Cynthia Szymanski Sunal, The University of Alabama (Chair)
Dennis W. Sunal, The University of Alabama
Nadine Dolby, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Mohammed K. Farouk, Florida International University
Kingsley Banya, Florida International University
Objectives of the Symposium
Scientific or Educational Importance
Education in sub-Saharan Africa continues to struggle to deliver basic education. It also struggles to deliver education that will enable the nation to develop economic and social stability. These efforts are occurring at a time when significant portions of national budgets are targeted for education - - between 5% and 40%. Yet these significant amounts of money represent a small total expenditure in comparison with more developed nations in the world. Despite the problems, considerable change has occurred in education in sub-Saharan Africa in the past twenty years. The African struggle to educate its citizenary and to accomplish development is also found in other world regions. The creative ideas increasingly found in sub-Saharan Africa have the potential to assist nations in other regions as they develop.
Presentations
Summary - - "Schools and Schooling in Africa"
This symposium will examine schools and
schooling in sub-Saharan Africa. It will present research representing
the diversity of education in sub-Saharan Africa. Two papers will examine
research on curriculum and instruction in two major content areas: science
and social studies. Another paper will examine teacher and administrator
attitudes towards the concepts of "nation" and "national
identity". These are concepts that African nations struggle to develop
sometimes with some success and at other times with horrendous failure
resulting in civil war. The social studies paper will touch on this issue
since African social studies curricula are seen as a means of fostering
national identity. The science paper also will consider the demands of
nationhood. It will look to the future, to the role science will play in
the developing nations of Africa and also to the past, to the necessity
to support the knowledge represented by traditional science and to find
a meeting place between the indigenous culture and modern science as the
nation develops. The last paper will examine the role of universities in
relation to basic education, a need throughout Africa if a modern nation
is to be developed and if its people are to have a foundation for modern
learning. It too, focuses on the need to meld indigenous education with
modern learning. The limitations placed on schools and schooling are severe
in sub-Saharan Africa and will continue into the foreseeable future. Nevertheless,
these papers indicate the enterprise often is moving ahead and has made
significant gains that can inform other regions of the world as they engage
in the task of development.
Secondary School Social Studies:
|
A study of classroom
instructional practices of Nigarian junior secondary school (grades 7-9)
social studies teachers will be presented. The presentation will report
part of a larger study on teachers' perceptions of social studies and their
instructional practices. The official curriculum calls for the use of inquiry-oriented,
student-centered, hands-on instruction for teaching social studies. This
study examined whether or not social studies teachers actually used these
strategies. The factors that influenced teachers' tchoice of instructional
strategies were also examined. Implications for the effective implementation
of the appropriate instructional strategies in Nigeria and in other developing
nations in Africa will be discussed. Data for the study were collected
using a modified version of the Reflective Teching Observation Instrument
(RTOI). This instrument seeks to measure the occurrence of low-inference
teaching behaviors that are important for inquiry teaching. Five categories
of behavior are identified in the first part of the instrument. These are:
A sixth cateogry was added to the original instrument to record the most frequently occurring instructional behaviors observed in the classrooms. Eight teachers were observed for five days for a total of 200 minutes. Descriptive statistics were used in analyzing the data. A trend toward use of more inquiry-oriented strategies was found with younger teachers. They were particularly able at identifying a problem and developing hypotheses. Testing of hypotheses was not as strong nor were the development and application of conclusions. |
Science Education in Sub-Saharan AfricaDennis Sunal |
The status of science education
in sub-Saharan Africa has not been a single nor a unified variable. While
some of the cultural and environmental forces creating change are similar
across countries and ethnic groups, the response to these forces in developing
science education has been unique in time, purpose, content, and organization.
This presentation will focus on formal science education in sub-Saharan
Africa. The teching of formal school science and preparing of science teachers
in sub-Saharan Africa is diverse and varies locally, regionally, and by
country. Sceince education in many developing countries is the area in
greatest need for quality imprvement both because of historical underdevelopment
and the perceived importance science education has for national development
aspirations. With such diversity in culture, time, and space the approach
in this presentation will be to describe science education in sub-Saharan
Africa beginning with an overview of the status of science education and
then to develop an in-depth review of critical issues affecting the field.
The status of science education will include:
The critical issues will be grouped in terms of the following:
Science education in sub-Saharan Africa was examined by sampling specific research efforts through narrative reviews and interviews with African science educators in order to identify patterns and trends across regions within a country or throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The short-term potential for change in the status of science education in sub-Saharan Africa is limited due to economic and political realities. The identification of the need for an African science curriculum meeting the needs of African students and society is a strong movement throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Gradual change in the content of science syllabi, narrative and structure of textbooks, and explanation by teachers in the classroom should be guided by research on cultural and liguistic factors. Students need to examine the similarities and differences between traditional and scientific world views in the context of their daily lives. To do this, the science course of study and textbooks should reflect both the current and emerging needs of the culture. Girls need to be introduced to science at a very early age so they have the basis for future study. The condition of the environment is a critical issue for economic and social well-being and needs to be woven throughout the science curriculum. Low student achievement is found and will not change unless resources and reforms are made part of the science teacher education and classroom educational processes. Science education in sub-Saharan Africa is engaged in an enterprise found in all the world's regions, melding modern science with local culture so that it may enhance life in the local setting and national development. |
Looking for the New South Africa:
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| This presentation will examine the representations and narrative of "nation" and "national identity" which are embedded in the daily practices and public discourses of the administration and teachers of multiracial school in South Africa. The paper will examine a school's practices and representations in the social, cultural, and plitical context of South Africa and in emerging and conflicting discourses of "nation" and "national identity." Ongoing conversations about multiracialism in this large South African school are engaged and the the interpretation of "nation" and "national identity" are studied in these conversations. The data for this paper was collected in a one year ethnographic study in a coeducational, multiracial school in a metropolitain area in South Africa. This school had been the first government white school in the area but was now multiracial. The school's practices and representations are not neutral. The narratives of "nation" and "national identity" that are produced in this context are marked by a conspicuous absence of the discourse and representations of a new democratic South Africa. Administrators and teachers do not recognize this reality. Implications for curriculum and instruction in South Africa are described. Implications for building the concepts of "nation" and "national identity" in other African nations are also considered. |
The Role of Universities in the South After the Jomtien ConferenceKingsely Banya |
This
paper will critically examine the likely effects on the university sector
in sub-Saharan Africa, of the Jomtien Conference on "education for
all." Prior to the Basic Education Conference in 1990, sub-Saharan
universities were severely criticized by such organizations as the World
Bank. Indeed, the Bank's publications on education from 1974 through 1994
have been critical of higher education in Africa. After the conference
in Jomtien, Thailand the criticism has increased. What have been the responses
of the universities? The presentation will
There are various sources of data on which this work is based including
The paper will argue for a transformation of the universities in Africa to include the use of local resources as well as knowledge. The most common problems of Africa and developing nations in the southern half of the world can only be understood by analyzing local experiences. A plea will be made for discussing indigenous education. Sub-Saharan Africa needs an alternative national development model if it is to find its way out of the current abyss. This model is unlikely to be found unless African universities are strengthened and transformed, using indigenous research based on local experience. |
Session Structure
This symposium will utilize an interactive format. The session will have three stages. First, the presenters will initially discuss their papers. Next, participants will move into conference groups. Each group will be hosted by a presenter. The participants will be able to discuss the paper and its implications further with the presenter. They will be encouraged to move between conference groups in order to engage in informal discussion with a variety of participants and with all of the presenters. Finall, the participants will be involved in a whole group wrap-up, and will be asked to identify connections between the major themes of the papers.