Suchergebnisse

Introduction : African Christianity, Africa, politics, and socioeconomc realities / Mwenda Ntarangwi -- Faith and politics in post-colonial Africa / David Hoekema -- Culture, missions, and Africa's lessons for Western Christianity / Caitlin McGill -- Charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church in Ghana / Ross Acheson -- Charismatic renewal : lessons in missions from the Kenyan church / Joshua S. Kuipers -- The Gospel for Ethiopia by Ethiopians : mapping the contested terrains between Pentecostals and Marxist Radicals / Tibebe Eshete -- From the fringes to the centre : Pentecostal Christianity in the public sphere in Kenya (1970-2009) / Damaris S. Parsitau -- The Catholic Church and civic education in the slums of Nairobi / Christine M. Bodewes -- Reflecting on church-state relationship in Kenya / Njonjo Mue -- Literacy teaching and learning in Sierra Leone / Johanna Kuyvenhoven

Imagining anthropology, encountering America -- Tripping on race, training anthropologists -- Of monkeys, Africans, and the pursuit of the Other -- Remembering home, contrasting experiences -- Mega-anthropology : the AAA annual meetings -- A new paradigm for twenty-first-century anthropology?

(...) This paper addresses the legacy of colonialism as manifested in the educational system of Kenya in the post-colonial era. The author argues that although Kenya is an independent country, it is overly dependent on the West for its cultural and intellectual nourishment. (...) He also argues that even after three decades of political independence, Kenya's education system has not been able to tailor its content and pedagogy to the socioeconomic and cultural realities of its people. Instead it continues to uphold an education system that is centered around schooling rather than learning and which consequently produces a people who are incapable of fitting into their own social environments. (...) (Afr Dev/DÜI)

Explorations of socio-cultural realities of many African countries in the post colonial era reveal a very complex yet saddening reality. Poor infrastructure, large numbers of the local populations living below poverty lines, and contin ued civil and ethnic strife are some of the most prevalent identifiable markers of post-colonial Africa. This paper addresses the legacy of colonialism as mani fested in the educational system of Kenya in the post-colonial era. 1 argue that although Kenya is an independent country, it is overly dependent on the West for its cultural and intellectual nourishment. I critically analyse the role of edu cation in shaping a national sense of identity and as an agent for development. I show that the education system offered in Kenya needs a total overhaul in order to tap the best of its brains by recreating a new cultural orientation. Therefore, this paper examines, with examples from Kenya, the condition of post-coloniality as it relates to education and development, two concepts that are closely related in both national and individual discourses. I argue that through colonialism and post-colonialism, Kenyans have absorbed imperialist values that consequently condition them to think of'development' as the process of shedding any traces of their unique traditions and cultural practices. This has led to a situation where majority of Kenyans have become schizophrenic members of a nation-state that tries to nurture citizens who strive to be Western and yet remain Kenyan. I also argue that even after three decades of political independence, Kenya's educa tion system has not been able to tailor its content and pedagogy to the socio economic and cultural realities of its people. Instead it continues to uphold an education system that is centered around schooling rather than learning and which consequently produces a people who are incapable of fitting into their own social environments. 1 often revert to the first person to articulate my own embeddedness in that which I am critiquing.

This paper is both a personal and an academic reflection on my work as a U.S.-trained Kenyan anthropologist directing a study-abroad program for American undergraduate students in Kenya. It is an attempt to address three main issues: First is to understand why students choose to come to Kenya and what they hope to achieve by studying here. Second is to get a sense of what kind of prior images and information these students have of Kenya and Africa and how this influences their interaction with Kenya. Third is to understand how I as a Kenyan anthropologist trained in America balance the tasks of cultural broker and teacher of students in Kenya as is demanded of my position as director of a study-abroad program.