THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

DAVID LIVINGSTONE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

SECONDARY TEACHER’S DIPLOMA

BY EXTENSION STUDIES (DES)

NAME : KAREN, M. NYAMBE

DALICE NO. : 182020649

SUBJECT COMB. : ENG/SOCIAL STUDIES

COURSE : HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

LECTURER : MR. SIAKAVWIPA, C.

YEAR OF STUDY : 2018 (1st Year)

QUESTION: Assignment One:

Analyse the curriculum of traditional education and with clear examples, explain how some
of its good aspects are being used in Zambia’s education system.

Due Date: 15th March, 2018. Length: 3 pages

Education existed as early as man’s history. Traditional African education is an integral part of
the culture and history of a local community, which is stored in various forms and transmitted
through various modes. Such modes include language, music, dance, oral tradition, proverbs,
myths, stories, culture and religion. In essence African traditional education refers to ways of
teaching and learning in Africa which are based on indigenous knowledge accumulated by
Africans over centuries, in response to their different physical, agricultural, ecological, political
and socio-cultural challenges (Mugo et al, 2012).

Like any other form education, Traditional education has a curriculum (the subjects or subject
elements taught). Though the curriculum was not really planned, analysed in different ways by
different scholars, and extensively deemed fit to be somewhat beneficial incorporated in modern
educational systems. This paper will examine the curriculum of traditional education and give
clear examples on how its good aspects are being used in Zambia’s education system.

First and foremost, in Traditional education of youngsters involves intellectual, physical and
attitudinal training in order to develop fully into acceptable adults in the society. In addition,
different kinds of games, including wrestling and running, training for healthy living, cooking,
dressing, hunting, farming, carpentry, training to become a black smith, drumming, dancing,
marriage counselling and critical thinking form part of the traditional education curriculum at
different stages of the life of the youth (Mwanakatwe, 1968 and Omolelwa, 2007).

Nsamenang and Tchombe, (2011), clarifies that Indigenous African education wedges the
children;’ daily routines and the livelihoods of their family and community together, integrating
skills and knowledge about all aspects of life into a single curriculum. The curriculum is not
written but tacitly organized in sequence to fit the expected milestones of different
developmental stages that the culture perceives or recognizes. In other words, what is taught or
what children have to learn fits their abilities and succeeding stages of development. This type of
education provides not only a means for survival but also “connects” children to various social
networks. The occupation of the individual, the social responsibilities, the political role as well
as the moral and spiritual values was targeted in all educational considerations.

In continuity, the learning process emphasized observation, imitation and participation which are
indisputably abstract processes. Besides, the child was taught the characteristics of seasons and
how to determine the beginning of each season by observing atmospheric changes, the
appearance or disappearance of certain fauna and flora. The effects of the changing seasons on
the environment including the vegetation, the water level, and communication systems were
taught to show how these changes could affect farmers, traders, builders, travellers, hunters,
fishermen and all other forms of activities. Following Modern education classifications, such
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studies covered disciplines like Geography, Environmental studies, Nature studies, Rural
Science, Meteorology and Bio-geography (Nsamenang and Tchombe 2011 in Mugo, et al
(2012). The study of nature or botany was through identification of plants by name and utility as
food, medicine, flowers, and fuel. Animal husbandry, amply covered aspects of modern
veterinary sciences, included knowledge of animal care and treatment. All these subjects are
highly exalted in the Zambian curriculum.

Coming to further implications, as noted from the outline of traditional education curriculum,
learning started at a tender age way up to adulthood. And at each stage learners learnt specific
lessons. In the Zambia education system, according to MOE (1996) and Curriculum
Development Centre (2013), education is also in stages, that is, Early Childhood Education to
Tertiary education and Adult Literacy has been introduced as well.

In Zambian education system today, one way in which traditional education has been embraced
is via localization of the curriculum. According to the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC)
(2013), in making the curriculum flexible and responsive to learner and societal needs,
institutions of learning, teachers and teacher-educators are encouraged at all levels of our
education system to localise some aspects of the school curriculum. The localisation of the
school curriculum will allow schools to adapt aspects of the curriculum to match local needs and
circumstances. In this way, the curriculum will provide some compensation for the indigenous
knowledge, values and practical skills that learners would have acquired in their home
environment if they had not been attending school.

Furthermore, Ekeke and Ebiere (2015) suggest that from the findings, traditional education
prepared its recipients for life duties in their societies; likewise modern education is no
exceptional. It prepares the learners to enter the world of work, and more specifically it changes
with time. For example the introduction of information and communication technology course in
learning institutions responds to the current demands of information and communication
technology, traditional education also changed in response to societal problems, like how to
combat the emerging diseases, wild animals, enemies etcetera.

As a matter of fact, in Zambia today, learners, especially in Secondary schools have a Carrier
Pathway choice, which is Academic or Vocational pathway. The whole idea of such
developments is aiming at balancing the supply of skilled labour at all levels with the demands of
the economy; act as vehicle for improved productivity and income generation and; develop a
Zambian society with people that will be versatile, creative, employable, entrepreneurial and
productive (Curriculum Development Centre, 2013). The emphasis here is that, as the curriculum

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in traditional education stressed on preparing learners for the society’s workforce, so is the
current education system in Zambia.

Also, traditional education curriculum advocated the use of local languages as language of
instruction (Scanlon, 1964). Today, the Zambian educational system accommodates instruction
using local languages. According to Curriculum Development Centre (2013), the policy on
education recognises the use of familiar Zambian languages as the official languages of
instruction in the Pre-Schools and early Grades (Grades 1- 4). This is because there is evidence
that children learn more easily and successfully through languages that they know and
understand well. It is hoped that this approach will foster better initial learning, enhance the
status of Zambian Languages and integrate the schools more meaningfully into the life of the
local communities.

In the area of teaching methods, as mentioned above, the curriculum, teaching of content was via
stories, dances, and songs etcetera. Equally, the Zambian education system encourages the use of
such teaching methodologies to improve the quality of education. According to Omolelwa
(2007) to this end, schools devise the strategies of using stories as teaching methods and
categorising them according to a range of themes in different subject areas. In doing this,
different schools would need to consult and work together with indigenous people (local elders,
parents, nurses, doctors, monks and other members of the community) by inviting them as guest
storytellers or co-teachers to class to tell their stories – or to sing, act, dance, perform puppetry,
etcetera, while developing the curriculum.

In a nutshell, in traditional African society people learnt what they lived and lived what they
learnt. Education was a life-long process; it began at birth and ended at death. Education enabled
people to adapt to their environment in which they lived. At society, level education was planned
or unplanned (incidental), formal (for example, initiation ceremonies) or informal. Education
transmitted skills, modes of behaviour, essential for society’s survival. Learning was by
imitation, repetition and observation. Society’s education was determined by its ideologies,
dominant value or moral order. Education ensured national unity and ensured cultural survival,
(Kelly, 1999 and Mugo et al (2012).

In conclusion, according to the findings, the Zambian education system has immensely benefited
from traditional education in the area of scheming of the education system, localizing the
curriculum, skill development and moral education, language of instruction and teaching
methods among others. As stressed in the main body, this is how beneficial traditional education
is to the current education system in Zambia. This cannot be overemphasised.

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 REFERENCES

Curriculum Development Centre (CDC). (2013). Zambia Education Curriculum Framework

2013. Lusaka: CDC.

Ekeke, H.J.T and Ebiere, D.T (2015). Curriculum and Indigenous Education for Technological
Advancement. British Journal of Education, 3 (11), 32 – 39.

Kelly M. J. (1999). The Origins and Development of Education in Zambia: From Pre-Colonial
Times to 1996. Lusaka. Image Publishers Limited.

MOE (1996). Educating Our Future. Lusaka: Zambia Publishing House.

Mugo, A.N et al (2012). The Practice of African Indigenous Education and Its Relevance To
Theory and Practice Of Modern Education In Africa. International Journal of Innovative
Research and Studies, 4 (12), 135.

Mwanakatwe, J. (1968). The Growth and Development of Education in Zambia since

Independence: Oxford University Press.

Nsamenang, A.B and Tchombe, M.S (2011), A Hand Book of African Educational Theories and
Practices: A Generative Teacher Education Curriculum. New York: Routledge

Omolelwa, M (2007). Traditional African Modes of Education: Their Relevance in the Modern
World. International Review of Education (2007) 53: 593 – 612.

Scanlon D, G. (ed) (1964). Traditions of African Education. Columbia: William Bryd Press.