Indigenous Mafwe philosophy of education
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Date
2009
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There are debates and renunciations among Western and African philosophers trained in the Western schools of philosophy about the existence and absence of African philosophy. Contrary to this argument and denial is the affirmation that a Black person like his or her White counterpart is capable of thinking, which is the root of philosophy. This dissertation is an attempt to try and address such questions and line of argument
It should be noted that one of the wishes of the majority of indigenous Namibians is to see an education system where the concept of indigenous knowledge is respected and incorporated in the school curriculum of their children. The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, Article 19 states clearly that, "every person shall be entitled to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion ."Since these aspects are elements and attributes of philosophy, the researcher ventured on the Indigenous Mafwe Philosophy of Education: Impact of Western Education from 1860 - 1990 as a subject of research
The research focused on the nature and purpose of the study, by highlighting the question about the existence of an African philosophy in general and the indigenous Mafwe philosophy in particular. The statement of the problem chronicled the Mafwe indigenous philosophy of education and the influence of Western education philosophy on their philosophical and political administrative structures
Both qualitative and quantitative research designs were employed in the study. In addition conceptual analysis, oral traditions, ethnohistory and phenomenological analysis methods were used
The population composed of the Mafwe linguistic groups. In terms of sampling procedures, cluster sampling was used for teachers while purposeful sampling was applied in the case of elders. Questionnaires were administered to teachers because they can read and write while elders were interviewed
The findings are that Mafwe had the reasoning capacity as demonstrated through their educational activities, in which knowledge was rigorously sought and treasured. These educational activities included chiningamo (evening gatherings), entango (fables and riddles), kanamundame (type of traditional chess), mulabalaba (type of traditional chess) and many others, which can be equated to any traditional educational system across the globe. The research also unearthed aspects of epistemology which was done through riddles, proverbs and witty sayings; axiology was done through episodes and instructions; metaphysics through belief in Almighty and logic through witty sayings
However, many of the Mafwe educational activities and philosophical beliefs have been abandoned by the Mafwe community and seem to be irrelevant among the youth because of the Western impact.
There are debates and renunciations among Western and African philosophers trained in the Western schools of philosophy about the existence and absence of African philosophy. Contrary to this argument and denial is the affirmation that a Black person like his or her White counterpart is capable of thinking, which is the root of philosophy. This dissertation is an attempt to try and address such questions and line of argument
It should be noted that one of the wishes of the majority of indigenous Namibians is to see an education system where the concept of indigenous knowledge is respected and incorporated in the school curriculum of their children. The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, Article 19 states clearly that, "every person shall be entitled to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion ."Since these aspects are elements and attributes of philosophy, the researcher ventured on the Indigenous Mafwe Philosophy of Education: Impact of Western Education from 1860 - 1990 as a subject of research
The research focused on the nature and purpose of the study, by highlighting the question about the existence of an African philosophy in general and the indigenous Mafwe philosophy in particular. The statement of the problem chronicled the Mafwe indigenous philosophy of education and the influence of Western education philosophy on their philosophical and political administrative structures
Both qualitative and quantitative research designs were employed in the study. In addition conceptual analysis, oral traditions, ethnohistory and phenomenological analysis methods were used
The population composed of the Mafwe linguistic groups. In terms of sampling procedures, cluster sampling was used for teachers while purposeful sampling was applied in the case of elders. Questionnaires were administered to teachers because they can read and write while elders were interviewed
The findings are that Mafwe had the reasoning capacity as demonstrated through their educational activities, in which knowledge was rigorously sought and treasured. These educational activities included chiningamo (evening gatherings), entango (fables and riddles), kanamundame (type of traditional chess), mulabalaba (type of traditional chess) and many others, which can be equated to any traditional educational system across the globe. The research also unearthed aspects of epistemology which was done through riddles, proverbs and witty sayings; axiology was done through episodes and instructions; metaphysics through belief in Almighty and logic through witty sayings
However, many of the Mafwe educational activities and philosophical beliefs have been abandoned by the Mafwe community and seem to be irrelevant among the youth because of the Western impact.
Description
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Education
Keywords
Mafwe african people, Education philosophy, Education Caprivi, Education history