni- ty. As I have done fewtimes before, I will still quoteRodney's(1982) cogent and timeless points in this regard: This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsAFRICANPHILOSOPHIESOF EDUCATION | 83 The following featuresof indigenous Africaneducationcanbeconsidered outstanding^ the specificindige- nouscontextsitwas designedfor. Itscloselinkswiththesocial life, bothinmaterialand spiritualsense; itscollectivenaturewhereit focuses onthewhole of the person andthe community', its many-sidedness, andits progressivedevelopment in conformity withthesuccessive stages ofthe physical, emotionaland mental development ofthechild.Therewasno separation ofeducationandthe productive activities ofpeo- ple.Altogether,throughmany informal means,pre-colonial Africaneducationmatchedtherealitiesof pre- colonialAfrican society and produced well-rounded personalities tofitintothat society(p. 239,emphases added). Rodney'spoints are not just a descriptive exerciseof whatthiseducationdid forthe people, he also engages a numberof philosophicalpoints.Indeed, themain questions of the philosophy of educa- tionwould engage, in diverse global contexts, whatwe could call the big questions of its concern, that is, the WHATs,WHYs, and HOWs of education. Initially, it shouldbe expected thattheestab- lishmentof any new educational enterprise will begin withthe question: what type of educationdo we, or the community, need?Withoutthat takingplace, Rodney'spoints will notbe realized. Indeed, withtheconsensual point thateducationleads to some formof social well-being, one cannot negate thefundamental philosophistic natureof all learningprojects. From there, theother majorphiloso- phy of education question,why do we need this type of education (with the assumption thatthefirst question has already been answered), would formthebasis fortheestablishmentof educationalcon- texts; withoutthat happening, thenone willbe takingaway theinherent learningagency ofthehuman. And if any readeris experiencinganyanalytical dissonancein termsofwhetherthesewerebuiltinto the informal systems of educationthatwere in place in Africa, the answershouldbe a categorical yes. Even in spaces wherethenormativesemi-structureof traditionaleducation (with all its social- ly binding but formally non-codified sanction-and-prohibitionmechanisms), therewould be so manytacitlyagreed-upon notationsand practices that govern the way people learn, value knowledge, and use that knowledge for specific intentionsand locationsthatare embeddedwithinthe political, social, and cultural platforms of the places they inhabit. With respect to thethird question, the HOW, thiscouldbe selectively describedas themost impor- tanteducational philosophicalconjecture, foritaffirmshow boththe general and particularmessages of educationwouldbe conveyed to learners, who will use suchinformationfortheirlivelihoodsand forthe psychological and existentialconstructionsof therealitiesthatdefinetheircommunitiesand the time-and space-dependent achievements they intendto accrue as a resultof theireducation. Indeed, all these importantphilosophicalquestions concernedAfricantraditional societies, and to fit their learningprograms intothe livingspaces oftheir societies,they wereable to answerthose ques- tions by themselves, for themselves, and forfuture generations. The maindifferencein termsofwhat has happened since colonialism, is thatinsteadofthe communityanswering those questionsby them- selves and as such,achievingthrough educationwhatWalter Rodney described above, colonizing Europe decidedto answerthe questions on behalfofAfricans.And to clarifynow, thelatteractual- ly did notseek anyhelp with anylearning concernsand surely did notinvite anyforeigner to tellthem how to manage theirresourcesand developmental schemes. Actually, thelast sentenceabove could be seen as rhetoricalbutit is an important rhetoric.Of coursewe shouldknow why African systems of educationwere destroyedby colonialism,why new and alien philosophies of educationwere imposed, and we of course, need to talkabout why thede- philosophizingprocess was important forthecolonizers.But to perhapsrepeat some of thestuffwe have to know by now,mainly forthesake of reminding ourselvesof the complexity of colonialism and how itsarchitects thoughtfullydesigned and implementedit, this psychosomatically destructive This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions84 I INDIGENOUSKNOWLEDGESASPHILOSOPHYANDTHEIMPLICATIONSOF DECOLONIZATION project was perhapsanything else (at least initially) but psychological in thatit extensively demeaned andvalue-wisediminished anything thatwas African;bydoingso, and byelevating the place of every- thingEuropean, it aimed to convinceAfricansof theirneed forthe colonizingproject. As one should effectivelyimagine,people will notsubmitto colonialismunless they had some beliefin its superiority. And whenthe psychologicalpersuasion was not yielding theneeded results, the deploy- mentof the undoubtedlysuperior instrumentwas always an immediatelyreadyoption. The second itemon themenuof colonialismthatthecolonizedhad to avail themselves, was cultural:the psy- chologicalpersuasion and othermoreconcreteformsof convincing wereto advance some formof an assumedcultural precedence(sometimescalled, withclearcontradictionin terms, a moreadvanced moral profile) forthecolonizers. The culturalinsertionin the earlystages of colonialismwas veryimportant, forcultureactual- ly mediatesthestructureas well as thefunctionalitiesof everyday lifeand had,therefore, theadded effectof slowlynormalizing theunevencolonial relationships. Concomitantwiththe cultural, was theeducationalwhere formalizingquickly the already established psychological and related persua- sionswas important.Indeed, the following two stages of colonialism, the political and theeconom- ic, would nothave been as successfulwithouttheaffirmationof everythingthey stood for, via the educational systems thatwere establishedto teachnativestheir self-negation and the heavy belief systems that de-ontologized theirworldand attritionallypushed themto become psycho-culturally and pedagogicallyconscriptedparticipants in theoverall project. As Fanon (1967, 1968) and Memmi (1991) noted, extensive processes of corporealobjectification would eventually lead to the forma- tionsof new creatureswho wouldbehave in ways thatwouldhave been alien to theirformerselves. Undoubtedly, suchoutcomesfromso muchde-culturalizationwould affirmthecreationof emergent psycho-pedagogicallysubjectivities thatbehavein new ways,expect less of themselves, and are con- tinually locatedin shifting but firmlyoppressing borderlinesthatassuretheir exploitation as if they only existforsuch realities. Interestingly and especially forthe Europeande-philosophizations ofAfricanlifeand education, the onslaughtactually startedmuchearlierthanthefirstcolonial settlers.In a writtenformat least, itwas actually theRoman historian,Pliny the Elder,who, inhis book, HistoriaNaturalis ( 1982/1 856), philosophized aboutAfricaas a place inhabited by an unculturedmonstrousrace. How did he know that? He, of course, did notknow anything about Africa, butsuch sayings became thebasic knowl- edge aboutAfricaand they were accepted as trueand real scholarship. The secondwave of European writersabout Africawas composed of some of the most importantEuropean philosophers and thinkers, who especially, because ofthetimesin which theylived, had a great influenceon how their governments and the public in theircountriessaw this huge landmasswhichto themwas terra incog- nita. Apparently,though, theirnull knowledge somehowbecamemorethanthatvia theirunsubstan- tiatedand false assumptions aboutAfrica. Indeed, whenone comes acrossthe writingof, inter alia, G. W. F. Hegel, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes, and yes, even theso-called philosophers of liber- ty, theFrenchmenVoltaireand Montesquieu, it is nighimpossible to view themas decentthinkers whose scholarship deserves any measureof attention.As I havewrittenbefore (Abdi,2006), thewrit- ings ofthese"luminaries"of social thought were greatlyresponsible fortheconstructionsofthecolo- nial project wherethe outrightdemeaning ofwhole populations andtheirlandsas barbaricand worthy of subjugation wouldhave removed any moralscreenthat might have restrainedthefatefulinvasion of the merchants, the soldiers, and the clergy, which led, not only to the physical and environmen- tal destructionswe see now, butmore so, and more enduringly, to the deep diminishing of theonto- existential,philosophical,epistemologica!, and otherlife plateaus thatwould have sustainedthe This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsAFRICANPHILOSOPHIESOF EDUCATION | 85 educationaland social developmentplatforms of dadka Afiikaanka ah. Hegel (1965), for example, was sureof the following aboutAfrica: Africais not interesting fromthe point ofviewofitsown history, butbecause [inAfrica] is ina stateof barbarismand savagery whichis preventing himfrom being an integralpart ofcivilization. Africa, as far backas historygoes, hasremainedclosedandwithoutlinkswiththerestoftheworld.Itis the country of gold whichclosedinon itself, the country of infancy,beyond the daylight ofconscious history,wrapped intheblacknessof night(p. 247). In these few sentences, the numberof errors (actually descriptivecrimes) the "great" German philosopher commits against Africaare impressive. Without setting a foot in the continentand apparently without reading a single concrete point about it, he concludesthatit has no history, no civilization, no understanding oftherestofthe world, no linkswith anything outside itself, no agency, no knowledge, and by extension, no education, and no philosophy.Technically and forall pragmat- ic undertakings, thisis nothing shortof an organizedattempt in thetotaldehumanizationof every- thingAfrican, and via the power of the text producedby Hegel and his racist cohorts, the belief systems thishas establishedin the Europeanpublic space wouldbe enormousand itwas enormous, withmuchofthebelief system stillintact.And all of itwas of course absolutely false.As I have indi- catedearlierin the chapter, how could populations thriveover millennia,productivelymanage their lives, and actually achieve some of the most important civilizationsin the world (for more on Africa's breakthrough achievements including theinventionofhumancivilization itself, see Bernal, 1987/2002;Diop, 1974, 1987, 1990; Jackson,1970). As Bernalnotesin VolumeII of his multi-vol- umeBlackAthena (1982/2002), which exclusively focuseson solid archaeological and documentary evidence, the origins of European civilizations actually came fromAfrica.MoreoverCheikhAnta Diop (1974, 1987, 1990), who has perhaps studiedboth the strength as well as the validity of Africancivilizationsmorethan anyoneelse, also used archaeological,linguistic, and related evidence, to affirmonce and for all, how Africa'sachievementson thehumancivilizationalladder were, for manycenturies, eitherat par or even superior to other things undertakenelsewherein theworld. If, for example, as Chamberlain (cited in Jackson,1970) noted, iron smelting and therefore, the mass use of ironwas first developed in Africa, and ifthatinventionbecame the spark that catapult- ed moderncivilizationsinto what they are today, thenhow do we locate Africancivilizations vis-a-vis everything thatcame afterthat? Diop (1987) indeednotedhow in manyparts of Africa, "activeblastfurnaces [first]produced theironthatwas required foreconomicand technological activ- ity(p. 204). It is almostcertainthatwood was thefuel used, and theuse of metallurgy in blackAfrica datesback to timeimmemorial." In the pre-colonialprocesses of paving the way for colonialism,though, the prominentEuropean thinkersmentionedearlierwerenotinterestedin elevating thelot ofAfricain eitherthe philosoph- ical or otherselect epistemicplatforms of life. That, as we should clearly understand, would have problematized the still-continuingproject of global imperialism and could have occasionally stunt- ed theforwardmarchof thediabolic and grossly misnamed " missioncivilsatrice " (see Said, 1993). But despite theabundanceof factsthatwould pointotherwise, the organizedprocesses of denying Africa any historicaland philosophicalplatforms continuedfrom manyangles, and I will suggest that itselfis still affecting how ideas and anyresultingknowledgesystemsproduced thereare valued in theworld today. This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions86 I INDIGENOUSKNOWLEDGESASPHILOSOPHYANDTHEIMPLICATIONSOF DECOLONIZATION RE-PHILOSOPHIZINGAFRICANEDUCATION:THEMISSEDLINK WithmostAfricancountries gaining their politicalindependence(albeit nominalas they foundout quickly) fromlate 1950s to early1960s, the point of re-philosophizing and re-indigenizing African systems of learning shouldhave been at hand, and witheducationseen as an important vehicle for social development, thebasic philosophicalquestions of whateducationdifferentcountries needed, whythey needed those types of educationand how thesewould be done, shouldhave been exten- sively asked, analyzed, and inclusively dealt with. That, of course, did not happen.By and large, Africaneducational policy makerssomehowmissedthecrucial point thatcolonialeducationwas not going to develop Africa; it was actuallydesigned and implemented to underdevelop it. Indeed, without any of theessential questions about indigenous Africaneducationand possibilities of local developmentbeingraised, the postcolonial situationcontinuedto be dominated by thecolonial cur- riculum, colonial languages, and colonial structuring and distributionof educationalresources. Here, one can sense how the psychological and cultural designs mentioned above, and thatwere affirmed through colonial educational programs, were at play. The leadership of the supposedly liberated natives, who werealmost entirely schooledin colo- nial colleges,many withadvanced degrees fromthefewfirst-rateuniversitiesin the North, techni- cally understoodand seeminglyappreciated thedominant systems of learning, were clearly de-linked fromtraditional systems of educationand local languages and fully knewthattheir politicalprivi- lege and economic well-being werebothfunctionsof their European education.As shouldbe ascer- tained,therefore,they werenot willing to popularizelearningsystems, forthatwouldhave endangered theirculturaland politicalcapital.Undoubtedly, thatcolonial way of thinking was majorly instru- mentalin blocking effective ways ofAfrican development. This also instilledin themindsofthenew Africaneliteselect negativeontologicalrelationships withthe masses, where just like European colo- nialists,they saw all thosenot schooledand "cultured"like themas inferiorand not worthy of the rights thatfreecitizensshould enjoy. This could be a mini-controversial point, butI once again sub- mit, thatsome deep psycho-cultural formationswereinstilledin themindsoftheseBlack rulers, and theydecided, not only not to modifyoppressive colonial systems of educationbut to massively oppress the populace, take away people's basic political and economic rights, and punishanyoppo- nentsat will. And theoverall storymight notbe farfromtheextensiveinculcationsin theirminds that anythingnon-European or deficientin European mannerswas not worthy of respect,rights, free- dom, evenbasic socio-economic well-being. Was this specific to theAfricancontext?Not necessar- ily, butat leastin many other places, the package was mixed.In someAsian countries, for example, includingMalaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore,postcolonial rulers might have accumulatedtoo much politicalpower, but they wereat leastsensitiveto theeducationaland social development needs of their peoples. As Kwapong (1994) pointedout,many countriesin Asia thathave done well, did not only focuson some portions of indigenous economic development but also selectively re-cul- turedtheireducational systems so thesefitboththehistoricaland actualneedsofthe public. In Africa's case, the exceptions werenot many, and even wheretherewas a singularpolitical and policyeffort, the global interventionin theformof international capitalismvigorouslyopposing it was, unlikein theAsian cases, extensiveand immediate. One importantsingularattempt to change the situationwas undertaken by Julius Nyerere, Tanzania'sfirst postcolonialPresident, and a thoughtfulphilosopher-statesman who although, he went through colonial education includingdoing a graduatedegree in theUnited Kingdom, was critical- This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsAFRICANPHILOSOPHIESOF EDUCATION | 87 ly aware of theneed to indigenize Africaneducation.In his widely referenced essay "Educationfor Self-Reliance,"Nyerereprospectivelyanalyzed the problems of continuing the colonial education system in post-independence Tanzania. He fully understoodthatsuch was not appropriate forthe futureof free Tanzania, and thatthefutureofAfricawas to be designed on thebasis of theneeds of the people and not on the preferences of those who have subjugated themfor so long. Indeed, Nyerere(1968) understoodas muchas anyone that learningprograms shouldbe contextualizedand should respond to the specifictempo-spatial needs of their recipients. He wrote Theeducational systems indifferentkindsofsocietiesintheworldhave been, and are,very differentin organization andcontent. They aredifferentbecausethesocieties providing theeducationare different, and because education, whetheritis formalor informal, hasa purpose. The [main]purpose is totransmitfrom one generation tothe next, theaccumulatedwisdomand knowledge of society, andto prepare the young fortheirfuture membership ofthat society andtheiractive participation initsmaintenanceand develop- ment (p. 268). Undoubtedly,Nyerere knewwhatTanzaniaand therestofAfricaneeded in thearenasof education and social well-being. Needlessto add, he was notwithouthis detractors, who accusedhimof engag- ing in grand social designs thatwerenot practical in therealworld.As we wrotenot longago, though, (Mhina & Abdi,2009), the counter-Nyerereanperspective is basically the highly neo-liberalizedeco- nomicand politicalprograms thatare in fullforcein mostofAfrica today. These do at leastone thing well: theypromote an already determinedrhetorical"survivalofthefittest"notationsthatrewardthose who are alreadyadvantaged. In that sense,today's Tanzania may be describedas post-Nyererean, but it is also highly hierarchicalin economictermsat least, and thenumberof people who benefitfrom its abundantnaturalresourcesare few in relationto thosewho are marginalized. And it is possible thatsome would see such situationsas thenormalorderof things, whichis precisely what Nyerere was not willing to accept. RECONSTRUCTINGTHETERRAINTHROUGHTHE RE-AFRICANIZATION/RE-INDIGENIZATIONOFLEARNINGPROGRAMS BeforeI go into specificanalyses of the possibilities ofAfricanization (always in relative terms), let me brieflyrelay some pointers on epistemology. BeforeI even do that,though, letme say one more thing aboutthe emergingphilosophical debates.I believethatAfrican philosophicalresponses, with the respect to the writing ofcolonialist thinkers, havebeen effective (see, amongothers,Abiola,2009; Eze, 1998; Serequeberhan,1997; Wiredu,1997), with many oftheseworks critically locatedto chal- lenge thebaseless scribbling concocted by ill-informed foreigners aboutAfricaand its people. In addi- tion, whileAfrican philosophies andAfrican philosophies of educationcould have selectsimilarities withother philosophies fromother parts ofthe world, one mustalso notesome specificities that may be particular to theformer.One streamof philosophy that mightrepresent this particularity is Sage Philosophy, whichwas actually thetitleof thebook by thelate Kenyanscholar,Henry Oder Oruka (1991) who systematically showed the world how Africanmen and women without any formal schooling were capable, not only in engagingphilosophicalinquiry, butin producing, in their places of residenceand fortheir communities, extensive philosophical treatisesthat defined,critiqued, and located theirexistentialitiesas effectively and as comprehensively as anythingproduced in the Europeanmetropolises. This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions88 I INDIGENOUSKNOWLEDGESASPHILOSOPHYANDTHEIMPLICATIONSOF DECOLONIZATION Froma generalist theoreticaland analyticalperspectives,anyorganized discussionon education and educational philosophies, shouldcontainat leastfew pointers on epistemologa whichshouldbe crucialin thatit speaks aboutthe descriptions and related analysis that explain the way we locateand attach comprehensiblemeaning to things,immediatelycomplementedby how we transferand exchange those meanings. It is because of thisthatone needsto appreciate how issues of epistemol- ogyusually deal withconcernsthat try to untangle,analytico-praxicallyspeaking, theoriesofknowl- edge, andhow theseestablishor situationally mediate ways of knowing. It is with regard to this reality thatwe shouldadhereto the practices of differentand at times, detached epistemicpossibilities and diverse ways of knowing. As such, Almeder (1992), for example, remindsus how propositional knowledgedirectlycorresponds with epistemologa wherein some contexts, such knowledgepoints to someone knowingsomething. Froma different perspective,epistemicconcepts,evidence, ratio- nale for acceptance, and related justifiablepossibilities, are things thatwe can discernand believe and otherconstructsthat might be known through some of those (Fumerton,2006). Withthisin mind, itshouldbe impossible to accordone system ofeducationor one way ofknow- ing thesole legitimacy of epistemicparadigms and epistemologicalplatforms.Here, even uniqueways of creating text-based knowledge, oral knowledge,linguisticcharacteristics, and all the social,polit- ical, and economiccontextsthatinfluenceall of these, should affect, not only the way knowledge is expressed andused butas well therelational assumptions thatderivefromthese. Knowledge, as Allen (2004) correctlynoted, "cannotbe limitedto whatis linguisticallyarticulated, because everything we talkabout tacitly shouldalso referto thewiderworldofartifactualculture" (p. 260). This is indeed what should increase, has actuallyalreadyincreased, theusefulnessof such epistemological reali- ties as contextualismor situationalism.As such, therich diversity and developmentally viable pos- sibilitiesof different epistemologies shouldbe given a viable space in the contemporary world's knowledge and learningplatforms.Especially in Africa, thisis more urgent thanever.Withthecon- tinent dealing with a host of social developmentliabilities, most of which have not been so far addressed by nationalor even private education systems, we shouldnot only focuson re-doing the philosophical foundationsof educationbutas well the epistemologicalre-aligning of learningspaces and programs so as to aim formoreAfricanized possibilities(in inclusive terms) of educationand development. Select Africanizationsof knowledge In speaking aboutthe possible Africanizationsor indigenizations of knowledge, letme categorical- ly statethatI do notadhereto any theoreticalor practical constitutionsor conventionsthatwantto presentknowledge as either African,Asian, European, or Pacific Islander, forthatmatter.I thinkit will be pragmatic to agreewith, inter alia, Sandra Harding(1998, 2008) that knowledge is a collec- tivehuman heritage and is producedby all societies, and selectively with Longino(2002) and Koch (2002) thatthe way we createanduse knowledgeis, by and large,socially constructedand managed. As I have discussedin other forums,therefore, the type of knowledge I am discussinghere, or the educationaloutcomesand philosophies that might be achieved thereof, shouldn'thave been a priori Africanand need notbecome a posteriori African.In these post-factospaces of life,especially(that is, in relationto theirrecoverablewealthof knowledge thatcolonialismhas distilledfromtheworld of the Africans),my intentionis to deliberatelyappreciate whatis good and constructively function- al in current systems ofeducationbutalso intermeshwiththesetheideas and practices thatare extract- ed fromAfrican languages,literature, historicaland cultural studies, and scientificand mathematical This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsAFRICANPHILOSOPHIESOF EDUCATION | 89 achievements.It is via thisinclusiveand epistemicallypolycentricapproach thatthe space of indige- nous knowledges in postcoloniallearning contextscould be elevated. That would undoubtedly engender the emergence of indigenousepistemes and epistemologicalplatforms that enhance, not only theoverall quality of the pedagogical and instructional endeavors, butas well, the psycho-cul- turaland existential relationships Africanlearnerswould have withtheir schooling contexts. In addition, theissueoftheselective indigenization of educationis also relatedto the well-argued social capital and cultural capital theories popularizedby theFrench sociologist PierreBourdieu.As he effectivelyexpounded in a numberof highly referenced sociologicalwritings(Bourdieu,1984; Bourdieu& Passerson,1990), thesocial characteristicsofthe family and communityspaces we occu- py, and thecultural capitals we harness thereof, could be strong determinantsof theextentto which we succeed in our educational settings, and by extension, to what length we can exploit thesocietal networksthatare formedand reformedin the quotidian intersectionsof life.And to expand on this point, itwill notbe that Africans, who throughlacking the right cultural capital in current spaces of schooling,mightjust be disadvantaged in theirlocal contexts,they could also be marginalized in the open-border realitiesof today'srapidlyglobalizingworld, wheretheso-called knowledge societies will outdoothersin the competition for development and well-being. As Africa's doyen of contem- porary letters (of course,conveyed in English as today's dominantmediumof expression), Chinua Achebe (2000) noted, the plight ofcurrentAfricanlocales is the directlydeforming"de"-writing(read de- Africanizing) of our cultures,ontologies, and overall beingby thosewho did notunderstandthat muchof what they were talking about. It is in response to thisneed to inclusively(notexclusively)indigenizeknowledgesystems and philosophies of knowledge inAfrican learningsettings and in thewider society at large thatwe could look at some new possibilities in thesituation.One example we can citein thecontextof indigeniz- ing thecontentsof schooling, whichwill also affirmnew ways of philosophizing aboutAfricanedu- cation, are media of instruction.Whiletheworld system induced advantages accruedfrom learning English or Frenchin today's global system are situationally useful for iterantintellectualslike myself, the factsstillremainthatone's language is not only socially and culturallyliberating, it is also, as Ngugi wa Thiongo has repeatedmanytimes, a powerful constitutionthataffirms people's histories,identities, even expectations, and aspirations. As such, no matterhow one mastersand uses English, itstilldoes not belong to Africans, and in FrantzFanon's seminal pointers, iftheworldwould belong to thosein whose languages it is expressed, Africans might findit difficultto achieveviable re-philosophizing oftheireducational systems orto harnesssocial developmentpossibilities thatcould be triggeredby the learningprogramsthey are exposed to. Indeed, Fanon's point has now been fac- tualized:theworld alreadybelongs to thosewhose languages have become thedominantmedia of culture,economics,politics, and technology. So whileI am not intending to go intotoo muchdetail in thisarea as I am conludingmywritinghere, theneed fora linguistic turninAfrica'seducational and social development terrainscannotbe overstated.And to remindus all, Africastillremainsthe most linguistically colonized global space in the world, and while it may be wise to avoid quickly drawingany directinferencesfromthe case, I will takethe risk,anyway: it is also themostdevel- opmentallydepressed continent. CONCLUSION In this chapter, I have startedwithsome discussionson colonialismand Africaneducationalhisto- ries,possibilities, and problematics.Clearly, thedenialofAfricato lay any claim on viable philoso- This content downloaded from 163.200.101.59 on Tue, 11 Aug 2015 09:14:59 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions90 I INDIGENOUSKNOWLEDGESASPHILOSOPHYANDTHEIMPLICATIONSOF DECOLONIZATION phies or philosophies of learning, has been a part of theoverall Europeanproject whichdominated the continentvia its psycho-cultural,educational, and politico-economicgrandre-engineering. Technically, one mustalso ascertainthefactthatall societiesthathave successfullymanaged their lives, as Africanshave done forthousandsof years, wouldnothave done so without indigenous and contextually effective ways of thinking aboutthe world,criticallyascertaining their cosmological and environmental relationships with it,interactivelymanaging their spaces and resources, and devising educational projects that effectivelyresponded to boththeirimmediateand long-term needs. Thus all societies,includingAfricans, have had effective philosophical treatisesand philosophies of edu- cation,complementedby select epistemologies of learning thatwould have minimally assuredtheir historiographical survival.Withthe profit-drivenprograms of colonialism,though, Africanshad to deal with imposedsystems of learning thathave diminishedtheir being and livingpersonhoods and thathave imposed on themalien formsof lifethatassuredtheneedsofthecolonizer.For philosoph- ical, epistemological, and by extension,ontologicalredemptions,therefore, Africansneedto re-indi- genize not only thecontentsof theireducationbuttheir philosophies of education.As I have pointed out, the postcolonial Africanelite terribly missedthis important correctionin thelifeof theAfrican child, and thetaskis now long overdue.It is by achieving thiseducational turn, I submit, thatAfrica could achieveviable and inclusive projects of social well-being in today'sselectively interconnect- ed but still socio-developmentallydisjunctured world. 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