Dignity of Labour for African Leaders

Shoko Yamada

Description

From 1910 to the 1930s, educating Africans was a major preoccupation in the metropole and in the colonies of imperial Britain. This richly researched book untangles the discourse on education for African leaders, which involved diverse actors such as colonial officials, missionaries, European and American educationists or ideologues in Africa and diaspora. The analysis is presented around two foci of decision-making: one is the Memorandum on Education Policy in British Tropical Africa, issued by the British Colonial Office in 1923; another is the Achimota School established on the Gold Coast Colony (present-day Ghana) as a model school in 1927. Ideas brought from different sources were mingled and converged on the areas where the motivations of actors have coincided. The local and the global was linked through the chains of discourse, interacting with global economic, political and social concerns. The book also vividly describes how the ideals of colonial education were realized in Achimota School.

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 12 avril 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789956550609
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

ideological level and in the specific context of the Gold Coast and the unique educational experiment

on education for African leaders, which involved diverse actors such as colonial officials,

Education Policy in British Tropical Africa, issued by the British Colonial Office in 1923;

as a model school in 1927. Ideas brought from different sources were mingled and converged

‘Dignity of Labour’ for African Leaders The Formation of Education Policy in the British Colonial Office and Achimota School on the Gold Coast

‘Dignity of Labour’ for African Leaders The Formation of Education Policy in the British Colonial Office and Achimota School on the Gold Coast

Shoko Yamada

‘Dignity of Labour’ for African Leaders: The Formation of Education Policy in the British Colonial Office and Achimota School on the Gold Coast Shoko Yamada L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN-10: 9956-550-00-0

ISBN-13: 978-9956-550-00-5 ©Shoko Yamada 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher

Table of contents List of tables and figures .................................................................... ix List of pictures ..................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments ............................................................................... xiii Part I: Framework of the study ............................................ 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................ 3 1-1 Framework of analysis: actors, structure,  norms, and context ..................................................................... 4 1-2 Attention to education in the colonial and  post-colonial Africa..................................................................... 10 1-3 Data used for the analysis............................................................ 14 1-3-1 Documentary research.................................................................... 15 1-3-2 Interviews.......................................................................................... 19 1-4 Structure of the book ................................................................... 21 Chapter 2: Literature review................................................. 27 2-1 History of colonial education and education in Africa ...........27 2-1-1 Chronology of education in British West Africa........................ 27 2-1-2 Reflection on the British policies and  planning on colonial education .................................................... 29 2-1-3 Studies on the American influence on colonial education ....... 31 2-1-4 Local politics of education in Africa ............................................ 34 2-1-5 Educational practice and experience of schooling..................... 39 2-2 Perspectives on global discourse and transfer  of educational models.................................................................43 2-2-1Theories on borrowing and adaptation of educational ideas .... 43 2-2-2 Motivations for transferring educational ideas ........................... 45 2-2-3 Global mechanism for developing a  common policy framework ........................................................... 47 2-2-4 Limitations of conventional analytical framework..................... 48 2-3 Perennial debate over vocational versus  literary education ......................................................................... 50 2-3-1 Justifications for vocational education......................................... 52

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2-3-2 Criticism of tracking and the vocationalization  of the general secondary curriculum............................................ 57 2-3-3 Implication of vocationalism in Africa ........................................ 60 Part II: Global discourse on the colonial education  in Africa and its constructs............................................ 65 Chapter 3: The context which conditioned  the discourse.................................................................. 69 3-1 Political economy of inter-war period in Europe ....................69 3-2 Interventionist government and scientific planning................72 3-3 Education in the systemic web of colonialism .........................74 3-4 Pan-Africanism and inspirations for  nationalism in Africa................................................................... 78 3-5 Overlapping spaces of global influence..................................... 83 Chapter 4: Genesis of British colonial  education policies.......................................................... 85 4-1 Convergence of interests ............................................................. 88 4-1-1 Formulating the Alliance of Mission Societies ........................... 88 4-1-2 Inviting the American Expert........................................................ 89 4-1-3 Jointly moulding the global policy framework ........................... 93 4-2 Agencies of the key individuals: ‘good’  mediators of interests.................................................................. 97 4-2-1 Thomas Jesse Jones: salesperson of  the American model ....................................................................... 98 4-2-2 J.H. Oldham: the spider of the missionary web ......................... 102 4-2-3 James Aggrey: a black mediator .................................................... 107 4-3 Educational transfer and politics of discourse .........................111 Chapter 5: Philosophical sources of  inspiration for African education .................................. 119 5-1 Progressive education philosophies:  ‘learning by doing’ ....................................................................... 120 5-2 Vocational education in Britain and America...........................123 5-3 British Victorian moralism in education ...................................129 5-3-1 ‘Public school’: masculinity in elite education ............................ 129

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5-3-2 Boy Scout movement: elitist moralism  translated to a mass programme................................................... 133 5-3-3 Girls education: wives of the classed men................................... 134 5-4 Mélange of fashionable ideas to legitimise  colonial education........................................................................ 136 5-4-1 Interchangeable concepts for educational adaptation ............... 136 5-4-2 The mixed model for the African colonies ................................. 138 Part III: National discourse on education  and struggle over the hegemony ................................... 145 Chapter 6: Political context on the Gold Coast.................... 149 6-1 Prehistory: education until early 20th Century .........................149 6-1-1 Castle schools................................................................................... 149 6-1-2 Mission schools: a root of vocational versus  literary education controversy....................................................... 149 6-1-3 Involvement of the colonial government in education............. 152 6-2 Issues of political debates and actors  in the early 20th century ............................................................. 155 6-2-1 Civilising mission and rising criticism of  mission schools ............................................................................... 156 6-2-2 Saturating the labour market and  scepticism of mission education................................................... 159 6-2-3 Struggle for political representation ............................................. 161 6-3 Political rivalry and accusation for ‘denationalisation’ ............167 Chapter 7: Educational discourse and  Guggisberg’s administration......................................... 171 7-1 Development of the colonial education system  during the governorship of Guggisberg (1918–27)................172 7-2 Mission societies’ dilemma .......................................................... 176 7-2-1 Government–mission relationship: forces for alignment......... 177 7-3 African demands for more and better education.....................182 7-3-1 Demands from the general public ................................................ 182 7-3-2 Nationalists’ demands for higher education ............................... 184 7-4 Secondary schools as the sites for producing  African leaders ............................................................................. 187

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7-4-1 Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota...................... 187 7-4-2. Other secondary schools (Mfantsipim and Adisadel) .............. 190 7-5 Ambivalence among actors ......................................................... 192 Chapter 8: Achimota School as an experiment 199 8-1 Type of character to be developed at school............................201 8-1-1 Efficient workmanship ................................................................... 203 8-1-2 Leadership......................................................................................... 205 8-1-3 Christian character........................................................................... 207 8-1-4 Holder of a sense of citizenship.................................................... 209 8-1-5 Follower of African traditions and customs ............................... 211 8-2 Definition of African Tradition.................................................. 213 8-3 A Public School in Africa ............................................................ 218 8-3-1 Social Services .................................................................................. 221 8-3-2 ‘Adaptation’ to African ‘tradition’................................................. 222 8-3-3 ‘Dignity of labour’ – handwork..................................................... 223 8-3-4 Co-education .................................................................................... 225 8-4 Experiencing Achimota education............................................. 229 8-4-1 Social mobility.................................................................................. 229 8-4-2 Boarding school life ........................................................................ 231 8-4-3 Co-education .................................................................................... 233 8-4-4 Cultural production under the name of ‘adaptation’ ................. 235 Part IV: Post-history and conclusion ................................... 243 Chapter 9: Educational adaptation and  public response in Ghana after independence.............. 245 9-1 External influences on the vocational  secondary education policies ..................................................... 246 9-1-1 The 1950s and 1960s....................................................................... 246 9-1-2 From the 1970s to early 1980s ...................................................... 248 9-1-3 The 1980s: the age of structural adjustment ............................... 249 9-1-4 From the 1990s to the mid-2000s: the dominance  of ‘education for all’ ....................................................................... 250 9-1-5 Recent revival of vocationalism and promotion  of competency-based training....................................................... 253 9-1-6 Longitudinal patterns of debates on vocational education....... 254

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9-2 Education policies in the post-colonial Ghana  and the changing focus on vocational education....................257 9-2-1 System development in the 1960s ................................................ 257 9-2-2 Turmoils in the 1970s ..................................................................... 258 9-2-3 1987 Education reform: socio-moralist vocationalism ............. 259 9-2-4 Popularisation of basic education:  sidelined (vocational and general) secondary education........... 261 9-2-5 2007 New education reform.......................................................... 262 9-3 Dialectics between the global and the national ........................263 9-3-1 Convergences and divergences of Ghanaian  policies and global trends .............................................................. 263 9-3-2 Practices of secondary education in Ghana:  persistent distrust in the vocational track ................................... 266 Chapter 10: Conclusion ........................................................ 271 10-1. Framework of policy analysis .................................................. 276 10-2. Educational philosophies in colonial Africa..........................279 Bibliography ......................................................................... 281 Appendix: List of interviewees............................................. 309 Index .............................................................................. 313

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viii

List of tables and figures Figure 3-1: Cocoa Export Price, 1900–1940 ...................................70 Figure 3-2: Trend of Cocoa Export, 1900–1940 ............................71 Table 6-1: Educational Statistics of the Gold Coast: 1880–1945 ...................................................................... 154 Table 8-1: Ethnic Backgrounds of Achimota Students (1932).................................................................. 214 Table 8-2: Composition of Achimota Teaching Staff (1932).......................................................................... 220 Table 8-3: Core Curriculum of Achimota Middle and Secondary Schools.......................................................... 224 Table 8-4: Achimota College and School – Number of Students ........................................................................... 228 Figure 8-1: Parental Occupation of Achimota Students (1932).................................................................. 231 Table 9-1: Distribution of Project Investments by Education Sub-sector, FY 1963–90 ............................................ 251 Figure 9-1: DAC Member Countries' Education ODA by Sub-sectors, 2004 and 2008............................................... 252 Table 9-2: Global Trends of Education Policies and Vocationalism ............................................................................... 256 Figure 9-2: Trend of Enrolment in Primary and Secondary Education in Ghana (1971–2016)..................................259

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