Mary Dillard - Faculty - Global Studies & History




	Course Home Description Syllabus Assignments Conference Schedule Links Gender, Education and Opportunity Links Spring semester 2006 Assignment Descriptions \| Assignments By Week \| Download Syllabus Gender, Education, and Opportunity in Africa Spring 2006 Dr. Mary Dillard Sarah Lawrence College Class meets: Wednesdays 3:35-5:30, Sheffield 01 Contact information: mdillard@slc.edu Gilbert 06, phone: (914) 395-2312 Course Description Since the early part of the twentieth century formal schooling has been one of the most powerful indicators of status and access to opportunity in Africa. The adoption of western-derived educational systems introduced through the activities of missionary bodies and later colonial governments, ushered in a social revolution that dramatically changed the definition of status in many African societies. As formal colonial rule ended on the Continent and more African nations gained independence, education became synonymous with modernity and a leading indicator of a country’s progress towards development. Gender has consistently played a powerful role in determining who would have access to education. In modern Africa, equity in education, whether in relation to gender, ethnicity, race, class, or religion, remains an important arena of social and political debate. An awareness of the significance of both formal and non-formal education has been reflected within the realms of African politics, popular culture, literature, and film. This class studies the history of education in Africa focusing on wide variety of training, classroom experiences, and socialization practices. In particular, we will investigate the influence of gender in defining access to educational opportunity. We will begin with questioning prevailing constructs of gender and determine how relevant western gender categories have historically been for African societies. By focusing several of our readings on countries as diverse as Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, I hope to give you a broad overview of educational policy changes and practices across the Continent. A central contention of this class is that education is not a neutral proposition. Education inculcates particular types of values, and often exacerbates pre-existing social cleavages. At the same time, the benefits of various forms of training are undeniable for many Africans and this realization explains why so many people are willing to make tremendous sacrifices in the name of educational advancement. I will endeavor, throughout this class, to try to utilize works by African scholars and foreground the voices of African policy makers and researchers in debates about education. By the end of the semester, I hope that all students will be able to critically examine the role of education in national development, understand policy questions that are consistently raised about education, and have a better knowledge base related to how education can be made more accessible to a wider range of African populations. Required books: Jean Davison, Voices from Mutira, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1989 Tsitsi Dangaremba, Nervous Conditions (there are multiple editions available) Benedicta Egbo, Gender, Literacy and Life Chances in Sub-Saharan Africa, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2000. Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Ambiguous Adventure, Oxford: Heinemann, 1962 Shula Marks, ed., Not Either an Experimental Doll: The Separate Worlds of Three South African Women, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. Beverly B. Mack and Jean Boyd, One Woman’s Jihad: Nana Asma’u, Scholar and Scribe, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000 Oyeronke Oyewumi, The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997 Amy Stambach, Lessons from Mount Kilimanjaro: Schooling, Community and Gender in East Africa, London: Routledge, 2000 Ngugi wa Thiongo, Decolonizing the Mind, Oxford: James Currey, 1986 Optional books: Marianne Bloch, Josephine Beoku-Betts, and B. Robert Tabachnick, eds. Women and Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Note: This book is out of print but if you can get access to a copy, it is an excellent resource Louis Brenner, Controlling Knowledge: Religion and Power in a West African Muslim Society Course expectations: This is a reading and writing intensive class in which, in some weeks, you will be completing close to 200 pages of reading per week. If you do not think you can complete the reading at this pace, you should seriously reconsider taking this class. I expect all students to come to class having finished the reading, written their journal entries, and developed clear ideas about what you want to discuss in relation to the course materials. I do NOT accept late papers. Written assignments must be submitted at the beginning of each class period on the due date. There are no unexcused absences in my class. If you are sick, I expect you to notify me before our class meets. Consistent, punctual attendance to class and conference is a requirement of this class. You will lose credit if you are consistently absent or late. Email policy: Due to circumstances beyond my control, I do not have access to the internet at home. As a result, I will not be accepting written assignments online. I expect your written work to be a hard copy given to me at the beginning of class or conference. I will be on campus Monday through Thursday. If you need to contact me and want a response via email, you must email me before 3:30 pm on Thursday. Over the weekend, you may also leave a message on my office phone at (914)-395-2312. I regularly check my phone messages on Sunday night and will respond to you before Monday morning. Assignments: (details of the assignments will be provided in a syllabus appendix) Class journal (due twice during the semester) Map quiz Two short papers (4-6 pages) Developing discussion questions at least once during the semester Oral history interview Participation in group research project on child soldiers in Africa Educational Indicators country research report Due for conference Annotated bibliography Literature review essay Final conference paper Class Readings: Week 1: Jan. 18 Introduction to course materials Week 2: Jan. 25 Olufemi Taiwo, “Feminism and Africa: Reflections on the Poverty of Theory,” in Oyeronke Oyewumi, ed., African Women and Feminism: Reflecting on the Politics of Sisterhood, Chapter 3. Fantu Cheru, African Renaissance: Roadmaps to the Challenge of Globalization, Chapter 4 “Reforming African Education for the Twenty-First Century” Ifi Amadiume, Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society, Preface, Introduction, Chapter 1 and Chapter 5 Assignment: begin writing in your class journal. This should be a typed response (between 250-500 words) to the readings. You should bring your journal to class with you weekly because I may ask you to read your responses in class. Week 3: Feb. 1 Education and social change: A Case Study From Kenya Jean Davison, Voices from Mutira ***meet at the library classroom E2 for research orientation Week 4: Feb. 8 Broadening definitions of education in Africa** Bloch, Beoku-Betts, and Tabachnick, eds. Women and Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, read Chapters 1-5 **submit journals/maps distributed for map quiz Week 5: Feb. 15 Debates about defining gender in Africa** Oyeronke Oyewumi, The Invention of Women, read entire book Primary source: Memorandum: Female Education: Ilorin, June 1st, 1929. From Mrs. Sylvia Leith-Ross, Lady Superintendent of Education. Nigeria. **map quiz/ begin group research on child soldiers Week 6: Feb. 22 Education and social change: A Case Study from Tanzania** Amy Stambach, Lessons from Mount Kilimanjaro, Chapters 1-5, Chapter 7 Otto Raum, “Some aspects of indigenous education among the Chagga,” in John Middleton, From Child to Adult : Studies in the Anthropology of Education, Garden City, N.Y, American Museum of Natural History Press, 1970. **first paper due Week 7: Mar. 1 African Critiques of Colonial Education** Ngugi wa Thiongo, Decolonizing the Mind, read entire book Primary Source: Julius Nyerere, Education for Self-Reliance **annotated bibliography of conference work due Week 8: Mar. 8 Education, opportunity and class: A case study from South Africa** Shula Marks, Not Either an Experimental Doll, read entire book ***country report due Spring Break! Week 9: Mar. 29 Education and Identity: Islamic education vs. Western schools** Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Ambiguous Adventure Stephan Reichmuth, “Islamic Education and Scholarship in Sub-Saharan Africa,” in Nehemiah Levitzion and Randall Pouwells, The History of Islam in Africa, (on reserve) **oral history interview due Week 10: Apr.5 Islamic Education for Women and Girls** “Rqia Lamrania and Fatima Benslimane Hassar: The Free School Movement in Salé,” pp. 93-115 in Alison Baker, Voices of Resistance: Oral Histories of Moroccan Women, Albany: SUNY Press, 1998 Beverly B. Mack and Jean Boyd, One Woman’s Jihad: Nana Asma’u, Scholar and Scribe, Read Preface, Chapters 1-4 and Chapter 6. Read all of the poems EXCEPT “So Verily”, “In Praise of Ahmada”, “Yearning for the Prophet” and “Lamentation for Aisha I & II” Primary source: Oral History of Hajiya Madaki on schools for girls in Northern Nigeria **second paper due Week 11: Apr. 12 Critiques of the “Education for Development” Model** Marida Hollos, “The Status of Women in Southern Nigeria: Is Education a Help or a Hindrance?,” in Bloch, Beoku-Betts, Women and Education,pp. 247-275. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, (Thirtieth Anniversary Edition), New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, pp. 35-86. Gumisai Mutume, “Reversing Africa’s ‘brain drain’,” Africa Recovery, Vol. 17, no.2 (July 2003), pp.1, 18-20, 22 The Post-Development Reader, Chapters 14 and 15 **literature review of conference work due Week 12: Apr. 19 Schooling and Gender within the Family** Tsitsi Dangaremba, Nervous Conditions Elizabeth Schmidt, Peasants, Traders and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870-1939, Chapter 5, “Missionary Education for Women and Girls: The Domestication of African Women,” pp. 122-154 *group research project on child soldiers due* Week 13: Apr.26 Literacy and Opportunity Benedicta Egbo, Gender, Literacy and Life Chances in Sub-Saharan Africa, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2000. Read Chapters 1, 3-6, 7 & 8. K.R. Kamphoefner, “What’s the Use? The Household, Low-Income Women, and Literacy,” in Diane Singerman and Homa Hoodfar, Development, Change and Gender in Cairo, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 80-109 **submit journals Week 14: May3 More Challenges to Policy: the Modern Question of Language** Thierry Ngoufan Happi, “The Absence of National Languages in Education and Its Consequences: A Case Study of Cameroon,” Ufahamu, pp. 98-109 Y.I. Rubanza, “Can a Three-Tier Language Policy Model Work in Tanzania? A New Perspective,” pp. 82-96. Volume XXIV, Number 1, Winter 1996. Rubanza’s Ufahamu article about Swahili- Does Cym also have an article about language death in Tanzania? Chefena Hailemariam, Language and Education in Eritrea, Amsterdam: Aksant, 2002Chapter 4, “Language Policy and Education in Eritrea,” pp.69-109 Begin presentations of conference work Week 15: May 10 Presentations of conference work Note: In addition to the course requirements, there will be a guest lecture by Jimmie Briggs about child soldiers in Africa that I expect you to attend. Additional reading will be provided for you in a packet prior to the lecture: I will let you know the date and time as soon as it is scheduled.

Gender, Education and Opportunity Links