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The cultural transformation of Western education in Sierra Leone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Caroline Bledsoe
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Résumé

L'apparition des écoles européennes en Afrique de l'ouest à la fin du dix-huitième siècle, a déclenché une profonde transformation culturelle. Les Mende de la Sierra Leone, qui furent la cible de plusieurs des premières expériences scolaires en Afrique de l'ouest, ont commencé à se faire une autre idée des idéaux européens sur la dissémination gratuite du savoir qui leur était imposé. L'article porte moins sur ce qui est enseigné que sur la façon dont l'enseignement est donné; il montre alors que les Mende ont changé leurs idéaux sur la transmission du savoir selon les principes culturels et locaux du secret et du contrôle du savoir. Ces principes considèrent que, une excellente instruction étant un atout économique et politique essentiel, les professeurs, en tant que propriétaries de cette connaissance, méritent une compensation pour la transmettre: ce modèle éducatif est apparu de la façon la plus frappante dans les célèbres sociétés secrètes de la région. Comme cela fut le cas pour le savoir plus “traditionnel”, le principe culturel majeur, par lequel les enfants acquièrent un savoir “civilisé” à l'école, et sont ainsi promus dans le monde moderne, est d’ “acheter” ou de “gagner” les grâces de ceux qui les éduquent. En s'adressant aux idéologies du savoir, du pouvoir, et du secret, l'article diffuse une nouvelle interprétation sur l'evolution de l'enseignement dans un pays—au sein même du groupe éthnique—qui a constitué la clé de voute des expériences scolaires britanniques au dix-neuvième siècle en Afrique.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 1992 , pp. 182 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1992

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