3.2 Nyerere’s theory of education
3.2.2 Key concepts in Nyerere’s educational theory
3.2.4.1. Adult education and lifelong learning
Adult education is one of the key aspects of Nyerere’s education theory. Nyerere’s passion for adult education was influenced by his view that society can easily be changed through adults.
Although Nyerere believed in the importance of children’s education, he, however, doubted its immediate application and impact in changing the society (Mulenga, 2001). Nyerere (1973, p.
134) noted thus: ‘I myself have pointed out that we cannot wait until our educated children are grown up before we get economic and social development’. Nyerere further understood adult education in relation to development and liberation. Therefore, according to Nyerere, the main purpose of adult education is to help people develop themselves and promote social change (Mulenga, 2001; Nyerere, 1982). He also viewed adult education as an all-round life process, necessary for a better life. He thus notes:
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Further, adult education is not something which can deal with just "agriculture", or
"health" or "literacy", or "mechanical skill", etc. All these separate branches of education are related to the total life a man is living, and to the man he is and will become (Nyerere, 1982, p.39).
Nyerere recognizes adult education as a profession, and is of the view that every society ought to have a group of individuals with special skills as educators of adults. He categorizes teachers of adults into generalists and specialists (Mulenga, 2001). The generalists are those involved with general knowledge such as politicians, community development workers and religious leaders.
Nyerere notes that such people, based on how they use their positions to effect change, are never politically neutral. This resonates with Freire (1972), when he notes that adult education is not a politically neutral discipline. On the other hand, specialists are those with specialized skills in a development area such as agriculture or health. Nyerere adds that for the work of specialists to be effective, it ought to be interwoven like a cobweb, that is, one field linked to the other. He further contends that, much as specialists may possess skills in a particular discipline or specialty, say agriculture, they should also possess knowledge in other disciplines, including adult education.
Nyerere emphatically introduced the concept of lifelong learning as another aspect of adult education (Mulenga, 2001). Different from education for children, Nyerere alluded to John Dewey’s view that the learning that spans the entire life of man [woman] is, indeed, adult education. Nyerere (1973, p. 141) stressed that: ‘To live is to learn; and to learn is to try to live better’. This indeed supplements his earlier position when he notes that:
So if adult education is to contribute to development, it must be a part of life - integrated with life and inseparable from it. It is not something which can be put into a box and taken out for certain periods of the day or week - or certain periods of a life … Further, it means that adult education encompasses the whole of life, and must build upon what already exists’ (Nyerere, 1982, p. 39).
3.2.4.2. Education for self reliance
According to Nyerere, the concept of education for self-reliance was meant to address the negative colonial legacy that education stood for. Nyerere believed that colonial education was only serving the interests of the former colonial masters, while disorienting Tanzanians. He argued that the colonial education system promoted a class of elites, who viewed themselves as white men in a black skin, that is, people who shunned manual labour and informal traditional knowledge, while at same time promoted bookish-formal education (Nasongo & Musungu, 2009). It is noteworthy that the ‘self’ in the concept, emphasized society rather than individuals.
Nasongo and Musungu (2009, p. 113) further stress that; ‘Nyerere’s envisaged condition for
“self-reliance” puts society at the apex of concern. Anything that could promote the common good was regarded as of ultimate value. He placed a high value on the co-operative instincts of human beings’. Hence, Education for Self-reliance (ESR) is the attainment of economic and cultural independence.
When one looks at the views of Nyerere on education for self-reliance and education for liberation from a narrow perspective, one may think that the two positions are contradictory, concerning the individual and society. Although the individual self is still held as important for contributions to the mass of society, Nyerere does not glorify individual benefit. Individual excellence is considered a gift to the bigger society, and what makes society credible are the special unique attributes of these individuals (Nasongo & Musungu, 2009).
3.2.4.3. Education for liberation
Nasongo and Musungu (2009) re-echo Nyerere (1982), that liberation should be the primary purpose of education, that is, education is a tool capable of liberating an individual from the restraints and limitations of ignorance and dependence. According to Nyerere, ‘Education has to liberate both the mind and the body of man [woman]. It has to make one more of a human being because he is aware of his potential as a human being and is in a positive, life enhancing relationship with himself, his neighbours and his environment’ (Nasongo & Musungu, 2009, p.
114). Akin to Freire (1972), Nyerere holds that the products of liberatory education should be able to think and act independently, but also act as creators and not as submerged creatures who
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are consumers. This then fulfils the main goal of education for self-reliance (Mulenga, 2001;
Nasongo & Musungu, 2009).
Adult education, as a branch of education, plays a special role in the liberation of men and women in society. Nyerere linked adult education to development, but not to the mere fact of influencing social change, but also to help people to think and act independently. Nyerere (1982, p. 45) notes, ‘…and it could never be said that adult education is not worth doing! For it is the key to the development of free men and free societies’. Hence, adult education is a liberating process of man, to freedom and development.
Like Freire (1972) on banking education, discussed later, Nyerere notes that teaching which induces a slave mentality or sense of impotence, is no education at all, as it represents an attack on one’s mind. Therefore, education is a process of removing the constraints which inhibit an individual from exploiting his/her full potential. In as far as post-independent Tanzania and Africa were concerned, Nyerere expected a liberating education that would end Eurocentric dependence in terms of knowledge, skills and even ethical and aesthetic judgment (Nasongo &
Musungu, 2009).
3.2.4.4. Methods and techniques of adult education
Nyerere (1982) uses the term ‘methods’ broadly, seemingly in reference to facilitation techniques of adult education or adult education pedagogy (Freire, 1972, 1998; Fritze, 2010;
Seaman & Fellenz, 2002). Nyerere was of the view that methods of adult education ought to be flexible so as to reflect the situation, time, condition and resources available to learners. The methods should therefore be learner-centred, that is, should be able to help the learners to develop their own thinking capacity and address individual problems. In addition, the methods should encourage practice and hands-on processes, where learners can comfortably say: ‘Yes, we have done it, and can do it again’.
Nyerere advocated for a pedagogy that taps into the knowledge of learners, where the educator uses the principle of mutual sharing, reminiscent of Freire’s dialogue (Freire, 1972; Nyerere, 1973; 1982; Wink, 2000). Nyerere, like other earlier scholars such as John Dewey and Paulo
Freire, advocated for active participation of students in learning (Major & Mulvihilland, 2009).
This means that the role of an adult educator should be limited to that of a guide and leader on a path that is travelled by all.
The issue of adult facilitation techniques and materials was also of concern to Nyerere.
Cognisant of the fact that adult education is a tailor-made process and not something to model on universalistic principles, he agitated for flexibility and affordability of techniques and materials for adult education. According to Nyerere, the techniques ‘... must be of very low cost, and preferably, capable of being constructed out of local materials, at the place where the teaching will be done, and by the people who will teach and learn’ (Mulenga, 2001, p. 459).
Like Freire (1972), Nyerere was of the view that liberating pedagogy needs to be democratic, in the sense that it is driven by dialogue and problem-posing techniques. Nyerere argued that ‘…the teacher could neither afford to be ‘distant’ from the community nor be value neutral’ (Mulenga, 2001, p. 456). Nyerere held that such techniques allow the learners to draw from their experience, in order to enrich the learning process, but also to re-direct learning to their individual and societal needs.
3.2.4.5. Curriculum
Nyerere (1967) castigates a curriculum set by those who have ‘excelled’ in formal education to be imposed on others. He notes that such curricula are sometimes collaborated on to match international standards or measures, to a certain academic level. To him, such curricula cannot address the learners’ local problems and needs. It should be stressed that while Nyerere clearly made a distinction between adult education and schooling of children, his views on education transcended these demarcations. On the curriculum, for example, ‘Nyerere suggested a curriculum that would enable the pupil to have an enquiring mind, an ability to learn from what others do and adapt to his/her needs’ (Mulenga, 2001, p. 456).
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3.2.4.6. Adult education for social change and development
The three purposes of adult education stated by Nyerere can be interpreted to mean that he saw adult education as a tool for development and social change. Nyerere (1973, p. 137) states that:
‘the first job of adult education will therefore be to make us reject bad houses, bad jembe, and preventable diseases … to learn how to improve our lives … to learn to produce more on our farms or in our factories and offices; … to understand our national policies of socialism and self- reliance’. He further argues that adult education should be able to promote change but also assist people to control change, both induced by them and enforced on them by others, and by nature.
In other words, Nyerere viewed the role of adult education as a coping strategy of people.
Nyerere, like Sen (1999), was of the view that development can best be understood as a process of freedom. This is because he believed that development cannot be given by one man to another or by one society to another. Nyerere (1982, p. 37) notes: ‘So development is for Man, by Man, and of Man’. Therefore, development begins with freeing men and women from forces that inhibit their potential to think positively and seek solutions for their problems. Nyerere (1980, pp. 53-54) had earlier noted that: ‘Freedom is essential to development and not just a product of it. But freedom does not mean, and must not be allowed to mean, the freedom of the rich and the clever to exploit the poor and ignorant’. Therefore the role of adult education is to liberate people to accord them freedom, which is the apex of development.
According to Nyerere, human beings cannot be separated from society or from their environment. The development concept of Nyerere (1982), was therefore influenced by the positioning of the individual man/woman, in relation to his/her environment and society. This view reinforces his political philosophy of African socialism. Therefore, development is only good if it caters for the mass of the population, but also uses the environment sustainably.
3.2.4.7. African socialism (Ujamaa)
As noted above, Nyerere’s educational theory was rooted in his views on African heritage and his desire to find a unique system that addresses Africa’s unique challenges. Therefore,
Nyerere’s educational theory and African socialism are largely inseparable. Nyerere (1966) describes African socialism or ujamaa by noting that:
Ujamaa’, then, or ‘familyhood’, describes our socialism. It is opposed to capitalism, which seeks to build a happy society on the basis of the exploitation of man by man; and it is equally opposed to doctrinaire socialism which seeks to build its happy society on a philosophy of inevitable conflict between man and man (Nyerere, 1966, p. 170).
Nyerere’s philosophy of African socialism, or ‘ujamaa’ (Nyerere, 1968), was used to explore aspects of cooperation, participation and social support ownership in the programmes of EDF.
As Nyerere (1968, p.405) notes, “we can ensure that we build a society in which men co-operate together for their mutual benefit”.
Nyerere rejects both capitalism and Western socialism as a means of development for post- independent Tanzania, and even the larger African continent. Ujamaa, in contrast to the two extremes, was to represent a third way, or a synthesis of what is best in the traditional African peasantry society, and the best of what African societies had acquired from colonialism (Fatton, 1985; Ibhawoh & Dibua, 2003; Nyerere, 1966, 1968). To this end, Che-mponda (1984) argues that, ‘Nyerere could be described as a truly non-aligned political philosopher oscillating between Western democracy and Eastern communism’ (Che-mponda, 1984, p. 63). Nyerere’s ujamaa hoped to revolutionalize the peasantry means of production, based on social capital rooted in African values of equality and respect. The key concepts in African socialism that highly stand out as core to his education theory are participation and cooperation.
Pratt (1985) clearly underscores the three core principles of ujamaa, that is: cooperation, participation and unity. According to Nyerere (1967), cooperation and participation under the ujamaa philosophy was guided by the principles of human dignity, sharing of the resources produced by all, work by everyone and exploitation by none. However, what distinguishes Nyerere’s African socialism and the leftist socialism is the fact that each individual has a duty to contribute to the basket of resources to be shared equally. According to African traditional norms, each can only contribute as and according to his capabilities. In other words, society has a
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duty to provide for the weak such as the elderly and disabled. Nyerere (1980, pp. 53-54) stresses that: ‘It is through co-operation that each of us develops his own potential and receives personal identity. And co-operation has its own requirements and makes its own demands upon us all’.
Likewise, cooperation placed obligations on participation. Since socialism was meant to benefit all – the weak and strong equally, everybody was required to participate towards the common good, and according to their potential. As Marsland (2006, p. 66) notes: ‘The Tanzanian discourse of participation is rooted in African socialism and Nyerere’s concept of self-reliance (kujitegemea), in which citizens are obliged to contribute their labour and resources in a community effort to “build the nation” - kujenga taifa’. It should be noted that participation and cooperation go hand in hand and were not only expected, but were mandatory (Nyerere, 1980, 1982).
Nyerere further believed that at the core of participation was unity and cooperation. Whereas unity is an expressed sense of togetherness, cooperation alludes to working together for a common goal. Nyerere stressed that the people of Tanzania ought to live together as a family and help each other. Therefore, ‘Ujamaa was to help restore the cooperative spirit that the African people had before the colonizers introduced the idea of individualism’ (Major & Mulvihilland, 2009, p. 16).
It should be borne in mind that Nyerere’s concept of African socialism is known more for its controversial nature than its ‘presumed goal’ and was contested by both capitalists and socialists:
‘To the West Ujamaa was unabated “godless” communism (a view toward which the Catholic Church leaned). To the then eastern bloc it was not scientific or communist enough’ (Magesa, 2011, p. 15). Therefore, the failure of Nyerere’s ujamaa to anchor firmly on any of the strong economic doctrines of the day was to later lead to its demise.