The Palgrave Handbook of African Education and Indigenous Knowledge (edited by Jamaine M. Abidogun and Toyin Falola)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Palgrave Handbook of African Education and Indigenous Knowledge ed. by Jamaine M. Abidogun and Toyin Falola Haroon Leon Forde The Palgrave Handbook of African Education and Indigenous Knowledge JAMAINE M. ABIDOGUN AND TOYIN FALOLA, EDS. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 851 pages. The Palgrave Handbook of African Education and Indigenous Knowledge endeavors to address the fundamental elements that make up education across the African continent. These according to the present volume are Indigenous, Islamic or Muslim, and Western education systems, and the book rigorously attempts to tackle and frame each form of education that influences Africa’s multitiered systems of learning. In order to do so it argues that indigenous knowledge as a form of education must be centered in learning on the continent, with the later arrivals Islamic and Western education making up the broader spectrum of schooling that exists. It is from this vantage point that Jamaine Abidogun’s introduction frames the collection as a challenge to notions of Africa as a continent that was devoid of its own education systems prior to the arrival of Islam and more specifically the incursion of colonialism. Acknowledgment of African indigenous education systems, according to Abidogun, has been slow to manifest and had primarily been omitted from academic discourses until the 1990s. The present book seeks to offer both recognition and legitimization of Indigenous knowledge systems across Africa. In doing so, the handbook frames its arguments in the context of pan-African decolonization and is made up of 38 chapters, which are divided into four sections to frame the contributions of African and Africanist academics. These four sections are “Africa Histories of Education,” “Africa Indigenous Education,” “Islamic and Muslim African Education,” and “African Education: National or Neo-colonial Constructions.” Under this vast spectrum, the work encompasses all levels of schooling with its chapters addressing elementary, tertiary, and lifelong learning. The volume contributes to contemporary discourse on decolonization of education in African settings and this central theme is discussed at length in both George J. Sefa’s foreword and Abidogun’s introduction. It is also the subject of Gloria Emeagwali’s chapter, “African Indigenous Knowledges and the Decolonisation of Education in Africa,” which contends that the process of decolonization can only come to fruition through Africanization and the full incorporation of African indigenous knowledge systems (AIKS) into the continent’s current educational sphere. [End Page 157] While some chapters do not propose answers or solutions toward African education’s decolonization, Emeagwali’s calls for Africans to achieve this by choosing to “reverse the process whereby settler colonists and their activities, no matter how outrageous become the focal point . . . and indigenous Africans and their epistemologies . . . become a footnote.” This Emeagwali argues will lead to a pan-African understanding of self that will enable Africans to dispel the Eurocentricity of colonial and post-colonial education (p. 337). In addition to contemporary presentations of education in Africa, the volume offers analysis of education in ancient and medieval historical contexts. Julia Troche’s chapter, “Ancient Africa Education: Egypt and Nubia,” details Africa’s contributions to education that predated and inspired later Hellenic influence (p. 41). In doing so, Troche does away with the misperception of Egypt’s contributions to knowledge being better aligned with the Mediterranean than Africa, a position that is strengthened by Nubia’s inclusion and regional location to cement the bridge between Egyptian and Sudanic knowledge systems. “East African Indigenous Education: Before the Era of Islam,” by Daniel Sifuna, looks retrospectively at education in eastern Africa and covers Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, bringing lifelong learning into the discussion about the purpose of education prior to the arrival of later education models. To convey its premise, the chapter illustrates the communalism of subject societies such as the Baganda, Ngoni, and Gikuyu, and demonstrates how these societies evolved through learning. Sifuna categorizes lifelong learning into the four phases of life (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and elderhood), reporting strategies that were used in the socialization of community members, which Sifuna states were heavily influenced by the social environment. This ranged from education that was formal or informal, gender specific, ethno-national, or related to genealogy. Inevitably, the chapter also addresses the impact of Islamic and Western...