Book Description

The African continent is in the midst of a renaissance of monumental proportions... ...As a result, the dawn of the new millennium constitutes an exciting period of change and opportunity for all those interested in the future evolution of the African continent and its peoples (Schraeder, P.J. African Politics and Society (2000: 2) President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the current Chairman of the African Union, is being associated in a special way with the concept of African renaissance. Mbeki's notion of renaissance is fundamentally "African political renewal and economic regeneration" (Ajulu, R. 2001 in Review of African Political Economy Vol. 24 No. l 87, February: 27-42) The concept of African renaissance, which is in vogue in political and academic circles, encapsulates a vision of rebirth of Africa as the African peoples come to terms with the challenges of the 21st. century. It is a vision that eschews the dictatorships, economic mismanagement, suppression of the civil society and ascendancy of state monopoly of power that have hitherto characterized the operations of post-independence African governments. It is a vision that rejects, according to the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the policy of tolerating in its membership those African leaders who obtain power in their countries undemocratically, unlike the toleration of dictators that characterized the Organization of African Unity, the predecessor of the African Union. This book aims at being part of that vision, and that is why its title is Education for Renaissance in Africa. It aims at showing the centrality of education in the achievement of that vision. Indeed it is obvious to all that African renaissance is primarily a mental achievement or simply an educational achievement. If we are to contribute anything to the political or economic order for the development of Africa we must have acquired certain kinds of knowledge and attitudes that involve commitment to our goals as prerequisites for any action that can change society. However, it is the contention of this book that education for the renaissance of Africa must not be haphazard. It must be conceptualized in a manner that lays foundations for its effective working in the practical order. The philosophy of education envisaged here has to be liberating, characterized by creativity and social commitment, which presupposes social consciousness. Here we define the notions of liberation, creativity and social consciousness, and strives to situate these concepts within a historical trajectory that not only includes Africa but other parts of the world as well. We have tried to show the suppression of African subjectivity during the colonial period with the result that liberation, creativity and social consciousness were inhibited in both the educational and other spheres of life. We argue that humans are radically free and that they need not succumb to this kind of socialization, which has tended to negate their subjectivity. We note in particular that Kenyan educational commissioners have been cognizant of the harm that was done to African subjectivity by the colonial and missionary experience. We also consider to what extent, if any, the philosophy of education as an academic discipline has prepared teachers for the challenging task of making education liberating, creative, and imbued with social consciousness. We suggest ways in which the training of teachers can best fulfill these worthy goals of education. We address the nature of social consciousness, which we consider to be central to the learner's involvement in development of his or her country. We have endeavored to discuss the minimal and heroic forms of consciousness as exemplified in such leaders as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and leaders of African liberation struggle. An attempt is made to come to terms with diversity in social consciousness and to seek ways of living on the basis of unity in diversity