Of Gateways and Gatekeepers: Language, Education and Mobility in Francophone Africa

Autor/in	Trudell, Barbara
Titel	Of Gateways and Gatekeepers: Language, Education and Mobility in Francophone Africa
Quelle	In: International Journal of Educational Development, 32 (2012) 3, S.368-375 (8 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0738-0593
DOI	10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.11.007
Schlagwörter	Nontraditional Education; Primary Education; Bilingual Education; Nongovernmental Organizations; Foreign Countries; Social Mobility; French; Indigenous Populations; Native Language; African Languages; Language of Instruction; Success; Economic Factors; Academic Achievement; Language Role; Bilingual Education Programs; Program Descriptions; Burkina Faso + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Non-traditional education; Alternative Erziehung; Primarbereich; Bilingual teaching; Bilingualer Unterricht; Ausland; Soziale Mobilität; Französisch; Sinti und Roma; Africa; Language; Languages; Afrika; Sprachen; Afrikanische Sprache; Teaching language; Unterrichtssprache; Erfolg; Ökonomischer Faktor; Schulleistung
Abstract	Over the past 15 years, a range of alternative education programs have been launched in Burkina Faso. The programs have been developed primarily by international or national NGOs, within a supportive policy space provided by the national government. They aim to respond to the widely recognized inadequacy of the French-language ecoles classiques to provide a meaningful primary education experience for most Burkinabe children. One of the values which these programs all espouse is support for the lived realities of Burkinabe communities, particularly the communities that are least well served by the traditional school system. This value is reflected in, among other things, the use of the learner's mother tongue as a gateway to effective learning. However the influence of the French-dominated educational system is evident in the curriculum choices made in these programs; clearly, success in that system is a crucial step in navigating one's way past the social and economic gatekeepers of success in Burkina Faso. Thus language is seen as both gateway and gatekeeper, depending on its role in facilitating academic success or inhibiting social mobility. This paradoxical allegiance to both local realities and the colonially established education system has led to the development of bilingual education models which are at variance with the models promoted by theorists in the North. This paper examines several of these programs in the context of larger issues of mobility, literacy, language and culture in francophone Africa. (Contains 2 tables.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10