African philosophy of education

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Education in Africa, like virtually all social interaction, was traditionally characterized by the bounds and bonds of small-scale ethnic communities. Despite their diversity and remoteness, and the sheer geographic distances between these groups, they are seen to share not only the experience of colonization but also (pre-dating this experience) certain common educational concepts, principles and values. African philosophy of education is, in some important way, contingent on African philosophy. While existence of the latter is guaranteed by manifestations of the former, the possibility and plausibility of African philosophy does not necessarily imply the same for African philosophy of education. At the heart of these considerations resides the question whether there is a (set of) perspective(s), a body of thought, and/ or a particular way of ‘doing’ philosophy of education, that can be called ‘African’. There are arguably two initial ways of approaching this issue:
• Are there uniquely and distinctly African ways of philosophizing about education?
• Are the component concepts, principles and values of this philosophy sound?
Whether or not satisfactory answers to these questions are forthcoming, the possibility and plausibility of African philosophy of education might nonetheless be established in terms of its priorities. Given the different historical, geographical, cultural and social contexts of Africans and education in Africa, it is reasonable to assume that philosophical priorities differ in accordance with these.