Education and Humanism : an investigation into the ideology of Zambian Humanism as a basis of education in Zambia

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2011-05-11
Authors
Lungwangwa, Geoffrey
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Abstract
Education, is one of the important issues which occupy the minds of the new leaders when they are in the reigns of power in any former colonial dependency. This concern for education by the new governments in the newly independent countries is brought about by a number of factors. Firstly, the problem of the scarcity of skilled manpower and the high level of illiteracy in these societies, strikes the new leaders, as a cardinal issue to be solved if the societies they are to lead are to attain any level of development. The solution of the problem of lack of skilled manpower and illiteracy is generally envisioned to be carried out through the educational system by expanding the system at all levels and by removing the educational practices of the colonial rulers so that educational opportunities and facilities are extended to a wide range of the population. Secondly, education becomes a matter of immediate concern for the new governments because the educational system which is inherited from the colonial period is considered unsuitable to meet the new demands and changes of the new nation. This view towards the inherited colonial educational system is held because education is considered to be an important instrument through which the values, principles and ideals of an independent state are to be realized. These values, principles and ideals generally constitute the ideological conception of the new leaders and they express what a desirable society ought to be. Since the colonial educational systems which these societies inherit were established on the assumptions of the values of the colonial administrators and they were devised in order to enhance the colonial values, the inherited colonial educational systems are considered from this point of view as unsuitable for the needs of an independent state. Because education is looked upon as an instrument for the realization of a desirable society which is envisaged to be established through the new values, principles and ideals of the new leaders in most independent countries, it has been my contention in this thesis that education is generally inseparable from the values, principles or ideals of the society. This view considers education as being influenced by the ruling ideology of the leaders who are responsible for establishing and managing a particular educational system. When seen in context of a newly independent country, this view entails that the values, principles and ideals of the new leaders in that society will influence greatly the structure, organization contents and objectives of education in the country and, this influence entails a change of the inherited system of education so that the educational system which is established is based on the values, principles and ideals of the new leaders and in addition, it functions in order to transmit them. In order to illustrate this assumption, I have, in this thesis,tried to analyse the impact or influence which the ideology of Zambian Humanism has had on the inherited colonial educational system in Zambia. However, it should be noted that this thesis has not touched on the educational reforms in Zambia because the proposed reforms have as yet not had any impact on the educational system.
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Education, Humanistic -- Zambia. , Humanism, Zambian.
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