Is traditional African education still valid in the 21st century? : A case study of traditional education of the Mwera tribe in Nachingwea District, Lindi region, Tanzania

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Date

2006

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Sokoine University of Agriculture

Abstract

Historically we can say that education is as old as mankind. From the very beginning people from all societies have been concerned with education and in response to the questions of education, they have given various answers. The answers have come to us in our times in the form of educational traditions. Therefore people speak of African tradition, the Europeans tradition, etc. In the case of Africa, Traditional African Education (TAE) was taken seriously and for this reason it involved everybody that is every adult member of the community was taken to be a teacher who provided direction to the young on their way to adulthood life. Today the educational understanding in which Africa finds herself now can be traced partly to the fact that the new African breed of leaders, educated people and even young people only took pride in occupying the positions previously occupied by the white man. Hardly did they recognize any value in the traditional culture that the white man had come to condemn. The leaders and policy makers have adopted European education hook, line and sinker and became proponents of the system they had condemned. Africans abandoned or looked down upon their own language, clothing/dress, food, religion, names, and kindred cultural tags. The study examined, described and analysed critically the traditional African education and see how the colonial domination in Africa changed the traditional structural system. Problems that contributed to the decline of traditional African education have been discussed. Suggestions and recommendations have also been given. The results show that most of respondents were knowledgeable about traditional African education. But with the advent of modern times in Africa and particularly in Nachingwea District where the research was conducted these age-old traditions have been abandoned. Confronted with new changes in all areas of life, modern man has come to a point where the old is no longer meaningful and relevant as before.

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Dissertation

Keywords

African education, Education of the Mwera, Mwera tribe in Nachingwea, 21st century, Europeans tradition

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