Sampson J. - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Sampson J.

Since independence most African countries have been striving to towards political and economic de... more Since independence most African countries have been striving to towards political and economic development. Immediately after independence most countries adopted their own educational curriculum that they thought would help in pursuing political and economical development, basing it on the philosophy of the nation. For instance in Tanzania it was based on socialism and in Zambia it was based on humanism. Despite all these efforts, we are still battling to overcome political and economical barriers. Worse still even the funds to develop and implement our own curriculum are scarce. It is for this reason that donor countries play a major role in the process of our curriculum development. Funds are given with guidelines which make us end up adopting their curriculum and forcing our societies to adapt to this curriculum. In my opinion this curriculum is quite allergic to some African areas especially rural areas. However implemented everywhere it is only useful in urban areas and this makes people move to where it is effective. The increase of Ghettos in most major towns of Africa is what pushed me to come up with the above topic or hypothesis. Most of the inhabitants of these ghettos are living below the poverty level. Before going further I would like to define some few terms used in this article; Urbanization and Educational Curriculum. Urbanization is the influx of people from rural areas to urban areas. This has caused over population in urban areas. People leave rural areas in order to look for green pastures in urban areas. They find life difficult in rural areas because they do not know to use the natural resources at their disposal for their own wellbeing. The money economy draws them to urban areas so that they can look for employment. The majority of these who migrate from rural areas to urban areas have undergone formal education which provides working spaces mostly in urban areas. Urbanization contributes to underdevelopment in Africa because you find that most of the people in urban areas are unemployed and less productive as they would be if they had to stay back in rural areas and transform the natural resources for their own development and their society at large. Urbanization limits development only to few areas leaving the large part of the country undeveloped and deserted. Before going any farther I would like to answer to the questions what is education and curriculum? Education is any type of learning that a person goes through in which knowledge is imparted, faculties are trained and skills acquired. In a broad view education is the development of the persons awareness, transformation and regulation of emotions, wants and attitudes. To be educated means more than being trained for a job. Education has been divided into three types ; Formal education which is well structured and has fixed points of entry and exit e.g. primary, secondary schools and universities, non-formal education e.g. vocational schools and open universities and informal education which includes all the experiences provided by informal agencies e.g. family. Donald Smith says education is the most powerful force in the history of humankind. It may be used to empower or to enslave; to enlighten or to mistify, to clarify or to confuse, to ennoble or to dehumanize, but education is never neutral.(Smith, 1993, p.144). Curriculum can be defined as any experience in and outside school included in a program to help a learner develop mentally, physically, socially, spiritually and morally. It can also be defined as the totality of subject matter, activities and experiences which constitute a pupils school life. Curriculum is a means to an end which is education. Curriculum too is divided into three types; formal, non-formal and informal. My main concern is on the formal curriculum supplemented by non-formal and informal curriculums. Among the importance of curriculum there is achievement of educational goals, dissemination of knowledge, development of character, development of personality and development of citizenship. It is quite clear that educational curriculum aims at the development of the whole person. Developing the whole person includes developing the environment around him/her. Therefore, a curriculum that alienates

Traditionally, there has been a split in the definition of man, man was considered to be a spirit... more Traditionally, there has been a split in the definition of man, man was considered to be a spirit imprisoned in the body. Thinkers like Descartes speculated that the body and spirit are connected in the grand. This theory is called dualism. Descartes was troubled by the question, how the spiritual can affect the non-spiritual. Seemingly, the body and spirit are two diametrically opposed sides. Trying to answer this very question the existentialists nullified the dualistic approach to the study of man because they believed and still believe that man to exist as Da Sein must be an embodied spirit. Man can not exist in the world without a body. However, man as consciousness is beyond the physical body but he can not be without a body hence the phrase "beyond but not without". The body here carries with it all the sensibility.

"Man is by nature a political animal and he who by nature and not by mere accident is without sta... more "Man is by nature a political animal and he who by nature and not by mere accident is without state is either above humanity or below it"-Aristotle. One only takes either an objective or subjective stance in local or national or organisational politics; however, it's doing politics all the same. Taking an objective stance would be a bad way of doing politics for a being rational by nature. A withdrawal from affairs that affect directly an individual leaves less to appreciate in the level of development of the consciousness of an individual.

Drafts by Sampson J.

Since independence most African countries have been striving to towards political and economic de... more Since independence most African countries have been striving to towards political and economic development. Immediately after independence most countries adopted their own educational curriculum that they thought would help in pursuing political and economical development, basing it on the philosophy of the nation. For instance in Tanzania it was based on socialism and in Zambia it was based on humanism. Despite all these efforts, we are still battling to overcome political and economical barriers. Worse still even the funds to develop and implement our own curriculum are scarce. It is for this reason that donor countries play a major role in the process of our curriculum development. Funds are given with guidelines which make us end up adopting their curriculum and forcing our societies to adapt to this curriculum. In my opinion this curriculum is quite allergic to some African areas especially rural areas. However implemented everywhere it is only useful in urban areas and this makes people move to where it is effective. The increase of Ghettos in most major towns of Africa is what pushed me to come up with the above topic or hypothesis. Most of the inhabitants of these ghettos are living below the poverty level. Before going further I would like to define some few terms used in this article; Urbanization and Educational Curriculum. Urbanization is the influx of people from rural areas to urban areas. This has caused over population in urban areas. People leave rural areas in order to look for green pastures in urban areas. They find life difficult in rural areas because they do not know to use the natural resources at their disposal for their own wellbeing. The money economy draws them to urban areas so that they can look for employment. The majority of these who migrate from rural areas to urban areas have undergone formal education which provides working spaces mostly in urban areas. Urbanization contributes to underdevelopment in Africa because you find that most of the people in urban areas are unemployed and less productive as they would be if they had to stay back in rural areas and transform the natural resources for their own development and their society at large. Urbanization limits development only to few areas leaving the large part of the country undeveloped and deserted. Before going any farther I would like to answer to the questions what is education and curriculum? Education is any type of learning that a person goes through in which knowledge is imparted, faculties are trained and skills acquired. In a broad view education is the development of the persons awareness, transformation and regulation of emotions, wants and attitudes. To be educated means more than being trained for a job. Education has been divided into three types ; Formal education which is well structured and has fixed points of entry and exit e.g. primary, secondary schools and universities, non-formal education e.g. vocational schools and open universities and informal education which includes all the experiences provided by informal agencies e.g. family. Donald Smith says education is the most powerful force in the history of humankind. It may be used to empower or to enslave; to enlighten or to mistify, to clarify or to confuse, to ennoble or to dehumanize, but education is never neutral.(Smith, 1993, p.144). Curriculum can be defined as any experience in and outside school included in a program to help a learner develop mentally, physically, socially, spiritually and morally. It can also be defined as the totality of subject matter, activities and experiences which constitute a pupils school life. Curriculum is a means to an end which is education. Curriculum too is divided into three types; formal, non-formal and informal. My main concern is on the formal curriculum supplemented by non-formal and informal curriculums. Among the importance of curriculum there is achievement of educational goals, dissemination of knowledge, development of character, development of personality and development of citizenship. It is quite clear that educational curriculum aims at the development of the whole person. Developing the whole person includes developing the environment around him/her. Therefore, a curriculum that alienates

Traditionally, there has been a split in the definition of man, man was considered to be a spirit... more Traditionally, there has been a split in the definition of man, man was considered to be a spirit imprisoned in the body. Thinkers like Descartes speculated that the body and spirit are connected in the grand. This theory is called dualism. Descartes was troubled by the question, how the spiritual can affect the non-spiritual. Seemingly, the body and spirit are two diametrically opposed sides. Trying to answer this very question the existentialists nullified the dualistic approach to the study of man because they believed and still believe that man to exist as Da Sein must be an embodied spirit. Man can not exist in the world without a body. However, man as consciousness is beyond the physical body but he can not be without a body hence the phrase "beyond but not without". The body here carries with it all the sensibility.

"Man is by nature a political animal and he who by nature and not by mere accident is without sta... more "Man is by nature a political animal and he who by nature and not by mere accident is without state is either above humanity or below it"-Aristotle. One only takes either an objective or subjective stance in local or national or organisational politics; however, it's doing politics all the same. Taking an objective stance would be a bad way of doing politics for a being rational by nature. A withdrawal from affairs that affect directly an individual leaves less to appreciate in the level of development of the consciousness of an individual.