A Philosophical Examination of Epistemological and Moral Bases of African Indigenous Education with Particular Reference to the Luo of Kenya
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Date
1993
Authors
Ogeno, Jackton Ojwan'g
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
This study is an effort to examine the philosophical
foundations of African Indigenous Education
with particular reference to the Luo of Kenya. This
is an area assumed by many scholars while others
acknowledge its debatability. Basic conceptual
issues that have been problematic to the understanding
of education have been elucidated.
The study is presented in six chapters, viz:
Introduction, Co~ceptual Scheme, African Epistemological
Assumptions, African Moral Assumptions, Philosophy
and Education (African perspective), Recapitulation
and Conclusion.
One cannot legislate feelings or emotions but
~ in this study, thinking and feeling were the two
prerequisites to the discussions of the philosophical
problems. The sagacious views which formed the raw
philosophical texts are appended to the study. These
views were garnered through dialogical encounters
with the sages from the Luo of Kenya. Terminologies
included in this study were solely for the establishment
of a common basis of communication between
those using them. However, these are explained in
the glossary.
KENYATTA UN'VE~t~T~liBRARY
..x
The study of Philosophy of Education in
Africa is diverse. This diversity demands an adoption
of a combination of philosophical approaches.
In our adoption of the foregoing, we were able to
focus directly on the complex nature of Philosophy
of Education in the African context.
In this study, it is assumed that most traditional
settings do ~isualise the task of philosophy
of educatio~ as a body of thought that entails
ethical principles for justifying educational goals;
a metaphysics on which the psychological and sociological
aspects of education are based, and an epistemology
that justifies certain methods of teach~ng,
learning and human ability to know the truth of
educational thought. Hence, the assumption that a
meaningful education cannot do without a human con-
"
cern to justify educational efforts..Thus, an educationwithout
justifiablea:imsmistbe a confused form of education.
The search for and an examination of a philOsophical
justification of education in this study is
directed more on the African epistemological and
moral a$sumptions together with certain metaphysical
notions, in so far as they are assumed to affect the
theory and practice of African Indigenous Education.
Thus, Chapter Five discusses issues that try to link
the disciplines of philosophy and of education.
Again, the issues raised in Chapters Three and Four
are examined in Cbapter Five in order to demonstrate
their plausible connection with education. However,
such issues are found to ultimately rest on
certain metaphysical notions, thereby leaving the
problem of the "philosophical bases" open-ended.
To arrive at a better understanding, the
expression "philosophical bases" assumes an existence
of principles that are not only basic but
unquestionable assumptions, that serve as the bases
for reasoning and ultimately act as guides for
action. In this study, metaphysical principles are
regarded as more fundamental than social principles
and may therefore, require no proof either because
they are self-evident truth or analytical truth.
However, the mode of conceptualization in which
fundamental social principles are regarded as unque- .
stionable is seen to amounting to "ethnophilosophy",
a term used to refer to "philosophy" implicitly.
Owing to our concern for an explicit philosophy
of education, we find the analytical and
phenomenological interpretation of Dholuo, sagacious
views, and the work of scholars like H. Oruka, A-B-C
Ocholla-Ayayo and P. Erny quite relevant alternative
approach to the understanding of African systems of
thought. Thus, the conclusion that the child who is
xii
at the central nerve of education in the African
context, cannot be fully explained simply in terms
of the interplay of social super-imposition and the
biological cycle, since it transcends both. Therefore,
we have arrived at the understanding that
visualises the child as somebody possessing a supplementary
dimension, born with ready made personality,
an intelligemce and will that education is
~
supposed to improve upon. As it is pointed out, the
child is more than a tabula rasa since it has
certain form of potentiality to be actualized.
~
Unfortunately, the above view of the child
is not well-catered for in certain educational
,
theories and activities. While the explicit philosophy
of education does recognise the child as an
individual, a personality and authentic being, the
practice of certain education accentuates social
activities that later plung the child into the sea
of the society.
Accordingly, this study raises concern for
lack of harmony between the philosophical and prac-
~
tical aspects of education in Africa. In this light,
we assert that though the bases of African Indigenous
education find plausible expIanations in
the African epistemological and moral assumptions,
its ultimate basis rests not only on certain metaxiii
physical notions,but ~ on a philosophical anthropology,
a philosophy that understands "man" both in
empirical and metaphysical terms. It is this sort
of philosophy that ought to provide guiding principles
to the practice of education in Africa.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Education, Kenyatta University
Keywords
Education -- Africa -- Kenya