Indigenous Mafwe Philosophy Of Education: Impact Of Western Education From 1860 Until 1990..

Abstract

There are debates and renunciations among Western and African philosophers trained in

the Western schools of philosophy about the existence and absence of African

philosophy. Contrary to this argument and denial is the affirmation that a Black person

like his or her White counterpart is capable of thinking, which is the root of philosophy.

This dissertation is an attempt to try and address such questions and line of argument.

It should be noted that one of the wishes of the majority of indigenous Namibians is to

see an education system where the concept of indigenous knowledge is respected and

incorporated in the school curriculum of their children. The Constitution of the Republic

of Namibia, Article 19 states clearly that, “every person shall be entitled to enjoy,

practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion …”

Since these aspects are elements and attributes of philosophy, the researcher ventured on

the Indigenous Mafwe Philosophy of Education: Impact of Western Education from 1860

– 1990 as a subject of research.

The research focused on the nature and purpose of the study, by highlighting the question

about the existence of an African philosophy in general and the indigenous Mafwe

philosophy in particular. The statement of the problem chronicled the Mafwe indigenous

philosophy of education and the influence of Western education philosophy on their

philosophical and political administrative structures.

Both qualitative and quantitative research designs were employed in the study. In

addition conceptual analysis, oral traditions, ethnohistory and phenomenological analysis

methods were used. The population composed of the Mafwe linguistic groups. In terms

of sampling procedures, cluster sampling was used for teachers while purposeful

sampling was applied in the case of elders. Questionnaires were administered to teachers

because they can read and write while elders were interviewed.

The findings are that Mafwe had the reasoning capacity as demonstrated through their

educational activities, in which knowledge was rigorously sought and treasured. These

educational activities included chiningamo (evening gatherings), entango (fables and

riddles), kanamundame (type of traditional chess), mulabalaba (type of traditional chess)

and many others, which can be equated to any traditional educational system across the

globe. The research also unearthed aspects of epistemology which was done through

riddles, proverbs and witty sayings; axiology was done through episodes and instructions;

metaphysics through belief in Almighty and logic through witty sayings.

However, many of the Mafwe educational activities and philosophical beliefs have been

abandoned by the Mafwe community and seem to be irrelevant among the youth because

of the Western impact.