Of the various educational curriculums, an African centered education has seen to be the most beneficial to the African American student. An Afrocentric education focuses on the needs of the individual, while embracing their culture and encompassing values that allow students to better develop themselves. The philosophies outlined in an African centered education emphasize the importance of learning communities, a culturally relevant pedagogy, reinvention of core values, and self-identity as well as self-esteem development. The values endorsed in this unique curriculum have shown improvements in student’s self-esteem and perspective of the world, correlating with improved academic performance. An African-centered education is by no means the complete answer to overcoming the social and economic problems faced by Black Americans after a period of immense oppression, but it is a huge step in promoting the development of the African American people to achieve a higher quality of life in a future non-racialized democracy.
Keywords: Afrocentrism, education, identity, development, culture, pedagogy
The United States in the late 19th and early 20th century marked the onset of a new life for African Americans in multiple contexts. The abolishment of slavery was not nearly enough to reintegrate African Americans into American society as human beings instead of property. A central idea that influential figures, such as DuBois, Washington, and Garvey stressed was the importance of education as a means of moving Black Americans forward past the struggles of slavery, racism, and disenfranchisement. Educational practices such as a multicultural education and Eurocentric orientated educations did not provide the prevalent needs for Black Americans to promote their development in society. In order to move forward, an African centered education was vital for Black Americans to connect with their culture and develop their own self-identity, which was stripped away from them during the period of enslavement.
A multicultural education seems to be a promising idea in educating students about the history and traditions of diverse cultures, however, it is not a valuable means of education for the African American child. Multicultural educations are more beneficial toward the white student, to allow them to appreciate differences among various groups and to expand their knowledge on the diversity of the world (Murrell, 2002). During the time period following enslavement, Black children had no sense of identity or understanding of their culture and heritage, causing them to be disconnected from themselves. Eurocentric educational institutions were detrimental to the development of Black Americans as Eurocentric perspectives have “systematically worked to undermine growth and intellectual potential of African descended people” (Carroll & Jamison, 2011). Eurocentrism is a biased worldview that emphasizes the European way of life as best, and educating Black Americans through this perspective pushes them backwards rather than forward in an attempt at a non-racialized democracy. Of the various educational institutions, African centered pedagogy is seen to be the most successful in addressing the issue of Black miseducation, while also guiding Black Americans toward a future in which they can establish a higher quality of life.
The emergence of Afrocentric institutions stemmed from beliefs that the education system in the United States needed reforming and strong evidence suggested that the current school systems were miseducating African American children, especially in the communities suffering from poverty. The education system reflects class structure and social relations, allowing students to accept the existing structures of power and hegemony created by racism (Pollard & Ajirotutu, 2002, p 15-16). Traditional education systems diminish African Americans culture and values, and do not attend to their immediate needs as the concept of an African centered education does. Additionally, the public schools fail to address cultural and social worldviews, which are important in empowering students to engage in the learning process.
An Afrocentric curriculum “places African ideals at the center of any analysis that involves African culture and behavior,” as defined by Molefi Asante, a professor and prominent figure in the field of Africana Studies. An Afrocentric perspective, in contrast to the traditional Eurocentric teachings, strives to promote a positive self-image of African Americans and focus on their own history, by connecting Black students to their culture and heritage. The African centered curriculum has several educational frameworks which promote the achievement of Black Americans and connect them to their own core values. The curriculum incorporates a compassionate, supportive and uplifting school climate, which contrasts the typical educational system. The key frameworks that make up the curriculum are learning communities, culturally relevant educations, a reinvented value system, and self-identity and self-esteem development (Murrell, 2002, p. xi). Each of these frameworks answer the questions as to why an African-centered education is significant towards the advancement of Black Americans in the 20th century.
The first framework that makes up the foundation of an African centered education are learning communities. Learning communities are social, cultural and intellectual environments that contribute to the learning and development of students. These communities perform activities that are rich in culture and are deeply meaningful with regard to African American heritage and their experience in the United States. These groups take into account language, cultural patterns, and worldviews that are significantly relevant to the African American community (Murrell, 2002, p. 35). The key difference in the practices of learning communities is that they design education towards African Americans so that it teaches them to reinvent the social system based on the ideologies of America as a non-racialized democracy, rather than trying to assimilate Black Americans into the present racialized system (Murrell, 2002, p. 76). One of the leading learning communities established since the 1970s is the Council for Independent Black Institutions (CIBI), which strived to create culturally grounded and socially mindful educational establishments for African American students. These institutions allow Black American students to view the world in a different perspective, with Africa being at the center, leading to a shift in the values and behaviors of African Americans (Carroll & Jamison, 2011, p. 11).
One of the biggest impacts of enslavement on African American’s is the distortion of their cultural cognizance, which has led to the decline of using culture in the context of problem solving and meeting the needs of individuals. Many sociologists have adopted the deficiency paradigm which argued that Black people “have no culture, that slavery destroyed it, and that what passed as Black culture was simply a pathological reaction to whites, a duplication of them or an expression of lower class culture rather than a specific Black culture” (Karenga, 2002, p. 307). The importance of culture’s influence on an individual is highly underestimated. An individual’s self can be seen as connected to their social environment, meaning that thoughts and behaviors can be influenced by relevant social contexts. An education that involves the study and practice of their own culture is a vital step in embodying and developing African Americans as their own beings. A culturally relevant education seeks to recognize and draw from the cultural experiences of African people, looking past justifications of cultural deficit. This is significant because the values and ways of thinking about the world differ in various ways between different racial groups and cultures (Shockley, Burbanks & Mcpherson, 2015, p. 380). This thrust towards a culturally relevant education attempts to weaken efforts to diminish African American culture and strives to rebuild their system of values, which has abetted in their struggle for freedom and a greater quality of life. Education from a cultural perspective requires teachers to emphasize the paradigms of Afrocentrism and understand that academics that are specific to the needs of the African American child are far more significant than general knowledge taught in the public-school system.
A major component of the philosophy that African centered education systems promote is their value system. The Nguzo Saba, or “The Seven Principles of Blackness,” highlight the core aspects of culture that must be brought forth in order to achieve human excellence. The first principle, Umoja or unity, attempts to preserve unity within the family, community, nation and race. Kujichagulia or self-determination, seeks to define African Americans and create a name for themselves in society. The principle of Ujima or collective work and responsibility, builds the Black community and works together to solve the problems of individuals within the community. Ujamaa or cooperative economics, builds and maintains businesses and profits from them as a whole with the community. Nia or purpose, attempts to reestablish greatness to African American heritage through the development and progress of the Black community. Kuumba or creativity, promotes the idea of doing as much as possible in order to leave the community more purposeful and beautiful that when it was inherited. The final principle, Imani or faith, challenges the community to believe within themselves, their parents, teachers, leaders, and their achievement in freedom from oppression (Karenga, 2002, p. 314-316). Independent Black Institutions try to incorporate these values together within their curriculum to develop a culturally rich environment
A core idea in the African-centered philosophy is the incorporation of the African heritage of the child, and the acceptance of Pan Africanism, while embracing African culture into one’s life (Shockley et al., 2015). Over hundreds of years, the identity of the African American was stolen from them as victims of oppression, which stripped them of their African language, culture and spirituality. Social identity focuses on an individual’s belief about themselves, which stems from affiliation in their culturally defined social community. Self-identity focuses on a multitude of concepts including social roles, values, nationality, religion, and racial identity. In order to build a new foundation and reconstruct their identity, African American’s had to face the memory of slavery and its representation as a cultural, as well as political struggle (Eyerman, 2001, p. 59). Facing the past rather than ignoring it is an important first step for African Americans to reconnect with their African past and rediscover themselves in the perspective of the African Diaspora. The principles highlighted in a culturally relevant pedagogy include identity and achievement, equity & excellence, developmental appropriateness, student teacher relationships and teaching the whole child. These principles all contribute to the necessary development of the African American child in regard to cultural heritage, identity development, and student empowerment (Shockley et al., 2015, p. 382).
Past research has shown that low self-esteem, along with no sense of identity is a major obstruction for African American children in achieving academic excellence. Afrocentric curriculum focuses on respect, love and appreciation between students, teachers and parents within the community in order to promote self-esteem. For over 20 years, the Council for Independent Black Institutions have been supporting these values within their syllabus. Students within these institutions have shown to have higher self-esteem, as well as academic performance levels (Lomotey, 1992, p. 456).