Theorising the Concept of Development Education from African Centred Perspective

Abstract

It has been said that, the link between ‘development’ and ‘education’ is often assumed and not theorised. Recent advances in Black African Studies have embraced an African centred conceptual framework in the study of Africana life, history, culture and life in Africa generally. The use of such conceptual framework has been employed and even expanded by scholars in disciplines such as Africana Studies, psychology, and literature. However, there has not been much done on an African centred development education, grounded in an African centred conceptual framework. It is generally believed that, a sound development framework for any country can derive its roots from a comprehensive context-driven policy based on grounded theory. A comprehensive African centred education policy must come from and driven by the African people and meet their peculiar context. Five important questions arise: Does the underdevelopment in Africa stem from education policies that are not African-centred (neither come from the people, nor reflect their context)? If Africa’s education policies are context driven and centred on the African people, why the failure of the continent in developing a sustainable framework of development for its people? What African centred principles, concepts and ideas are used by African instructors in African educational institutions? What practices do these instructors use to implement these principles, concepts and ideas on the ground? What reasons are behind instructors’ use or failure to use such practices into aspects of their African centred pedagogy? This chapter focuses on a review of the worldview, framework and an intellectual analysis of the link between ‘development’ and ‘education’. The chapter discusses the possibility of an African centred ‘Development Education’ contingent upon the usage of an African worldview as the conceptual framework. The usefulness, impacts and significance of an African-centred epistemology and African-centred grounded theories are explored for an enduring African-centred development education.