Abstract

The book discusses indigenous education for whole Africa, citing authors from the 1899s through to the 1960s and drawing upon such diverse disciplines as anthropology, psychology and metaphysics. Building on this wide base of data regarding traditional education which was relevant and integral, the book points out discrepancies between its assumptions and those of modern, technical European education. The book among other things discusses the introduction to the study of traditional education, ritual pedagogy, the heritage of early childhood, vertical integration in the lineage, and the horizontal integration in the society of equals. It further studies social integration and personality, learning of facts and skills, the entry into the universe of the world, assimilation of moral values, and the initiation pedagogy and spiritual experience. The book also explains problems of mental structure, permanence and decline of traditional education, and finally it gives three accounts from zaire.

Recommended for students and lecturers.