Folklore as an Instrument of Education among the Chewa People of Zambia

Autor/inn/en	Banda, Dennis; Morgan, W. John
Titel	Folklore as an Instrument of Education among the Chewa People of Zambia
Quelle	In: International Review of Education, 59 (2013) 2, S.197-216 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0020-8566
DOI	10.1007/s11159-013-9353-5
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Folk Culture; Cultural Education; Cultural Influences; Indigenous Knowledge; African Culture; Informal Education; Integrated Curriculum; Zambia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Culture; Education; Kulturelle Bildung; Kulturelle Erziehung; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Africa; Afrika; Kultur; Informelle Bildung; Nichtformale Bildung; Sambia
Abstract	This article considers the folklore of the Chewa people of Zambia as an instrument of education. It suggests that there is only a fine distinction between Chewa culture ["mwambo wa a Chewa"] and Chewa education ["maphunziro ya Uchewa"]. The former comprises tribal "truths" to be imposed on the minds of the younger generation. The latter comprises stages in the development of the young through training and some formalised learning. However, by and large, the former dominates the latter. The strongest features of an African Indigenous Knowledge System (AIKS) such as that of the Chewa people are best expressed in terms of Jakayo Peter Ocitti's five philosophical principles of African indigenous education, namely preparationism, functionalism, communalism, perennialism and holisticism. They build on one another and are, therefore, related. The authors of this article demonstrate how Chewa culture and education use folklore to influence the minds of the young. They give examples of how various components of Chewa folklore are used to criticise, commend, dislike, admire, discard and adapt various traits in people. This paper does not present folklore as an educational panacea; there are weaknesses in Chewa traditional education which are also discussed. Rather, folklore is considered here as a valuable supplementary element in education. What the authors propose is to integrate folklore and informal learning as practised by the community in the formal curriculum to enhance the quality of the education provided for all and to maintain cultural identity. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10