Schooling and Difference in Africa: Democratic Challenges in a Contemporary Context [1 ed.] 9781442679610, 9780802048943

Citation preview

SCHOOLING AND DIFFERENCE IN AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGES IN A CONTEMPOltMt¥ CONTEXT

In post-colonial Africa, schooling continues to present difficult challenges. In the discussion of these challenges, however, the issue of diversity has received relatively little attention. Schooling and Difference in Africa aims to understand how differences such as ethnicity, class, gender, language, religion, and disability play out in African school systems, and more specifically in Ghana. In this study, George J. SefaDei, Alireza Asgharzadeh, Sharon Eblaghie Bahador, and Riyad Ahmed Shahjahan analyse educational inclusion in the context of African schooling. The aspects of diversity explored in this study include minority/majority relations, race, ethnicity, gender, language, class, religion, and physical (dis) ability. The authors build their analysis around a series of interviews, which offer a perspective that policy-makers and administrators rarely seek out. By studying the challenges of inclusive education in Ghana and, further, by making comparisons with the Canadian context, this volume seeks to shed light on the ongoing struggle to create empowering school systems in Africa and elsewhere. GEORGE SEFA DEI is a professor and chair in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. ALIREZA ASGHARZADEH is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at York University. SHARON EBLAGHIE BAHADOR is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. RIYAD AHMED SHAHJAHAN is a PhD candidate in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

This page intentionally left blank

George J. Sefa Dei, Alireza Asgharzadeh, Sharon Eblaghie Bahador, and Riyad Ahmed Shahjahan

Schooling and Difference in Africa Democratic Challenges in a Contemporary Context

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2006 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-9019-5 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0-8020-9019-2 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-4894-3 (pa r) ISBN-10: 0-8020-4894-3 ( per)

Printed on acid-free paper

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Schooling and difference in Africa : democratic challenges in a contemporary context / George J. Sefa Dei... [et al.]. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-9019-5 (bound) ISBN-10: 0-8020-9019-2 (bound) ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-4894-3 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-8020-4894-3 (pbk.) 1. Discrimination in education - Ghana. 2. Minorities - Education Ghana. I. Dei, George J. Sefa (George Jerry Sefa), 1954— LC191.8.G4S36 2006

306.43

C2006-902655-6

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

To all those genuinely promoting unity in diversity, embracing difference, and working towards inclusion in educational settings

This page intentionally left blank

Contents

ix

Preface

Acknowledgments

xvii

1 Threads of Inclusive Schooling

3

2 Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 40 3 Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 68 4 Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 95 5 Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 121 6 Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 149 7 The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 182 8 Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 208 9 Language as a Site of Exclusion 226 10 Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 253 11 Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 287 References Index

329

309

This page intentionally left blank

Preface

It is an integral component of any fair and objective scholarly work that researchers be aware of their own position and situation within the research processes, in the field, among the subjects of their study, and of how they come to analyse and interpret their findings. Researchers should know and acknowledge who they are, where they come from, and what brings them to a particular research project. Such an acknowledgment has particularly more urgency for works such as this one that are guided and informed by anti-colonial and anti-racist discursive frameworks. As researchers adhering to anti-hegemonic principles, we should be aware of both our location and situation in the research processes as well as our situatedness among the researched (see also Haraway 1988). Antonio Gramsci (1971, 324) astutely observed that the 'starting-point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is "knowing thyself as a product of the historical process to date, which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory.' It is left to the individual researchers, then, to reconstruct such an 'inventory' through reference to one's lived experiences, beliefs, and desires, whose influence on intellectual/scientific endeavors are unquestionable, regardless of whether one acknowledges them or not. We researchers, historians, and writers are individuals with our own personal and collective histories, identities, and lived experiences. As such, we ought to be transparent and open about our own identity, our situationality and positionality within the research process. Our activities in data gathering, data analysis, in fact, our very acts of writing and producing texts, are inherently hierarchical and heavily characterized by relations of power and domination. This makes the observation that 'who we are is important in what we do and how we do it' ever more relevant (see also Chamberlayne et al. 2000; Church 1995).

x Preface

Similarly, how we are identified and positioned by others in the field is equally important in what and how others let us know about themselves, their situation, and the subject matter. We should, therefore, be prepared to challenge the positivistic notion of objectivity which contends that the author/writer/researcher tells only the Truth and has no race, no gender, and no position of personal interest (see also Fine 1994; Haraway 1988). As researchers we have to remember and be constantly reminded that 'pure objectivity,' as defined by the positivist school, does not exist in historical and social knowledges. In the production, validation, and dissemination of socio-historical knowledge we cannot separate fact from value, interpretation and representation from 'reality,' or the influence of our world views, our life experiences, values, beliefs, desires, and aspirations from the subjects of our study and research. Having acknowledged these objectives, as the authors of this book we would like to proceed by saying a few words about ourselves, our desires, and aspirations, and what really brings us to this particular project. George J. Sef a Dei Two related academi ng me to this collaborative work on the possibilities of African schooling and education. First, the work that I have undertaken, along with graduate student researchers, since the early 1990s on minority education and inclusive schooling in Canadian and Ontario contexts has led me to conclude that issues of difference and diversity can and must be critically investigated in African educational discourse and practice. While Canadian perspectives cannot be transported wholesale to Africa, I believe that there are important theoretical and practical lessons, particularly with respect to majority-minority relations, that can readily find an African application. In other words, the experience offers significant points of divergence and convergence that become relevant knowledge for critical engagement. Second, during part of my 1997 study leave, I conducted an exploratory study in Ghana to examine the views of students, teachers, parents, and school administrators on the impact of on-going educational reform, specifically changes to the national educational system endorsed by the international financial community. Findings of my three-month research in Ghanaian schools and colleges pointed to struggles over minority concerns and advocacy for inclusive education (see Dei 2004). Many Ghanaian educators essentially espoused the view that students go to school as disembodied youth. Moreover, prevailing discourses on nationhood and

Preface

xi

citizenship work deny rather than affirm the strengths of difference and diversity. I have assumed this is knowledge worth pursuing. I have pondered the question, In what specific ways do these experiences speak directly to my academic life and political pursuits? As a minority scholar privileged to work in an institution of higher learning in the North, I have often reflected on how much I continually learn from my students with their incessant questioning of the processes of knowledge production, interrogation, and dissemination both internally and globally. My minority status in the Western academy and my lived experiences in the Canadian school system have provided me with ample opportunity to sharply reflect on how my schooling in my birthplace, Ghana, was not just 'colonial and colonized,' but also systematically promoted exclusionary ends by failing to pay due attention to difference and diversity among the schooling population. Consequently, my schooling failed to provide any specific answers for a significant question like 'What does it mean to be a minority in a dominant system?' Today, alongside others, I continue to struggle with the search for viable answers to these challenges and questions. As we resist academic closure on these matters I am particularly emboldened by the fact that our continued exploration of critical questions will not be in vain. I like to work with a 'philosophy of hope' for the possibility of enhancing education for all learners. Why? Because, among other concerns and responsibilities, I have a seventeen-year-old son in the school system and cannot throw my hands up in despair and defeat. Alireza Asgharzadeh Throughout this project, and situated knowledge as they relate to both Iranian and Canadian contexts. As a member of a minoritized ethnic group in Iran, from early childhood I learned the pain of not being able to communicate, read, and write in my own mother tongue. Shortly after the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925, all non-Persian ethnic groups and nationalities in Iran were denied the right to education in our own languages. Notwithstanding the fact that we Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Baluchs, Turkomans, and others constituted the majority in the country, the government sought to supplant our languages, cultures, and histories with those of the Persian minority. As non-Persian citizens of Iran, we were subjected to open and shameful acts of linguicide, cultural annihilation, and forced assimilation.

xii Preface

I completed my primary and secondary education in a schooling system where I was not allowed to read, write, or even speak my own mother tongue. The education system in Iran promoted and enforced a superficial sense of nationalism based on the Persian language and culture. The richly multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual character of Iranian society was vehemently and forcefully denied. The school environment, textbooks, curricula, extracurricular activities, teachers, and school administrative personnel all subscribed to and served the view that saw Iran as one nation with one language and one culture. In essence, monoculturalism and monolingualism became the official doctrine of nation-building processes in the country. As a result, the Iranian education system itself came to function as a huge engine for linguicide, deculturation, and assimilation. Like millions of non-Persian Iranians I grew up longing for an education system where difference and diversity were valued, where students were encouraged and felt proud to talk in their own language; to read their history along with other histories; to see their people's contributions registered in textbooks alongside others' contributions; to feel proud of who they were and where they came from. However, achievement of these aims and goals in my birthplace remained only an ideal for me and millions of other students, teachers, and educators. I left Iran in my early twenties with a vision of aspiring to live in a society where difference and diversity were celebrated. Later on, when I finally found my way into Canadian universities, I was really impressed to see the level of attention, discussion, and analysis that went into conceptualizing, theorizing, and realizing difference and diversity in Canadian institutions of learning and education. It was during these times that I came to know Professor George Sefa Dei and his valuable work on issues of equity and sites of difference. I started working on the present project, researching issues of difference and diversity in the Ghanaian schooling system. With much enthusiasm and excitement, I worked on transcribing the interviews and analysing the data, and in the summer of 2002, along with our research team, travelled to Ghana on a field trip. This trip provided me with ample opportunity to view the Ghanaian schooling system closely and to get a first-hand idea about the project that is partly manifested through this book. Sharon Eblaghie Bahador

Reflecting on my participation in this writing project, I situate myself as a learner, a teacher, and a community helper. My work has been

Preface

xiii

informed by diverse experiences of schooling in different parts of the world. As a doctoral student in a Canadian university, I am aware of how my position in the Western academy privileges me. Having been raised in a multicultural family (Persian, Chinese-Filipino), following the Baha'i faith, and living in different countries, I have experienced schooling in both public and private settings, both in Asian and in North American schools. Moreover, since childhood, my views on difference and diversity have been reinforced towards one that is world embracing. My upbringing affirmed differences in ethnicity, but did not place sole significance on them. Rather, as children, my brothers and I were taught that we come from one family - the human family. As a result, our identities were shaped not only from a multiple ethnic/cultural perspective, but rather more by our beliefs about the spiritual nature of humankind. My interests lie in many facets of education, primarily in urban educational settings. It has become obvious over the past decades that in the major industrialized and commercialized centres of North America, most of the population that inhabit the inner cities consist of minority and immigrant families. In the United States and Canada, 'urban' and 'inner city' have become synonymous terms and are euphemisms for visible minorities. Moreover, urban is associated with poverty. What brought me to the field of sociology and equity studies was my experience teaching science in an American urban public school in the southern United States. Having completed high school in a suburban school in Canada and then teaching in an urban school, not only did I experience first hand the differences between classroom pedagogy in an American urban public school versus a Canadian suburban public school, but I also witnessed how similar the two curricula were. It was in my second year of teaching in the United States that I seriously started questioning how my students' experiences were affecting the way they engaged with the lessons in class and how, as a teacher, I may or may not have assisted their learning because of my teaching practices. It was also during that same year that I started my graduate studies in a program that focused on issues dealing with the urban classroom. Urban schools in North America and schools in Ghana are similar in that students' diverse backgrounds and experiences are not always validated. The challenge for educators is how to make the learning experience more inclusive, especially in settings where students come from different cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. Before moving back to Canada, I came across the work of Professor George Sefa Dei on anti-racism education. It spoke directly to what I was deeply interested in, and was destined to continue with because of my valued

xiv Preface

experience in the United States. It is with great enthusiasm that I came to work on this project with Professor Dei and his team. Riyad Ahmed Shahjahan

I also bring my personal history, hopes, and aspirations to this project. I am a Bangladeshi Canadian Muslim male, born in the United Kingdom. I grew up in Kuwait, and am now a doctoral student in Canada. I have embodied a transnational, yet confusing, fragmented life, never knowing where I belonged or who I was. From childhood, I have been identified as a British citizen, but have never lived in the UK long enough to call it home. In Kuwait, where I spent most of my life, I was always considered a foreigner or 'other' because I did not have an Arab Kuwaiti heritage. Moreover, in Bangladesh, where I visited family for summer vacations, I never stayed long enough to connect with the region itself. Throughout my life I have felt that everyone knew who I was except me. In school my skin colour pigeonholed me as a dark-skinned Indian 'miskin' (miskin means 'the impoverished' in Arabic). Among family in Bangladesh, I was this chocolate-coloured boy who held a highly esteemed British passport. Coming from a middle-class family, I went to private British institutions for my junior and secondary schooling. Throughout my schooling as a child, and later in high school, I have experienced violence in numerous forms. I seldom felt I was welcome at school. At times I wanted to manifest a different body, because I felt my body represented an inferior 'other.' In Kuwait, most workers who did remedial jobs came from South Asia. My identity was pigeonholed in that category, even though my parents were middle class. When my parents used to take me to Bangladesh, I was treated the opposite way because I lived abroad and carried a British identity. It is interesting how we have multiple positionings as we move from region to region. Throughout my schooling, the knowledge that I interacted with created another division in my life because it did not resonate with my history, upbringing, and values. In addition, I was disappointed with my undergraduate studies because the knowledge I was being taught dissociated me from my spiritual world view, history, values, and upbringing. My transnational experience has, however, given me opportunities to interact with and learn from people who come from different religions, languages, races, ethnicities, nationalities, classes, and sexual orientations. These experiences have helped me appreciate the richness of diverse experiences and knowledges, and the impact this diversity has on the way we know and act in this world.

Preface

xv

I have come to participate in this work because of two polar, interrelated experiences in my life. On the one hand, my experiences as the 'other' have helped me appreciate and acknowledge people's differences in their schooling and reduce the violence that is associated with it when it is not acknowledged. On the other hand, my transnational experiences have allowed me to appreciate the strengths of difference and diversity. This work is important for me, as it affirms people's differences and acknowledges that difference is a strength rather than a weakness. In addition, it is important because most of the time, having been turned into 'objects' rather than being a 'subject' of difference, people are pigeonholed into categories and are not allowed to express who they really are. Schooling is an important part of people's lives because many of us spend a considerable amount of our life in the educational setting. Hence, it is pertinent to create a space where difference and diversity are acknowledged and affirmed.

This page intentionally left blank

Acknowledgements

Many individuals have assisted with this work.In particular we would like to thank Stan Doyle-Wood and Arlo Kempf, both of the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies of the University of Toronto for reading and commenting on an initial draft of the manuscript. For the research in Ghana, which formed the basis of this book, George Dei would like to acknowledge the assistance of Alireza Asgharzadeh, Lems Crooks, Bijoy Barua, Gulnara Medebeukova, and Paul Adjei Banahene, all of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), who at various times worked as graduate researchers during the data collection phase. We are grateful to Mr Paul Akom, Dean of Students at the University College of Education at Winneba, for his invaluable assistance during the course of the field research project in Ghana. Many thanks go to Messrs Dickson K. Darko, Martin Doudo, Esther Danso, and Mrs Ntow of Ghana, who served as local Ghanaian research assistants. Our sincerest gratitude goes to the many Ghanaian educators, administrators, students, parents, and community workers who gave their time for the interviews during various phases of the fieldwork. Ms Evelyn Oduro of the Ghana Ministry of Education, Accra, deserves a special mention. We truly value the interactions with other colleagues at OISE/UT, whose desire to share knowledge has been simply wonderful: Bathseba Opini, Tania Principe, Kayleen Oka, Rick Sin and Deborah Barnes. We would also like to thank all the anonymous readers of the manuscript for their constructive comments. To the staff of the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies (OISE/UT), Cheryl Zimmerman, Cheryl Williams, Kristine Pearson, and Olga Williams, who offered other forms of support that facilitated this study we say a big 'thank you.' The Social Sciences and

xviii

Acknowledgments

Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) provided funding for the Ghanaian research study. Special thanks go to our dear families,who have supported us emotionally throughout this project.

SCHOOLING AND DIFFERENCE IN AFRICA: DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGES IN A CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT

This page intentionally left blank

1 Introduction :Threads of Inclusive

Schooling

There is Africanm proverb that when the cock crows in the dawn it is a call for us to wake up, an indication that it is early morning and the start of a new day. We are also reminded that the cock performs this duty not for itself but for us. Why? Simply, the cock is already up, so it is waking others up. But how are we to receive this call? We must receive it as a call to duty, to wake up and fulfil our duties and responsibilities, to make our workplaces, homes, schools, colleges, universities, union halls, and so on a better place for everyone. There are multiple places of responsibility and accountability for each of us. In this book we humbly join the search to look for effective ways to speak about and address the complexities and intersections of social difference and schooling. As we enter the discussion we are often confronted by a simple question. How does one (e.g., researcher, writer, student, teacher, parent, guardian, school administrator) navigate the moments that complicate the self as a multiple, differentiated subject? We know the self is not just one thing. In fact, each self/ subject has different and multiple layers that define our complex identities. Unfortunately, there are moments in everyday life when we are more apt to deny these differences in the name of a shared commonality. There is fear of difference everywhere. It is this realization that propels us in particular to write about difference in the context of Ghanaian and, by qualified extension, African schooling. We are motivated by our collective intellectual and political desires to speak about the complexities of 'difference,' and of how difference is understood in discussions of inclusive and minority schooling in Ghana. Our academic goal is to contribute to the promotion of 'educational inclusion' in Ghanaian school settings. If we look critically at our school systems, we can see that we have some students engaged in a fierce struggle to escape 'the margins.' We cannot

4 Schooling and Difference in Africa

be oblivious to the impact and consequences of this struggle. In fact, the goal of achieving educational excellence is seriously impaired by inaction in addressing difference in schooling contexts. Let us be clear here. In broaching the question of difference, we are not in anyway taking the position that unity is not a lofty ideal. We cherish promoting unity and pride in the things that connect us as a community. But we see this 'unity' as one that is best defined in terms of difference and sameness rather than simply as one defined in sameness alone. Our goal is not to uncover tensions and struggles where none exist. However, as we question the desire 'not to rock the boat' and remain oblivious to our differences, we are fully aware of the perils that accompany such a silent stance. It is easy for us - especially those who benefit more from the ways things stand at the moment - to be complacent and comfortable. In one of our discussions around this collaborative project, one of the authors, George Dei, shared this story: Not long ago he was privileged to be invited to speak to a gathering in a local school on the importance of African history and why school teachings should reflect the different contributions that all students bring to the educational system. He recalls vividly the invitation letter, stressing how important it is for speakers to be very upbeat and uplifting and not dwell too much on the 'negative.' It asserted the message that we must focus on the positive contributions African peoples have made, and continue to make, in the service of world civilization - this was a call to 'celebrate' achievements. In his introductory remarks, George joked that he was indeed sorry to disappoint the gathering, because he forgot to bring the orchestra and church choir with him. The point is that, for George, the struggle is still ongoing and as such it is difficult to shed the gaze of critic and enter the mood of celebration. Thus, we must not drag our feet when dealing with the tensions of evoking and confronting social differences. Our world today is about differences and yet there are those who claim that difference is irrelevant. This is a paradox and a contradiction; however, we strongly believe that education can help in offering guides and solutions to overcoming this dilemma. Many of us are calling for a new approach to schooling and education that instils a sense of community, citizenship, and social responsibility, and one in which we value our differences as much as we herald the things we share in common. In other words, we are speaking of new approaches to schooling and education where by our differences and commonalities become the important sources of our collective strength. Our differences should not become the force that divides us. We must cherish what is unique and, at the same time, what is common to all of us.

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 5

The way difference is celebrated, and also denied, today presents some unique challenges for the educator. There is a greater expectation of functioning education to be more effective in tapping into our diversities, differences, histories, and cultures. The right to an education comes with responsibilities. Therefore, the individual learner should have a clear understanding not simply of her/his individual rights, but also of her/his responsibilities to the larger citizenry. The community is made up of differences, and so it requires that the educator, learner, parent, guardian, caregiver, community/social worker, and administrator become fully aware of the multiple desires, goals, and ambitions inherent in that social space, as well as of the contradictions and tensions that are experienced in everyday life. Education means cultivating respect for each other, our differences, authority, our peers, and our ambitions. In rethinking schooling and education in Ghana, we are reminded of some key questions: (a) What do we see as the role education can play in the creation of a socially cohesive society? (b) How do we allow our schools to do what they do best - that is, provide education to learners so that they are able to enhance their self-development and take advantage of the valued goods and services of society? (c) How do we achieve the characteristics of a healthy school system? and, lastly, (d) Can we arrive at some consensus on what we see as the urgent and most enduring task of public education (see also Ungerleider 2003a, b)? We have no definite answers to any of these questions. But we can say this. If race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and other forms of difference are not central to discussions of the answers, we are heading towards failure. We say this because the negative treatment and evocation of difference hold the potential of crippling our school systems. And yet this is ironic because our schools are the true meeting places of diverse bodies, where people hang together for a period hoping to acquire knowledge of self and collective advancement. In theorizing the search for viable educational options for Africa based on the perspectives of local subjects, this book concerns itself with the ways in which schools deal with difference and diversity within and among student populations. Our learning objective is to offer understanding of and engagement with African education in 'post-colonial' times through the stimulation of critical discussions regarding the relevance of responding to ethnic, gender, class, linguistic, and religious differences within African schooling. We posit that in order to understand educational change, we need to embark upon a radical inquiry of 'social difference' (i.e., how difference shapes our ways of seeing, knowing, and acting). We are disturbed by the historic and current dispositions of

6 Schooling and Difference in Africa

schooling and education as simply reinforcing an awareness of individuals that fits bodies into a single set of imaginaries about the 'nation' and 'common citizenship.' We believe that in the current transnational and global contexts we must use the power of human imagination to propose alternatives that are informed by how people come to know, understand, and experience themselves as both members of a community and citizens of a nation state (see also Popkewitz 2000; Rizvi 2000). Despite many gains in education, local schools and communities have to contend with historic and new forms of colonial subjugation as capitalist globalization expands and continues to script human lives. But there are also significant voices of resistance to such an encroachment. In other words, minority subjects everywhere simultaneously experience and resist repression and exploitation by the dominant culture. With this in mind, we believe that education cannot proceed to bring about transformation if its central assumptions regarding schooling continue to be complicit in the subjugation of class, gender, ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic minorities. We are witnessing some unprecedented changes in our world today that, for good or for ill, affect all aspects and spheres of life on earth. An important area influenced by these changes is the attention paid to the celebration of diversity and difference. Many are still unaware of the worldwide significance of these changes, particularly in the realm of education, learning, and pedagogy. These changes, nonetheless, do not alter the fact that no part of our globe is immune to these transformations and any attempt to deny this reality is at our collective peril. As we go through these changes and try to make sense of them, their complexity and intensity become ever more apparent, enhancing to an overwhelming degree already existing contentions, contradictions, and ambiguities. An awareness and knowledge of these ongoing transformations, no doubt, brings responsibility and demands commitment. Such a commitment however, requires that all of us (students, learners, educators, parents, community workers, social activists, administrators, and policy makers, etc.) think seriously about our practices in both educational spaces and off-school environments. Issues of difference and diversity are at the centre of all democratic, representative, and socio-political trans/formations, and as a consequence educators, teachers, and learners must take every opportunity to pursue inclusive schooling and education to a serious degree. There is something positive to be gained in attempting to understand the material and experiential realities of diverse student populations as they navigate their ways through our school systems. We need therefore,

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 7

to learn more about the experiences of living with different and multiple identities, just as we need to understand how students' lived experiences, within and outside the school environment, affect their engagement with and disengagement from that environment. A critical examination of the challenges and possibilities of inclusive schooling should allow us to uncover how ethnicity, race, class, gender, language, religion, sexuality, physical ability, power, and difference influence (and are in turn influenced by) the schooling processes. Inclusivity is about how the processes of teaching and learning and the administration of education combine to produce schooling successes and/or failures for different bodies. Inclusivity addresses questions of power, equity, and social difference as significant factors in determining differential learning outcomes and social opportunities for students. We see these as major challenges for African education as we move ahead in the twenty-first century. Admittedly, rethinking African education and schooling can be easier said than done. There have been many accounts of African schooling that point to the limits and possibilities of change, as well as to what is perceived as the role of education in contributing to the national development project. We enter this discussion from various vantage points that are informed by our schooling experiences, where negations, omissions, and denials have characterized much of the learning process. However, while many are apt to read the problems of education simply in terms of material and physical absences, we are intent on bringing critical knowledge to the 'educational project' through raising the spectre of difference and its relevance to schooling in Africa. The way we speak about problems, the way we frame issues, the kind of language we use, our conceptualizations and theorizations, and even our choice of terminologies are all relevant in the search for viable solutions. For example, the word 'crisis' is employed in a rather leisurely way in the discourse on 'development' and 'education' in Africa. We do not underestimate the fact that there are mounting challenges and obstacles that pervade Africa's search for viable solutions to its developmental needs. But historically, education has been approached solely in terms of its capacity to contribute fundamentally to the national development and nation-building processes. In emphasizing the goal of national integration, however, post-independence and 'post-colonial' education in Africa has simultaneously denied heterogeneity in local populations, as if difference itself was a problem. Given this orientation, education has undoubtedly helped create and maintain the glaring disparities and inequities, structured along the lines of ethnicity, culture, language, religion, gen-

8 Schooling and Difference in Africa

der, and class, that continuously persist and grow. This pattern can, however, be disrupted. Education can acknowledge difference and diversity while at the same time highlighting commonalities, even among peoples with conflicting interests. Ultimately, it can contribute to both national integration and social reconstruction. To do so, however, it must meet the challenge of minority education. More specifically, since transformative change encompasses more than the reform of existing curricular and pedagogical practices, it ought therefore to respond to problems of discrimination, prejudice, and alienation within schools. In our contemporary world, an education that focuses on social and cultural values, while addressing conflict and encouraging reciprocity and peace, is the one most likely to succeed. To promote the democratic participation of all citizens in a project of nation building and to provide lasting solutions to various socio-political problems, education in Africa must acknowledge and affirm difference and diversity within the context of pursuing equity and social justice. To this end we confront some fundamental questions: Does schooling help promote social and economic development? Is there a central role for education in national development? In a discussion about the vocational schooling fallacy, King and Martin (2002) point to the politics of the manipulation of schooling in the developing world. The link between education and development has often been assumed but is hardly theorized. Foster (1963), for instance, challenged conventional thinking on schooling issues in his classic study on Ghana, arguing that 'schools are remarkably clumsy instruments for producing prompt large-scale changes in [developing] areas' (144). This implies that we cannot safely assume the link between schooling and development. The obvious limitations and shortcomings of schools in bringing about large-scale social changes does not mean that schools have no role to play in promoting social development. In fact, schooling is generally seen as playing a powerful role in the development of democratic citizenship. But if this is to materialize, then, as Schweisfurth points out (2002, 303), the 'requisite values, knowledge and skills need to be developed' within the schooling population. In other words, the curriculum must be able to fully respond to the values of society and community. This shift is one that involves moving beyond schooling towards education. Yet education cannot afford to be colonizing and imposed if it is to inculcate in youth the values of common shared aspirations and visions. Colonial relations of schooling are manifested in the differential treatment of bodies, the hier-

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 9

archization of particular knowledges, and the peripheralization of certain experiences, cultures, and histories. Educators need to address gaps between educational theory and ideals about shared belonging, values, and destinies. We should critique schooling practices that discriminate among groups of students by providing advantages for some and disadvantages for others. We need to look critically at schoolyard and classroom practices. Educators can promote peaceful approaches to the political and social expression of difference and to issues of democracy and diversity. We ought to be both conscious of, and sensitive to, the equity aspects of democracy. A fair representation of all groups can be revealed in the visual culture, knowledge representation, and staff representation in schools. The offering of courses in life skills, vocational and technical skills, technical drawing, social studies, and cultural studies has been viewed as holding the possibilities of transforming the social realm at the beginning life stage of the learner (see also Afenyadu 1998). Nevertheless, the efficacy of curricula in promoting the values of equity will have to be supported with concrete educational responses that target the challenges of difference. Towards a Comparative Lens

Clearly, we bring with us diverse experiences, hopes, and aspirations while working on a common project. The academic and political project of this book is to draw on our multiple and varied experiences of schooling in the search for viable educational options in the South. The Ghanaian case provides us with ample opportunity to speak directly about Ghana and, by qualified extension, Africa. Given our varied locations, we believe we can offer lessons that a span wide geographic space. As noted already, while the issue of North American schooling may be conceptualized differently from that of Africa, there are some broad parallels to be made. For example, North American education is struggling to deal with state cuts in funding. Schools have to contend with ways to promote inclusive learning environments that have a broad representation of staff, curriculum, and instruction in a social climate where there is a lack of resources and an absence of political support. In North America, there is a struggle over how we (as educators) may ensure that education is made relevant to the wider society. There is no denying that in this contest the imperatives of market forces are 'winning.' However, the promotion of cost-effectiveness in North American education has been at the expense of the issues of equity and social difference.

10 Schooling and Difference in Africa

It is noteworthy that the dominant, conventional discourse particularly around such notions as 'return to basics,' 'standards matter the most,' and 'quality education,' alongside the disturbing shift towards the 'marketization of education,' has only helped to sideline equity considerations. Admittedly, the supreme reign of the global marketplace is very much evident everywhere. Yet market-driven reform policies continue to have disastrous consequences not only for teaching and learning, but also for the administration of an inclusive education seeking to serve multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual societies. Currently, market considerations determine how we come to understand social justice and equity education in schools (and this is happening not just in North America but throughout the world). Equity cuts have become a central feature of schooling reform around the globe (see for example Grant and Lei 2001; Dei and Karumanchery 1999; Hatcher 1998). Not surprisingly, therefore, in places where equity has not been examined critically in terms of its implications for schooling, the promise of educational reform to produce change has been short lived. Africa is affected in profound ways by the 'marketization of education.' The cost of schooling has become unbearable for large segments of local populations. Class divisions have intensified in these societies, where education is seen as a major tool for social mobility. Moreover, Africa has not benefited from the encroachment of corporate capital in supplying computers and other resources of information technology to schools, items that are vital 'state of the art' educational equipment. In a climate of increasing scarcity of resources, government policies on educational resource distribution have created serious social inequities. The provision of educational resources to regions and communities in Africa has followed a zero-sum pattern, where the gain of a small minority has culminated in a loss for the silent majorities. As such, the educational resource allocation in Africa can only be characterized in terms of net gains and losses for the different stakeholders of the educational system. As the nation-state sheds its responsibilities for publicly funded schooling, it actively seeks the unfettered involvement of the private sector in education. This has made existing social inequities even more visible. Furthermore, because education has been allowed to serve the needs of corporate capital, different priorities for financial budgeting have come into play. A most salient aspect of such prioritizing is that the goals and purposes of education are being defined by the dictates of globalization and global capital. Within such a climate, addressing the immediate concerns of social equity and justice has not always registered on the radar

Threads of Inclusive Schooling

11

screen of governments and educational policy makers. Even in the socalled advanced industrialized and post-industrial societies of North America, the demand for inclusive education is often viewed as 'a luxury' given the increasing funding cuts to schools and universities (see for example Looye and Sesay 1998). By comparison, one can only imagine how African and Southern governing bodies would respond to a similar demand for inclusivity. The current approach to schooling in Africa can be viewed as part of the problem rather than a solution to the continent's numerous problems. Education in school settings using a colonial lens often distorts our imagination, limits the learners' vision, and stymies any critical reflection on alternatives that allow human ingenuity to flourish and to find new solutions. We need new forms of schooling that allow learners to imagine and re-imagine new possibilities for helping local communities to dispel the myth of 'development' by using local and indigenous cultural knowings. Educational reforms on the continent must not be caught in the dominant paradigms of Western thinking. Genuine reforms must critically evaluate what potential exists in local contexts and tap local resources and creativity to think through solutions to people's problems. Colonial relations still continue to be reproduced at the political, economic, cultural, and ideological levels of society by internal and external forces. There is a higher and more sophisticated form of colonialism in place today that condones and confirms the denial of voices, experiences, and histories in the name of common citizenship and the nationbuilding project. In North America, well-meaning educators have been quick to recognize the importance of taking into account social difference in the schooling and education of youth (see Grant and Lei 2001; Ghosh and Ray 1995; James 1995; Jacob and Jordan 1993). This importance is recognized because of the commitment of liberal education to individual freedom and choice. In fact, most educators who view multiculturalism favourably see the challenge of multicultural education primarily in addressing the individual and collective rights of diverse student bodies. These educators have come to question the lack of recognition of the positive contributions of groups, with the resulting misunderstanding and miscommunication among segments of the population. In schools, multicultural teachings, through classroom instructional and curricular practices, acknowledge and celebrate diversity, albeit somewhat superficially. Likewise, the pedagogic practices of progressive educators value the contribution of different cultures. The overall emphasis is on rooting

12 Schooling and Difference in Africa

out in tolerance, discrimination, and the lack of goodwill. But the connections between questions of identity (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality, language, religion, and physical ability), schooling, and knowledge production have not always been powerfully made. Thus, while cultures and different histories may be broached in classroom discussions, students have not been empowered to connect these to the broader questions of structural racism, social oppression, domination, and the marginalization of peoples in society. More concretely, the existing multicultural education in North America has been viewed as incapable of incorporating issues of power and injustice (see for example Grant and Lei 2001). Multicultural education has manifested itself mainly through superficialities such as food festivals, ethnic clothing, and various additive, exhibitionist, and tourist approaches to what is supposed to be genuine inclusive schooling. The fact that multicultural education can be pursued as an assimilation of ethnic and racial minorities into what is 'Canadian' or 'American' as 'Whiteness,' or as reconstructed and remodelled on a white identity, has not been problematized (see also Bedard 2000). In these kinds of multicultural educations, in the majority of cases, cultural plurality has been engaged in very depoliticized ways - for instance, without confronting questions of power and difference (see Solomon and Levine-Rasky 1996) — while the fundamental principle of physical representation materialized through having racial minority teachers in schools and in positions of power and influence within the educational system, has simultaneously been left on the sidelines. The cynic may argue that these are Canadian and North American concerns that have no relevance to African contexts. We beg to differ. Like North American communities, African communities are plural societies and have to deal with the question of difference and diversity. If African communities are to build on the possibilities laid out by the nation-building project of anti-colonial and neo-colonial times, then what is needed is a critical examination of the entire nation-building project to ensure that all members of society have true claims of citizenship and are able to develop a sense of entitlement to the valued goods and services in society. Inclusive education has a critical role to play by helping all learners to critically interrogate the underlying assumptions of the nation-building project that emphasize empathy, commonality, and goodwill while avoiding difference as if it were a pernicious disease. Unfortunately, the political economy of African schooling, including educational policies, the social location of teachers and students, and

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 13

the content of the curriculum, has gained very little attention. This book will, we hope, contribute to addressing this gap by raising some of the most important questions about difference in the context of Ghanaian schooling. We challenge the perception that schooling as a process and what it produces in its graduates is monolithic for communities. A major objective of learning would be to contribute to the promotion of educational inclusion and equity in school settings in Ghana in particular and, by implication, other pluralistic societies. We hope our emphasis on difference can help engender debates about reducing the marginalization of some students and increasing the chances of educational success for all students. Using an anti-colonial approach to schooling in post-independence Ghana, we hope to provide readers with an understanding of how the issues of ethnicity, class, gender, language, religion, and other differences play out within an African schooling system. We believe that learners must be assisted to adopt a stance that advocates identifying, challenging, and changing values, structures, and behaviours that perpetuate systemic discrimination and other forms of oppression structured along lines of ethnicity, gender, class, language, religion, physical ability, and sexuality. The entrenched inequities and power imbalance among social groups must be addressed. In the context of schooling, a 'mosaic' discourse indeed cherishes difference and plurality by promoting an image of thriving, mutually respectful and appreciative ethno-cultural communities. This cherishing, however, in and of itself is not sufficient and must not be seen as enough. We need a critical discourse and political practice that challenges persistent inequities among communities. Relations of power and domination are deeply rooted not only in our socio-political institutions, but more importantly in our discourses. The aim for us is to critique and challenge the dominant discursive practices that contribute to the reproduction of relations of domination and subordination. Addressing and Responding to Difference in the African Continent: A Literature Review

Around the world there are a growing number of people who are excluded from meaningful participation in the economic, social, political, and cultural life of their communities (UNESCO 2003a). The Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (1990) set the goal of 'education for all.' Many international organizations have been working towards achieving this goal. Despite the many developments that have

14 Schooling and Difference in Africa

taken place, there are still an estimated 113 million primary school children not attending schools around the world, of which 80 million come from Africa (UNESCO 2003a). Of those who do enrol in schooling, large numbers drop out before completing their primary schooling. It is recognized that current strategies and programs have mostly been insufficient with regard to the needs of children and youth who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion. There is an urgency to address the needs of learners who are excluded or marginalized on the basis of their class, ethnicity, language, ability, religion, gender, or other lines of difference (UNESCO 2003a, 9). This urgency is captured in the recent move towards inclusive education in both the Salamanca World Conference on Special Needs Education (1994) and at the Dakar World Education Forum (2000): [SJchools should accommodate all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions. This should include disabled and gifted children, street and working children, children from remote or nomadic populations, children from linguistic, ethnic or cultural minorities and children from other disadvantaged or marginalized areas or groups. (Cited in UNESCO, 2003a, 4)

While the question of inclusive education has been recognized internationally, most initiatives within Africa have been geared towards improving access in the primary education setting. For instance, education is a key priority within the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), yet the question of difference and diversity is not given priority. Launched in 2001, NEPAD is a program for the African Union that aims at (a) eradicating poverty in Africa, (b) placing African countries on the path of sustainable growth and development, (c) halting the marginalization of Africa in the globalization process and enhancing its integration into the global economy, and (d) accelerating the empowerment of women (NEPAD 2004a). Unfortunately, this program on Africa's development has not moved away from the usual priorities over-flogged in earlier plans (e.g., Arusha Declaration and Lagos Plan of Action) (anonymous reviewer, 2005). We believe that education should not be about producing a labour force to serve the requirements of global capital. Instead, it ought to be about providing skills and knowledges to members of a community so that they are able to understand each other and their connections with wider communities. Education starts when people and communities

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 15

think about the varied options, strategies, and ways through which we come to understand our world and act within it. Meaningful education requires changes both in our ways of thinking and in the structure of social, political, cultural, and economic institutions of society. The question 'Who controls the "education agenda" and why?' is significant, especially when we begin to challenge issues of power and resistance in regard to educational reform initiatives supported by the West in Africa through the World Bank and the (IMF International Monetary Fund). Today, for instance, Structural Adjustment Programs (as neomodernization visions) and initiatives around Highly Indebted Poorer Countries (HIPCs) have established a foundation and source of 'truth' about development. But in working with critical and counter-ideas, it is important to see how we think and conceptualize through 'development' discourses in order to avoid the easy slippage into the form, logic, and implicit assumptions and postulations of the very things that we are contesting. For instance, with regard to structural adjustment policies (SAPs), Chisholm et al. (1999), discussing these policies in the context of South Africa, argue that 'an equity goal ... can be effectively neutralized when associated with or subordinated to wider cost-reduction imperatives,' and further note that 'the discourse of'development' is ... ideologically and structurally indifferent to the specificity of oppression' (399). Similarly, the World Bank's policies hamper the question of difference and diversity initiatives. The Bank has discouraged the use of local languages, seeing them as barriers to accessing an international body of knowledge. As a 1980 sector paper of the World Bank notes: 'The emphasis on local languages can diminish an individual's chances for further education and limit access of specific groups or countries to an international body of knowledge' (cited in Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2001, 314). Since the early 1980s there has been a powerful discourse of development, propagated foremost (but not exclusively) by the World Bank and the IMF, that has successfully linked poor economic performance in Africa to crisis in governance. This discourse has also attributed Africa's economic problems solely to domestic policies whilse ignoring, to an immense degree, the fiscal imbalances in African countries that are due primarily to inequities within the global economy. While one should not ignore the domestic implications of Africa's woes, it is important to reiterate that it is precisely this discursive lens of minimizing external complicities and accountabilities that has propelled the structural-adjustment policies of the World Bank and IMF. Today, even though many countries

16 Schooling and Difference in Africa

of Africa are independent, they are still experiencing neocolonialism. Many countries and organizations are recolonizing Africa in terms of ideologies, philosophies, lifestyles, and education (see also Chimedza 1998; Quist 2001). For instance, bilateral donors such as the British and French use development aid to strengthen the use of their own languages as languages of instruction (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004). However, it would be wrong to assume that local resistance has been muted in Africa. Within local settings, we see hope regarding the production of a new knowledge that challenges unequal relations between societies/groups and the potential for one group to use its power to articulate and project its world view onto others (McKenzie 1997; UNESCO 2001; Unterhalter et al. 2004; Warsame 2001). There are also feelings of encouragement and empowerment generated when discussions on education are extended to the cultural realm beyond the traditional political and economic spheres. We are thinking here of the cultural dimensions of schooling and resistance and what learners imply when they evoke difference as a site of schooling by linking identity and knowledge production (see also Dei 2004). First and foremost, identity is about negotiating around ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, language, religion, physical ability, and culture as important sites of difference. Recognition of the implications of these sites and symbols of difference for schooling is essential in creating an empowering school environment. For it is through these sites of difference and their intersections that identities are constructed and reconstructed. Educators can create spaces for critical questions to be asked regarding the absences, negations, and omissions of bodies and experiences. Learners in turn have the responsibility to constantly pose critical questions and raise challenging issues. Educators will also need to develop indigenous, non-Western concepts and categories for understanding African societies (see Brock-Utne 1999; Nekhwevha 1999; Tournas 1996). This requires that we pay particular attention to the production and social organization of knowledge, as well as to cultures, languages, religions, and the socio-political dimensions of schooling, education, and development. As a matter of fact, inclusive education and the sharing and exchange of knowledges are very relevant to Africa. African educators and school administrators need to put in place mechanisms that address all forms of injustice and seek fundamental structural and societal changes. Some have already begun to recognize this problem (see Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2001; Bunyi 1999; Harber 1998; Herman 1995; Mabokela

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 17

2000; Maluwa-Banda 2004; Stefanos 1997; Swainson 2000; Ufomata 1999; UNESCO 2003a; Webb 1999). The problems of schooling are not simply manifested in intolerance and the lack of good will. They should be seen as questions of bias, discrimination, hatred, exclusion, and violence (see also UNESCO 2003a). Rather than viewing ethnic prejudice and sexist practices as individual acts of ethnocentrism, patriarchal behaviour, or the violation of the democratic rights of citizens, such discriminatory and oppressive acts must be understood as integral parts of the social structure and the politics of maintaining the status quo (see also Stefanos, 1997). There have been some strides made in some African countries to rupture the practices of denial of heterogeneity in schooling practices. In the following section we review the current literature and discuss many of the policies, initiatives, successes, failures, and challenges of recognizing and responding to issues of difference along the lines of gender, class, language, ethnicity, and disability throughout the African continent. Gender

The Education for All (EFA) conference held at Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990 resulted in the introduction of over 100 government plans of actions that included strategies to address inequities in girls' educational participation (Swainson 2000). As a result of this conference, there has been increased interest in gender inequalities in education in African countries by both foreign donors and governments. In terms of gender, most discussions have taken place in terms of improving access for girls to primary schooling and basic literacy skills in the African context. The Ouagadougou Pan-African conference on the Education of Girls and Women, organized by UNESCO and its partners in 1993, called for a vigorous pursuit of efforts to achieve gender equity in education in the region. African members were urged to put in place appropriate policy frameworks, programs, and structures to accelerate the process (Obanya 2004). In November 2001, a questionnaire was dispatched by UNESCO to forty-seven member states of Africa; twenty-three responded. The report of this survey, entitled 'Promoting Basic Education for Women and Girls: A Survey of Structures, Programmes and Activities in Africa,' provided interesting results (see Obanya 2004). According to the survey, most countries concerned seemed to face common challenges such as (1) factors inherent in the education system (absence of women teachers,

18 Schooling and Difference in Africa

school failure, school programs and calendars not being responsive to local needs; (2) sociocultural factors (large families, early marriages, lack of parental encouragement for girls' education), and (3) socio-economic factors (poverty, opportunity costs of education, limited employment for school leavers). However, while the enrolment of girls may have increased in some countries, this does not necessarily translate into narrowing the gender gap (for instance in Senegal). There have been some exceptions to this pattern, such as Mauritius, which has no gender gap in primary and secondary education (Obanya 2004). Whether a distinct national gender policy in education exists or not varies from county to country, yet most policies address common concerns. Some countries have special policy documents on the education of girls and women (e.g., Burkina Faso, Chad, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal). Other countries have girls' and women's education policies that are derived from overall national education policy guidelines (e.g. Benin, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritius, Niger, Swaziland, and Togo). Whatever their shape or form, national policies on the education of girls and women tend to address the following five common concerns: (1) Attitude change in favour of the education of girls and women; (2) Expanding access; (3) Gendersensitivity education for teachers, managers, and policy-makers; (4) Ensuring full participation, completion, and success for girls in school, through a variety of girl-friendly and gender sensitive initiatives; and (5) Linking non-formal education for women to political, social, and economic empowerment issues (Obanya 2004). Some countries have a good number of projects that are designed to boost gender equality in education. However, most countries have pointed out that by the year 2005, the gender gap would have decreased considerably in primary education, but not in secondary and tertiary education. Women are still significantly under-represented both in the teaching force and at various levels of educational administration. Most women personnel are concentrated in the lower levels of education and in non-technical streams. Even in countries where women are fairly represented in educational administration, they are still under-represented at the policy level (Obanya 2004). Swainson (2000) demonstrates many of these gender inequity trends in her review of the gender policies and programs of Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Within these countries women still account for less than one third of the enrolments and are mainly concentrated in the arts and social sciences. The gender stereotyping of subjects is common at both

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 19

the secondary and tertiary levels in all three countries. It is interesting to note that in Malawi, pregnancy was one of the major causes of dropping out among girls and school-uniform costs were seen as having a negative impact on girls' persistence in school. With regard to gender issues in Tanzania, the main policy thrust of education and training policy, in 1995, was to support girls' boarding and hostel facilities, curriculum review, and the elimination of gender stereotyping. However, as Swainson notes, since gender is not integrated throughout the current education policy and none of these recommendations are backed up by concrete plans of action, gender concerns appear as 'add ons' (2000, 55). Within Zimbabwe the Ministry of Education, with the help of. UNICEF, designed and implemented a program of action to address the girl child using the Gender Equity in Education Project (GEEP). However, donor-sponsored research on gender and education has often been more oriented to meeting donor than recipient goals in all three countries (Swainson 2000). But recently, gender-inclusive policies and programing at all levels have been improving in the case of Malawi (see Maluwa-Banda 2004). For instance, the Gender Appropriate Curriculum (GAG) Unit in Malawi has revised primary and secondary school textbooks to make them more gender-sensitive and portray girls and women in more positive roles. But still more needs to be done to put genderinclusive policies into practice in the school management and learning environment, where women are under-represented (Maluwa-Banda 2004). Despite commitments to international agreements on gender equality, the key policy makers in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe are still predominantly male (Swainson 2000). Through foreign financial assistance from certain international development agencies, some African countries are actively addressing gender and other inequities in education. There is a surplus of NGOs Working on the education of girls and women (e.g., 112 registered in Ethiopia and some 200 in Niger). For instance, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) launched its action plan on basic education to help achieve universal primary education and focuses on gender parity at both the primary and secondary levels (CIDA 2002). CIDA's projects are spread all over the continent, and include programs on improving access to girls' basic education in countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. However, most of these CIDA initiatives are focused on improving access rather than on improving gender inclusivity in schools (CIDA 2004). Similarly, USAID funded in Malawi a 'Girls' Attainment in Basic Literacy and Education' (GABLE)

20 Schooling and Difference in Africa

program with the aim of improving the access, persistence, and achievement of girls in primary schools (Kadzamira and Rose 2003). In Malawi other important players in gender interventions in education are the Department for International Development, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank (Swainson 2000). Overall, unequal gender relations have continued to favour the success of male students throughout the various school cycles. This success is manifested through the sustained higher number of male students in classrooms, particularly in universities and institutions of higher learning. It is also evident in the make-up of teaching and administrative personnel, the overwhelming majority of whom are male. Although there has been a considerable increase in the number of female students lately, the overall male/female ratio is still heavily skewed towards the male population. In recent years, various governing bodies, the media, and the education system have started important awareness-raising campaigns against the exclusion of females from centres of learning. Positive steps have been taken to encourage and facilitate female students' enrolment in both primary and higher levels of schooling (Apusigali 2001; Unterhalter et al. 2004). There are, nevertheless, major gaps that need to be filled in terms of equal access, equal opportunity, and equal representation. Class

Alongside other categories and sites of difference, class issues have been recognized as being consequential for schooling outcomes to a considerable degree (Kadzamira and Rose 2003; Obasi 2000). We say 'recognized' because it is one thing to recognize differences and another to 'respond' to them. Over the years, in local African communities, increasing material poverty has exacerbated class distinctions. We note, for example, that in Ghana the introduction of educational reforms in the 1980s exacerbated the hardships of local parents as they tried to provide an education for their children (see also Dei 2003, 2004). Part of the situation was the result of the state's attempts at cost recovery that pushed much of the cost of education onto parents and local communities. While it may be said that the state continues to shoulder a greater portion of the cost of education, it should also be conceded that increasingly Ghanaians from low socio-economic backgrounds have found it harder to provide education beyond the basic level to their children. Similar trends may be seen in countries like Malawi, Kenya and Nigeria (Kadzamira and Rose 2003; Mukudi 2004a; Obasi 2000).

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 21

In fact, parents would argue that they are paying more for public education at the primary, basic level despite the fact that such education is 'free' (Kadzamira and Rose 2003). The rise in private schooling has further intensified existing socio-economic divisions in society, with private schools charging exorbitant fees and becoming extremely restrictive (Selod and Xenou 2003; Tikly and Mabogoane 1997). This trend, in turn, has created tensions between public and private schooling. Nor is the rise in education cost confined to private schools. Even within the public school system, free tuition at the basic level has been accompanied by a steep rise in incidental fees (see Dei 2003; Kadzamira and Rose 2003). For instance, within Malawi, while primary education is free, parents still have to incur such costs as buying exercise books, pens, and clothes for school (Kadzamira and Rose 2003). And more problematically in Ghana, there is no uniformity among public schools in school fees (Dei 2004). This lack of uniformity significantly adds to already existing confusions, and to feelings of desperation and helplessness, particularly among the have-nots and the poorer segments of the population. While there is a recognition of the class issue in schooling and of how it affects schooling outcome and enrolment, economic recessions in African countries have forced countries that previously had free primary education systems to begin charging user fees. For instance, Kenya had eliminated tuition charges at primary schools in the 1970s, but with the adoption of the structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in the mid-1980s user fees were introduced. Since then, measures have been taken to counteract the economic recession that have resulted in limiting access to schooling, increased attrition, and significantly contributed to absenteeism (Mukudi 2004b). With respect to a rural Kenyan community, Mukudi (2004b) reports that head teachers could not run their schools without charging user fees. As a result, the burden of the costs of education fell on parents, students, and teachers. As Mukudi states: Struggling with widespread poverty, many parents felt that the government should fully fund education as a public service. Yet the government lacks the fiscal capacity to supply schools with development funds they need in order to operate. The burden of enforcing the user-fee policy at the school level often falls solely on the shoulders of head-teachers. The primary strategy that head-teachers employ is to exclude from class those children whose parents have not paid user fees. (456)

Class issues still persist in many countries throughout Africa and have

22 Schooling and Difference in Africa

been exacerbated by SAPs. As mentioned earlier, as the cost of schooling rises, many learners are excluded, and this causes frustration among parents, teachers, and administrators. Most initiatives that deal with issues of class have been focused on primary, rather than secondary or tertiary, schooling. Language It is very difficult to demonstrate that African countries have take 'guage differences into account for schooling. While there have been some initiatives to do so, these initiatives have mostly focused on the lower levels of schooling, such as the level of literacy and primary schooling. The most important reason for this is that language educational policies in Africa are deeply rooted in the inheritance of colonial language policies (Bamgbose 2004). Language policy maintenance is very much dependent on the colonial experience, which continues to shape and define post-colonial experiences and practices. As Bamgbose argues: Not only are policies maintained in terms of use or non-use of African languages for teaching, the colonial practice of confining African languages as media of instruction to the lower levels of primary education has persisted in most countries till the present time. (4)

However, certain African counties have begun to take issues of language differences more seriously by encouraging the use of indigenous languages. For instance, Mali and Niger have increased their attention to the use of African languages in teaching, a direct result of educational reform in both countries (Bamgbose 2004). Interestingly, while some African countries have moved towards taking language differences into account for schooling, stated policy does not necessarily translate into practice. One notable example that many authors have discussed of this policy-reality mismatch may be seen in post-apartheid South Africa (see Crawhall 1999; Desai 2001; Heugh 1999; Webb 1999). For instance, within its language education policy, there exists the right of forty or more children in class to demand instruction in their language, but this still remains a policy on paper (Bamgbose 2004). Since the first democratic initiatives in South Africa, educational legislation has been passed to implement a new school system, introducing eleven official languages (among which are nine African languages, English, and the Afrikaans language) and a new policy for schools on the

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 23

medium of instruction (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004). However, according to Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir, the South African language policy is not really in effect: 'Despite what may be regarded as a very progressive language in education policy, which in principle enables learners or their guardians to choose the language of instruction, English is used as the medium of instruction from Grade 4 onwards' (72). Similarly, in Nigeria, the government, for pre-primary education, maintains that it will 'ensure that the medium of instruction will be principally the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community,' yet this policy is not enforceable because of many constraints (Bamgbose 2004, 8). For instance: (1) the regulatory influence of the government is restricted because it does not own or run pre-primary schools; (2) middleclass parents who send their children to fee-paying schools demand early instruction in English rather than in a Nigerian language; and (3) to maximize profit through higher enrolments, owners of pre-primary schools who determine the language of instruction policy prefer to please the wishes of parents who demand English (ibid.). Namibia is another example where there is a progressive language in education policy, yet it is not being implemented (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004). In the Namibian case, one significant constraint to such a policy being implemented is that there is a general lack of interest or support for African languages in schooling from parents, students, the educational sector, and policy-makers (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2001). Within primary education, some African countries - such as Bostwana, Lesotho, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar, and Nigeria - have extended the use of an African language as medium to upper-class primary classes. However, such use at the secondary level is rare. There are a few cases where instructional materials in content subjects are available (such as Somali in Somalia and Malagasy in Madagascar) . In Nigeria, metalanguage for teaching the major languages through the languages themselves has been developed through the well-known processes of vocabulary expansion (Bamgbose 2004). In secondary schooling, as in primary schools, an African-language subject is optional for at least the first three years. In practice, in all the cases in which an African language is taken as a subject, it is the first language of the student (Bambgose 2004). For instance, Nigeria's bilingual policy requires that a child should be offered one of the three major languages in addition to his or her mother tongue (Ufomata 1999). This policy is implemented at the secondary level, where two Nigerian languages are compulsory subjects at the junior secondary level, and one of

24 Schooling and Difference in Africa

them continues to be compulsory until the end of secondary education (ibid.). Moreover, at the tertiary level, teaching an African language as a subject is a widespread practice. Unfortunately, in tertiary education, the use of an African language as a medium of instruction is limited to the teaching of that language as a subject and not for any other subjects (Bamgbose2004). Over the years, however, many pilot projects have sprung up in Africa to either introduce or experiment with African languages as the medium of teaching and learning in schools. Countries such as Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Guineau Bissau, Liberia, Mauritia, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone have been involved in these kinds of projects, whether at the pre-school or primary level (Bamgbose 2004). Experiments in early or initial medium have been reported in Sierra Leone, Senegal, Niger, and Nigeria (ibid.). An example of this is the Rivers Readers Project in Nigeria, which is designed to introduce initial literacy in about twenty so-called minority languages/dialects through their use as media of instruction in the first two years of primary education (Ufomata 1999). There are also experiments involving a bilingual medium that involve the sharing of roles between an African language and an imported official language. For instance, in Cameroon, a project that began in 1981 set out to conduct initial literacy in the mother tongue followed by its partial use as a medium. Seven languages were selected for the project. Basic language skills were introduced in the African language, with the gradual introduction of French. Unfortunately, while there has been a proliferation of pilot projects in language instruction in African languages, there still exists a wide gap between experiments and practical application in terms of policy (see Bamgbose 2004). Overall, African countries have confined their language policies to introducing African languages as the medium of instruction at the primary schooling and literacy levels. There have not been many resources put in place to develop indigenous African languages and most countries resort to colonial languages as the primary modes of instruction, in texts, and for communication at the secondary and tertiary levels of schooling. While some efforts have been made to make some language-inclusive policies or experiments, they usually stay at the experimental level and do not get translated into national language policy. In short, there has been very little effort made to take language differences into account for schooling within Africa. A lot more has to be done in this regard and a real effort made to move beyond the remnants of colonial schooling. As Ali Mazrui asks: 'Can any country approximate first-rank economic devel-

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 25

opment if it relies overwhelmingly on foreign languages for its discourse on development and transformation? Will Africa ever effectively 'take off when it is so tightly held hostage to the languages of the former imperial masters?' (cited in Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004, 80). Ethnicity

There is scant literature that discusses the question of ethnicity and inclusive schooling in the African context. Yet there have been some positive developments in this area. Disparities based on race and ethnicity have largely been removed in the general expansion of primary schooling in both Tanzania and Zimbabwe, though less so in Malawi (Swainson 2000). Yet, in some countries disparities still continue along ethnic lines. For instance, in a recent study on ethnicity and education in Kenya, Alwy and Schech (2004) have found that there is a substantial difference in educational opportunity and resources among the students who come from the provinces where the ruling elite have originated, past and present. They discovered that there was a large difference in the access to and quality of primary education in certain provinces, and these inequities were concentrated in the north-eastern regions and the Coast province, where the Somali and the Swahili reside. These inequities in access to education between the provinces, between ethnic groups, are reflected in the national examination performance of students. The issues of access to schools and the distribution of qualified teachers and other educational resources have influenced the persistent poor enrolment rates and educational outcomes of ethnic minority students. Alwy and Schech conclude that their results support 'placing the notion of ethnicity at the forefront of analyses of educational policies in Kenya' (273). In Uganda, some interesting initiatives have been taken to include some of the marginalized groups of the country. In these efforts, attention has been paid to make sure that education is relevant to local needs, especially for those groups who are ethnic minorities (UNESCO 2001). For instance, the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK) program serves a semi-nomadic people who live in a fragile and precarious ecological environment in north-eastern Uganda. This intitaive recognized that formal primary schooling is irrelevant to Karamojong children, as it will undermine the values, traditional knowledge and skills that are crucial to their survival in the region. As a result, this program employs a functional basic education approach that enables the child to

26 Schooling and Difference in Africa

do much of his or her learning without disrupting their normal domestic and work routines. Along with the use of local experts, the curriculum and teaching materials have been revised and adapted to suit the learning requirements of the Karamojong children, which include 'indigenous knowledge and skills and basic life skills relevant to rural/cattlekeeping life - e.g., animal husbandry, water and range land management, environmental protection, early warning systems and positive cultural practices' (UNESCO 2001, 24). Disability

Unlike most other African countries, Nigeria has a highly developed and explicit national policy for special educational needs, although this has had limited impact on practice (Obiakor 1998). Similarly, within Kenya there have been rapid developments in dealing with disability issues in schooling, but there still remains a gap between the ambitions of national policy and actual provision at the school level (Muuya 2002). In the Kenyan case, this gap between policy and actual provision in schooling was a result of the high emphasis given to the skills of personal care and obedience in special education and a relatively low emphasis given to preparation for employment at the level of schools and units. As Muuya argues, '[T]hinking about special education has not progressed to a point where it matches the aspirations of national policy in Kenya' (2002, 237). In Zimbabwe, according to the Disability Act of 1992, all people with disabilities have a right to operate in ordinary settings educationally, socially, and politically. A similar policy to Zimbabwe's is in place in Tanzania and Uganda (Chimedza 1998). In Uganda, under Universal Primary Education (UPE), implemented in 1997, the idea of integrated education was put into practice (Kristensen, Omagor-Loican, and Onen 2003). This is consistent with article 30 of the constitution of the Republic of Uganda, which indicates that ' [a] 11 persons have the right to education ... [A] child is entitled to basic education ... [and] the state shall take action in favour of groups which are marginalized on the basis of gender, age, disability or for any other historical or traditional reason' (cited ibid., 195). Children with disabilities were enrolled regular primary schools throughout the country. To ensure that learners with special needs were given relevant as well as quality education in an inclusive school setting, all the 12,280 schools in Uganda were grouped into clusters of fifteen to twenty schools. Each of the clusters had a Special Needs Education Co-ordinator (SNECo) who,

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 27

apart from classroom work, visited all schools in the cluster regularly and advised on the teaching of learners with special educational needs. The Ministry of Education and Sports had also assigned at least one teacher in each school to be in charge of special-needs and inclusive education (Kristensen, Omagor-Loican, and Onen 2003). Yet many problems arose as a result of this integration: high teacher-pupil ratios, lack of resources in the schools, and an urgent need for teacher training to respond to the classroom needs of children with disabilities (Arbeiter and Hartley 2002). Still, as a result of this integration, many teachers developed a positive attitude towards integrating children with disabilities. In Botswana, the Botswana National Assembly approved the Revised National Policy on Education in 1994, which stated that the government was committed to the education of all children, including those with disabilities (Abosi 2000). Since then the Botswana government has shown progressively greater interest in people with disabilities in the education system. As examples, special schools or resource centres have been developed and supported; a number of programs, such as the Teaching Training Curriculum, have been changed to incorporate courses in special education; specialist training facilities have been established at the Universityof Botswana; an enlightenment program has been developed to facilitate attitudinal change; more personnel have been sent abroad for training in different specialized areas; and public buildings have been adjusted to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Overall, the development of special-education measures and provisions for people with disabilities have been topmost priorities of the government of Botswana (Abosi 2000). While countries have taken their own initiatives to deal with disability issues in schooling, many international organizations and NGOs. have also been involved in dealing with issues of disability and inclusive schooling. One notable example is UNSECO, which has projects on disability issues and schooling in Mali, Senegal, and Gabon, to name a few examples (UNESCO 2003b). Where countries have policies in place, yet do not follow through, many grass-roots initiatives have taken place with the help of NGOs. For instance, in South Africa, an interesting initiative was taken to deal with issues of disability in early childhood schooling. While there is a provision for disabled learners in the mainstream sector, there is no obligation for the mainstream to accommodate such learners. The Community and Child Development Centre (CCDC), a non-governmental organization in the Eastern Cape region, whose purpose was to assist in the provision of education for all children, started to respond to the

28 Schooling and Difference in Africa

question of children with disabilities by providing training and support to Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners (McKenzie 1997). The initiative's aim was to 'spread an awareness of the needs of children with disabilities and to promote their integration into society in general, especially through mainstream education' (cited ibid., 103). The following steps were taken to implement this aim: (1) Staff committed themselves to examining their own stereotypes and attitudes towards people with disabilities (which in turn influenced the curriculum; (2) Children with disabilities were admitted to the demonstration school attached to the CDCC; (3) Trainers attended workshops on disability issues; and (4) The building was made more accessible to wheelchair users (ibid.). In short, changes were made to the teacher training curriculum, equipment, and aids, to make education it more inclusive for children with disabilities. Points of Convergence and Divergence in the African Continent

As we reflect back on the literature we have covered with respect to the African context, we see that there is a growing recognition of issues of difference and diversity in schooling throughout the African continent. Moreover, the question of difference and diversity has also been getting recognition throughout the continent through the assistance of international organizations and donor countries. However, most of the responses to such issues have taken place in the context of access to primary schooling. Yet there are exceptions, and concerns about these issues have been raised with respect to secondary and tertiary education (see for example Herman 1995; Mabokela 2000). None the less, a lot more needs to be done. While it is important to highlight the fact that there are some progressive policies in place to respond to difference and diversity across the African continent, we need to remember that the intended reform may not materialize in reality. According to Psacharopoulos (1989), there are three main reasons why this may happen in Africa: (1) The intended policy was never implemented in the first place (i.e., the policy intention was too vague or the statement of intended policy was made for political lip service); (2) Even if some implementation took place, it failed to be completed or achieve the minimum critical mass to have an impact (e.g., a prerequisite factor such as feasibility of financing was ignored or social rejection inhibited the effect of the measures taken); and (3) Although the policy was implemented, it did not have the intended effect (e.g., the policy was based on an invalid theoretical model or insufficient evidence) (ibid., 190).

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 29

While most of the policies and initiatives on difference and diversity have been about improving access for different groups of marginalized people, more attention needs to be paid to include difference and diversity in issues of representation at all levels of schooling, resource allocation, teacher training, curriculum, and infrastructure. As many examples discussed earlier show, it is one thing to include different groups in schooling, but another to ensure that they do not drop out. In addition, while most policies and initiatives have focused on dealing with one line of difference, such as issues of class or language or gender, many of the issues of difference and diversity are interconnected. For instance, Swainson (2000) demonstrates the intersections between class and gender in the context of Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Similarly, Crawhall (1999) demonstrates the interconnection between ethnicity, language, and issues of class in the context of San and Khoe South Africans. Therefore, initiatives and policies need to progress to recognizing and addressing these interconnections in order to respond to difference and diversity in African schooling. Furthermore, most policies and initiatives of inclusive schooling cannot just look at the question of schooling within the context of schooling in itself. Issues of difference and diversity need to be tackled from the societal and global level in conjunction with issues of patriarchy, classism, colonialism and global capitalism. It is interesting to note that we have not come across any initiative that looks into religious differences. One needs to question why? In short, this literature review demonstrates that the question of difference and diversity is not pertinent only to the Ghanaian context, but applies throughout Africa, and major gaps need to be filled in terms of equal access, equal opportunity, and equal representation. The Ghanaian Context

With a population of around twenty million, Ghana is one of the most populous countries in Western Africa. It was also the first African country to win its independence from British colonial rule, in 1957. Since independence, Ghana's population has more than tripled from about six million to over nineteen million at the present. Just as in the majority of other African countries, Ghana's population is extremely diverse in terms of ethnicity, language, culture, and religious practices. In general terms, the peoples of Ghana belong to more than fifty different ethnic groups and speak over seventy different languages. Among various Ghanaian languages a number are sponsored by the government and their study in schools and universities is encouraged.

30 Schooling and Difference in Africa

These languages are also generally used by the broadcast media and the press. They include Akan, Dagaare, Dangme, Dagbani, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, and Nzerna. English is the country's official language and is commonly used in schools, universities, state apparatuses, and business circles. The Akans form the largest ethnic group in Ghana and include various subgroups such as the Asante, Fanti, Brong, Banda, Adanse, Assin, Twifo, Denkyera, Akyem, Wassa, and Akwamu. The Akans mainly live in the south-west and central areas of Ghana and speak various dialects of the Akan language, particularly the two very similar languages of Twi and Fanti (see also Lentz 2000). The northern ethnic groups (mainly referred to as Northerners) are also very diverse and speak an array of different, though at times similar and related, languages. Likewise, they observe various religious practices and beliefs. Some of the northern ethnic groups include the Dagomba, the Mamprusi, the Guan, and the Fulani. The majority of the northern peoples speak and understand Dagbane and different dialects of the Ga language. Also, living in south-eastern Ghana are the Ewe and the Ga ethnic groups. The Ewe speak a version of the Kwa language, otherwise known as Ewe; and the Ga also speak a variant of Kwa language. The Volta region is also home to an ethnic group known as Adangme, whose members speak similar and interrelated versions of the Adangme language. About 65 per cent of Ghanaians live in rural areas, while 35 per cent live in urban centres (see also Lentz 2000; Dakubu 1988; Gaisie 1976). By and large, over seven million Ghanaians speak the Akan language and its various subgroupings. Close to two million speak Ewe, and over a million speak the closely related Ga and Adangbe (see also Lentz 2000; Awoniyi 1982). English was imposed on Ghanaians and other West African nations during the colonial period, from approximately the 1880s to the 1960s. According to the 1992 UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, the overall literacy rate in Ghana is 64 per cent. As to religion, the majority of Ghanaians adhere to Christianity, followed by Islam. There are also other traditional Ghanaian religions that are practised among various tribal and ethnic groups. However, the public observation of traditional religious practices is not encouraged and the followers of these religions usually practise their faith away from the public eye. Table 1.1 shows some characteristics of Ghana's officially recognized languages and their speakers. As Dei (2003, 2004) has observed, Ghana's educational system has suffered in recent years from a number of serious problems, including chronic under-funding; a lack of resources and infrastructural support, including shortages of basic textbooks and instructional materials; the

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 31 Table 1.1 Ethnic/linguistic composition of Ghana's population (total 19,162,000; literacy rate 64%) Language/ethnic group

Population

Area of residency

Akan

7,000,000

Dagaare (Southern) Dangme Dagbani

1 ,200,000 825,900 540,000 1,615,700 300,000 250,000 100,000 285,800 121,200 99,100 6,824,300

South-central/south-east (including Asante Twi, Fante, and Akuapem Twi) North-west Volta region/east Central/northern Volta region/east Central West/central North/central Central North/central North-west

Ewe Ga Gonja Kasem Nzema Sisaala/Tumulung Wali Other

Sources: The above figures are taken from Ethnologue (2002), an online document: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Ghana. C.Lentz, Ethnicity in Ghana: The Limits of Invention (Houndmills, Basingstoke, and Hampshire: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press, 2000). United Nations, World Population Prospects, The 1994 Revision (New York, 1995). UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook 1995 (Pans, 1995). M.E. Kropp Dakubu, The Languages of Ghana (London: KPI, 1988). E. Hall, Ghanaian Languages (Accra: Asempa Publishers, 1983) S.K. Gaisie, The Population of Ghana ([Paris]: CICRED, 1976).

absence of a skilled and professional workforce; low teacher morale resulting from poor service conditions; a lax teacher-training and professional-development focus; and the lack of adequate supervision of trained personnel (see also Nti 1997). These concerns, coupled with a desire that education meet local needs and promote global development, have been at the root of a number of the educational reforms pursued by various governments. General educational reforms are normally instituted to respond to perceived problems in the school system. However, problems such as stagnating school enrolments, lack of textbooks and instructional materials, inadequacy of teacher training, diminishing educational finances, and inefficiency in educational administration and management practices have afflicted not only Ghana but much of Africa. But while many of these problems have been of long standing, others can be attributed to the dis-

32 Schooling and Difference in Africa

mal failure of the post-colonial, patriarchal state in altering the existing system to reflect changing times, circumstances, and social realities. The educational reforms initiated in Ghana in 1987 sought to address some of these problems, with a particular focus on school restructuring and curriculum development. Among the structural changes implemented in the mid-1980s was a new basic education cycle consisting of six years of primary and three years of junior secondary schooling (JSS). This was to be followed by three years of senior secondary schooling (SSS), after which the student could enter university, polytechnic, initial teacher training, or other tertiary institutions (see also Akyeampong and Levin 2002). These structural changes were accomplished by curricular reform. At the primary and middle school levels, in addition to Englishlanguage skills, local languages, general mathematics, and general science, courses in life skills, vocational and technical skills, technical drawing, social studies, and cultural studies were introduced. At the SSS level, the traditional core courses of English, mathematics, agricultural science, and Ghanaian languages were retained, while new elective courses included business management, home economics, and general arts and science (see also Afenyadu 1998, 14). While the reforms sought to promote educational change, they suffered from the fact that Ghanaian educators were ill prepared to handle the new curriculum elements in the primary and secondary levels of education (Ghana, Ministry of Education 1990; Agboka 2000). Furthermore, the reforms did not consider seriously enough the socio-political factors that impede or facilitate the implementation of successful reforms - for instance, working with the local knowledge of educators, providing incentives for field implementers to have a stake in the reforms, and so forth. Nor were they successful in responding to the socio-cultural values that affect how education is understood in local contexts (Bame 1991; Tabulawal997). As part of the 1980s and 1990s reforms, new syllabi/school curricula placed emphasis on mathematics, science, technology, social sciences, and technical skills. This was intended to ensure that courses offered at the primary and secondary school levels served local needs and concerns by providing the requisite tools for industrial, social, and economic development. The goal behind the educational initiatives targeted at tertiary education was to allocate more resources for the purpose of improving both 'access to' and 'the quality of education at the basic level. Thus, the reduction in the length of pre-university schooling was compensated for by increasing the length of the school year from thirty-five weeks to forty

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 33

weeks (see for example Ghana, Ministry of Education 1990, 2). The overall economic and political objective of the reforms was to increase cost effectiveness and cost-recovery through the effective use of resources and the active involvement of parents, communities, and private business groups in funding education. This funding was to be directed at such areas as school infrastructure, the construction of buildings and schooling spaces, the provision of comfortable accommodations, furnishings, tools, and equipment for workshops, and so forth. It is important to note that as part of the reform objectives, user fees for various school services, equipment, and laboratories (e.g., health service fees, sports and recreational fees, textbook and stationery fees), including parent-teacher association fees, and room and board charges for institutions of higher learning, have been introduced throughout the country. The state also reduced recurrent expenditures on staff, staff training, and textbooks. In a similar vein, later reforms have encouraged the idea of 'community-based' schools. All primary and secondary schools (including technical and vocational institutes) built during the reform period have been community-based institutions intended to draw the student population from surrounding towns, villages, and cities. They have larger student populations and have made secondary education accessible to a greater number of students than was the case in the past, when a significant proportion of the secondary schools were boarding institutions. To some educational practitioners, the idea of community-based schooling is also an attempt to deal with the problem of regional, sectoral, and socio-economic disparities (i.e., north-south, rural-urban, and poor-rich) in education. Other significant changes under the 'improved reform' package entail the inclusion of religious or moral education that emphasizes religious and cultural values at both the basic and senior secondary levels. Included also are the teaching of additional Ghanaian languages, life skills, and cultural studies, which are aimed at broadening the students' African and locally oriented knowledge. The poor academic performance of students has been a flashpoint for a reconsideration of the 1980s reforms, in terms of both the content of curriculum and the structure of schooling (see also Dei 1999; Nyalemegbe 1997). In 2000 a new Ghanaian government appointed a committee to review the reforms of the late 1980s and 1990s. As part of the measures to review national education, the government made some key rearrangements. For example, the use of the English language as the medium of instruction at the lower primary school level instead of the local vernacular is now officially sanctioned. Understandably, there have

34 Schooling and Difference in Africa

been critics of such a move (see for example Dei and Asgharzadeh 2003). Similarly, the government has called for the re-institution of individual school uniforms for various schools at the basic education level. The previous government had instituted one type of uniform for all basic schools in the country. While the new government has promised to provide these uniforms for all students at the primary level, it is not exactly clear how this will be implemented. Under pleas from the arts community for the government to revamp arts education in Ghana's basic education curriculum, the state is also seriously entertaining the teaching of arts and crafts as a core subject in the basic curriculum. At the moment, one can only say there is a rhetorical emphasis on teaching Ghanaian culture, arts, and heritage. Promoting culture and arts education is a laudable goal, as such teaching is widely seen as enhancing individual and collective creativity. Artistic skills and creative works are essential for mental and spiritual development, and one only hopes that concrete measures can be implemented to actualize the rhetoric of arts education. It can safely be said that throughout Ghana's history, educational reforms have not targeted questions of difference in ways that work powerfully with the implications of social difference for schooling strategies. A differential allocation of resources exists among social groups and economic sectors just as they exist in different regions of the country. Yet the cost of schooling has always served as a barrier for educational attainment. The disproportionality in ethnic and socio-economic background of the students in 'high and low status' secondary schools appears to have been widening over the last four decades (see also King and Martin 2002, 22-3). Foster's early work on ethnicity and education (1962, 1963) is relevant to this discussion. What is needed now is a more in-depth investigation to address the intricacies and implications of social difference for Ghanaian schooling. Of equal importance, the significance of community involvement in addressing educational inequities has not been critically examined. Community involvement in educational matters is crucial to the extent that the voices of local communities can be the voices of difference. Chapman et al., in their recent study on educational decentralization (2002), rightly note that 'the importance of community involvement in ... local schools is widely accepted as a positive and important strategy for education development' (188). Communities are rich sources of knowledge that can be utilized to promote change and transformation. In addition, communities have their own views of their schools, which can

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 35

be both complementary to, as well as different from, the voices of formal educators and educationists. Communities have an understanding of their schools' effectiveness and they cannot be dismissed when initiatives to bring about educational change are put forward. Community members have a good understanding of local conditions that affect their schools and are thus in the best position to make decisions about educational processes that best serve local needs (Chapman et al. 2002). Local communities can join debates about effective schooling practices and offer their insight as to how we can bring about change and promote school improvement through community involvement. Responsibility, however, must be coupled with authority. If school administrators and policy-makers expect local communities to contribute towards enhancing schooling outcomes for youth, then this expectation must be accompanied with a meaningful delegation of authority and a preparedness to both acknowledge and respond to difference. It is also important to note that local communities themselves are not homogenous. They are communities of differences. As a result, addressing the question of schooling and difference through the involvement of local communities must also focus on how the forces of economic, ethnic, gender, and social differentiation mediate local communities to affect schooling. We take the position that local schools are inclusive to the extent that the distribution of resources reaches the different segments of the population represented in the school community. It is therefore imperative that classroom instructional practices, are sensitive to difference, and seriously and passionately work with it (and through it) in the production of knowledge from the community's various social/cultural backgrounds and through the multiplicity of its lived experiences. This, then, is the challenge of genuine educational reform: to move reforms beyond their traditional gaze, from structure and form to content and substance. Who Are Our Audiences?

Every form of research, every work of history, literature, science, and fiction (in a word, every text) has its own audiences. We have embarked on the long journey of writing this book with several audiences in mind. For students, teachers, educators and the general public in Ghana, this book offers a reflection on the multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-religious, and multilingual mosaic that is Ghana. It provides a chance for members of the dominant groups in Ghana to see how members of minoritized and marginalized communities view the dominant majority themselves, and

36 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Ghanaian society. Alternatively, minority groups are presented with a similar view from the point of view of the majority. For Ghanaian teachers, educators, and educationists, this book is a reminder of the responsibility they have vis-a-vis the implementation of inclusive schooling practices. It also stands as a reminder in the same vein to various governing bodies, policy-makers, officials, and education administrators in positions of decision-making and authority. As reflected throughout this book, Ghana is a part of Africa and the problems that it faces are in essence 'Thus, African problems.' African readers may look at this work as a catalyst for initiating similar studies and changes in their own respective communities. The Canadian reader will find in this work some strong signs of possibilities that the current multicultural education in Canada can offer to African and Southern communities. Canadians can see in this book that our multiculturalism and celebration of difference and diversity are invaluable socio-political sources that other communities can learn about and benefit from. On the other hand, the book offers some bitter criticism of the obvious shortcomings of'multicultural education,' in so far as multiculturalism limits itself to certain superficialities and does not dare to challenge the real issues of power and injustice embedded in social structures. To the readers from the South - or the so-called Third World - we say that there is a lot to be learned from the Ghanaian experience. We hope that those who read this work will think seriously about the realization of inclusive schooling in various Southern countries and of the wider sociopolitical implication that such a realization entails. Finally, to international audiences, this work is a reminder of the undeniability and irrefutability of the existence of difference and diversity among student populations and of their larger social, political, and global significance. The issues raised here represent some of the pivotal concerns and questions that must be raised if we are to witness a worldwide celebration of diversity and difference in our highly interdependent and interconnected global village in the twenty-first century. Organzing the Book

This book is divided into eleven chapters, each of which explores a specific aspect of difference and diversity in the context of the Ghanaian schooling system. Chapter 1 has offered a comprehensive introduction to the study, and to various educational concerns, pedagogic issues, and

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 37

problems in Ghana and Africa in general. Moreover, it also points to some major issues of convergence with North American conditions. The chapter highlights the context within which the current project has been carried out, as well as the issues, life experiences, and desires that have brought us to this particular topic. It also provides some basic information about the multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual nature of Ghana's population, while discussing in turn the role of schooling in accounting for such diversity through its dealings with the critical issues that emerge from difference. Chapter 2 is a combination of theory and method. The chapter looks at our discursive framework, and how this has shaped, and is in turn shaped by, our learning/research objectives, the questions we seek to ask, and the method of our research inquiry. The anti-colonial stance represents a key aspect of our research methodology, greatly helping us to frame the level of discussion of the issues in light of the questions asked and the answers provided. This chapter discusses the environment in which the research has taken place, our methods of interviewing and sampling, and the process of selecting individuals for interview. Chapter 3 looks into local perceptions and prevalent notions of 'difference and diversity' from the vantage point of the respondents' ethnic, cultural, gender, and class backgrounds. Factors such as social position, age, level of authority, status, occupation, and place of birth are also taken into account. The arguments in this chapter are based on the realization that the respondents' understandings of difference and diversity differ as a result of their socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity, place of birth, age, sexuality, (dis) ability, and so forth. Articulations of 'minority' and 'majority' concepts are very central to this study. Chapter 4 sets out to explore these areas. Much like the case of difference and diversity, the arguments in the chapter originate from the conceptual position that notions of minority and majority may have different meanings for different individuals, depending on their ethnic background, culture, class, gender, religion, language, and so on. Issues of power, influence, authority, voice, access, size, and quantity are explored in order to reach a clear understanding about what it takes to be 'a majority' and, alternatively, what it means to be 'a minority' in the context of schooling in Ghana. Chapter 5 looks at how ethnicity and power issues are played out in the Ghanaian education system. We explore the perceptions that various ethnic groups hold of each other, themselves, and the multi-ethnic student populations as a whole. The chapter also investigates minority/

38 Schooling and Difference in Africa

majority relations vis-a-vis ethnicity and various ethnic groups. In addition, an exploration of the complexity of ethnic relations in terms of power relations and power configurations is also undertaken. Chapter 6 explores relations of gender and the gender dynamics of schooling. From the narratives of study participants we examine questions such as, What is it like to be a female student or teacher in a Ghanaian school? How do male students, teachers, administrative personnel, and community members view females in general and female student teacher relations in particular? What facilities have the government and the education system put in place to address the gender-based inequality in the Ghanaian schooling system? And finally, how do female students and teachers view gender relations in both Ghanaian society and the Ghanaian education system itself? This chapter shows that the implications of gender and sexuality for schooling cannot be underestimated in any critical analysis of the gendered dimensions of education. Clearly, class and family socio-economic background impact greatly on schooling. For example, one can look at the learner's viewpoint in relation to her/his individual educational aspirations and attainment. Chapter 7, therefore, explores these and other issues related to the economics of schooling. In a broader sense, the chapter looks into the concept of class and the ways in which it is understood and conceptualized in Ghanaian society. The text offers interesting and revealing insights from parents, students, and community members as they struggle through the school system. Poverty-related issues such as the provision of textbooks, the provision of basic nutrition, and the affordability of local transportation to schools (things normally taken for granted in the North American context) are looked at through the eyes of students and other respondents. By and large, the relationship between poverty and schooling constitutes the core of this chapter. Chapter 8 explores issues and concerns emerging from physical (dis) ability and their relevance to schooling in Ghana. Interviews with physically disabled students reveal deep feelings of alienation, discrimination, and marginalization felt by certain students in Ghana. The student narratives also reveal constructive suggestions and solutions that school and university administrations can make use of to effectively address the concerns of disabled students. Language issues and linguistic differences are the focus of chapter 9. Among other things, this chapter challenges the dominant role of English in both Ghanaian society and its education system. It also looks into concerns that emerge from language-based differences in society

Threads of Inclusive Schooling 39

and among the student populations. In a multilingual country like Ghana, it is a real challenge to develop a fair and equitable language policy. The chapter examines the ways through which the Ghanaian education system tries to cope with apparently unsurmountable problems and concerns emerging from linguistic plurality. Religion, spirituality, spiritual practices, and faith-based affiliations also play a major role in the processes of identification and identity formation, and in the development of a sense of belonging. Religion and spirituality serve as powerful markers in the processes of 'etherization,' inclusion, and exclusion. Moreover, religion and spirituality strongly impact on our notions of minority and majority, on who is of a minority and who belongs to the majority. In chapter 10 we explore the ways in which difference, based on religion and spirituality, play out. We point to the ways through which questions of class, ethnicity, gender, and language mediate discussions of religiosity and spirituality in the local context. Chapter 11 takes a comparative look at issues of difference and diversity in the Ghanaian and Canadian education systems. While highlighting the differences in terms of historical, economic, socio-political, and technological developments in the two countries, the chapter moves on to relate these issues to more concrete problems and challenges of schooling in the two multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual societies. Our arguments follow from an understanding that there is much to be learned from the experiences of dealing with difference and diversity in pluralistic settings. The chapter draws on the preceding discussions, spelling out the broader theoretical, philosophical, and practical implications of dealing with difference for Ghanaian and African schooling. It also reflects on the significance of engaging difference in terms of thinking through genuine education with options. It brings together the threads of theory and practice, the findings of research, and the emerging significant patterns within the learning process. While re-emphasizing the salient arguments and objectives raised in the book, the final chapter underlines the course of future research. We conclude by highlighting the relevance of our study to the search for genuine and viable options for Africa, placing emphasis on reciprocal learning from the North American and African experiences, particularly in relation to the education of youths of African descent.

2 Understanding Difference: Method and Practice

This book emerges from the findings of a three-year fieldwork study conducted on African education with a research focus on the Ghanaian school system. The original research study was funded under a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) grant awarded to one of the authors, George J. Sefa Dei, as principal investigator. We (as authors of this book) have all been involved in the project through various stages since its inception. The original research study had three learning objectives. First, to obtain in-depth, site-specific ethnographic information on exemplary practices that promote educational equity and academic excellence for all students from the vantage points of the students themselves, as well as their parents, educators, and school administrators. Second, to conduct a critical examination of innovative practices of inclusive education that specifically address the educational needs of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, sexual, and working-class minorities, women, and otherwise disempowered, disabled, and disadvantaged bodies and groups. The research would explore how educational institutions (primary/basic, secondary/college, and university) deal with questions of difference in the context of ongoing educational reforms in Ghana. Third, the study would make relevant connections between patterns in African educational reform and the implications for educating particularly (but not exclusively) African and minority youth in North American contexts. In the original plan of study, the project was designed to be conducted over a three-year period, where each year comprised two work phases. Each year's work involved conducting intensive ethnographic field research in Ghana from early May each year to the end of August. On returning to Canada, the subsequent eight-month period, from Septem-

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 41

her to April, was to be devoted to further interviews with Ghanaian-born nationals resident in Canada, as well as to the preparation of interview transcriptions, data analysis, documentation, and reports on the findings. In Year 1 (May 1999 to April 2000), while simultaneously conducting an extensive review of local texts, relevant curricular materials, and, more broadly, the scholarly literature on minority education in Ghana, Africa, and the developing world, researchers would solicit the views of prominent educational theorists and practitioners in both Ghana and Canada. In Year 2 (May 2000 to April 2001), researchers would combine in-depth individual and focus-group interviews with instructors, students, and parents at Ghanaian universities, noting their pioneering work on indigenous knowledge along with classroom observation of specific educational (pedagogic, instructional, and curricular) practices designed to enhance inclusive schooling. In Year 3 (May 2001 to April 2002) there would be further intensive field ethnographic research in primary/secondary schools and colleges located in culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse Ghanaian regional centres. Interviews with teachers, students, and a select number of Ghanaian parents were augmented by classroom observation and then complemented by interviews held later in Canada with Ghanaian-born college/university students. (Interviews with Ghanaianborn high school students and their parents followed in Canada, and will be the subject of a forthcoming project.) Due to an outstanding commitment to a previous SSHRC project (specifically work towards the publication of a book and a teacher's manual on inclusive schooling in Canada), the current research project began a year later than originally planned. When it finally got off the ground, actual fieldwork for the study extended over three years (2000-1 to 20023), with three main research phases. The principal investigator (PI) worked with a number of graduate students at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), with undergraduate students at local universities in Ghana, as well as with local college graduates. A total of four OISE/UT students have travelled with the PI to Ghana during the various research phases: one student in each of the first two years and two students in the third research year. In terms of research accomplishments, in Phase One (2000-1) a total of sixty-two interviews were conducted with the following breakdown. In the spring of 2000, twenty Ghanaian-born educators now residing in Canada (some of whom currently work as school and college teachers and social workers) were individually interviewed. During the course of fieldwork in Ghana in the summer of 2002, there were also thirty-two individ-

42 Schooling and Difference in Africa -

ual interviews with Ghanaian educationists at the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service, with college teachers at two senior secondary schools (SSS), as well as with prominent Ghanaian educators noted for their contributions to the field of education. Also, ten international students studying at the University of Ghana, Legon, were interviewed. This research phase began with a look at policy documents at the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service in Accra, along with field ethnographic observations of classroom teachers holding summer classes at the Ghana Secondary School, the Pope John Secondary School, and the SDA Training College, all in the eastern region of Ghana. In Phase Two (2001-2), a total of sixty-six individual in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions were conducted. The breakdown included twenty Ghanaian-born students now living in Canada and attending Canadian universities, interviewed individually in the spring of 2001, followed by field research in Ghana in the summer of 2001. During this phase of research, forty-six Ghanaian students attending local universities were interviewed in the following order: the University of Ghana, Legon (3 students); Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (11 students); University College of Education at Winneba (9 students); and the University of Cape Coast (23 students). In addition four university lecturers from Winneba and one from Cape Coast were also interviewed. Also, four focus-group discussions were conducted with the university students. The interviews were supplemented with ethnographic observations of summer classes held at Winneba. In the third and final phase of the field-research activity (2002-3), a total of thirty-one individual in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions were held, centring on the junior and senior secondary schools (JSS and SSS) as well as university and college levels, there were (5) Ghanaianborn high school students in Canada interviewed in the spring of 2002; then, in the summer of 2002, there were interviews with four JSS students and seven of their teachers in the Winneba area, four focus-group discussions with the JSS students, as well as interviews with ten college/SSS students and five university students at Winneba. In the summer of 2003, as part of cross-checking our research interpretations of the study participants, we conducted an additional ten interviews with university students and educators. Also, there were four focus-group discussions with JSS students and their teachers in the Winneba area. Throughout this study, our research methodological approach was framed to give voice to local subjects by allowing them to construct their subjectivities and to tell their stories about their understandings of and responses to difference and

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 43

diversity. A qualitative approach to data gathering that solicited the views of the study participants as to their understandings of difference and inclusivity was preferred in order to capture the in-depth understandings that subjects have of and about their own experiences of schooling. The selection of the study sample was done randomly. In some universities, students were selected with the help of educators, school administrators, and student leaders. In other cases we accessed students through contacts on campuses with other students and also while they were vacationing in their home towns during the summer holidays. For primary and secondary schools we approached teachers and school administrators to provide us with a list for the students that we could select from. Educators were given the criteria for the students we wanted for the study (e.g., diverse ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds, different academic programs, and different stages of study). The interviews and focus-group discussions were primarily done on school compounds between the researchers and students, involving students responding to some open-ended questions around how schools dealt with difference and diversity. To contact college and university students, we visited university campuses and accessed students either through the lecturers or the dean of students. We also made contact with study participants through student leaders and peers/friends of those interviewed. Not all interviews were conducted on university campuses. In fact, in many cases we relied on university students (from all three major universities) vacationing in their local municipalities for interviews through contacts with educators and other student peers. In all cases, the selection of interviewees was made to ensure a diverse group of students to work with. In some college and university campuses we conducted ethnographic studies of schools, including classroom observations of students in summer remedial classes (i.e., sandwich programs). Ghanaian-born students and educators resident in Canada were approached through schools, local churches, and community organizations in the Ontario region. Our community involvement proved extremely helpful in putting us in contact with a number of these educators and students. There is a large Ghanaian community in Ontario, specifically in Toronto. Most of these families have migrated to Canada since the 1980s and have put down roots with their families. These families come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and include middleclass professionals and working-class families. Many of the individuals are educators who taught in schools in Ghana and now teach or study in

44 Schooling and Difference in Afric

Canadian schools. Some immigrant adults have moved into new occupations, but are able to recall their schooling experiences in Ghana. Some of the Ghanaian-born students studying in Canada have come with their parents as youths, with some level of schooling in Ghana, and are pursuing higher education at the college and university levels in Canada. These students either fund their own education or receive parental support. Some of them also receive government scholarships and loans. Also found in the sample of Ghanaian Canadian students are youths who are currently in high school in Canada after receiving part of their initial education in Ghana. In some cases, we visited the homes, schools, and workplaces of study participants on arranged dates to carry out these interviews. Study participants were asked to respond to open-endeded questions in semi-structured interview settings. Participants were given time to reflect on their responses to our questions, while being encouraged to bring in other issues of interest regarding questions of difference and diversity in schooling. They were asked to speak from their subjective vantage points, giving their accounts of how they saw schooling and their presence in a community of learners and educators. In the individual interviews, participants were asked about their understandings of notions of difference and diversity, of inclusion and exclusion in schools, and of minority/majority relations in the school system; about what they liked and disliked about their schools and why; and about how they saw schools responding to their ethnicity, language, religion, culture, physical ability, social class and gender backgrounds. The respondents were also asked to comment on the significance of their identities for schooling and knowledge production. They explored issues of marginality, dominance, and subordination and power as they were played out in their daily interactions in schools. The focus-group discussions presented opportunities for researchers to tease out the contentions in subject voices as participants were asked to respond to issues emerging from the individual interviews. The direction of the research questions in exploring the power relations of schooling was significant in relation to what may be termed a 'critical ethnography of schooling.' Work undertaken in Ghana on inclusive schooling (particularly the incorporation of indigenous knowledge into the formal educational system) has been important, but largely uncoordinated, fragmentary, and sporadic rather than comprehensive and coherent. Moreover, it has not been disseminated in a form that meets the concrete needs of policymakers, teachers, students, and parents. Beyond remedying these deficiencies, the study's methodological approach was designed and

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 45

intended so as to make the findings significant for Canadian application. For instance, a possibility of sharing the findings with Canadian, as well as Ghanaian, educators, schools, and communities was considered for the purpose of enhancing educational outcomes for all learners in both contexts. As a result, in this book we make relevant connections between African educational patterns and their implications for educating African and minority youth in North American contexts. Gaining Entry, Field Data Collection, and Analysis

In developing the research project, the PI solicited ideas and input from local scholars to help formulate the goals and objectives of the study. Ghanaian educators currently residing in Canada have also been relied upon in helping to bring clarity to the objectives of the field study in Ghana. In each of the three major research phases, actual research has proceeded by identifying Ghanaian students or educators in Canada for interviews. These interviews have helped sharpen the research questions for the Ghanaian component of our fieldwork. As already noted, the PI had conducted a previous study on educational reforms in Ghana and had used the occasion of doing research in Ghanaian schools to identify schools, colleges, universities, and individual scholars to consult for a future study of schooling and social difference. Thus, the PI was able to secure entry to research sites through personal contacts and prior knowledge of the local school systems. Research began with initial inquiries and correspondence with a few Ghanaian educators and with Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service personnel who were quite helpful with their assistance in accessing data and in making contacts with other local educators and schools for researchers to visit. These discussions involved explaining and exploring the learning and research objectives of the study. Upon our arrival in the country, we followed up on these initial contacts and later settled on specific schools and regions to visit. During each of the three years of our fieldwork, we visited schools and colleges from different parts of the country. Schools were selected based on regional and sectoral differences. Among the urban schools, the emphasis was placed on those that had a very diverse student population. For effective sampling purposes, it was important to include a teacher training institute, a college of education, a university with special focus on education, a science resource centre, plus an array of schools and colleges. These institutions were located in metropolitan centres and held a cross-section of the Ghanaian popula-

46

Schooling and Difference in Africa . .

tion. Educationists were selected for interviews who were noted for their contributions to the field of education in Ghana. Interviews with Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service personnel reflected the activities of those individuals at various levels of policy development and implementation. In individual interviews local participants were asked to reflect on the Ghanaian school system and their own understandings of inclusivity and of what it meant to promote inclusive learning. The selection of interview participants reflected differences in ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, gender, physical ability, and class backgrounds. Study participants were asked to identify school support systems and resources that were needed to effect inclusive schooling in local contexts. Students were questioned about their views on inclusion in education and the extent to which their schools were taking into account their ethnicity, culture, history, religion, gender, and socio-economic background. Classroom observations involved looking at specific educational (pedagogic, instructional, and curricular) teaching practices that promoted minority education and enhanced inclusive schooling. Through the individual interviews, focus-group discussions, and classroom observations, we explored the ways in which educators dealt with difference and diversity in student populations and how they worked to promote an inclusive learning environment. These observations have informed the interpretation of the interviews. Data analysis has focused on identifying specific educational strategies in the use of curricular resources and texts, pedagogical practices, and classroom instruction to develop ongoing relationships and communication with students, parents, and the larger community. For example, our discussions and explorations have focused on how educators integrate diverse histories, experiences, and viewpoints into teaching and learning practices; on how schools promote inclusive learning, taking into account students' concerns and interests around ethnicity, culture, language, and difference; and on the extent of school support activities and events aimed at full inclusion of all students. While each research phase has seen some preliminary data analysis, it was in the third year that we placed emphasis on a comprehensive data analysis. Research data have been analysed qualitatively for general trends about innovative inclusive practices and for the implication of these practices for educational change in Africa. Through triangulation, we have been able to compare individual narratives between and among students and teachers at the primary, college, and university levels. This in turn has helped us in identifying and locating a number of general patterns.

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 47

It is important for us to say a few words about the coding as well. As with other research conducted by the PI (see Dei, Mazzuca, Mclsaac, and Zine 1997; Dei, James, James-Wilson, Karumanchery, and Zine 2000; Dei, James-Wilson, and Zine 2002; Dei 2004), this study also involved a number of OISE/UT students working on data analysis, including all the authors. Apart from field data collection, a collaborative team approach was employed in the data analysis and related activities such as interview transcriptions, the sorting of data, and the preliminary dissemination of findings. Files of the taped transcriptions were coded and entered into Nudist, the program for qualitative data analysis. Before systematically entering the coded transcripts into the program, there were various stages of revision to the coding process. The processes informed one another and an effort was made to maintain consistency. In the course of this study, we secured a large amount of research information while in the field. From the perspective of qualitative analysis, the number of transcripts posed challenges in terms of keeping the number of codes manageable while not losing the detail of similarities, differences, stories, patterns, and emerging themes. As well, the diversity in the subject positions of the persons interviewed (e.g., secondary school and university students from different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, and regions, and of both genders, secondary school teachers, university instructors, educational officials from the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, parents of both genders and of different income and educational backgrounds) meant that it was particularly important to tease out the tensions and contradictions in subject narratives. The different processes of coding helped provide a more systematic analysis of the excerpts within this research context. We made the decision to develop more uniform terms while examining the transcripts of the secondary school students. This draft system of codes was then tested across the other blocks of transcripts. Taking the approach of developing a code list from the perspective of high school and university students was based on the fact that they would be the constituent population interviewed for this research to be most directly affected by the question of difference. From this initial process, we added information emerging from other files to the list of code words. It was as if we were working our way through the rims of a circle, beginning with the students, moving out to the teachers, university instructors, the Ministry of Education officials, and the parents, guardians, and local community workers. Interviews were conducted using interview guides. All interviews were

48 Schooling and Difference in Africa

taped and transcribed verbatim in order that the analysis be directly connected to the data. The use of interview guides at the data collection stages also contributed to the process of seeking to obtain and maintain a consistent system for analyses. Throughout the data analysis process, we made notes in the transcripts highlighting issues of theoretical and practical significance. Critical examinations of these significant issues noted in the transcripts (as separate from the actual codes) provided additional insights on issues not coded, since they did not show up repeatedly. We also flagged interesting discussions or comments on some of the issues so that the analysis included not only the frequency of a critique or issue (commonality), but also its presentation in an interesting, insightful, or comprehensive way. We also looked for concrete examples of critical issues and cases flagged in the transcripts. Study participants spoke about various aspects of acknowledging and responding to difference and diversity in the student population. Participants were encouraged to speak about issues from their different social positions. An analysis of the individual perspectives reveals general patterns as well as differing opinions, depending on the participants' standpoints. Through these in-depth individual interviews and student focus groups, study participants were asked for their perceptions of inclusive schooling and the challenges of minority education. Interviews were also supplemented with classroom and school observations in order to better examine teaching and instructional practices and social arrangements. Included as well was a study of published work on educational change in African contexts. The interview findings (qualitative research) have been written up from the experiential context of the participants, from their voices, their everyday realities, and the tensions and struggles they express with regard to many issues: of language, of culture, of educational access and portability, of the economics of education, in terms not only related to funding and public and/or private administration and governance, but universality of access to basic education and educational resources to support the learning needs of low-income children from urban and rural communities. The study has used participants' words to describe situations and to bring forth the tensions, struggles, contradictions, and ambiguities in subject(ive) accounts regarding the challenges of dealing with difference and diversity. As noted elsewhere (Dei 2003), the importance of 'voice' in educational research cannot be overemphasized. Voices convey personal feelings, thoughts, desires, and politics. Voices allow readers to bring their own interpretations to the data. By inserting the actual voices of par-

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 49

ticipants, the text moves beyond an abstract theoretical discussion of inclusive schooling. In fact, the voices of different subjects (students, teachers, and community educators) reveal a nuanced interpretation of what inclusive education means. For a critical researcher the careful analysis of voices can offer detailed insights into specific situations, including past and present historical contexts that have contributed to the knowledge and standpoint of participants. In deciding on quotes to highlight, we have chosen voices that not only represent different aspects of the issues but also show a sophisticated understanding of the complexities and relations of difference. The diversity reflected in the selection of the study sample (ethnic, linguistic, religious, gender, physical ability, and social class differences) has enriched the findings of the study in terms of the data and its research interpretation. Majority-group views were used to cross-reference those of ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. There was a conscious search for counter-patterns in subject interpretations and accounts of schooling experiences around social difference. Furthermore, the use of multiple methods through the process of triangulation (e.g., in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions, and ethnographic observations of actual classroom and schooling practices) ensured that multiple views on issues have been sought. The researchers' prior knowledges on inclusive schooling also assisted in providing a critical self-reflection on the local voices. As a consequence, our assumptions as researchers have been affected by the logic of the data. Using a critical ethnographic approach, we paid particular attention to the examination of the nature of power relations in schooling. This study of difference is about power and the power hierarchies of schooling. With this in mind, we focused our gaze on the intricacies of the social inequities of schooling and the complexities of students' schooling experiences, while documenting, at the same time, resistances and student agencies. In presenting the data we have allowed space for the participants' views of schooling relations and for examining how such relations inform their interpretations of lived realities in the context of difference. In some cases, study participants were able to discuss how their experiences of schooling connect to the broader structural and macro-forces of society. After lengthy discussions, reviews, and analyses, we identified an array of different but interconnected and interrelated topics, questions, and concerns related to inclusive schooling in Ghana. By way of an example, let us note the host of concepts and terms that were frequently used by

50 Schooling and Difference in Africa

the respondents to conceptualize and to make sense of notions of inclusivity and exclusivity. In a sense, the various arguments and chapters in the book are designed and based on these concepts as they were used by the respondents in varied ways. These concepts/terms include: difference; powerful; influential; rich; wealthy; parents; connections; others; tradition; gender; domination; minority; majority; in terms of number/ power/influence; experience; ethnic background; tribe; the nation; class background; education; age; culture; religion; language; English; Ghanaian languages; physical ability; access; opportunity; equal access; admission; favouritism; nepotism; Christians; Moslems; traditional; religions; marriage; patriarchy; representation; role model; history; colonial rule; independence; commonalities; things that divide us; things that we have in common; conflict; tension; cooperation; respect; mutual respect; fairness; same; sameness; impartial; treatment; differential treatment; language use; curriculum; silence; dialogue; speaking up; classroom interaction; textbook; authority; facilities; centralism; centralized education; region; regional disparity; poor regions; rural areas; poverty; old generation; age; jobs; good jobs; immigration; abroad. With the permission of participants, interviews were taped and transcribed. Pseudonyms were used to identify study participants on all research tapes and in transcripts, notes, and electronic documentation. The identity of each participant will remain confidential and all names are being kept in confidential files locked in a filing cabinet to which only the researcher and research assistants will have access until the disposal of all data. Audiotapes were transcribed immediately following interviews and will be erased once transcripts have been verified by the researcher and the participants. Following the conclusion of data analysis, other documents (computer diskettes and paper copies), including field notes, taped interviews, and transcriptions containing confidential information, will be kept in a locked file drawer in a locked room in secure filing cabinets in the Project Office in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies OISE/UT for a period of up to ten years. After that time has elapsed, either the archival period will be renewed for another ten years, or all documents will be destroyed and securely disposed of in sealed boxes as classified waste. We will erase all audiotapes and files on diskette, and black out any proper names or sensitive information, including records containing personal/contact information on paper copies, before shredding these documents. In addition, we will dispose of all paper materials and other confidential research materials in recycling boxes securely sealed and marked 'classified waste.'

Understanding Difference: Method and practice 51 The Research Team

The benefits of a team approach to research and scientific investigation are clearly immense. The involvement of a number of individuals in a research project is very advantageous for the sharing and airing of knowledge and ideas. We have learned a lot from each other through our critical questionings and comments, a process that has helped us to sharpen our study focus and to revisit the conduct of the study. Collaborative and cooperative work with Canadian and Ghanaian students has brought forth the issue of 'researching back' (Smith 1999), that is to say, giving back to the research communities the knowledge that one has secured. We have instituted a phase of reporting back by putting into practice some of the research knowledge acquired through working with local schoolteachers. Part of the exercise has also focused on helping to strengthen the local capacity for undertaking their own research initiatives. A team approach has made it possible for research assistants to develop a 'sense of ownership and commitment' to the study that has enabled us to explore many aspects of the research objectives. Having a research team of diverse backgrounds (ethnic, national, gender, religious, and cultural) has been helpful not only in examining questions of inclusive schooling for a diverse student body, but also in facilitating access to diverse communities for data collection. In a research team approach, research study always has to deal with the crucial issue of negotiating power, knowledge reproduction, and their correlations. Rather than seeing such an issue as a 'difficulty,' we saw it as a challenge leading to various possibilities. Researchers working collaboratively have to be prepared to learn from other members of the team. Each member of a team has useful intellectual insights that serve to enrich the end product. In this book we have utilized the knowledge gained through existing international educational literature and ongoing research studies in global contexts. Within transnational contexts the educational goal of creating a common citizenry has been a laudable objective for all of us. Some communities have been more successful than others in balancing the requirements of common citizenship with the challenges of responding to diversity and difference. In other words, in these communities the search for nationhood has not been used to deny the tensions of difference. But in many cases, education, rather than being a perfect tool for social mobility, has been a mechanism to reproduce glaring social disparities and inequities structured along the lines of ethnicity,

52 Schooling and Difference in Africa

culture, language, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, and class. These inequities are likely to be exacerbated given the current forces of globalization and the 'marketization of education.' If this pattern is to be disrupted in many communities, we will have to learn the about successes and failures of countries across geographical spaces. Education must be a tool for social transformation. The international aspect of this research project aims to make relevant connections between patterns in educational change in Africa and Canada by drawing out the implications for educating particularly (but not exclusively) African and minority youth in North American contexts. Discursive/Theoretical Framework

We espouse the position that a researcher cannot undertake research for change in Africa without bringing a critical discursive lens or a theoretical stance to the discussion of the subject matter. It is this conviction that has led us to work within the anti-colonial framework in terms of how we have approached and/or understood our research questions and the learning objectives of the study. The challenge of dealing with difference in African educational contexts requires a discursive framework that allows us to tease out the ways that colonial relations are reproduced in schooling through the affirmation or denial of difference. Such frameworks must engage the various intersecting and interlocking aspects of difference in relation to power and privilege. The framework must also acknowledge how certain forms of difference often take precedence over others relative to the specifics of socio-historical context and the production/reproduction of colonial relations. Employing a critical discursive framework is an important step away from discursive strategies that effectively reproduce bland liberal notions of 'sameness' that prevent educators from engaging difference. A critical discursive stance allows us to maintain a broad focus on difference while at the same time addressing the saliency of specific forms of difference. This approach also leaves space for educators to engage the strategies of addressing differences in schooling by moving in new and creative ways to address the production of colonial relations and resistant knowledges. They are enabled to do this by reflecting on multiple ways of knowing and through sensible evaluations of local needs, facilities, and possibilities. We utilized an anti-colonial discursive framework (see also Dei 1999; Dei and Asgharzadeh 2001) to understand issues of, and questions about, culture, social difference, identity, and representation in schooling.

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 53

'Colonial' is conceptualized not simply as 'foreign' or 'alien,' but rather as 'imposed' and 'dominating.' The anti-colonial framework is a theorization of issues emerging from colonial relations. More specifically, it emerges from an interrogation of the configurations of power embedded in knowledge production, evaluation, and dissemination. In this framework, marginalized groups are seen as being subjects of their own experiences and histories (see also Fanon 1963; Memmi 1965; Foucault 1980). Similarly, knowledge is understood to emanate from multiple sources, conditions, and sites, such as gender, ethnicity, class, culture, religion, language, disability, age, sexuality, and lived experiences. Seen this way, locally produced knowledge reflecting cultural history and social interactions is deemed important. Thus, knowledge is considered socially and politically relevant if it maintains a fit with people's aspirations, lived experiences, histories, and practices. The conceptual approach to this research project, therefore, examines the formal and informal cultures that can animate school practices, as well as the social and institutional forces that constrain knowledge production, its use, and its dissemination in both marginalized communities and dominant contexts. An anti-colonial discursive framework helps us to understand Ghanaian schooling as a process that evolved within a colonial history. The 'colonial' experience and contexts came with their own relations of power that produced a foreign-indigenous hybrid. From the colonial period into the post-colonial social order, this hybrid continues to differentially advantage/disadvantage social groups. Before the advent of colonialism, African communities were small, independent, and yet connected entities. The official stamp of colonization banded communities together in much larger components referred to as 'countries' or 'nation-states.' The resulting social order highlighted issues of social difference not only because different ethnic groups existed within the country, but more so because colonization rearranged previously existing power relations. For example, where traditional authority structures could not be accommodated within the emerging power structures of colonial administration, they were subverted to suit colonial authority and colonizing power relations. Within the nation-state, new 'relations of ruling' arose through the imposition of asymmetrical power relations among groups. Throughout the course of Ghana's history, traditional social relations have continually been restructured to meet the exigencies of post-colonial times. Consequently, within colonial and post-colonial contexts the definitions of social categories and markers such as gender, class, ethnicity, religion,

54 Schooling and Difference in Africa

and even the notions of'state,' 'nation,' and 'country' have all been redefined in terms of the ensuing relations of power governing traditional authority structures and colonial and post-colonial relations of ruling. We note that in Ghana, as in much of Africa, colonial education was concentrated in certain parts of the country. Since schooling came with power and prestige, the differential power relations among groups were deeply entrenched by the colonial encounter. Today, schooling continues to bestow elite membership status. Individual access to both the level and kind of education, as well as the utility of the product of education (i.e., educational/cultural capital), is substantially determined by the inherent power relations. Difference in the Ghanaian and African 'postcolonial' schooling contexts can, and must, therefore, be analysed within the prism of the relationship between the 'colonized' and the 'colonizers' (Memmi 1965). Such analysis must include the distribution of power left behind by the colonizers, the relations of power that such experiences continue to reinforce, as well as the impact of social, economic, and political trends on this social order. Such an anti-colonial lens is particularly important for a focus on the power relations of schooling in determining who gets into school, how and why, what particular experiences are encountered and understood by the learner as a subject, and how these experiences are shaped by identity and social practice. The everyday experiences of the learner, made very poignant in the power relations of schooling, represent the possibilities and limits of social class, gender, culture, ethnicity, religion, and language for the learner. In the area of socio-economic class, for example, bringing an anti-colonial lens to the study of Ghanaian schooling and, in particular, to the emerging tensions between public^and private schooling, complicates our understanding of schooling in a post-colonial African context. There is little doubt that today's policy-makers, teachers, administrators, and students are wrestling with a bigger challenge - the decline of public schooling. The economic decline since the 1980s has complicated the issue further by reducing public funding for education, resulting in private schools for the minority haves and ghettos for the majority havenots. Despite huge expenditures on public schooling, the majority of Ghana's and Africa's poor continue to have little or no access to schooling (however differentiated in terms of the public/private split). Much of the African continent is struggling with problems of literacy and unemployment among school graduates, even at the tertiary level. Notwithstanding the present state of affairs, we argue that addressing the issue of difference in Ghanaian and African schooling should be a

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 55

priority. It is common knowledge in Ghana that private schools in the pre-tertiary level, in some respects, are better financed than their counterparts in the public school system. A reviewer of our book raised an interesting question: 'To what extent is the lack of attention to diversity and difference in schooling in Ghana due to limited understandings of what constitutes inclusion? Also, to what extent is the lack of resources to address the needs of diverse students responsible for diversity and difference being conveniently ignored or seen as a problem?' It could be argued that where resources are severely scarce it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to provide inclusive education even when its value and importance is understood and desired. Our study points to a combination of these factors in accounting for how schools engage or fail to engage difference. While our research did not pay particular attention to private schooling, anecdotal comments point to the fact that private schools have not necessarily taken up the question of difference any more than public schools. We can only posit that the colonial and postcolonial relations of Ghanaian schooling demonstrate significant issues of power that regulate and determine what issues may be brought to the table for discussion as we promote educational change. As we have asserted, an anti-colonial discursive framework acknowledges the role of the educational system in producing and reproducing racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, gender, sexual, and class-based inequalities in African society. Moreover, it problematizes the muting, devaluing, and minimizing of certain voices and knowledges in the educational system. Using the anti-colonial discursive approach means affirming the pedagogic need to confront the challenge of social diversity, as well as the urgency for creating an educational system that is both more inclusive and better able to respond to varied local concerns about formal schooling. This approach also means drawing on a critical analysis of the institutional structures for delivering education, that is to say, the structures for teaching and learning and their administration. Indeed, this framework views schools as institutional structures sanctioned by society and the state to serve particular material, political, and ideological interests. Thus, strategies designed to effect educational change should address questions of systemic inequalities and move to explore viable alternative educational forms that will take into consideration the needs of both adult and child/youth learners. In addition, the anti-colonial lens examines the nature and extent of social domination and, particularly, the multiple places where power and the relations of power work to establish dominant-subordinate connec-

56 Schooling and Difference in Africa

tions. This lens also scrutinizes and deconstructs dominant discourses and epistemologies while raising questions about one's power base and ways of functioning to decolonize social relations and interactions. The framework highlights and analyses contexts, and explores alternatives to colonial relations. Contemporary anti-colonial thought has roots in the decolonizing movements of colonial states that fought for independence from European countries at the end of the Second World War. The revolutionary ideas of Frantz Fanon, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Memmi, Aime Cesaire, Kwame Nkrumah, and Che Guevara, to name but a few, were instrumental in forming and shaping the anti-colonial struggles. Most of these scholars were avowed nationalists who sought political liberation for all colonized peoples and communities using the power of knowledge. In particular, Fanon's (1952) and Gandhi's (1967) writings on the violence of colonialism and the necessity for open resistance, and Albert Memmi's (1965) discourse on the relations between the colonized and the colonizer helped instil in the minds of colonized peoples the importance of engaging in acts of resistance against the violence of colonialism. In later years, particularly in the contexts of Africa, other scholars, including Cesaire (1972), Senghor (1996), and Cabral (1969, 1970), introduced questions of language, identity, and national culture into anti-colonial debates for political and intellectual liberation. After the overthrow of colonial rule in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere, a new body of 'anti-colonial' discourse emerged. This discourse, appropriately labelled within the post-colonial discursive framework (Said 1978; Bhabha 1990, 1995; Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin, 1995; Young 1995; Gandhi 1998), shows powerful links to the ideas of earlier anti-colonialists. But the ideas of post-colonial theorists largely focus on the interconnections between imperial/colonial cultures, on the colonized's cultural practices, and on the constructions of hybridity and alterity (see also Bhabha 1990; Shohat 1992; Suleri 1992; Slemon 1995; Spivak 1988, 1990, 1999). The strength of post-colonial theory lies in pointing to the complexities and disjunctures of the colonial experiences and to the aftermath of the colonial encounter. In fact, Bhabha (1990) has shown that the colonial encounter and discourse cannot be assumed to be unified and unidirectional. Spivak (1988) also has emphasized the possibility of counter-knowledges that emerge, or are constructed, from marginal spaces, and the power of such voices for the pursuit of resistance. As Shahjahan (2005) has argued, in a more general sense, post-colonial theorizing demonstrates 'the shift of anti-colonial thought from a focus on agency and nationalist/liberatory practice towards a discursive analysis

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 57

and approach, one that directs our attention to the intersection between 'Western' knowledge production and the 'Other' and Western colonial power' (9). In this book we reclaim ideas of early anti-colonial theorizing and build on them to explore contemporary educational and socio-political challenges emerging from issues of difference and diversity. The adoption of an anti-colonial discursive gaze, while borrowing from the postmodern view of colonialism as espoused in the works of Said (1978, 1993), Bhabha (1990), Loomba (1998), and Young (1995, 2001), also has an important intellectual focus on indigeneity and the relevance of the mind, soul, and body interface. We share the varying positions of many post-colonial authors in their understanding of such aspects as the instability and fluidity of the colonial relation, the nature and dynamic of the resistance inherent in colonialism, the ability of the colonized to manipulate the colonizer and his/her colonial practices, as well as the way the colonizer and colonized are changed by such encounters (see also Prakash 1994; Ashcrofth, Griffiths, and Tiffin 1995; Ghandi 1998; Chrisman and Parry 2000). However, the departure from a post-colonial discourse comes about in emphasizing how the anti-colonial project uncovers colonizing practices as unending and deeply embedded in everyday relations, and how local/ indigenous knowings become powerful sources of knowledge that allow for daily resistance and the pursuit of effective political practice to subvert all forms of dominance. We take the school system and the experiences of different bodies as examples to examine such relations. We maintain that within schools there are material-structural, ideologicalspiritual, and socio-cultural-political dynamics whereby the social ecology of learning produces significant differential material consequences for both dominant and minoritized bodies. For those who are asked to subsume their difference under the rubric of the 'common,' the intellectual stakes are high, particularly as a result of hidden and open emotional and spiritual injuries that are inflicted on victims when the expression of their difference is denied them. An anti-colonial thinker must be prepared to expose and challenge the hidden narratives surrounding discourses of nation building and projects of nationhood wherein difference is denied (see also Ahmad 2000). The normative claims of shared identity inherent in the discourse of nation building must be challenged to unravel how certain hegemonic interests can be served when differences are erased. We must connect the utility of social theory to everyday social and political practices.

58 Schooling and Difference in Africa

What is truly anti-colonial is exposing practices that are dominating and imperializing to the extent of sweeping social difference and identities under the carpet. An anti-colonial practice challenges the denial of the life-affirming practices of local peoples passed down from generations for the greater good of a diverse humankind. It is all about resisting, struggling, and decolonizing knowledges. Smith (1999) has explored the relationship between knowledge, research, and imperialism, pointing to the ways such relations have come to structure our ways of knowing through the development of academic disciplines and through the education of colonial elites and indigenous/'native' intellectuals. Critical research must expose colonizing knowledges and social practice that have destroyed human creativity with regard to our relationships with our social and natural environments. Hegemonic knowledges have allowed colonizers to secure their dominance through a fictional creation of sameness and commonality at the expense of difference and heterogeneity. It is important for research to uncover how colonial and neo-colonial practices are normalized through the deployment and reproduction of particular discourses and the enactment of particular subjectivities. Hegemonic/dominant discourses can legitimize colonial practices by representing them as 'moral, as rational, as the only possible practical action; by de-historicizing and naturalizing them; and by denying, falsely representing or hiding them' (Butler 2003, 48). Through an anti-colonial approach, research can detail the micro-power dynamics in schooling relations and expose the dynamics and social relations of difference by involving students' lived experiences. The work of anti-colonial writers such as Fanon (1952), Memmi (1965), and Cesaire (1972) informs us of how colonial relations are continually produced, and reproduced entrenched, and yet subverted or resisted in daily interactions. When space is given to local subjects to articulate their understandings of the social relations of schooling, the voices of those who have been excluded and marginalized (along the lines of ethnicity, gender, physical ability, class, religion, language, and culture, including the production of dominant knowings) help displace and rupture the dominance of certain, taken for granted, epistemologies and scholarship. An anticolonial critique could help theorize the processes that normalize particular subjectivities and dominant accounts of schooling. The production of certain dominant ethnic, gender, sexual, linguistic, religious, and cultural identities, as well as colonial discourses and practices of schooling, do not take place in an entirely 'natural,' 'normal,' and 'innocent' envi-

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 59

ronment. If some forms of ethnic identities attain dominance, we need to understand how this occurs, how students, educators, and communities interpret this occurrence and how the subject defines her or his relations to the dominant identity. In order to draw lessons for enabling contemporary anti-colonial practices, it is also important to uncover the way minoritized subjects themselves become complicit in the processes of re-colonization. Subject identities are produced discursively. In Foucauldian terms, a 'discursive truth-regime' occurs through the co-production of power and knowledge (Foucault 1972, 1975; see also Butler 2003). Such 'regimes of truths' establish what is thinkable, speakable, representable, performable, and doable. Particular discursive truth-regimes make possible particular material practices and institutional arrangements. Conversely, particular material relations of power reinforce and regenerate particular truth-regimes. Since what is theorized is not a closed, determined, or static situation, but always contingent and shifting, it is crucial for our interrogations to point to the ways that subjects exercise intellectual agency to resist politically and discursively. Discursive intersections, fractures, and ruptures allow minoritized bodies and groups to resist their subordination and offer a nuanced critique of the asymmetrical power relations that structure school lives. The role of research using an anticolonial perspective is to constantly engage subjects in a rigorous reflexive process, so that power effects can be seen clearly and addressed adequately. Memmi's (1965) work from his own perspective as a colonized person allows us to see how dominant subjects embody privilege in terms of both the 'colonizer-who-refuses' and the 'colonizer-who-accepts.' Our interest is not in the innocence of the 'colonizer' or in the internal contradictions or political ineffectiveness that the colonizer exhibits. We are more concerned with how those colonized are able to assert their ways of knowing and use such knowledge bases to destabilize the position of the colonizer. So in this research we are interested in how subjects assume a colonizing status even as they speak about a shared identity of Ghanaian sameness. We are equally interested in teasing out how the minoritized are able to offer a critique of the discourse of sameness that obfuscates difference, by questioning the relations of schooling. In investigating social differences around issues of ethnicity, gender, language, religion, culture, as well as class and regional access to resources and how these are perceived, addressed, or left unaddressed by Ghanaian educators, educational administrators, and policy-makers, our research points clearly to the implications of these issues for democratic

60 Schooling and Difference in Africa

and inclusive transformative change in African schooling contexts. From divergences and convergences delineated between Ghana and Canada, we learn much of the theoretical and practical importance of schooling in the two countries and, by implication, of schooling in other countries with similar student diversities. We are excited about the broad theoretical implications of this work for promoting inclusive education, seeing this work as a perhaps timely addition to contemporary curriculum and pedagogical discourses of educational reform. While we are mindful of making generalizations for all of Africa using the Ghanaian case study, nonetheless we would like to herald the shared concerns and issues that cut across many African countries when it comes to the matter of schools dealing with difference and diversity. As noted from our literature review, while these issues are currently being broached in certain parts of the continent, it is evident that more needs to be done by way of concretely anchoring the issues of difference and diversity in African schooling to promote educational change. Before we enter into a discussion of the possibilities of educational change in Ghana, however, we must first understand the power of discursive interruptions to conventional practices of schooling that fail to account for difference in relation to ethnicity, gender, class, physical ability, religion, language, and culture. We need critical discursive stances that highlight the problems of the nation-building discourses that negate and deny differences. To know the nature and extent of colonial/colonized discourses and practices at school we must interrogate the voices of local subjects as they speak about their schooling experiences and see how the local subject voices problematize or reflect upon social differences. A critical anti-colonial lens for understanding schooling practices offers some possibilities for charting the course of educational change. For the ex-colonies in Africa and elsewhere, colonial imposition and domination did not end with the return of political sovereignty to colonized peoples or nation-states. Indeed, contemporary neo-colonialism and recolonizing projects manifest themselves in varied ways throughout societal institutions. We see many signs and symptoms of colonial relations in schools, colleges, and universities when certain knowledges are produced and get validation; when particular experiences of certain students get counted as (in)valid; and when certain identities receive recognition and response from school authorities. We see all these developments as part of the power relations of schooling. By examining the power dynamics implicit in the evocation of the cultures, histories, knowledges, and experiences of the diverse bodies represented in the school system, we see how colonialism and colonial

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 61

relations can be masked under the nation-building project of 'common citizenship' or 'unity in sameness.' The construction of sameness, even with the experience of real difference, has serious implications for knowledge production. The material reality of the colonial relations of schooling is that bodies that are marginalized may fail to question their marginalization (let alone critique the status quo) in bid to uphold the social goods and values of education. In a nation-building project the notion of the 'nation' can be exclusive in the sense that the material reality resulting from the imagined 'community of sameness' allows dominant group members to feign ignorance of their privileged status, believing everything in their social world is just and fine. An epistemology of the colonized, anchored in a people's daily experiences, can help the minoritized develop a collective consciousness that is rooted in their own cultural understandings, and in what is perceived by them as appropriate and legitimate ways to resist the colonial imposition (see also Dei and Asgharzadeh 2001). As Fanon (1957) long ago noted, national cultures can indeed be oppressive. Therefore, there is an imperative need for a new critical nationalist consciousness that reclaims diversity by connecting the histories, traditions, and identities complicated through differences of ethnicity, class, gender, language, religion and culture. The use of an anticolonial lens for understanding African schooling requires that if, for instance, ethnicity is singled out as a salient unit of analysis, it then cannot, and should not, relegate such other sites of difference as gender, religion, language, social class, ability, and sexuality to the margins. A critical interrogation of ethnicity can expose the colonialist and dominating ambitions of the dominant group members, while at the same time implicating ethnic identities by other forms of difference. Principe (2003) rightly notes that theories and approaches of nation building establish metaphorically who is perceived as insider' and who as 'outsider.' There are perceived 'markers of belonging' and processes of legitimation and representation of identities within the nationalist discourse, at the core of which lie relations of power and domination. When subjects begin to think in terms of 'who belongs' and 'who does not belong,' there can be an easy and seductive slippage into an us/them view unless care is taken to articulate a community that upholds and respects differences. Schooling relations, when viewed critically, are about inclusions and exclusions in the 'community' and nation. Notions of colonial and anti-colonial are embedded within the erasures and suggestions of the narratives of community and nation building. The anti-colonial project of nation building in Africa was made

62 Schooling and Difference in Afric

powerful by stressing a sense of shared belonging. Through its focus on commonalities and common identities, citizens felt a sense of collective purpose and shared political destiny. However, it is important to note that practices that efface difference can end up denying tensions in the name of community building. Such practices of avoiding difference become detrimental, especially when difference and sameness are pitted against each other. A critical discourse of differences ought to be connected to an anti-colonial critique of both colonialism and the post-colonial nation-building project. When differences are negated under the guise of commonalities and sameness, the politics and projects of nation building can, themselves, become colonizing. The community is never monolithic, singular, and unitary (see also Anderson 2000). We can neither abandon nor ignore the presence of diverse bodies in an imagined 'community of sameness.' Usually what are said to be the dominant characteristics of such a community are values, ideas, and aspirations of the most dominant members of society (see also Furniss 1999). While the anti-colonial project of nation building was useful in fighting colonialism and imperialism, when such politics are pursued in a supposedly 'post-colonial context' they can become insidiously problematic. In fact, such anti-colonial politics may end up reinserting the very things they seek to critique and destabilize. The aim of a Eurocentric notion of difference was to establish a hierarchy in society. A genuine anti-colonial project of decolonization seeks to recognize and acknowledge differences as relations of power that must be responded to in order to avoid further colonization and domination. Education cannot operate within a medium that constructs citizenship as homogenous because it suits a particular purpose. Education must be pursued fully aware of, and working with, the differences among the student population and the'community of learners.' The ways in which identities are constructed and represented historically and in contemporary times is extremely significant for the success of schooling and the equitable allocation of life-chances for all students. Thus, education ought to be conscious of, and sensitive to, difference and diversity among student populations. Instituting change in African schooling in this context is, first and foremost, a question of re-conceptualizing educational issues and paradigms. In other words, promoting viable educational options via investigations of policy, process, content, objectives, and practices requires that we first undertake a critical interrogation of the structures that produce and reproduce educational delivery.

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 63

The use of the anti-colonial lens greatly helps us to understand the processes of schooling and the structures for educational delivery, that is to say, the structures for teaching, learning and the administration of education. Anti-colonial education may also help equip students to resist the imposition of power, suppression, and domination (see also Dei and Asgharzadeh 2001). Within the anti-colonial framework we may conceptualize the school curriculum as referring to the 'wholeness' of education. It is not just the texts and textual materials that direct the learning processes through certain colonizing channels. The curriculum, too, includes instructional and pedagogic practices, stipulated rules, regulations, and procedures, that provide a character for school and that heavily influence the intersections of culture/climate, social environment, and the organizational life of the school. It is the functioning power of the curriculum that ought to be contested. Given that what counts as 'curriculum' is socially determined or constructed, we must see the construction of the curriculum as a power relation between different subjects of society. The curriculum as a knowledge system of 'dominant' society also implies a particular ordering of school, off-school, and social knowledge. In discussions about educational change it is important to see the possibilities of viewing the curriculum as a path to follow, or a course of action to pursue, in schooling. We share the critical ideas of McCarthy (1998), Apple (1993), Aronowitz (1992), and Giroux (1983), who have looked at formal school knowledge as predominantly consisting of the knowledge, values, desires, and intentions of particular interests and power groups. However, we move beyond such critical discussions to engage in ways whereby local voices of/about difference point to both their resistance and the ways in which local understandings help formulate a 'politics of possibility' for change and redress. The differentiation of communities and the multiplicity and diversity of lived experiences can all provide fertile grounds on "which to challenge the dominance of particular social values and knowledges. Goldblatt (2002) rightly acknowledges that 'knowing is embedded in its own time and place' (34). Seen this way, knowledge must be relevant to the environment in which it is applied and from which it originated. An anticolonial focus highlights the power of local (i.e., indigenous) knowledge that emerges from the long-term occupancy of a place. By this we mean that cohabiting a place for a period of time allows the development of particular knowings of that place and of the interactions of society, culture, and nature. The differences embedded in community are connected to the construction of knowledges. Local communities of schools

64 Schooling and Difference in Africa

reflect differences that are equally embedded in knowings. These differences in knowings and knowledges enrich our understandings of social reality. Perhaps the most promising alternative approach to educational change lies in the pursuit of innovations in classroom instruction, with pedagogic, communicative, and curricular changes grounded in a critical understanding of 'inclusivity.' Inclusivity and Inclusive Education

In this work, the idea of 'inclusive education' is defined as education that responds to the concerns, aspirations, and interests of a diverse body politic by drawing on the accumulated knowledges, creativity, and resourcefulness of local peoples. A school is inclusive to the extent that students are able to identify and connect with their school's social environment, culture, population, and history. Inclusive schooling means that each and every student feels that she or he is truly, without distinction, part and parcel of the school environment; that she or he truly and comfortably belongs in that environment; and that the environment itself is doing its utmost to provide her or him with a voice equal to that of each and every student; with facilities to account for her or his spiritual, religious, linguistic, cultural, and other needs in proportion to those provided to the dominant groups. Elsewhere, Dei (2003) has noted that in articulating concerns about the schooling of minoritized youth in pluralistic contexts, some critical educational researchers and practitioners view schools as 'contested public spheres' (see for example, Fine 1993, 682). Yet others continue to see them as political sites for the reproduction of power and social inequality (Apple and Weiss 1983; Giroux 1983; Apple 1986; McCarthy 1990). These authors also see structural poverty, racism, sexism, and social and cultural differences as having consequences for schooling outcomes, particularly for minority youth (see also Willis 1977,1983). This is a significant departure from conventional views that focused on familyschool relations, conceptualizing homes and families as sites and sources of student educational problems and pathologies. It also marks a shift in the conventional false separation between homes and schools in accounting for educational successes and failures. While these theoretical positions primarily speak and/or operate relative to Euro-American contexts, it is arguable that such formulations have significant insights for understanding schooling in Africa. Of equal importance, while questions of race, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, and language are articu-

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 65

lated differently, they nevertheless draw on significant points of convergence in pluralistic communities. This book engages some of the ongoing debates about 'inclusive schooling' in Euro-American contexts as a starting base to question current African education systems. In North America, the debate on school inclusivity may be conceptualized in two broad categories: 'diversity as a variety perspective' and 'diversity as a critical perspective' (see also Banks and Banks 1997; Goldstein 1994; Bracy 1995). The first approach to inclusion views diversity in terms of teaching and sharing knowledge about the contributions of diverse cultures to enrich pluralistic communities. This approach appeals to a liberal humanism wherein diversity is seen to be a safe, multicultural expression of difference, not a critical one. The second approach views schooling as a racially, culturally, and politically mediated experience. The focus is to deal directly with marginalization and exclusion in school contexts by centring all human experiences in the student's learning process. Furthermore, there is also a calculated focus on the twin notions of power and domination as a way of understanding and interpreting social relations and structures (see also Goldstein 1994; Anderson and Collins 1995; Bracy 1995). While the issues of North American schooling may be conceptualized differently from those of the African context, there are still broad parallels to be drawn relative to issues of inclusivity. In case studies of African schooling, we would assert, the above conceptualizations of education are helpful and relevant. Schooling in African contexts is contested in terms of which knowledges are privileged, valued, and deemed relevant. Students in local schools come from diverse backgrounds and the varied subject positions of educators, students, and school administrators create environments of difference. What is not fully understood is the extent to which such difference becomes a basis for exclusion and inclusion. In order to account for the local contexts and conditions that affect African schooling, it is necessary to go beyond the traditional dichotomies of difference and to look critically at how colonial relations get produced, reproduced, and sustained in educational processes. It is absolutely crucial to recognize the legacy of colonial influence and historical context as they apply to African education, just as it is pivotal to see how groups, regions, and communities were pitted against each other relative to the differential allocation of resources and goods. In this light, it is imperative that a critical lens helps research to engage a number of central questions, including, How is politics mediating

66 Schooling and Difference in Africa

schooling in African contexts? How are the different bodies in schools acknowledged and validated? How does schooling promote, sustain, or challenge dominant and colonial relations? How does schooling create possibilities for rupturing dominant forms of knowledge and, in so doing, create pedagogical and curricular spaces for indigeneity? Schools are politically contested spaces (Fine 1991). They are not simply sites of domination and subordination; they are also spaces of indoctrination and resistance. School systems everywhere exhibit the marks of the social, economic, and political inequality in society. At the same time, though, it would be a mistake not to see schools as agents of change or sources of transformation. Schools constitute one of the most important socializing agents in every society and, as many educators have long argued, they play vital roles in the transmission, perpetuation, and challenging of the dominant social values of society (Apple 1990; Giroux 1988; Grant and Lei 2001). Schools can also be sites for resisting dominance and oppression. Knowledge can be a catalyst for action if it is used to subvert the status quo. Through critical education, learners can be empowered to resist their oppression and marginality. They can be prepared to question the exclusions, negations, and omissions in the curriculum that is represented as the 'official text' for learning and understanding. As Paulo Freire observed through his educational endeavours in Latin America and elsewhere, education, particularly in a colonized context, cannot be non-directive and neutral. It is the moral and pedagogical responsibility of educators to discuss with their students the reality of oppression, exploitation, and exclusion. As Freire put it, T must intervene in teaching the peasants that their hunger is socially constructed, which is, in my view, a crime against humanity' (Freire and Macedo 1995, 379). Within schools, no groups of students should be made the backdrop for the experiences of the dominant members of the community. Marginalized groups have the power to narrate and affirm their positive (solution-oriented) and authentic (unusurped) voices that speak to, and from, their experiences. The power of voice is a power of agency that represents free will, choice, self-definition, and self-determination. Furthermore, voices speak to experiences and lived realities. Marginalized voices ought to be accorded validity and legitimacy equal to those of teachers and the instructional texts. The presence of multiple voices makes for fluidity in individual and collective thinking, self-reflection, and social critiques. According validity to the marginalized voice is tantamount to making that voice a part of the curriculum in such a way that

Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 67

the curriculum itself becomes the voice (see also Danforth and Smith 1995). Theorizing equity and inclusive education requires that we pay attention to the cultural and social backgrounds of the community. It requires a critical understanding of cultural differences in terms of the embeddedness of power and history in the construction of difference. It also demands that we find ways to capture, explore, and understand how schools respond to the multiple faiths in their environments and how the needs of students with physical disabilities are taken up or addressed. Cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and religious plurality is a fact of life in the increasingly globalizing contemporary world. By the same token, current local schools and learning spaces are extremely heterogeneous and in fact cosmopolitan. In the words of Snauwaert, there exists today an 'ethic that transcends national, communal, cultural and civilizational boundaries' (2001, 1). It is only through the realization and celebration of difference and diversity that we may be able to reach a collective consensus above and beyond singular boundaries and identities. Today there is a renewed interest among critical educators regarding questions of equity in education that moves beyond the traditional emphasis on class and gender (see for example Looye and Sesay 1998; Sandercock 1998; Grant and Lei 2001). This is primarily due to the realization that schooling outcomes affect bodies differently. The social climate of learning that exists in schools, coupled with the interactions among students, teachers, peers, and the school curriculum in general, points to the ways that difference influences social relations of schooling. What this means is that in the contemporary school environment we are dealing with multidimensional and multilayered relations of power and authority. In this book we explore these layers and dimensions of tensions, conflicts, ambiguities, and limitations vis-a-vis the possibilities for inclusive schooling in Ghana. The next chapter leads us into this discussion by looking at notions of difference and diversity within the Ghanaian context.

3 Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity

Among the current challenges of schooling is the issue of how teaching, learning, and the formal administration of education can respond effectively to difference and diversity among the school population. An educator must deal with the question of navigating around difference while understanding the institutional and systemic conditions that structure students' lives and educational experiences. There are perils in working with difference within communities of schooling. Difference is expressed in multiple and varied ways by many subjects in the school system. There are those who see difference as a source of tension that must be avoided. Difference can be glossed over in apolitical ways to silence discussions about such tensions, and about competing contradictory goals and objectives. Then there are those who see difference as an important site worthy of examination, not simply for the strength difference brings to the 'collective,' but also for the challenges that difference poses in terms of how we distribute and share in the valued goods and services of society. In this chapter we maintain that today's educators must not simply acknowledge difference, but more importantly must explore transformative ways of responding concretely to difference. While diversity speaks to variety, a politicized evocation of difference brings a critical edge in terms of seeing difference as a site and source of power and power relations. In order to enhance learning for a diverse student body, the educator must be cautious, however, that difference is not engaged in a trivial way through a failure to acknowledge how relations of power are created and sustained within institutional settings. This is particularly the case given the seduction of an uncritical, postmodern stance that usually falls into what Chisti (1999) calls 'the trap of a complete unilateral fragmentation around difference,' and into unending 'contestations,' 'ambiguities,'

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 69

and 'heterogeneity.' The power of individual agency must be balanced with an appreciation of the forces of systems and institutional structures. The heterogeneity of local populations increases the urgency of paying attention to dealing with difference and diversity among schooling populations. Difference is about the power relations of schooling. Understanding difference and power relations in this context, therefore, requires that educators address how ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic minorities, as well as women and students from low socioeconomic and class backgrounds, engage in the school system. Many Ghanaian educators essentially espouse the view that students go to school as disembodied youth. Students are seen as generic bodies who engage schools irrespective of their identities. This view is nurtured by the prevailing discourses on nationhood and citizenship that work to deny rather than affirm the strengths of difference and diversity. Yet the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, sexual and gender identities of our students are important in relation to how these bodies engage in schooling. If aspects of their identities are denied, it is not unthinkable that students may not find their schools to be totally inclusive in terms of their histories, experiences, and daily practices. 'Inclusion' in educational practice means teaching and sharing knowledge about the contributions of diverse bodies and cultures to enrich pluralistic communities. Schooling is a culturally and politically mediated experience for students. By centring all human experiences in the students' learning process, as well as placing a conscious focus on the twin notions of power and domination, educators are best able to understand and interpret the social relations and structures of schooling. Learners speak of the everyday practical aspects of student life and how these experiences can be demarcated and/or marked by difference. Understanding difference requires that we start from the position of how local subjects themselves conceptualize and articulate 'difference.' Any focus on difference and diversity that is undertaken without also giving considerable thought to what students articulate as concerns and difficulties can be limiting in the sense of not reflecting the entire schooling experience for diverse bodies. The economics of schooling and the practicality of everyday student life show both the power and limits of individual and collective identities and histories. Ghanaian learners speak powerfully about difference when asked about schooling difficulties, or what they like, or do not like, about their school. It is interesting that when asked, 'What is the best thing the student will take away from their schooling experience?' students often respond that they learned

70 Schooling and Difference in Africa

how to endure school and that they are now ready to face the world. In other words, being at school has taught the student how to endure life, and as a consequence they become confident that they can handle whatever comes their way. We know from research that students devote a considerable amount of time to tackling their material hardships, and to managing the economics of schooling (i.e., financial assistance for accommodation, facilities, and resources, and other student supports that enable learning to nurture the student's fullest potential). These difficulties are very real and visible, and are demarcated along lines of class, gender, ethnic, religious, and linguistic differences. In this context, inclusive schooling and dealing with difference means not only equipping students with a depth of understanding of issues regarding ethnicity, class, gender, religion, language, and ability. It also means their being able to handle the joys and pains of schooling given who these students are, where they are coming from, and where they are located within the school system. In effect, expressing and acting on difference as a source of strength is a measure of individual capabilities and survival and thus exemplifies the importance of learning about oneself and others in terms of the relations of difference. Narratives of Difference

The following discussions in this chapter weave through the narratives of Ghanaian educators, students, and practitioners, as well as Ghanaianborn residents in Canada, as they reflect on the broader theme of difference and schooling. Our goal is to use multiple voices to highlight some of the tensions and ambiguities in local subjects' recollections of educational experiences and to posit ways for genuine educational alternatives. In reflecting on their schooling experiences in Ghana, Ghanaianborn residents of Canada, who have been exposed to on-going debates of schooling in North American and other pluralistic contexts, bring some interesting and divergent perspectives not unlike those of their Ghanaian counterparts at home. One such case is Serwu, who accumulated several years of teaching experience at both the secondary and college levels in Ghana before migrating to Canada. She speaks of the educator's responsibility towards teaching difference and instilling an appreciation of each learner as being similar to the notion of bringing a body of knowledge to share in the classroom. This view is significant because of the different forms of

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 71

excellence that exist within the classroom. Such an understanding points to the conceptualization of excellence as something that is equitably distributed in the student pool. Thus, a teacher's ability to tap this wealth of knowledge through collaboration can only enhance learning for all. As Serwu puts it: [S]ome people are not as good. You have to encourage them, and those who are good have to see to it that you encourage them too. Sometimes a child can even learn from a fellow child. The teacher can go around as they are doing their work, look for the weak ones, help them, give them extra attention, or they will or can come to the table, and give them more attention. (File OO-GCE-02: Text units 105-12)

Teaching that excellence is equitably distributed and accessible, however, requires a tactful pedagogical skill that does not eschew the value of difference and the multiple knowings that come with culture, history, and ancestry. The classroom is a mixed ability space, which means that the challenge for an educator is to tap into all available knowledges. No student can be left behind. Ghanaian-born Canadian Oteni taught home economics, home science, and agriculture, as well as French, in schools in the Asante region of Ghana. She is very critical when reflecting on her teaching years in Ghana and on how difference was celebrated. For while schools acknowledged the cultural festivities of different groups, this was as far as things went. There was no attempt to incorporate these knowledges in any meaningful way into the school curriculum: Interviewer: OK, so you also mentioned holidays that were observed, you also mentioned Ramadan. Were there other holidays for other groups or ethnicities that were observed or incorporated into the curriculum? A little bit... I remember the Fantis ... they used to have something called 'Futu Afeshe' [and the Gas 'Homowo'], and some of the parents would ask for permission for their children to go with them, leave the Asante region and go to the Fanti region or the Ga region to celebrate that. We did not incorporate that into the curriculum but we gave them permission every time they wanted to go and celebrate. (File OO-GCE-10: Text units 125-34)

Thus, each ethnic group might have their own annual festival that brings together communities from other regions to celebrate the occasion.

72 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Clearly, the recognition of cultural history and heritage constitutes an important teachable moment. But as Oteni observes, these festivities have not been fully incorporated in the school curriculum beyond a mere mention in some textbooks and the granting of permission by educators for students to attend them. As a result, the curricular possibilities of working with such knowledge is not taken up and is therefore lost. Doko, who taught home economics in a Christian school in an ethnically diverse region of the country, attests to how the absence of any critical reading of difference can be attributed to a shared sense of 'sameness,' whereby the accentuation of difference is seen as a rupturing influence on conventional pedagogical ends. She cannot think of a moment when difference was actually engaged in the classroom, since the students were basically seen and read as 'the same.' This is compounded by her particular situation, where the students were all females in an all-girls school. When asked for a specific time when issues of difference were dealt with in the classroom, she paused: Unless I think about it, I really don't know when I dealt with issues of differences, because that wasn't a problem in my class at all. They all played together, they did everything together. And as I told you they were mostly girls. (File OO-GCE-13: Text units 157-62)

The pause in recalling such moments is not simply due to the long time span. We can view it as attributable more to the fact that the conventional pedagogic approach has been to look largely at commonalities, with the least emphasis on differences. The extent to which the dominant culture of schooling makes possible the negation of difference is evoked in the narrative of Sare, who, before emigrating to Canada, taught in a number of primary schools in the predominantly Akan parts of southern Ghana. Culture can be problematic if it is engaged superficially. For Sare, teaching students to feel they are all Ghanaians is the ideal. However, there is a dangerous denial inherent in this assertion of sameness when it is used to negate difference in the full knowledge that students come from diverse cultural, religious, linguistic, family socioeconomic, gender and ethnic backgrounds. This contradiction and paradox points clearly to the fact that the issue is not the acknowledgment of difference, but rather how educators respond to difference. Sare's words are particularly apt in this observation: In the Ghanaian system, there isn't much [discussion] of difference. When you are teaching there you don't think about ethnicity or the cultural differ-

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 73 ences, so you concentrate on whatever you're doing. Since we were guided by the school regulations, which are very strict in controlling the students, you tend not to think about culture ... Back home we tend not to see these differences and we don't allow one culture to rule in the school. Everybody feels [that he/she is] a Ghanaian period. (File OO-GCE-11: Text units, 3441, 59-66)

It is indeed interesting that Sare would say, 'We don't allow one culture to rule in the school,' when in fact the culture of most schools in southern Ghana is overwhelmingly Akan. For example, the major Akan festivals are those most widely acknowledged and talked about in schools. Students recognize these events as major occurrences, more so than the festivities of ethnic minorities. This may be due largely to the fact that the majority of students in such schools come from the dominant Akan group. The fear that classroom discussions will evoke dominant/subor-. dinate group relations may operate as a silencing factor in any talk of ethnicities and cultural differences. And yet Kum challenges Sare by arguing that cultural and ethnic background is relevant to schooling and must therefore be taken into account. Kum, herself an ethnic minority member teaching English and comparative literature in a local secondary school, argues that teaching and learning must be context-based in order for students to appreciate different sensibilities, histories and social politics: Cultural background should be taken into account. Let's assume that you have some Northern students in your class. And you are a 'social studies' teacher. Definitely you are going to talk about the rights of women, female circumcision, etc. Now you have a few Northern girls who took differently to female circumcision. You need to be careful that you are not going to hurt somebody's feelings; that you are not going to touch on some sensitive issues. (File OO-GE-01: Text units 109-31)

In other words, a teacher cannot be oblivious to culture and difference. Kum sees the shared identity of 'Ghanaians' as resting more on the connections that groups have with each other. Because ethnicity has been a source of group tension and divisiveness in the past, the present task is not to remain silent on these differences, but, rather, to critically engage them in classrooms. Kum speaks from her experiences as a minoritized body within a schooling context. In response to her position we would argue that the way ahead for Ghanaian education is to acknowledge and respond to difference by pointing to what Ghanaians have in common

74 Schooling and Difference in Africa

through their differences in experience, history, and culture. Maintaining culture is key to affirming one's self, group, and cultural identity. Once we agree on our differences and realize that these differences actually strengthen us as a collective or community, we are better for it. We cannot allow differences to be dividing lines. Differences must be acknowledged in order to move ahead and ease tensions. This view is asserted by Kumsa, a geography teacher in a secondary school, whose first experience as a teacher was in the elementary school system. Kumsa, like Rum, is a minority person from the Ewe ethnic group. However, he has spent much of his life teaching in the Akan sectors of the country. He has very fond memories of the years spent in these places and enjoys his current job as an educator. He places knowledge/knowing regarding each student's background, history, culture, and lived experience at the heart of good pedagogy. To Kumsa this body of knowledge becomes a contextual basis for the pursuit of critical teaching. The shared sense of coming together despite different ethnicities rests on an appreciation of our differences rather than a silence around them. The educator must be willing to use all available knowledge about the student to assist in the provision of education for that learner. In our interview we posed this question and got an interesting response: Interviewer: When someone says to you, 'We treat all the students the same,' how do you respond to that? Oh, that is not humanly possible because we all have our prejudices. There is no doubt about that - it is true we handle them the same ... Looking at Ghanaian population, you see the way Ghanaians live. We have come together and we are living all together in one community. For instance, you can say that we are all coming from four different ethnic groups. We are all now mixed together and we are living together. During all these years, I've lived among many different ethnic groups. And you'll see that everybody is willing and ready to assist you if you need help. That is how we have become and that is the way I look at Ghanaian ethnicity. Well, being an educator, an educator should know a student's background. From the student's behaviour, you are able, to a certain extent, to say that the student is coming from a wealthy background, or an educated family. When you see someone's behaviour, you look at the person, you can go back to his background, and you'll be able to sort out certain problems. By looking at the way a student behaves, this will help you teach better. (File OO-GE-05: Text units 40-55)

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 75

Despite his problematic equation of culture (a collective attribute) with individual behaviour, Kumsa appreciates very well the idea of 'unity in difference.' The educator cannot sincerely argue that she or he treats every student the same. We cannot eschew prejudice as we strive to unearth the talents and skills of every student so as to ensure that they realize and utilize their full potential. The road to this achievement begins in appreciating the background of each student and knowing that issues of ethnicity, social-economic family background, gender, and culture are consequential in terms of schooling outcomes for youth. Amposo is an assistant headmaster in a local Catholic secondary school. He teaches history and government and has a daughter attending a private school. His other three children are in the public school system. He agrees that thinking about difference is crucial for schooling in Africa. But he is fully aware of the historical lessons (if not baggage) that come with thinking about difference, particularly along the lines of ethnicity. Ethnicity must be affirmed, he argues, in order to create respect, tolerance, and appreciation of all groups: I think it is a very important question. Generally in Africa, [ethnic] differences are built on tribal issues and so on. But we really have to emphasize on those good things that bring us together. And in this locality, if we continue to encourage them, then it will help us to move further ahead ... It is a very important thing we have to do [acknowledge and deal with difference] .See the trouble with these areas is sub-culture and we do have to create cultures. We have to maintain them. If somebody is a Northerner, we have to respect their cultures. We cannot simply push aside certain aspects of their cultures. We have to come to a consensus on certain aspects of different cultures first and then move on. Otherwise it'll create tension among us. (File OO-GE-04: Text units 201-16)

Culture is significant. It cannot simply be glossed over. Culture is about respecting other people's values and norms, and maintaining a people's dignity. By failing to deal with differences (cultural, ethnic, religious, gender, class, and linguistic), we actually create tensions. But Amposo is also quick to note that the recognition of difference is only a starting point to good pedagogy. Educators must move on to show how our differences and histories are contingent and intertwined. Akuma is a vice-principal of a teacher training college. He served as an assistant director of education and has a long experience with the profession as a teacher and administrator. As someone who teaches student

76 Schooling and Difference in Africa

teachers, his voice is, one may say, authoritative. To him, bringing a positive reading to 'difference' can be an asset for the educator. It connects to the ethic of care that underlies much of the work of schoolteachers. He sees difference as a teachable moment and uses the case of ethnic minorities in largely Akan-dominated school systems as an example. Speaking from personal experience, he shares a unique approach to classroom pedagogy: As an educator you should note these differences in the back of your mind, but in a positive way, so that nobody would be offended. I am also teaching religious and moral education. When I see a member of a particular group, like an Ewe, the name, the moment I hear the name, I try to figure the meaning of that person's name. You know, this approach enables that person to see that I also have special interest in knowing him or her. They'll see I am not an enemy. And sometimes I really am the person to translate that Ewe name. You see, many a time the Ewes have their names translated, like Mau, meaning God. 'Mau Yaga,' meaning God is great. (File OO-GE-20: Text units 235-44)

Akuma is arguing that it is a teacher's responsibility to learn about all the students in the class. Only a teacher who appreciates difference can teach about difference. By taking such personal interest, Akuma exhibits the 'ethic of caring' so required of a teacher. Those who perceive the acclaiming of difference as 'negative,' it can be expected, will place the least emphasis on difference in schooling practices. This is the case with Adobi, a business accounting teacher for twentyseven years, who is currently teaching in a secondary school in the nation's capital where, he notes, most of the students he deals with are from the Greater Accra region. He handles a mixed and talented group of learners, but is little concerned about the teaching staff reflecting the diversity of his student population. He sees this fact as a 'breeding ground' fermenting unnecessary divisions at school and subverting the 'peaceful coexistence' of different groups: When you have, for example, an Akan SDA [Seventh Day Adventist] teacher, they have their own way of worshipping. And if a non-SDA, Ga student attends [this] SDA teacher's classes, the teacher insists on teaching his or her own particular values. Then this could be a threat [to] peaceful coexistence in the school. It could have negative effects on the students. (File 00GE-14: Text units 168-77)

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 77

Adobi holds the view that a person is different when he or she has not conformed to the norms of society. However, conformity, when conceptualized in this manner, can create tensions, particularly when difference itself is implicated as problematic. When asked pointedly if he 'sees difference as a problem,' Adobi replies: It is a problem in a Ghanaian sense ... [But] I would think that, irrespective of region or tribe, there is this unity, in a sense that, if all of us teachers come together as Ghanaians, we can strengthen the education system for the youth. (File OO-GE-14: Text units 188-92, 225-7)

In other words, according to this argument, we must see beyond the differences. For Adobi it is the way difference has been taken up that constitutes a problem, and yet he is hopeful that we will find a way out of our tensions. For him what is relevant is developing a shared sense of national identity and pride. The crucial question however is, Do we arrive at this lofty goal by upholding 'unity in difference' or 'unity in sameness'? Unfortunately, in our interview Adobi would not entertain the possibility that students could find positive (solution-oriented) dimensions to a diversified teaching staff (e.g., students' finding role models, feeling a sense of ease from communicating with each other, or sharing experiences leading to enhanced learning). In alluding to the relevance of difference, Christo, one of the noted educationists in the District Capacity Building Unit of the Ghana Ministry of Education, pairs this realization closely to special education in the context of promoting inclusive schooling in Ghana. He acknowledges difference as very a much part of the individual's total life experience. He believes that youth with physical disabilities present an important site of difference that must be addressed in the Ghanaian school system, and is happy to see moves in that direction. While the equation of inclusive schooling with special education can be problematic in terms of limiting the discussion of difference, it is nevertheless significant to understand Christo's concerns about the gaps in the existing approaches towards the search for genuine educational options for Ghana and Africa: I think, when they say that somebody is different, it has a whole range of meaning. You can talk of differences in terms of physical, emotional, social, cultural and social obstacles ... Yes, these are all differences with an individual ... [And] I think the future is bright. Now that we are investing in the future and have started thinking we have a whole division for special educa-

78 Schooling and Difference in Africa tion, identifying children with disabilities and that kind of thing to cater for them, again even at that point, we are thinking about education for inclusion. (File OO-GE-16: Text units 624-9) .

Thus, we cannot deal with inclusivity and fail to address students with physical challenges. Inclusive schooling should be about the desire to make every student/learner feel welcome in the school system. This means that every student's needs, desires, and aspirations are heard and addressed. It also means that students' identities are seriously engaged in the teaching, learning, and administrative processes of education. Looking at the Ghanaian school system, one can point to several levels of majority/minority relations, including different levels of engagement/ disengagement, and inclusion/exclusion, that all need to be carefully questioned in the politics of promoting inclusive schooling. In our discussions with international students in Ghanaian universities, they also shared their views on difference and inclusion in schools. Their cases are interesting given that in many ways they constitute a minority in local Ghanaian contexts. Boni, a male student from Kenya, is in his second year of the Master's program in Economic Policy Management at the University of Ghana, Legon. He is on a World Bank scholarship and is grateful for the knowledge he has acquired from his peers and teachers. He speaks well about the role and importance of acknowledging difference: I think the experience I got in school in Ghana was one of the best experiences in school. I am happy that I was in the company of different people from different backgrounds. I have come to learn, get new ideas to understand people better which to me are a good experience and a good exploration. (File OO-IS-04: Text units 497-501)

The experience of difference (that is, of being among a heterogenous, racially/ethnically diverse population) has enriched Boni's learning and as a consequence he has good impressions of his entire experience in Ghana. His sojourn there has led to a better understanding and appreciation of others. However, he is not alone. Maria is a white American student we met at the University of Ghana in a work-study exchange program with Ohio State University. She is majoring in international relations. Concurring with Boni's experience, she also affirms difference as a site for the appreciation of each other's cultural wealth, knowledge, and social contribution:

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 79 [It was] a positive experience being here ... the first time being overseas and I think it's given me a different perspective on my country too. It's given me a better appreciation for the world and people. Also, we people only speak English - nobody knows other languages in the US because they don't have to and so we isolate ourselves. When I meet people from other countries, normally they speak more than one language. (File OO-IS-08: Text units 14352)

She acknowledges the limits of knowledge when one is confined to one's own surroundings. When asked to relate her experiences to how she would conceptualize the practice of inclusion, Maria asserts fondly: I think that inclusive schooling would be trying to get people from different ethnicities and backgrounds in a classroom setting together and, as a professor, being able to relate to each one of them and trying to get them to relate to each other. (File OO-IS-08: Text units 260-3)

One can remain insular in one's world and only begin to appreciate the diversity around us once we begin to learn and appreciate each other. This opportunity is offered in diverse settings and it is the responsibility of the educator and learner to take up the challenge. When this happens, difference becomes a site of strength and knowledge sharing. However, the experiences of Boni and Maria are in sharp contrast to the educational experience of Kama, a male student from Sierra Leone, who believes difference can be perceived in hierarchical terms as well. His narratives attest to how whiteness is a currency and a privilege. The differential treatment that groups receive can be traced to entrenched stereotypes, as well as to identification with a particular form of difference. So the reality to Kama is actually how subjects negotiate, evoke, claim, and engage difference in the midst of heterogeneity. To be different is not simply a physical marker; there is social capital (reward) and also a cost (penalty) associated with some forms of difference. Coming from a war-torn country, Kama constantly has to confront painful stereotypes about his community and culture that can impede learning. This is particularly significant when educators intensify those pains by denying students with critical thinking skills any acknowledgment of, response to, or respect for the differences of history, nationality, experience, and culture. As Kama points out: In Ghana, I have observed that they give more respect to white visitors than blacks. You know if you are a white student here everybody admires you and

80 Schooling and Difference in Africa everybody wants to be your friend. But with colleague brothers and sisters it's a bit different, especially those of us who come from war countries. They just consider us as, 'they are all war-like.' So even if you are making a point and you want to contribute in some discussion, somebody will say that's why they are fighting in diat country. They will not judge you for your ability. Instead they will judge you by what's happening in your country. That's one of the problems that I see, even with the colleagues in our class. Even within Africa, they tend to admire students from southern Africa, like Kenya, South Africa etc. I mean, there the economy is doing better, so most of them want to go there to find jobs, so they will want to be a friend with them rather than those who come from West Africa. (File OO-IS-01: Text units 61-75)

There is differential treatment depending on how difference is perceived and the nature of the capital attached to that difference. Whiteness is admired, and economics factor into people's decisions about how difference is measured and evaluated. This differential treatment is not lost on those who have been subordinated or excluded. It is one of the reasons why, at least discursively, the educator has to be aware of who is in the class, what is happening to the different bodies, who is privileged, and who is being stereotyped. Nicohlas, an African American male student, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American Studies from Ohio State University. Like Maria, he is in Ghana as part of a work-study program with a local university. He has been surprised by local reaction to his presence and the difference that he symbolizes: When I came here I thought I was going to be welcomed with open arms, just because I was Black. Because we are Black and we are coming back to mother Africa and had never been here, we thought 'Oh they are just going to welcome us back' but it wasn't like that - it was just the total opposite. They would snicker, whisper 'Obroni' (white person) and even sometimes laugh out loud. They were rude and disrespectful a lot of the time. (File 00IS46: Text units 54-62)

Nicholas perceives his negative treatment as derivativing from a lack of understanding and information regarding (his) difference. His enunciated experience is highly significant, for it reminds us that nothing can be taken for granted, that everything is negotiated in contexts. Moreover, he argues, at times we approach our differences through a hierarchical lens that consequently breeds arrogance and disdain:

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 81 It's just like she said, 'We come here thinking that we are better than them or at least [it seems that way] to them,' and I guess to them we have an air about us, but we have an air because that's the way they treat us. We build up this wall and I guess they built up this wall. I guess we don't like them because of the way they are treating us and they don't like us just because we have come from America. She was saying, 'You come from America so you are already thinking you are all that,' and 'and I was like you think so ... And this is from not even talking to us, this is what they are assuming and this is why they talk about us ... why they treat us. (File OO-IS-06: Text units 79-91)

When the deployment of difference is conceived through a colonial discursive lens as a means to facilitate otherization and thus domination over others, such actions, in their historical capacity to wound and alienate/can in turn elicit tensions and unsettling responses in those 'otherered,' particularly in the contemporary global context where minoritized bodies are faced with ongoing colonizer/colonized experiences. Nicholas ends his narration of his Ghanaian experience by pointing to the way false images and stereotypes can be conjured up to foster misunderstanding: I don't know. I mean they are making these judgments about us from documentaries they have seen about us. To me, they do not understand that everybody does not have money. Yes we are here in Africa visiting but I still have bills to pay. I still have my student loan, I have to pay for school, but they are thinking that oh it's easy for us. You have got money and all that. She was saying that she sees this in documentaries and I said that documentaries only show part of us. Everybody does not live in Hollywood or Beverly Hills. (File OO-IS-06: Text units 109-17)

The power of media communication in constructing knowledge about the 'other' cannot be underestimated, and thus an educative approach to dealing with difference must tease out how difference is constructed, by whom, for whom, and to what ends and purposes. Media and economics influence how people may respond to difference. To deal with misrepresentations, a pedagogy of difference should be about developing critical thinking skills. Moreover, a pedagogic approach to addressing difference must also touch on how to define and make sense of identities in the context of forming 'communities.' Sesa, a male student from Sierra Leone studying at the University of Ghana, sees the school system as one that is physically and socially demarcated in terms of difference.

82 Schooling and Difference in Africa

He speaks of social gatherings among students and of how such gatherings are structured along the lines of difference. Here he reflects on his experiences from attending university in Ghana: Interviewer: Ever since you've been here, have you noticed any [thing] ... showing distinction or segregation among your classmates? Oh yes. It happens ... It happens in many forms. I mean even the way the classes are formed you can see this. There is a group of Ghanaians, a group of foreign students. I mean you have groups of Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian students. You see that most of the Ghanaian students are together, and most of the foreign students are together ... One time I witnessed this discussion about Ghana's political system, and I noticed people were blaming the foreigners, such as the Nigerians and so on. I thought blaming the foreigners, or taking Ghana's problems to Nigeria and other countries weren't going to solve the problems. I felt the foreigners were placed in a very discriminatory position in those situations. And given those kinds of situations, I think there is discrimination in Ghana against minorities. However, I am not saying that this is a general view. (File OO-IS-10: Text units 29-40,175-83)

At the local university, according to Sesa, groups keep to themselves sometimes along the lines of shared nationality, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, class, or gender. He further argues that during such moments difference becomes a site for justifying unequal treatment or subjecting others to differential and unequal treatment. He sees minorities as being discriminated against in some ways in Ghanaian local contexts, and being a minority person himself he can appreciate the experiences that inform this perception. Such 'communities' of students with shared identities have their boundaries, and the space they claim can be a site of exclusion as well as one of positive affirmation. On the whole, undergirding the narratives of students, educators, and educational practitioners are the desires, politics, tensions, and contradictions involved in claiming difference. In an extract from a focus-group discussion with students from both the University of Cape Coast (student educators) and the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, the diverging and converging aspects of difference, in relation to how students understand these issues, come to the fore. In a discussion of how difference plays out on campuses in ways that keep students together or separated, the following observations were expressed:

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 83 Student A: [D] iscrimination is a factor that unites them (pointing to one ethnic minority group). Student B: We have come to a level that we have to direct ourselves to be ethnically conscious because, day-in and day-out the world is advancing. Now as we see, the world has become a village. So we should be able to come together as one people. We live on one planet. This is where we are living and we have to be able to live together. We should be able to work together. We should be able to respect ourselves. Let us come together so no one would be left out and we can become one people. Then we will be able to find the world a peaceful place to live in. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 41119) Student C: We don't determine where we come from. We are not responsible for who we are. It just happens that I am an Akan. I want to say that if we had the facilities, they would reduce our problems a lot. I believe in Canada there are facilities. Interviewer: Oh, yeah?

Student A: It brings respect, having facilities and that. We should respect the people for who they are. I am a Christian, somebody is a Moslem but we should respect each other. Student B: As educators, we should try to teach respect for everybody's different opinions in a very logical manner so that you wouldn't want to impose your views on the other person. He who has privilege should respect other people. We try as much as we can to educate specially our parents and the older people in the community about these things. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 426-40). We see from this conversation that ethnic identification can be a motivating factor for students who decide to stick together. In other words, ethnicity becomes a unifying force for ethnic minorities. However, the students are also quick to point to the limitations of social mobilization along these lines given the global contexts we find ourselves in today. The import of this realization is that schools need to deal with difference given that the global community is a plural and connected world, a world made up of many differences (e.g., disability, ethnicity, class, religion, language, gender, sexuality, and race). While these differences, however, may mark

84 Schooling and Difference in Africa

our respective identities, in the larger realm of things our histories and cultures are interconnected and interwoven. As one of the students noted, ethnic differences, like other social markers, are not necessarily of one's choosing; consequently, schools, educators, students, parents, and communities all have a responsibility to accept differences and to address any resulting issues by acknowledging and confronting questions of power, privilege, and domination. Student educators, it appears, generally feel that they are doing their part to 'educate' with regards to difference, and yet they clearly require more institutional responsibility in terms of providing adequate resources to facilitate this task. Ghanaian-born students currently enrolled in the Canadian school system also bring some interesting perspectives to the question of difference. In many ways their exposure to the two schooling systems has widened their knowledge on the issues. For one thing they are frequently exposed to issues of inclusive schooling. In addition, they have also developed a conscious awareness of their racial/ethnic minority status and positionality in the Canadian context. For these students the tendency for Ghanaian schools to remain largely silent on issues of difference is questionable. There is the case, for example, of Boama, who is studying for his master's degree in environmental studies, and has been in Canada for barely a year. He challenges Ghanaian educators to speak about minority-majority relations and the power imbalances that are inherent in such social 'formations. Moreover, in calling for complex ways to understand minority status positionings in the school system, Boama points to learners with [physical] disabilities, whose needs can be, and have been, discounted in the school system. We may recall that Christo, a top official in the District Capacity Building Unit of the Ghanaian Ministry of Education, had similar concerns. Both Boama and Christo support action towards addressing this situation through an emphasis on inclusive schooling. In particular, Boama notes the absences and silence on the question of disability: You can't just ignore certain people because they are in the minority. Maybe one minority group that was not talked about are disabled people. Some of the abuses are not always taken into consideration. I believe everyone's decision counts. Everyone's opinion counts. I think a bit lies in the diversity, so why don't we listen to other people? (File Ol-GCS-01: Text units 112-16)

Difference and diversity are thus related to knowledge production, in terms of our engagements with complex issues of education, including the imperative of affirming the worth of all subjects in the school system.

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 85

When asked to account for her critical reflection on the Ghanaian school system and whether she was aware of the importance of difference while in Ghana, Bonsa, a Ghanaian-Canadian female student at a Canadian university, had this to say: No I wasn't. I wasn't because I thought it was normal, you know. I saw nothing wrong with it when I was in Ghana. I was seeing it as a choice and an opportunity that one doesn't have. But when I came down here I now see it as an issue that needs to be addressed. Interviewer: Why is that?

I see it as an issue now because I am a minority. I am beginning to see it more because of how I am being treated. When I was back home I didn't have any problem with it because, well, I did not see it as an issue. But when I came here and got the treatment that I got, I felt it's high time we needed to address those issues in Ghana too. (File Ol-GCS-03: Text units 286-300)

As a member of the dominant/majority Akan group in Ghana, she had barely paid attention to difference in the sense of ethnicity or to the nature of majority-minority relations. In Canada her minority status and the challenges of schooling in a pluralistic context have brought these issues clearly home to her. She opines that Ghanaian schools must keep on top of such issues even if it is from a different perspective and context. In contrast, Monta, who is in the third year of his PhD program in African studies in a Canadian university, recalls with pride his schooling experiences in Tunisia, Malta, and Ghana. He attributes his insightful take on difference to his personal philosophy. He argues that there is 'no unity' without acknowledging differences. Difference is positive; it entails the strengths and varied contributions of a diverse body politic. Education is the loser if such wealth of knowledge is not tapped into by educators. As Monta puts it: My understanding of difference would come from my own personal philosophy that it is important to be different and to acknowledge difference and to build on that difference because there is no unity without difference. For me difference is not something in the negative, rather it is something positive. We should explore the resources that each individual brings together to the table, and once you acknowledge that the only negative aspect of difference in this life is that we as people fail to acknowledge the differences. (File Ol-GCS-05: Text units 425-37)

86 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Monta sees diversity and difference as sources of strength. The refusal to acknowledge difference is the only thing negative about difference. Alternatively, Mansa (since our interview she has obtained her doctorate and is teaching at an American university) is, in many ways, reflective of those who struggle with the tensions around difference and sameness. Her difficulty in conceptualizing difference can be traced to the lessons of history, when differences became rallying grounds for treating individuals and groups unequally. She concedes that while difference, in her lived.experience in Ghana, was acknowledged in terms of the existence of ethnic associations and identifications, its status was rhetorical rather than celebratory. What is interesting in Mansa's recollections, however, is the simultaneous concession that in her schooling years in Ghana, ethnic minorities (in this case, Ewes) were discriminated against by other groups at the university: Difference is a difficult thing to conceptualize. That is why I am sitting here now. Like how different did I consider myself when I was at UCC? University of Cape Coast is in Cape Coast and it is a Fante township and everybody speaks Fante. You know we would see people coming from different backgrounds and you could only see difference in the number of so-called ethnic associations that were formed. That was about it and occasionally when there was a strike action, then we target particular ethnic groups. Mostly it is the Ewe, now let's beat the Ewes up. Otherwise difference isn't something that we celebrate. We do not celebrate difference. Interviewer: Why do you think that is so? We, Ghanaians and maybe as Africans, see the humanity, you know we celebrate people's humanity and not our particularism. We think a human being is a human being regardless of their background. It's only when issues of conflict and misunderstanding, disagreements step in that people might talk about difference. Otherwise we usually do not put much emphasis on difference. But just a quick one in the university setting - at least girls and women generally don't get the same deal, not in terms of the curriculum or the subjects we could pursue but when it comes to relations between the sexes and the way the males treat females; I have had an occasion to comment on diat thing before, it is lousy. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 315-36)

Mansa's explanation for her apparent contradictory response is interesting in that she perceives the notion of a basic humanity as one that

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 87

rests primarily on emphasizing our commonalities rather than our differences. The position that an individual is a human being irrespective of any difference is not something anyone will quibble with. But such an understanding must not lead to a denial of the power relations that intersect the discourse and materiality of difference. It is one thing to say we are all humans irrespective of our differences. But it is another thing to say we are all the same and that race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, culture, and other forms of difference do not matter. As we have seen in the narrative of Bonsa, another Ghanaian Canadian female student, difference matters. If one is in a minority, there are associated discriminatory practices to be taken into account. Alternatively, if one is dominant, there are associated privileges, including the privilege of denial. It is striking that Mansa's status as a female provides a critical lens for her to interrogate the differential treatment along the lines of gender that is very much in evidence in Ghanaian society. And yet, she does not extend the same lens to ethnicity. It is an interesting study in itself to tease out why gender can be acknowledged at the discursive level (not necessarily in terms of concretely responding to it) as a site of difference while simultaneously ethnicity, language, religion, or cultural differences can be denied. Such discursive shifts and manipulations can be evoked and enhanced through the platform of privileged status that the dominant enjoys over a subordinate. In order to shed additional light on the engagement of difference and diversity in terms of their relevancy and implications for schooling, we move now to the subject voices of Ghanaian youth studying in local educational institutions (primary, secondary, and college/university levels). As is often the case, it is the privileged who prefer to cast their gazes away from difference. However, the minoritized may also avoid discussions related to difference, particularly when its manifestation is a site of their continued subordination and oppression. They cannot afford (psychologically/spiritually) to be subjected to further abuse and subordination. When dealing with difference, therefore, we must be mindful of the material and discursive means through which exclusion can be sustained and reproduced. Marti is in the first year of university, studying business administration. He would like schools to both acknowledge the different ethnicities and strive for fair representation in the creation and production of knowledge: Ghana is made up of different ethnic groups, and they all should be represented. If we have more of a certain group represented, then maybe other

88 Schooling and Difference in Africa groups are marginalized ... Because we are coming from different cultural backgrounds, we have a unique way of doing things. An Asante has a different way of doing things than the Fantis and Ewes. Together we realize that our contributions [are] greater. (File Ol-GUS-03: Text units 97-9, 106-9)

Social spaces must reflect the diversity of Ghanaian society. Marti asserts that the way educators name, negotiate, and acknowledge difference needs to be looked at carefully as a source of some of the problems that minoritized students are forced to deal with. His narrative shows why minorities may avoid a discussion of difference that is not solutionoriented: Anytime we stress on differences, some people aren't really comfortable because people are made to believe that one group is superior to the other and you feel uncomfortable for belonging to a minority group. You don't want people to see that you belong to a minority group. When we stress the commonalties, I think everybody feels comfortable ... If we take away the negatives, then I think it'll be OK. But if you discuss it like diat, people even won't come out, because they won't be bold enough. When we are likely to appreciate each other's culture, each other's background, then in that case it is fair. What I have realized is that in our schools, because some people are perceived to be minorities, people don't like to stress these issues. (File Ol-GUS-03: Text units 235-40, 248-54)

In many ways his narrative gestures to the fact that perhaps it is the way we teach and present difference that is the problem. If difference is conceptualized and upheld in hierarchical terms rather than perceived as a circle in which everyone is connected, then we set ourselves up for failure in the eradication of individual/group tensions and animosity. Treating 'difference' as a mark of inferiority or inequality consigns an individual or group to a minority/subordinate status. Minoritized bodies faced with this problematic may, quite understandably, shy away from accentuating differences. Asima, however, a Muslim minority member with roots in the North and the Volta region of Ghana, sees inclusion as 'about everything being represented.' He believes that it is imperative for schools to address social difference in order for learning to happen: I think we should talk about differences that we have with each other, because you have to do that in the institutions. You have to learn about these differences in the institution and then when you come out, you know

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 89 what they are ... I think it is good that we have differences. It is good, but it shouldn't be something that we fight about. (File Ol-GUS-04: Text units

314-22) Thinking about difference and inclusion is, therefore, good education. It allows everyone to value each other. It provides a better understanding of others without creating conflict and animosity. A teacher can discuss difference in such a way that it creates a sense of unity, inclusion, and peace in the classroom. For example, 'difference' can be presented in terms of what makes each subject unique and yet connected. Furthermore, a teacher/class can go beyond simply thinking and talking about difference and inclusion to actually acting on and practising it. This can be achieved, for instance, by including everyone in discussions, thereby making each person feel a sense of self-worth in their status as contributors to discussions and knowledge production. Teaching in such practical ways could help alleviate any grounds for conflict and tension. This is a counter-argument to those who would contend that by simply teaching or evoking difference in schooling one is 'stirring up trouble,' 'opening up a can of worms,' 'digging up' unpleasant histories, or 'lighting the flame' for ethnic conflicts and tensions. A number of students, including student teachers in our interviews, proposed various ways in which educators could approach difference. Take the case of Adji, who graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon, with a first-class honours degree in social work and sociology, and was undertaking his national service at the time of our interview. He cautions educators to start from the known, to talk about our strengths and our weaknesses in relation to the knowledge we hold. From this position he believes, we can enhance learning for all students: I would emphasize the need for us to emphasize our differences. On the areas that we have in common we have very clear borders. We understand what we have in common among ourselves. But the area that we have problems understanding is the area of our differences. There is a need for us to identify our weaknesses, and emphasize on those weaknesses. Otherwise how can we convert those weaknesses to our strengths? I would go with the need to emphasize the area of our differences so that we can be able to champion the cost on the area of integration. (File Ol-GUS-16: Text units 320-8)

Education is about learning to become well informed on social issues.

90 Schooling and Difference in Africa

We must address any weaknesses, gaps, and limits in our knowledge. According to Adji, it is for this reason alone that education should place emphasis on our differences. Fobi, another male university student hailing from the Asante region of Ghana, is clear on the path to follow. He insists that we can only show pride in our commonalities through a path that acknowledges our diversities and seeks out ways to work positively with difference. The claim of common citizenship and national belonging is only meaningful if it allows people to assert their individual identities and subjectivities, as opposed to developing a sense of denial or amputating part of the self: I think that there is this cliche that [there is] unity in diversity or something. I belong to this group because I believe that we must allow people to be who they are, they are Ghanaians. I think they are Ghanaians first but they come from a particular background that you cannot change at all or maybe you cannot change overnight, it takes a lot of time to change. To me it doesn't make sense to tell people to forget their cultural backgrounds and then just be national. It is important to let them know that they belong to a nation, but then the nation is made up of different, people coming together, so we must harp on the fact that we are different, but that while different we belong to a particular flag or national anthem, so it is important that we do not always look on the side which divide us. (File Ol-GUS-23: Text units 44258).

Those who are dominant usually lay claim to national citizenship. Their sense of belonging emerges from the power of their social positions and the existence of institutions that support and legitimize their claims and ways of knowing. The discourse and practice of citizenship can be colonizing when differences are ignored. Deri, a female student with an interest in primary education, is in her final year in the Bachelor of Education program. She hails from the northern part of the country. As a practising Muslim and a northerner, she is from an ethnic, religious minority. Her narrative is similar to Fobi's assertion that we begin to appreciate ourselves and others by learning about our differences in relation to our shared commonalities, rather than discarding them. I come from the northern part of the country and every 60 kilometres you have a different [ethnic groups] and all those things, so you get to know that there are different people existing with people. The best way you can live with them is to know how they live. How do you get to know about that?

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 91 You get to know about them when you relate with them, you interact with them and I think that has built my outgoing attitude ... You look at the similarities first, then you can always learn the differences and look at that in a positive way. Look at the differences as an opportunity for you to learn about the other ... You [also] have to look for the similarities in every different group - try to look out for the similarities. (File Ol-GUS-32: Text units 65-71, 325-33)

In other words, similarities and differences go hand in hand in the search for understanding. Differences must be seen positively and as an opportunity to learn about things one does not know. However, the search for a common understanding of our differences places differential responsibilities on the various members of society. Lidi, a second-year, male Bachelor of Education student in psychology at the University of Cape Coast, wants everybody to be involved when it comes to teaching and learning about difference. But he sees a special role for educators, whose task is to get everybody involved ... to get each and every one to understand each one's culture, understand each because we come from different backgrounds and we might be doing things in a different way. We need to be trained - the university must train the students to accept each and every one the way he or she comes. (File Ol-GUS-36: Text units 77-81)

Responsibility of this kind extends beyond schools and educators. It is a collective responsibility. Osei is in the second year of the chemistry program at the University of Science and Technology. As an Akan and a Christian he believes his status as a member of the dominant group places a special requirement upon him to learn more about the minoritized: Sometimes it is like you don't know much about some people. And then, when you get to know them, you learn about their culture and their religion. Sometimes I like to know much about the Koran, because I don't know much about it. And I think I should know about it. Sometimes, if I want some explanations, my Moslem friends could teach me. (File 01-GUS20: Text units 72-6).

Although he places the burden of educating the other on the minoritized, Osei makes a good point regarding the search for knowledge and the power of people understanding each other.

92 Schooling and Difference in Africa

While knowledge can simply be a way for the dominant to engage in the colonial discourse of 'consuming the other,' we nevertheless need to hold on to the possibility that critical knowledge can help us engage and eradicate our individual prejudices, misunderstandings, and mistrusts. We live currently in a social climate in which Muslims and the Islamic faith, for example, have been vilified in the West by being connected to terrorism. In fact Lampti, who is in the final year of the commerce program at the University of Cape Coast, alludes to the role of critical teaching in addressing such common misconceptions that are implicated in the reproduction of the social oppression of minoritized groups. In speaking about gender education, he laments that the issue of gender is read simply as a 'female issues.' This absolves males of any responsibility and complicity in the maintenance of gender oppression: I believe that it is time that society changes their perception about these gender issues - that work is solely reserved for women. In fact, as I said, if I had not taken that particular course I would also think along that line. So I believe that there should be a course orientation or symposia or press conferences to educate the public on some of these issues so that society will not frown against one group or a minority group, whether [over] ethnicity, religion, gender or any other thing. There should be workshops on such issues that you educate the public so that we come out of this phase. (File Ol-GUS-22: Text units 485-93)

Lampti calls for public education to be taken up as an important tool in dealing with discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, religion, and other forms of difference. While we may question the effectiveness of public workshops, symposia, and press conferences unless backed by real or concrete political action (e.g., insisting that there is a relationship between the diverse representations of bodies in schools and the production of multiple knowings) to address the systemic and structural underpinnings of social oppressions, at least in the beginning stage, we can acknowledge the relevance of public awareness on these matters. At the time of our interview, Apau had completed a Bachelor of Science in tourism at the University of Cape Coast. His narrative shows clearly why dealing with social difference is important for social development. Difference is more than just a question of schooling. Addressing difference should be at the heart of the goals of national development. Differences of class, gender, ethnicity, religion, language and culture, if not properly addressed, will inevitably lead to learners feeling 'left out'

Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 93

and alienated. Such a situation can only exacerbate social tensions as students are denied access to the valued goods and services of society. As Apau asserts: I think all should work hand in hand. We are all Ghanaians, and should work to improve the level of standards or the overall economic development. I would say we have to get to know our differences well so that it wouldn't be that kind of cultural shock among ourselves that we would smoothen out things so that we all work in harmony. Those in the educational science should kind of consider those from the hinterlands. (File 01GUS-41: Text units 370-85)

Education then should be locally contextualized and made relevant to address and serve the immediate needs of local people. This is what is implied in the words 'science should ... consider those from the hinterland.' Promoting social cohesion (a social climate where each and everyone finds himself/herself valued) argues for building a strong, healthy society. Sowah, who teaches agricultural science to grades 7 and 8 learners at the university primary school (JSS) of mostly (but not exclusively) Fante background, believes that all children have a right to education in order to realize their full potential: They need to have equal education so that they can develop equally. Because of inequality, the rich are getting [richer] and the poor are getting [poorer]. Such things cannot be good for the country in terms of economic development. (File 02-GJSE-01: Text units 308-11)

Sowah speaks to the glaring social inequities and warns of the urgent need to address them for sake of national development. We believe that attempts to address the challenges of social difference are predicated on creating a fair, just society where each learner can proudly enjoy the social benefits of education. Obviously, we must theorize and situate difference in our discussions when drawing connections between education and national development. Discussion

The foregoing examination of the participants' narratives shed an important theoretical focus on the understanding of difference in pluralistic

94 Schooling and Difference in Africa

contexts. As already highlighted, the non-acknowledgment of difference can often be attributed to a desire to claim 'unity in sameness' rather than 'unity in difference.' Schooling and education in post-colonial societies has the pressing task of finding a way to speak about the concepts of community and nation, which are, at one level, marked by sameness, and at another, by difference. To achieve this educational goal, the 'desire for unity or wholeness in discourse [cannot] generate borders, dichotomies and exclusions' (Young 1990, 309). Educators must not deny difference within and between learners. While there may be some urging for learners to define 'community' in terms of members who share a specific heritage, social identity, culture, and values, such a community politics becomes problematic if it engages in what Young aptly describes as an 'oppositional differentiation from other groups who are at worst feared, or at best, devalued' (ibid., 311). Rather than deny or suppress differences, radical school politics must uncover differences among learners and educators and harness this wealth of knowledge to further educational goals. Among such goals must be the creation of a just, unoppressive community, where differences are acknowledged and responded to and every member feels valued and appreciated. A community of learners embodies difference, and as a result education must embrace differences. There must be openness to the differences of ethnicity, culture, religion, language, ability, sexuality, gender, and social class. The understanding of majority and minority grouping in Ghana is explored in the next chapter.

4 Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

The distinctive communities and groups that make up Ghanaian society may be conceptualized in terms of majority and minority relationships. This designation is based on such categories as ethnicity, gender, class, language, religion, disability, socio-political power, and profession. One of the purposes of our study has been to see how the respondents viewed notions of minority and majority status, and how they looked into relationships that were generally referred to as minority - majority relations. They offer a vast array of views and insights to conceptualize, theorize, and define both majority and minority concepts and their intra/inter relationships. In general terms, they defined minority groups as those groups who shared physical or cultural characteristics that distinguished them from the dominant group and singled them out in society as different, with the result that they were treated differently and unequally (see also Lord & Strietska-llina 2001; Farley 2000). While some respondents viewed minority/majority groups in terms of numbers and size, for a few it was understood that a minority group may not necessarily be a numerical minority. Minority groups were, by and large, defined by respondents in terms of their relative exclusion from the political, social, and economic power bases in society. They were seen as marginalized and oppressed by the dominant majority group, who treated them unfairly, held them in a position of subordination, and restricted their access to wealth, property, education, prestige, and decent working and living conditions. In terms of classification and belonging, membership in a minority group was not seen by the respondents as voluntary butas acquired at birth. As a result of experiencing differential treatment, minority groups exhibit a strong sense of group cohesion and solidarity that function in defiance of the

96 Schooling and Difference in Africa

values and regulations imposed by the dominant group (see also Hogg and Terry 2001; Yetman and Steele 1978). The opposition to the minority group, that is to say, the majority group, were generally defined by respondents as any group that held the social, economic, and political power in society while simultaneously regulating the access of others to sources of income, prestige, education, and authority. By and large, control over the means of political, economic, social, and ideological power in society was seen as the defining feature of any dominant majority group. Much as with other variables such as notions of difference and diversity, the arguments of respondents supported the postulate that notions of minority/majority status may have different meanings for different individuals, depending on their ethnic background, culture, class, gender, religion, language, and so on. The respondents interrogated and explored the issues of power, influence, authority, voice, access, size, and quantity to articulate both minority/majority concepts and their relationships. In the majority of cases (in relation to ethnic, racial, and tribal affiliations) , the dominant Akan group was identified as the majority. The Akan language was also seen as a majority language. English was positioned in second place in terms of the number of speakers, prestige, status, and size of the speech area and speech communities. In terms of religion, Christians were identified as the majority, followed by Muslims and Traditionalists, who were regarded as the religious minority. With regard to gender, while it was almost universally agreed that males constituted the majority, in this case being a numerical majority did not play a major role in reversing a minoritized status of another type. On the other hand, having power, authority, and influence were singled out as the defining features of a majority group. In terms of class position, socio-economic background, and social status, respondents generally agreed that one could not draw a clear line between individual students on the sole basis of class divisions, for it was not clearly visible who came from what class. However, numerous allusions were made to the dominant Akan group as the one that enjoyed a higher socio-economic status and privilege. More precisely, class issues were viewed in terms of regional disparities and inequalities rather than clear-cut general class divisions. While the majority of those residing in the southern region were seen as enjoying a relatively privileged lifestyle that included, among other things, having access to infrastructure and facilities (as well as education and income), the people living in the north or the Northerners (as they are called) were seen as economically

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 97

deprived and less fortunate. In a sense (based on the findings of our study), it may be safely argued that the Northerners constituted the minority in terms of class, language, religion, and ethnicity. Correspondingly, in terms of gender, the Ghanaian schools and universities were far less representative of northern females as opposed to those from other parts of the country. Let us now look into some of the debates and discussions from the viewpoint of our respondents. Minority/Majority: Is It an Issue?

Chira is a Ghanaian-Canadian educator in Canada, who taught agricultural science in Ghana. He reflects on his teaching experience with respect to majority/minority issues: Minority issues were not a big issue, except perhaps in big towns like Accra where I was teaching. We didn't have that kind of problem and in terms of religion, the majority of Ghanaians are Christians but there are Moslems and traditional believers. Traditional believers practise their religion at home. They do not bring it to school and the important thing is that the students were not denied opportunities because they were minorities. In fact some minority students in secondary schools did better than other students. (File OO-GCE-15: Text units 334-42)

Chira does not see the relevance of taking into consideration the issues and questions of minorities in the schooling process. From his social position, he sees no problem with minorities. Moreover, in order to support his stance, he employs the discourse of meritocracy to prove his point. According to Chira, a student's minority status does not automatically put that, student at a disadvantage because, in his perception, those in a minority sometimes do better than other students. However, the question remains, How many students are unsuccessful in the schooling process precisely because of their minority status? Chira views minority/ majority concepts in terms of numbers. Also, his narrative indicates that the question of minority status intersects with the issue of religion. But, as a Christian (and dominant) male body, he fails to perceive the disadvantages faced by religious minorities. Nor does he see the problems for traditional religious believers consigning their spiritual practices to the private realm of the home as opposed to practicing their spirituality publicly in the schools.

98 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Tengi, another Ghanaian-Canadian student, speaks about ethnic groups in Ghana: Though there are a lot of ethnic groups in Ghana, I don't think it is necessary to talk about minority education in Ghana. The reason why I am saying this is that we are all Ghanaians, so I will not consider that as minority education unless there are people from other countries like in Canada. We have different racial groups. We have people from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. That I will consider as minority education. But in Ghana I don't think that will be necessary. (File 01-GCS-ll: Text units 101-7)

Tengi looks at the issue of minority education in the framework of race rather than ethnicity. He does not conceive of ethnicity as a marker of difference in Ghana. Furthermore, he posits that in Ghana everyone is 'Ghanaian,' but in doing so he marginalizes the issue of difference and diversity by employing a nationalist discourse. Throughout history, the nationalist discourse has many times been used to include and exclude minority groups, especially women (Loomba 1998). It is interesting to note that Tengi can understand minority-majority relations in the context of Canada, where overt visible differences exist to help decipher who is in a minority based on his or her skin colour; however, he does not see the same difference back in Ghana, because everyone is assumed to be black. Tengi's response draws a picture of a minority as a visible minority with visible differences, in contrast to the majority. This kind of assumption is problematic in the Ghanaian context, where difference arises not from skin colour but rather from ethnicity, religion, language, gender and class. One has to question such nationalist discourses that can be employed to maintain the status quo and perpetuate the domination of majority groups in whose image the nationalist discourse was created. In short, Tengi's narrative should serve as a warning to educators that we must go beyond visible differences and look for difference and diversity also in terms of non-visible social. Minority and Majority Construction in Terms of Religion, Gender, Ethnicity, Class, and Ability

The conceptualization of minority and majority status depends on many social factors. One factor that respondents referred to most in their differentiations between majority and minority was that of numbers. For instance, Ayiku, a second-year male Bachelor of Arts student in the social

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 99

sciences at the University of Cape Coast, who belongs to the Akan group, was asked what he perceived a minority to be in terms of schooling. He promptly replied: Minority education, I think, would be defined as a group that forms a smaller portion out of the lot. The minority would be the group that has the least number out of the whole. (File Ol-GUS-38: Text units 86-90)

In conceptualizing minority status purely in terms of numbers, Ayiku fails to draw out the interlocking nature and intersections of difference, social locations, and questions of power. However, while Ayiku's response reflects a common perception among the respondents, many educators and students, fortunately, gave a more complicated picture of what a majority and minority group looked like. They saw the construction of minority and majority identities across the lines of gender, ethnicity, class, ability, and religion. Kum, for example, is a teacher of English language and literature in a predominantly Christian Ghana secondary school. Although, like Ayiku, she sees the minority/ majority groups vis-a-vis numbers, she nevertheless moves beyond this position to articulate the concepts of'minority' and 'majority' in terms of gender, ethnicity, and religion. She states: At this school the number of girls is more than the number of boys. But ethnic-wise I think the school is a kind of watershed. Everybody comes in. We have Akans, we have Asante, Ewes, Fantis, and so on. I think Akans in the school are in the majority now. Religion-wise, we the Christians form the greatest majority, about 90 per cent or so. (File OO-GE-01: Text units 23-7)

Kum indicates that the question of minority status intersects along the lines of gender, ethnicity, and religion. For educators, Rum's narrative indicates that minority/majority status is constructed through numerous lines and intersections of difference, as opposed to any single one. Thus, educators will fail to address the wholeness of difference if they merely limit themselves to a sinle aspect. It was notable that some educators saw the intersection between the concepts of minority and majority status in terms of class. For instance, Addo, a male Ghanaian educator who is a coordinator of the Ghana General Science/Mathematics Project, had previously been a vice-principal of a teacher training college. When asked about who he perceives as belonging to a minority group, he stated:

100 Schooling and Difference in Africa I do not know [the] concept of minorities that you ... may be looking at, but if you want to look at minority in terms of poverty line, the wealthy and other things, then that would be very easy to get because they have some people who may not have the money or can not afford their children's education. That group may not even be considered as a minority but as a majority. (File OO-GE-11: Text units 39-45)

Addo's thoughts indicate the importance of associating the question of minority status with issues of class. He conceptualizes minority status as being part of a group that does not have access to material resources. According to Addo, this form of minority-majority relations is easily discernable in terms of the visibility of those who cannot afford their children's education. Here the question of minority status emerges in the schooling context around those who come from a numerically larger group but have so little access to resources that their physical presence in schools is numerically small. Addo's narrative suggests that as educators we may all too easily resign ourselves to the flawed idea that the difference between being a majority or minority student is due to mere numbers, as opposed to power. The question of access to resources is a major factor in including or excluding those who come from non-privileged classes. However;, the question of class needs to be incorporated not just through access to schooling, but in terms of the student body, the faculty, and critical curriculum production. Conceptualized from a different perspective, minority status was viewed by at least one educator in terms of both abelism and regionalism. On this latter note we find Christo making connections between minority status and regional difference. However, it may be difficult to discuss regional difference without also implicating ethnicity. As Christo asserts: [W] e have the physically handicapped group that would form a minority. We also have geographical problems, where people, by their locations, are deprived of some quality of something. (File OO-GE-16: Text units 37-40)

In his enunciation of the disabled, Christo highlights a minority group that is largely invisible in the schooling system. He points to the connections between minoritization and ableism, an issue that is often ignored in schooling systems in the African context. However, educators must begin to seriously address the exclusionary impact of ableism in terms of student bodies, faculty, curricula, and the physical space of the school environment itself. Often the concerns of the disabled are ignored and

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

101

negated in the common sense belief that such individuals and groups do not belong in the school. We must remind ourselves, however, that dominating and oppressive discourses that seek to determine who is considered 'normal,' and who is not, are detrimental and destructive not only for the minoritized but for the entire community, and indeed the nation as a whole. As we have seen, some educators and students view the concept of minority status as one that is synonymous with ethnicity. Mansa, for example, who belongs to the Akan group, compares being in a minority in the Canadian context with the Ghanaian context to draw the following conclusion: [I]n Ghana we don't usually talk of minorities we talk of ethnic groups. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 37-8)

Mansa makes an interesting observation when she argues that, in Ghana, minority status and ethnicity are synonyms. And yet, as we have seen in earlier narratives, we need to problematize this twin notion of minority status and ethnicity, as there are a number of social locations that simultaneously intersect with the minority question (language, class, gender, disability, religion, and so on). It is important to keep this in mind, for as we have previously discussed, evoking this kind of synonym may lead educators to address the issues of minority experience and positionings purely in terms of ethnicity while ignoring other differences that intersect with minority constructions. The Perception of Minorities and Majorities by Regional Differences A number of educators and students perceive majority and minority groups in terms of which region they come from and how they intersect with other social locations. Sara, a Ghanaian educator who works for the ministry of education, is involved with the development of curricula for primary and secondary schools in Ghana. She raises the issue of regional barriers and their intersections with minority schooling: I think they have bridged the gap, but with geographical and regional barriers, I think that there are still minorities. (File OO-GE-28: Text units 48-53) Sara perceives the concept of minority status through the lens of regionalism. One can become part of a minority simply by belonging to a cer-

102 Schooling and Difference in Africa

tain part of the country. As most universities and schools are in the south, many students from across Ghana have to relocate there in order to get an education. This raises the issue of accessibility, as those students who come from the north bring with them a body of lived experiences and knowledges that are not necessarily acknowledged in the schooling process given the location of the schools in which they are enrolled. This is a problem that educators need to become aware of and address. When students are forced to deal with regional differences (including an unfamiliar community that the school is a part of and limitations in terms of peers, resources, etc.), the notion of where one comes from can emerge as a major barrier to the learner's ability to engage fully with the schooling process and thus attain academic success. The question of regional difference intersects with other social differences as well. Christo discusses how the issue of regionalism intersects with that of minority: I believe there are minorities. Most of our best schools in the country are down south and they do not seem to have the influence of Islam, so when the people come here, they feel discriminated against when it comes to religion and that kind of moral training. (File OO-GE-16: Text units 42-7) As Christo rightly points out, religion is a marker of difference that is in turn linked with regionalism. Here he draws our attention to the minority groups who come from the north and happen to be predominantly Muslim. They feel alienated in the schooling process because in the south the culture is predominantly Christian. Religion, according to Christo, is intertwined with one's values and upbringing. Such values and ways of knowing are negated once the students enter the school. Educators therefore, need to take into account the intersection between religion and minority-majority relations so that students do not have to amputate themselves by leaving behind their religious identity. Other respondents raised the issue of majority-minority relations in the regional context. Bonsa, a Ghanaian-Canadian student in a Canadian university who was introduced earlier, had her primary and secondary schooling in Ghana. She belongs to the Asante group in the south. Reflecting back on her trips to the north and discusses how she was treated, she states: They see me as a minority, when I go to the north. You know they also see me as a minority but they don't look down upon us like we do back in the south. (File Ol-GCS-03: Text units 102-5)

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 103

Bonsa eloquently analyses the power differential in majority-minority relations that exist between the northern and southern parts of Ghana. She indicates that a minority is treated differently from region to region depending on where they are from, pointing out that a minority from the south is not discriminated against in the north in the same way that northern minorities are in the south. It seems there is a power difference between the south of Ghana and the north, such that those who belong to the southern parts of Ghana have more power than their brothers and sisters in the north. As a result, even if students from the south are small in numbers, they are treated equally or are not looked down upon to the same extent that their northern brothers and sisters are when they are in the south. It would appear, therefore, that there is cultural capital in belonging to the south, which may be due to the greater distribution and accessibility of education and resources in the south. In Bonsa's view, while one can numerically be representative of a minority, this does not automatically render a person less powerful, for in belonging to the south, one carries the cultural capital to assert one's identity and be treated with respect. There is an important lesson to be learned here regarding the complexity of minority/majority issues. In this context of discussion, a minority student in the north does not necessarily have less power; it may be the case that the student has more power than her/his majority peers because of the cultural capital s/he possesses. International Students

International students form a minority group numerically in the Ghanian schooling system. It is interesting to see how they tackle the issue of minority-majority relations from their vantage point. Toura, an international student from Sierra Leone, describes the harassment he experiences as a 'foreigner': I have had some negative experiences like how they ask if 'you. are Foreigners,' if you do not have the Ghanaian accent. I am from Sierra Leone. [Then they say], 'you people are fighting and killing your brothers and killing your sisters.' So I tell them, it is hot and that's why they are fighting or in favour of what's happening there. They should not just look at people and draw conclusion [s]. (File OO-IS-05: Text units 70-6)

Toura brings to our attention the reality that being in a minority also cuts across the lines of nationality. As a minority member he feels that his identity is the target of constant scrutiny and stereotyping. We can see

104 Schooling and Difference in Africa

here how the tools of stereotyping and language can be used by majority groups to exclude students who do not conform to their image. Moreover, the use of stereotypes is employed to belittle minoritized identities in order to assert a majority norm. In his resistance to stereotyping, Toura voices the position that the violence in his country is not related to any behavioural aspect of his people. His narrative shows the ways in which students can resist harassment by asserting their own identity, agency, and self-determination. Toura cautions both learners and educators that we 'should not just look at people and draw conclusions,' that is, use difference to stereotype and exclude. Another international student also complains about his experiences as a foreigner in Ghana. Nicholas is an African American male who is undertaking a work-study program at the University of Ghana. Interestingly, Ghana has been the first and only African country that Nicholas has visited. However, his experience has not been positive. He is shocked by the treatment he receives in the Ghanaian schooling system compared to his experiences at home. Moreover, he was surprised that he was treated as a minority person by Ghanaian students: To turn around and still be a minority that's what surprised me. I came from a school where there are one or two thousand Africans. I would say we have about 50 or 55 thousand that enrol every autumn quarter at the Ohio State University and maybe one or two thousand are blacks. I know that I am a minority there, but when I came here I knew that in the school every one would be African. I didn't expect to come from America, being black American, and be placed here as a minority. They treated me just like Caucasians at the Ohio State University, except there were actually African students treating me like this. I look just like them, with the same hair colour. I have been treated better by White Americans. Maybe I was expecting too much but I just didn't expect to be treated that way. (File OO-IS-06: Text units 202-16)

A graduate student of African-American studies back in the United States, Nicholas's romantic view of his African brothers and sisters was shattered. He expresses his frustration and surprise in becoming a minority person in the African context. Nicholas is used to being treated differently because of his skin colour back in the United States. That was what differentiated him from the majority group, who are predominantly white. Reflecting on his experiences back home, Nicholas conceptualizes minority/majority status with the visibility of differences, particularly skin colour. However, his assumptions are shattered in Ghana because he is

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

105

still treated as a minority person. This time his minoritization is due, not to his skin colour, but rather to his nationality, his cultural knowledge, his place of birth and language. Nicholas's story again raises the question of the significant role that invisible differences play in the process of minority/majority designation. Because of his invisible differences, Nicholas does not fit the norm and is thus treated as the 'other.' His narrative points to the multiple and contradictory forms in which the construct of minority status can be deployed and understood depending on the social contexts, in this case the United States and Ghana. Nicholas's narrative provides educators with the complexity of minority/majority formation that takes shape when differences are invisible, fluid, and context-dependent. We can see then that, within the schooling process, learners can be excluded by virtue of being different due to their birthplace, cultural knowledge, language, and so on. Thus, educators need to take into consideration the environment of international students who, for various reasons, are excluded from the schooling process. In order to address this issue, educators must first acknowledge the problem and then begin to develop strategies to combat these forms of harassment that Nicholas and Toura describe. These issues can be dealt with if educators work with students, teachers, and administrators to create an environment where people accept each other's differences as opposed to using them as a mode for engaging in exclusionary practices. Educators also need to develop facilities and resources whereby international students can access support systems to help counter the discrimination they experience. Sesa is from Sierra Leone, pursuing a program at the University of Ghana. He points to the lack of attention paid to foreign students in terms of monetary provisions, social activities and other forms of material resources: As far as the minorities are concerned, well, foreign students are the minorities here. I think if possible, one could create some financial facilities, some specific programs to bring these students together, and these sort of things. (File OO-IS-10: Text units 166-9)

Sesa's statement is an important reminder that the question of minority status cannot be addressed on paper alone, it has to be dealt with practically. As these international student narratives suggest, the challenges facing international students may not be important for Ghanaian educators, but for the students themselves their everyday activities need to be addressed in order for them to continue their education and feel a sense of welcome. Sesa calls for the organization of social activities in order to

106 Schooling and Difference in Africa

enhance the experiences of international students in the university. This is particularly important for minority students who are thirsting for peer support to enable them to resist the discrimination they experience. In addition, this kind of support can help students to share their experiences with peers and to affirm their daily social realities. However, having seen the benefits of developing facilities, educators must not fall into the trap of keeping international students and other minority-group students at the periphery; they need to be integrated into the core of the schooling process. How such integration takes place is a matter for discussion. Integration, whereby minority students are assimilated into the majority norm, is not the solution. Real integration takes place when people acknowledge that differences are part of the learning process. Both local students and educators need to take up the challenge of welcoming minority students and providing them with the opportunity to be equal participants in the schooling process. International students provide diverse lived experiences and knowledge that are valuable for the learning processes of Ghanaian students. Instead of pushing such differences away, the majority needs to embrace differences and incorporate them into the schooling process. Minority and Majority: Power and Opportunity Some respondents saw the concepts of minority and majority status in ways that related to the question of power, the amount of contribution a group makes, and the kind of opportunities one gets. During a focusgroup interview with university students (five males and one female) from the University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, University of Science and Technology, and Kumasi Polytechnic, one male student made reference to the majority Akan group, from which the following discussion emerged: Student A: I think generally, the majority of students here are Akans. I mean, when you see a person and you look at the person, you know that he or she is an Akan. You could say that Akans are the majority. Interviewer: Would you say the Akans also have more power? Student B: No, I don't think so. At least in my university, we are all treated the same. Nobody discriminates against others. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 36-47)

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 107

According to these students, the majority are conceptualized in terms of the predominance of visible bodies. Here majority is conceptualized as those who fit the 'norm' or the 'usual' in everyday campus life. However, when asked whether this group of people possess more power than others, one female student refuses to make the connection between majority status and power. She contends that power differentials are not present because 'everyone is treated the same.' We would argue that this form of rhetoric is detrimental to inclusive education. It marks a failure to recognize the underlying power relations that inform the internalization of dominant students' perceptions of themselves as the norm. Under these conditions, students do not problematize the absence of other bodies on the university campus. Here, the majority is conceptualized as those who fit the norms of the dominant group and are present in large numbers. And yet the very notion of groups or individuals being representative of a norm implies power. Those students who do not fit these norms are turned into the 'other' and subjected to alienation. In this way, the colonial relations of power are reproduced. Not all students, however, share the sentiments of the focus group discussed above. Mansa, for example, cannot separate the concepts of minority and majority status without acknowledging the question of power. She argues that this whole idea of constructing minority/majority is based on power. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 43-4)

Her statement eloquently points to the power issues that underpin the construction of minority and majority status. As we have seen, power and privilege may be related to numbers. The historical role of cultural capital in the contemporary reproduction of colonial relations and power differentials cannot be underestimated. Mansa's point is a highly significant one that educators should note as they address the issues of minority-majority relations in Ghanaian schooling. The goal of educators is to redistribute power so that both the minority and the majority can be equal participants in the schooling system. Lampti, a male student in the University of Cape Coast (previously introduced), takes the question of power a step further as he links it to the issue of gender: In the country, men in particular normally have power to do a lot of things and the women are worried, so power could also be a factor in determining the minority. (File Ol-GUS-22: Text units 31-7)

108 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Lampti posits that Ghanaian males have been favoured by patriarchy in Ghanaian society to the extent that women have less power. According to him, since there is a power differential: women are conceptualized as being the minority, while males are perceived to be the majority. Lampti himself is a Ga. Being a member of an ethnic minority, he can see the role of socio-political power in the rendering of minority/majority status. Lampti's narrative provides a further instance where the concept of minority status and its ascription does not necessarily correlate with numbers. Rather, he draws our attention to the role that socio-political context plays in minority/majority identity construction. In a focusgroup interview at the University of Cape Coast and University of Science and Technology at Kumasi, one student responded to the following question: Interviewer: What do you understand by minority? In terms of number, they have less population. And in terms of contribution, their contribution is less than the others. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 190-2)

The student conceptualizes majority and minority status numerically and through the lens of 'contribution.' Minorities are seen as those who, because of their smaller numbers, are perceived to contribute less overall to society. The notion of contribution however, reflects to some extent a liberal discourse wherein all groups are considered to be the same, and the questions of difference and of the underlying power differentials and disadvantages that certain groups face are denied. Moreover, to conceptualize minority groups in terms of those who contribute less reinscribes the negation of power relations and of systemic inequity. Dominating common-sense understandings of this nature do not see the disadvantages that minoritized groups face due to their social location and historically constructed disadvantages, nor do these understandings problematize and interrogate the notion of 'contribution,' its meaning, and the political frame in which it is deployed. Boti, a student at the University of Cape Coast, however, firmly equates the concept of majority group with privilege, observing: The majority groups are the Akans, the Asantes, and the Ewes. Interviewer: Are they also the ones with the best opportunities?

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

109

Yes, of course. (File 01-GUS-ll: Text units 38-40)

Boti draws our attention to the advantages that majority group members receive, advantages that are not available for minority group members. According to him, the question of who occupies the status of minority or majority is dependent upon the degree and level of opportunities they receive in both the schooling process and in Ghanaian society as a whole. In discussing ways to complicate and rupture dominant and imposing constructions of minority/majority groups, Boama speaks about the grand generalizations made about ethnicity and ethnic groupings: One thing that I have realized is that they lump all Africans as one, like the Africans and the Caribbeans. I think that within these larger groups there are also individual groups who may not feel a part of the larger group they are assigned to. Even within the minorities there are minorities. (File 01GCS-01: Text units 63-7)

Boama makes an important point regarding the imposition of large monolithic categories that do not take into account the rich diversity of difference. Such categorizations can lead to further exclusion and marginalization, as they fail to recognize the differences within groups. As educators we need to take into consideration the multiplicities and ambiguities of difference and steer away from the flawed pedagogical path of lumping people into monolithic groupings. This strategy can have little effect, as it fails to take into consideration the differences that exist across learners. What works for one learner may not work for another, even if they share the same ethnicity. As Boama contends, within minority groups there are also minorities. For instance, within the space of ethnicity, minoritization may occur across the lines of gender, class, or disability. Boama further notes the ways in which the concept of minority status within the schooling system varies according to the educational level: I went to school in the Asante region and then came to Accra. At the primary level I guess you realize that non-Akan speaking people are the minorities, but as you go to the secondary schools there seems to be a balance and that is attributed to the fact that people drop off along the way. (File Ol-GCS-01: Text units 82-5)

As Boama observes, at the primary level language and ethnicity are the markers of difference that differentiate a minority from the majority. At

110 Schooling and Difference in Africa

the tertiary level, however, the major marker of difference is religion. Boama's narrative suggests that the concept of minority status (as one that is never settled), needs to be taken into account as we address the issues of minority-majority relations, tensions, and experiences. For instance, we cannot assume that the conceptualization of minority status based on language at the lower levels will apply to tertiary education and vice versa. In order to make schooling more inclusive and relevant for students, particularly those from minoritized backgrounds, educators need to problematize the reproduction of narrow, dominating, categorizations and assumptions, regarding the construction of difference. Minority Group Representation

In discussions related to the issues of minority-majority relations in schooling, the Ghanaian respondents raised the question of minority representation. Here, Bonsa reflects on the question of minority schooling, emphasizing the importance of minority representation among teaching staff and the impact it has on learners: When there is a minority in that class it makes the person feel that there is hope for him or her in future. For example I am very happy when I go to a class and I see a minority professor. It motivates me. I have been wondering if I will get a job in my field. [Most] people keep discouraging me but I am very happy to see black professors, minority professors, especially Ghanaian professors. (File Ol-GCS-03: Text units 239-7)

Bonsa makes a significant point about the importance of representation in the process of educational delivery (i.e., teachers who make up the schooling system and the positive impact this has on minority students). She discusses how representation intersects with the question of empowerment. In seeing a minority professor, she becomes hopeful of achieving success in her future career precisely because this person who looks like her has made it to that level. Bonsa's narrative indicates how a body can be part of the process of transformative knowledge production in that it can affirm minoritized identities. A teacher's identity is important for minority students, who feel a sense of hope when they see one of their own in a position of power. For educators, Bonsa's comments are an important reminder that in order to address the question of minority schooling, we also have to address the question of representation in our hiring policies to make sure that the teachers represent the diversity in the student body.

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 111

Rowena, a Ghanaian-Canadian doctoral student, had this to say about minority issues in education: For the minority, very little is spoken of their world. In that case it makes it difficult for the minority to relate to certain issues even within the school system. (File Ol-GCS-04: Text units 65-9)

Rowena speaks to the absence of minority standpoints and knowledge in schooling. Such absences, she posits, can lead to the alienation and disengagement of students. Schooling practices that block the world views of minority students are sustained and reproduced in varied forms that include the curriculum, educational texts, and the embodied knowledge of authority involved in the educational delivery, administration, and cultural atmosphere of the schooling system. Rowena's conceptualization of minority status relates to the terrain of dominant knowledge production. It is this terrain that determines what kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing are validated/legitimized and included or excluded. To further elaborate on why this is occurs, Rowena states: I think much has not been done because most of the time the emphasis has been on the dominant. I think it makes it easier for them so they don't really focus on the minority so they just go ahead and do what they think is right ... Probably because most of the time those in dominant groups are the people in the educational set-up. Most of them are the people who are in control of things, so definitely they are the ones deciding to do things the way it should be done because there are very few minorities and it becomes difficult for them to have a say as to changing certain things in the system. (File Ol-GCS-04: Text units 156-69)

Rowena argues that the schooling process has been constructed with a certain learner in mind (i.e., it is constructed for the members of the majority group). The majority groups are positioned as the norm. Rowena suggests that educators find it easier to address this group precisely because they (the teachers) are often from the same privileged group themselves. However, as members of the majority group, they run the risk of producing and disseminating resources and knowledge that negate and exclude the indigenous knowledge of students from minority groups. As a result, the minority-group standpoint is excluded from the learning environment. Educators need to look critically at their social location and situatedness in ways that question their own implication in dominance, oppression and exclusion. As Rowena mentioned, the

112 Schooling and Difference in Africa

knowledge of minority groups is placed either at the periphery or in a state of non-existence. This creates a loss, for both the minority students, who become disengaged from the schooling process, and the entire educator/student population, who are denied the opportunity to engage in the development of critical consciousness through a diverse and inclusive program. Educators need to problematize the historical underpinnings of the current structures of the educational system that grant certain groups more power and advantages over others. In addition, they need to make a political commitment towards radical transformative change in order to create a more equitable learning environment. The power to make decisions has a vital impact on the shape and form of the educational environment. It is, therefore, imperative in our interrogations of existing pedagogical forms that the embodied knowledge of minority groups be brought to the centre in the process of decision making. Kwadwo is a Ghanaian-Canadian master's student at a Canadian university who came to Canada in 1998 from Kumasi, Ghana. He speaks about minority issues in relation to authority and power: At times the so-called majority can hide behind the scene and push minorities at the top to cover up their own activities. It can happen like that so if we have the so-called minorities at the helm of affairs it does not necessarily mean that the system is inclusive. (File Ol-GCS-12: Text units 193-7)

Kwadwo makes an interesting observation regarding the presence of minority member in positions of authority. Even though it may appear that some sort of equity has been reached, he problematizes this perception for overlooking the underpinning inequities within the system. As Kwadwo argues, just because a few minoritized people have reached certain positions of power, this should not necessarily be seen as a celebration of inclusiveness. He contends that the presence of a few minority members in positions of power may serve as a strategy for those in power to deny the systemic inequities in the schooling process and society at large. Kwadwo asks us to take a deeper look at the question of minority representation in Ghanaian schooling, and to go beyond it in order to make schooling more inclusive for the different and diverse bodies of Ghana. Kwadwo's comments are a warning for educators not to be misguided by the surface bodily representation we may see in the school system, but rather to keep our gaze upon the underlying systems of oppression that privilege certain bodies with more opportunities than others. Samara considers himself an ethnic minority member from Navrongo

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

113

in the north. From his vantage point, the important issue that needs to be addressed is minority representation in the school curriculum itself: I think the major problem that the school faces is the issue [that] we really have to go ahead trying to introduce some form of collaboration about cross-cultural things - integrating them into course curricula. (File 02-GUS01: Text units 173-81)

Samara evokes the idea of a multicultural curriculum as a means to engage the question of minority representation. However, while we acknowledge that his point has some merit, it is important to bear in mind that the discourse of multiculturalism, particularly in its liberal form, all too often places minority issues at the periphery rather than at the centre. The notion of 'cross-cultural things' tends to position minority issues in a binary relationship with majority cultural issues, where the majority is considered the legitimate norm. This binary relationship can perpetuate and sustain oppressive power relations through the dominant practice of studying the 'other' as an illegitimate, alien object. We would argue that it is imperative, for minority issues, that minority voices and knowledges be placed at the centre of the curriculum as an intrinsic part of Ghana's diverse history, philosophy, and culture. In our interviews, some students raised the importance of minority voice as a form of resistance to majority domination in the schooling process and to the inequities in Ghanaian society. Rashi is a very vocal student representative in the student council at the University College of Education. As a minority person, he discusses some of the inequalities he sees in the schooling process, and conveys why it is important for him to be a voice for his minority peers. He reasons: Yes, because they speak the dominant language such as Akan, Ewe, and Ga. Some have brothers and fathers in sensitive positions. They have tribal favoritism or protocol admission. Interviewer: You know [of] this kind of inequality in admission? I am very much aware of it not because I am [a] student here but I am also a student representative council secretary. I have to be on all the committees of the school. The dean came and recognized me and I have to work with all means for the whole year and it is not easy. I have to defend the general interest of the students. Of course, those who are mostly abused are the northern tribes. I have to work as their saviour since I am a member of this

114 Schooling and Difference in Africa minority. I have to fight for students who do not have anybody to speak for them. (File 02-GUS-02: Text units 63-74)

Rashi clearly recognizes the ethnic and linguistic bias in the admission process. He posits that discriminatory processes of this nature perpetuate the exclusion of minorities from the schooling process. He further points out that majority group members prefer that their own kind should be included in their schools. While Rashi asserts that it is his duty to be a representative on all of the committees in order to provide a voice from the minority standpoint, his role as an active voice is filled with some perils. He uses the example of the dean, who recognizes him as a student who is prepared to voice his minoritized opinion on the school committees. However, Rashi's narrative highlights the subversive and active resistance work that minoritized students are undertaking in their struggle against domination by the majority group members. As he passionately points out, northern ethnic group members (of which he is one) are the ones who are abused by the unequal system. Rashi sees himself as an advocate on behalf of minority group members in challenging the accepted order of things and voicing minority concerns. Moreover, his comments deconstruct the notion that the marginalized do not have the power to challenge the status quo. As a minority group member, he uses his position as a student representative to exercise his right to bring attention to minority issues in terms of schooling and the admission process. Educators should work with students such as Rashi, supporting their challenge to an abusive system that includes some, while excluding many others. Educators can learn from the courage of Rashi, who, faced with many barriers, still persists in seeking to enact change and voicing the opinions of those who are silenced by the schooling system. We need to acknowledge that any form of domination has in turn points of resistance. Rashi's story is an important reminder of how resistance occurs in the schooling process and how such resistance should not be ignored but recognized, acknowledged, and supported in order to change the status quo and move towards a more inclusive schooling environment. His experience also indicates the importance of minority representation at all levels of schooling so that students like Rashi can make sure the system is accountable to those who are minoritized. Minority and Majority Relations in Daily School Activities

Many respondents brought up the issue of minority and majority relations in the context of schooling. Asama, who is a fifth-year medical

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

115

student at the University of Science and Technology, is an Akan. He discusses the difference between majority-minority relations and intraminority relations. Here he speaks of the various things he does to reveal (in his opinion) examples of minorities preferring to be with their own kind. He states: Basically we [the majority] treat them [the minoritized] the same. Once you are in a minority group, they think that the majority looks down on them. That is their perception. For example, one time I wanted to get into a minority group, sometimes I would tell most of my friends that my mother was an Ewe and my father was an Akan. Right away I realized that they started treating me different than the way they used to treat me. So, I knew that it was true, [that] people tend to treat different ethnic groups differently. I sometimes do these kind of funny things just to see that because people tell me they behave differently towards their own ethnic group, and I [have] got to see ... if it rings true. If you do want something from them, they might give it to you, but they give it more readily to a person of same minority group. (File Ol-GUS-02: Text units 45-56)

Asama's observations are interesting, because while he claims there is no discrimination at the university, he argues that minority students do in fact give preferential treatment to their own kind. Asama, however, denies the discrimination that minority students claim to experience at the hands of majority group members. Instead, he claims that minority members discriminate against majority members, substantiating this point by providing examples in which he penetrates the minority group by altering his identity to fit in with an ethnic minority group. Asama thereby discovers that different ethnic groups treat each other differently and that ethnic minority group members prefer to favour their own kind. We can interpret this discourse as reverse discrimination, however, as a means to eschew the notion that there is any discrimination played by the majority on minority group members. While Asama's point on intragroup relations is revealing of how minority group members interact, his position on majority-minority relations need to be interrogated further by looking closely at his privileged position and social location. Asama is an Akan Christian male. He belongs to a majority group that imposes its domination through gender, religion, language and ethnicity. Thus, Asama attempts to deny his privileged position in the schooling process by claiming that he also is a victim of the minority discrimination that is prevalent in the schooling process. While people like Asama may claim that there is no discrimination

116 Schooling and Difference in Africa

practised against minorities in the Ghanaian schooling system, other students do not share this sentiment. Minta is a male student at the University of Science and Technology whose focus of study is the area of publishing. He raises an important point regarding majority-minority relations in terms of school activities by elaborating on how such relations can alienate many minority students. With regard to minority group members receiving support, he states: When we are having games, these differences, like those who are majority, they really outnumber the minorities. The support given to [the] majority is so great that it becomes something like negative on the other side for the minority groups. And it really affects them in a way that they think they don't belong. (File Ol-GUS-05: Text units 275-80)

Minta makes a correlation between the degree of support a learner receives and a learner's sense of belonging in the schooling environment. According to Minta, because minorities are small numerically compared to the majority, they are disadvantaged in the kinds of support they receive. But what kind of support are we talking about? Support can occur in the form of peers, teachers, and resources working collectively to create an environment where minority students feel they are welcomed, appreciated, and affirmed. Educators need to heed Minta's emphasis on the importance of a sense of belonging in the schooling system. Without a sense of place, minority students cannot equally participate in the schooling process. The following comments by Joyce help to elaborate this point: There are times when you are very excluded if you are a Kobu student - who is a minority. We are not up to 100 on campus. The Asante students are about 2000. When we are having a meeting, and others want to also have a meeting, probably in the gym or one of the lecture halls, even if we were there first to start our meeting, if we are outnumbered they just come and sit down. Then we say: 'Could you please go out, because we are having a meeting!' And they go: 'No! Who are you to order us around?' And then you go to university officials or lecturers, and they say 'You don't have any other choice. Just move out and find another place.' It's like that. (File 01GUS-10: Text units 83-93)

Joyce's experiences indicate the challenges that minority students face in accessing university resources. Minorities do not have the numerical

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 117

support to challenge the domination of majority members. Joyce describes a situation where minority students are forced to vacate a university hall, even though they already have a meeting in progress. What is more alarming is the fact that the university officials support the injustice meted out by majority students by suggesting that the only way the minority students can deal with the situation is by finding another place to meet. Incidents of this nature illustrate the sense among minority students that they are not equal participants in the schooling system, but simply disembodied individuals consigned to the peripheries of the education process. The schooling system needs to address the role of lecturers and university authorities who remain quiet about (and thus complicit with) the discrimination practised against minority students by their majority counterparts. Schooling authorities who allow oppressive practices of this nature to flourish through their own inaction run the risk of normalizing a culture of domination and repression in their system. Such a phenomenon, it goes without saying, represents a violent assault on the self-esteem and sense of belonging of minority students that, in turn, affects the healthy growth of all students. At the same time when discriminatory practices do occur, minorities should have the resources at their disposal to challenge the injustices aimed at them. If such resources are not put in place, then agency is taken away from those minority students who choose to make the self-affirming decision to challenge discrimination and harassment wherever they find it. Minority group members, however, do in fact exercise numerous forms of resistance to the domination posed by majority group members. Here, one student in a focus-group interview with five university students from different regions of the country points out an example of minority students banding together, across their differences, in order to form one counter-oppositional body: When you say northerners, you have many elements in them and they are not one entity. Northerners voice their concern together but we do not have a southerner's student association. The northerners do everything together. (File 02-FGS-03: Text units 33-7)

In this comment we see how a particular group of minority students can join together as one voice by developing a northern student association. The student points out how these forms of unity do not happen with those who belong to the majority group. This is a significant resistance strategy and represents a common occurrence within majority-miriority

118 Schooling and Difference in Africa

relations whereby different minority groups join together to resist majority group domination. But who are a majority? Who are a minority? What are the relations between the two? These are critical questions to be asked in terms of schooling. As our narratives indicate, the answers to these questions have been diverse, and as such, they are a reflection of the diversity among our respondents through their various social locations. Discussion

Our narratives demonstrate that the schooling process is not a level playing field for all, in that certain bodies have advantages over others. How these advantages manifest themselves depends on the forms of difference we are talking about and the contexts within which they operate. While some of our respondents denied the challenges and issues arising out of minoritized status and minoritized experiences in schooling contexts, most narratives indicated otherwise. These stories demonstrate that the question of who counts as a majority or minority member has serious implications for the related question of who gets included or excluded in the schooling process. There are many markers of difference that come into play when we look at the social construction of majority-minority status. Moreover, there are many political and material realities to take into account. Therefore, to deny that majority/minority not exist is simply playing blind. While many respondents constructed the notion of majority/minority status in terms of a numeric factor, not all respondents saw it this way. Some conceptualized it in terms of power, opportunities, and contribution. We have seen that majority/minority construction occurs across many lines of difference such as religion, class, ethnicity, gender, ability, and language. As educators we need to keep in mind these interlocking processes and address minority-majority relations in their complexity rather than across a single line of difference. Moreover, it is important to notice that such differences can be invisible, even though the visible differences are usually discussed at the expense of the invisible ones. It is also crucial for educators to note the fluidity of categories as they relate to difference and to keep in mind that majority-minority relations are context-dependent. In the context of the countries and regions of the South, and particularly Africa, nationalist discourses emphasizing commonalities over differences have been deployed historically as part of the anti-colonial project in which unity on a national scale was seen to provide an effective

Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power

119

weapon of resistance against the destructive, ethnically dividing tactics of Western colonial powers. However, in the context of contemporary societal and national challenges, maintaining sameness while denying the differences among a population becomes increasingly problematic. For example, evoking nationalist discourses of this kind runs the risk of masking the institutionalized power differentials that exist between majority and minority groupings. Thus, the historical and social underpinnings of inclusion/exclusion to full citizenship are denied. At the same time, discourses of this nature tend to marginalize those whose difference does not fit into the neat categories of those who are considered, for instance, to be ideal Ghanaians. But as our narratives have indicated, there are multiple differences among the Ghanaian population that cross the lines of gender, ethnicity, language, ability, class, and religion. Critical observations on and analyses of minority-majority relations and conceptualizations help us to understand what forms of representation occur in the schooling process in terms of students, faculty, curricula, the allocation of resources, and so on. The question of representation plays an important role in determining which bodies are included or excluded in the schooling process. The issue of belonging and the learner's sense of engagement with her/his schooling environment plays a critical role in terms of her/his academic success. Education is meant to be empowering, and a sense of place in the schooling process will have an effect on whether students feel that their identity is being affirmed or negated. Minority students need to be brought to the centre as opposed to languishing at the periphery. In discussing minority inclusion, we do not mean it in terms of acknowledging minority groups on a part-time basis (i.e., it happens one day and is then forgotten for the rest of year). Rather, our sense of inclusion sees minority learners (as equal participants in the schooling process) fully centring their identities in every step of the schooling process. As one of our respondents argued, the world of minority groups is excluded, in part, because it is easier (or so it seems) for majority educators to deal with the majority (their own) than with the minority. As educators we need to take the challenging road of understanding that this is a complicated process and that there are many needs to be addressed. Educators also need to understand the social and historical underpinnings that cause certain bodies to be assigned minority or majority status. Patriarchy, colonialism, classism, and ableism are just some of the examples that need to be taken into consideration. In addition, institutions of learning are not independent of the community and society; therefore,

120 Schooling and Difference in Africa

it is important to understand the external political conditions that influence and determine which bodies are included or excluded in the schooling process. These social underpinnings need to be critically challenged and addressed in order for schooling to be inclusive for everyone. Some educators understand that any power dynamic involves some form of resistance on the part of the marginalized. Our narratives indicate that minority group members actively resist. There is a need to work with such bodies to facilitate the process of making schooling more inclusive for minority groups. Resources need to be put in place so that minority groups can access assistance when they are faced with harassment. Furthermore, majority groups could benefit from an education where they can involve themselves and critically understand their role in perpetuating inequities and exclusion in the schooling process. Raising awareness is the first step, but we cannot celebrate after reaching this step. Addressing inequity through the development of critical consciousness has to go hand in hand with an awareness of the issues of minority schooling in Ghana. This chapter has indicated that inclusive schooling is a challenging process filled with many perils. If ignored, however, exclusionary practices will continue to condemn minoritized bodies to the peripheries of power and privilege. As educators it is our role to understand that we cannot afford this to continue. There is a need to redistribute resources in order to make the schooling environment more inclusive. Majority/ minority constructions and majority-minority relations provide us with an important focus for dealing with issues of inclusive schooling.

5 Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity

We define ethnicity as a social relational category determined by socially selected cultural characteristics. Ethnicity is 'difficult knowledge' when it comes to discussing inclusivity and schooling, particularly in Africa. This is in part because of the historical baggage that comes with the term. In supposedly homogeneous populations, where there is no distinct physical marker of distinction (e.g., skin colour), any attempts to affirm a basis of difference, creates a dilemma, opening the door for denial and abuse. It is precisely because of this denial of difference however, that educators need to broach the subject of ethnicity and schooling. In this chapter we argue that ethnicity is relevant when it comes to discussions of schooling in African contexts. Ethnicity has been used both as a dividing marker for social groups and as a basis for creating invidious distinctions. Thus, people have been subjected to differential treatment on the basis of their ethnicity. Moreover, although ethnicity is not synonymous with culture, it evokes culture in profound ways that draw distinctions. Ethnic differentiation can also be drawn along lines of culture, religion, and language. And while ethnicity may not be a physical marker of difference in the same way race has become, it has the same effects of race as a social relational category defined by socially selected cultural characteristics. The relevance and implications of ethnicity for schooling and education can be found in the fact that all communities are multi-ethnic. In schools we have different bodies bringing a diversity of experiences anchored in histories, cultural knowledge, and unique ancestral experiences. Knowledge production is a collective undertaking; thus, all bodies contribute to the making of knowledge. Such knowledge is shared among peoples. It is necessary, therefore, that schools and educators address the diverse and converging interests of a society's various groups

122 Schooling and Difference in Africa

and cultures. The various ethnicities exhibited in school systems are micro-groups who share in the national context, character, and social situation. Unfortunately, schools have been addressing the national character exclusively to the neglect of the peculiar interests of ethnicities. This is one of the patterns of colonial and post-colonial schooling, with its emphasis on producing 'citizens' within the possibilities of citizenship education. Educators have focused on questions of national integration, but in that process, rather than working critically with ethnic differences, they have pushed aside the differences. However, ethnic differences have significant consequences for national development. Groups and individuals are ethnicized for reward and punishment. As already noted, the evocation of ethnicity comes with an unpleasant history. The history of colonization is one of artificial barriers created among groups. Such differences have been reified to the extent that groups can see themselves in competition with each other rather than as having a shared destiny of collective survival. We believe that part of the problem lies in the understanding of difference. When groups see ethnic differences as hierarchical, they are more likely to raise tensions. When ethnic differences are perceived more in the form by multiple contributions of different groups, then we will be accentuating the strengths of difference. The affirmation of ethnicity and ethnic differences can be positive in terms of affirming collective strength. Ethnicity is about different and yet interconnected experiences. A diversity of cultures and ethnicities make up the national consciousness and character. Ethnicity is not simply about how groups feel superior and inferior to each other. It is about our unique contributions to collective existence. As a reaction and response to the unpleasant histories surrounding the evocation of ethnic differences, there has been a 'noisy silence' around ethnicity as a form of difference worthy of note in schooling. Educators are more at ease in speaking about gender, class, and religious differences than about differences related to ethnicity. JBiit learners and teachers should deal with these unpleasant aspects of histories and cultures. They cannot be wished away. In fact, a critical approach that confronts entrenched stereotypes, discriminatory acts, and systemic bias perpetrated on certain individuals and groups may bode well for creating healthy and sustaining school communities. As we briefly indicated in the previous chapter, the aim of the anti-colonial project of nation building was to create a shared feeling of national identity and belonging. But it was problematic for perpetuating the idea that students should learn to see themselves simply as Ghanaians in isolation from their respective eth-

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 123

nic-group identifications. The instruction, communicating a pedagogic approach directed at creating connections and the shared contributions of peoples to a community of learners, was more effective. But an educational practice built on denial, silencing, and sweeping issues under the carpet, is a recipe for failure. On its face value, one would ideally share the idea of a politics of schooling emphasizing the goal of national integration. The problem, however, is that this pedagogy does not address the asymmetrical power relations that exist among groups and actually leads to maintaining group inequities. We address inequities by going to the sources of these imbalances rather than avoiding any direct attention to contested identities. Avoiding a critical discussion of ethnicity and schooling is of no help in subverting already existing hierarchical relations of schooling. Critical teaching requires an engagement with how dominant-subordinate relations are maintained through silence and the silencing of others. If we are to teach about the strengths that different bodies bring to schools, educators must also confront the ways in which certain aspects of a group's culture, for example, can masquerade as universals for the entire society. We are alluding to the arguments about what constitutes the 'culture of ethnicity': in other words, questions about whose culture is being celebrated, affirmed, acknowledged, and responded to, and why? That is to say, we must bring a politicized reading to the understanding of ethnicity. The question of minority relations is tied to the numerical strength of groups. But it also concerns how relations of domination place individuals and groups in subordinate relations with a dominant majority. Thus, in Ghana, students from the north and of an ethnic minority background can be seen as a minority in the dominant southern Akan region. The question of inclusion within a minority context, when explained in terms of differences of ethnicity, class, religion, gender, and regional disparity, elicits complex and complicated readings and interpretations from Ghanaian subjects. Ethnicity in Ghana is also about regional and sectoral difference. There is regional disparity in terms of affluence and the availability of resources between the north and the south. This inequality is also structured along lines of ethnicity. Differences between the north and the south are highlighted to indicate that in the north there are more languages and traditional religions, more ethnic groups, and fewer schools. The degree of diversity in the north, for example, can be presented as a challenge to meet the needs of the populations of the north. Ethnic minority students understand their status differently and have ways to

124 Schooling and Difference in Africa

deal with their relations with the dominant group. In schools, they interact as colleagues, have built friendly relationships, and have come to understand each other differently from the stereotypes which they continually contend with in dominant-subordinate relations. It is the teaching of such student and school interactions, relations of domination and subordination, and the strategies of resisting marginality, stereotypes, and ethnic discrimination, that offer another angle for the study of ethnicity and schooling. We need to rethink schooling today in ways that do not reproduce the already existing asymmetrical power relations. The Power of Ethnicity: Ethnic Discrimination and Stereotyping

Ethnicity is a site of discrimination and a source of prejudice and bias in aspects of schooling in Ghana. We begin the discussion of the narratives of study participants with a long extract of a focus-group discussion with five students from the University of Cape Coast and the University of Science and Technology at Kumasi. These participants' words speak volumes about the extent of ethnic discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice in schools. To deny the existence of these practices is to negate the intellectual agency of the students who share these experiences. In fact, such a practice of denial, especially when it comes from the dominant group members, should be seen as a claim to privilege that minoritized students do not have: Student A: There is one guy who is very good. He is very, very good, very, very influential. But because he is a northerner, when he starts to talk, we start laughing. Let me give you another example that happened last semester. I was teaching. This same guy raised his hand and wanted to make some comments. So I motioned that he should make his point. They did not let him speak that day. So the next lecture, which was the next Monday, he still wanted to make that point. So the lecturer said it was OK And when he completed, everyone was silent. We saw that he had so much to say in that particular course. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 198-208) Student B: There is [also] one guy in my class who is very critical of Ewes. So he has this kind of attitude. It is not from us. I believe it is from our parents, and even their parents, the way they look at particular tribes [ethnic groups]. And that is why. But it is a problem for university students to get rid of that kind of attitude. I remember when I was in secondary school. My brother told me, 'Don't bring home an Ewe!' Well, my best friend hap-

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 125 pened to be a Krobo. You see, in the university it is an intellectual setting. You try to involve everything. But the position of Ewes is very interesting. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 233-42) Student C: I want to say that Ewes are not the problem. But if you look at our nation, you'll see that there is not much happening, in terms of industry and infrastructure. So it all comes down to these stuff and things. (File OlFGS-02: Text units 244-7) Student B: Yes, discrimination is a factor that unites them. You see, when they see we are not closely associating with them, they think that we might not like them. So they don't have anybody else but each other. They have to come closer. Interviewer: Now, apart from the Ewes, there are other minorities [and ethnicities] in Ghana. If we take [these groups], would you relate the things that you said about Ewes to them as well? Student A: I think sometimes it's not their [ethnic minorities] fault. It is the inequality, the unequal distribution of educational structure. The north has been neglected for a very long time. That is why many people criticize the old government. You see, someone like me, I attended this public school... I came from [names town]. You see, we learned in school the hard way, compared to someone who studies in [private school]. So because of that, our brains arrange things differently. When you go to senior secondary school, you have to compete with those who come from these big time schools. Because they had the best facilities at their disposal we can't compete with them. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 346-55)

It is worthy of note that many of the student voices are actually those of the dominant group members, candidly admitting to ethnic discrimination and prejudice. While there is not much personal and individual complicity acknowledged in the discussion, we do learn a lot about the complexities of ethnicity and schooling in the Ghanaian context. It is apparent from these discussions how ethnic minorities bear the brunt of the stereotypes and prejudices of other groups within the school system. A number of students point to specific incidents. Others look at the bigger picture in terms of the roles and responsibilities of schooling to educate groups about each other and to acknowledge the rights of groups to coexist. It is also interesting that the students extend the discussion

126 Schooling and Difference in Africa

yond ethnicity to the related dimension of the historic inequities in the Ghanaian education system. Interestingly, the last voice brings in the question of class and how it can be demarcated by regional difference and ethnicity. The sectoral imbalances create unfair competition for ethnic minorities from the north in particular, and those from povertystricken areas who have to make do with fewer resources. To the student, class and material conditions create some of the underlying ethnic tensions. We will return to the issue of sectoral and regional imbalances and how this is structured by ethnicity later in this chapter. For students such as Dabenaa, who is in the third year of the agricultural studies program at the University of Science and Technology, it may well be that the troubling reaction to ethnicity and to ethnic minority status allows her to argue for moving beyond ethnicity. Her mother is a nurse, and her father is retired. She has three brothers and insists 'We [are] all different in some ways.' She is Catholic and belongs to the Asante group. She reasons that the less we highlight ethnicity and ethnic differences the better we all are for it: I think it is time that Ghanaians started looking at themselves as Ghanaians and stop grouping us into these ethnic groups and tribes because that is where we can really live together. But if I meet somebody and I ask, 'Where do you come from?' this way I make the person very uncomfortable. Then they start avoiding you. I think we should look at each other as Ghanaians, in one social group, having the same problems and the same issues. Even in the school, ethnicity I think should be avoided and people should get the idea that we are all Ghanaians ... I think we could gain a lot of strength from the things that we have in common, more than our differences, because to me our differences will always be there. Nobody looks at somebody's ID when they call them, but when you look at the things that we have in common we could reach a lot of Ghanaians. (File Ol-GUS-09: Text units 169-77, 328-32)

A reading that asks that we simply focus on our commonalities can be difficult knowledge for the minoritized if it is realized that not speaking or talking about ethnicity does not necessarily mean the problem will go away. We have ethnic minorities continually subjected to differential treatment. The problem is not their ethnicity per se but rather the interpretation that is put on their ethnicities. Our shared commonalities as Ghanaians cannot be discounted, but neither should our differences that contribute to the collective. We can speak about ethnicity in more

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 127

positive (solution-oriented) ways that will let people feel proud of their heritage. In fact, Dabenaa brings this positive reading of ethnicity to bear when she asserts her response to staff representation at the university: They [lecturers] shouldn't be all Asante or Ewes. There should be diversity, because the student body itself is diversified, so it is quite important that we have diversity among the lecturers. (File Ol-GUS-09: Text units 242-4)

Amoa, a male student at the University of Cape Coast was entering second year in the Bachelor of Education program in arts education. A member of the dominant Akan group, one would grant his failure to recognize ethnic differences. He believes his teachers are not influenced by any other issues, and just see their students simply as 'students.' To do otherwise would compromise their professionalism. Occasionally a lecturer might call on students to comment on aspects of their culture, but that is it: When we are in the class, there is nothing like ethnicity or religion or anything. We are all treated as Ghanaians even if there are foreign students, we are all treated the same. When a lecturer or professor comes into the class, he does everything according to what is expected. There is nothing like ethnicity except when there is an issue on maybe an ethnic group or religious group that he would just ask a question, just ask one of them to comment on. (File Ol-GUS-33: Text units 231-7)

The whole notion of 'treating everyone the same' is seductive and intellectually dangerous. It falls into a liberal take on social justice that denies difference and fails to account for the fact that difference (ethnicity, gender, class, religion, language) provides the context for power and domination in society. Ofosu, another second-year male student in the University of Science and Technology studying mathematics, appears to share Amoa's stance. A member of the Ewe group and a Christian, he brings a different interpretation, though one that gestures at why difference is important. Ofosu maintains that difference (in this case ethnicity) matters: No, we are not treated differently. But there is a kind of competition going on in terms of ethnicity. We, the Ewe people, they know us by our names and are able to pick the language and other things. See, there is this kind of interaction. You seem to be more in the presence of your group than the

128 Schooling and Difference in Africa other group, in order to communicate. In this case, when there is a kind of contribution in the class, maybe a friend can go and do research and it may benefit the whole class. (File Ol-GUS-18: Text units 62-70)

What is significant in this narrative is that the idea of treating people differently and also recognizing that we all have our different, distinct, and yet connected contributions to make in the classroom are not the same thing. Ofosu questions the practice of the differential (unequal) treatment of people from a working knowledge that the diverse bodies in a class have a contribution to make. It is this tension that, in many ways, also justifies why difference (as in ethnicity) ought to be broached. Broaching difference to discuss ethnicity at school requires pedagogic tact, so that difference is positively affirmed. In fact, Ghanaian-Canadian educators and students, having been exposed to schooling in Canadian contexts, reflect on ethnicity and schooling in ways that lend credence to much of what is raised by Ghanaian university students. They affirm strongly the existence of ethnicity as a powerful marker of discrimination in society. Ampong, a third year University computer science student in Canada, is more forceful in his critique. He has been in Canada for just six years and feels confident in drawing links between racism in North America and what he calls 'tribalism' in African contexts. He points to the hypocrisy of Ghanaian-Canadians criticizing dominant groups in Canada while condoning discriminatory practices in their place of birth. In his understanding, ethnic discrimination in Ghana is 'even worse,' given that this is a form of internal domination of 'one's own people.' Ampong talks about his transformation into a critical thinker and believes we are all accountable to help address the problem of discrimination in Ghana. Back home I was not really conscious about tribalism or prejudices or whatever. When I got here I got exposed to these same problems. It is really sad because if we are accusing white people of being bigots or being racists or being prejudiced against us, then how come we are also using that same form of racism but in a different way against each other. That is even worse because we are from the same nation. We are the same people, but these people are different so I mean you should expect them to have different biases or different feelings towards us. Since we are one people I don't see the need for us to have that sort of animosity towards each other. It doesn't really make any sense. I think it's about time we actually tried to find ways to solve these problems and I think the nation will be more recognized for

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 129 such things. All these problems, I know, really exist in our nations. If we can actually solve these problems in our schools and in our homes and in the nation in general then the nation would be better. (File Ol-GCS-09: Text units 369-84)

To Ampong, it will be to society's credit if it takes concrete steps to address ethnic discrimination and prejudice. Apiwa, who now resides in Canada, describes himself as a devoted Christian. While living in Ghana, he taught commerce and business management in a Muslim secondary and technical school as well as a Christian-dominated university. He believes that ethnicity has no place in schooling given the tensions that come with the accentuation of ethnic differences. Apiwa argues that during his teaching days in Ghana, students were allowed to organize in any social grouping but not around ethnicity: Well, the school didn't allow students to organize things on a tribal [ethnic] basis. We allowed them to organize things on an educational basis, like geographical societies, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation ... YMCA, and Young Christian Association. These were the things that we allowed them to belong to. We didn't allow them to organize things on ethnic background. (File OO-GCE-07: Text units 169-74)

Christian affiliations, as well as ties with other social and recreational groups, were formally encouraged but not groupings along ethnic lines. This may be the school's attempt to shy away from conflict rather than use ethnicity as an entry point to discuss the power of difference and social diversity. However, Owu, another male Ghanaian educator living in Canada, who taught mathematics and agricultural science in a predominantly Christian school in Ghana, insists that ethnicity is important. He argues that given the ethnic diversity of the student population, it is imperative for the educator to take into account the backgrounds and cultures of the students in the classroom: In the cities, you get people from different backgrounds, different cultures, so you have to adjust your way of teaching. For example, if you are, say, in a village where almost everybody is a farmer, sometimes you get the kids that want to help in the farm, so they come to school late. You have to understand why they are coming late - it's because they need to help their par-

130 Schooling and Difference in Africa ents. I think in the cities where you have different cultures, you have to adjust to accommodate. (File OO-GCE-09: Text units 11-22)

The student's background, location, and context are all relevant in order to understand the learner. Educators can thereby accommodate the students they are dealing with. Owu goes on to argue that the school in which he taught made conscious, efforts to make students feel welcome, allowing them to identify with their respective cultural and ethnic affiliations: In the same school, they would select groups to study. They learn something about Ga, Fantes, and Asantes just to make them feel that all different cultures are important. (File OO-GCE-09: Text units 259-62)

Students themselves selected which groups to identify with. It became an opportunity to learn more about other ethnicities and cultures. Boama had been in Canada for a little over a year at the time of his interview. Mentioned earlier, he is studying for his master's degree in environmental studies and holds a prestigious Connaught scholarship. He criticizes the power that ethnicity gives some people over others, seeing the major ethnic groups as domineering or pushing some other people's views into the background. I believe coming from Africa where ethnic problems have [de] generated into wars etc., I believe that we should look at each other's views and not treat them as trivial but see them as very important. And include it in whatever decision that will be taken ... But... we cannot continue to push it [ethnicity] under the carpet and pretend it is not there because it is there. We have realized it exists. There is this problem with the Gas, the Asantes, the Ewes, and the Kwawus. We would love a lot to talk about it [ethnicity]. (File Ol-GCS-01: Text units 43-50,147-52)

Boama recalls an unpleasant history of ethnicity in Africa and urges that we deal with ethnic prejudice. He stresses that ethnicity cannot be swept under the carpet. What is required is an open admission of the problem and conscious attempts made to respond accordingly. The story of Antwiwaa, a Ghanaian-Canadian female student who is in the first year of a life sciences program at university, is an interesting read. She was born in Canada but then went to school in Ghana for eight years. There she witnessed the dominance of the majority ethnic group that was grounded in feelings of that group's importance:

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 131 For my school we are mostly Asantes ... right? So when you are doing something the Asantes are like half the school so they are doing it, right, and I guess the other ethnic groups, they feel like, you know, they are less important and nobody wants to pay attention ... (File Ol-GCS-02: Text units 167-

75) To Antwiwaa, there is a troubling sense of self-importance, and other voices are not heard equally. Whether this is the case or not, it is important for us not to be dismissive of this voice of criticism because it must be dealt with. This is what education is about. Mansa, who has, since this interview, completed her graduate studies in Canada and is teaching in the United States, is a member of the Akan culture. She points to the strengths of ethnicity and what such diversities in cultures bring to the learning process: For you to have an appreciation of the other ethnic group or other ethnic groups in the country you have to have experience with somebody from that ethnic group ... if you don't get to have them in school and knowing that schooling is a very important carrier of cultural norms and practices. So they come there and you see what they are doing and you begin to question your own ideas of superiority and inferiority and where you think these fit. The moment you begin to see that this person has something to offer, then you revise your opinion about them and you no longer think they are inferior ... then you begin to question your own identity. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 490-9) Some students may develop a false sense of superiority and in their daily practices, at least discursively, hurt others. Mansa maintains that the rich ethnicities of Ghanaian students add to the culture of learning. Ethnic differences should become a focal point of a critical reflection as well as an appreciation of one's own cultural values and norms, rather than imbuing in anyone a false sense of superiority over others. Relevance of Ethnicity: Staff Representation and Structural Hegemonic Rupturing , Language is an important marker of cultural and ethnic identity. It is important for a student to see a teacher who comes from her or his ethnic background. Students want to see bodies they can both relate to and interact with. This is not to say that they prefer only teachers from their own ethnic background. But the presence of ethnic diversity in the

132 Schooling and Difference in Africa

teaching staff sends an important message to students who are looking for someone they can identify with and share their specific concerns. This is crucial, because many times the lived experiences of schooling reveal sites of marginality and disconnectedness particularly for students of ethnic and cultural minority backgrounds. There is a sense of disempowerment when pertinent issues, rather than being addressed, are avoided altogether. The relevance of affirming many ethnicities and their languages is that it sends a powerful message to students about the school being a welcoming place for all. Many times, ethnic minorities feel disempowered by ethnic stereotypes that are reproduced and left unchallenged in the course of an education's delivery. Frema is a very articulate student teacher who hails from the eastern region of Ghana. At the time of our interview, she was doing her national service in a local secondary school teaching social studies. She admits to the importance of having a diverse staff representation, because identity is linked to schooling and knowledge production: With regard to ethnicity, I believe if there are teachers from different ethnic groups it will help. For example, there are certain topics that I teach in social studies where I really know the theory aspect, without knowing what is going on in the practical aspects. If I had colleagues, say from Ewe, I can really go to them for ideas ... (File OO-GE-07: Text units 221-8)

The presence of teachers from diverse ethnic backgrounds gives her the comfort to approach colleagues for assistance in areas about which she is least conversant (such as, when translating theory into practice, in knowing exactly how a culture is lived and practised). While cannot leave the task of educating about all histories to the 'Other,' we can place nonetheless some value on what Frema alludes to as shared knowings in order to enrich our collective knowledge of ourselves. It would be a mistake to think that students agree on the relevance of ethnic diversity in the staff representation at schools. In fact, while questions of curricular inclusion are openly asserted, students bring conflicting view points when asked about staff representation along the lines of ethnicity. In a group discussion with two students at the senior secondary school level, we were able to glean some of the divergence in students' views about the importance of ethnic identity and teacher representation in schools. The two students we spoke with are enrolled in the social studies and humanities program, taking literature, French, History and [Christian] religious studies. While these students admit to the problem

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 133

of a lack of curricular sophistication, they differ on how exactly the problem can be rectified. When speaking about difference and diversity in schools, they are asked if the school curriculum reflects the diversity in student bodies: Interviewer: Does the curriculum reflect this diversity? Student A: The curriculum does not talk about diversity and culture at all. It does not mention it. To some extent, hiring people of different culture is good and the curriculum has to be changed. It has to be able to address diversities.

A connection is made between the curriculum and staffing. The students speak about the school population made up of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, such as Ga, Ewe, Fante, Asante, and northerners. In discussing how such diversity affects learning, teaching, and the administration of education, the students are asked to reflect specifically on teacher representation: Interviewer: Is it important to have a Ga, or Ewe or Fante or Northerner here? Student B: That does not matter. That is not an issue. Their capacity [ability] is more important than their tribe. (File 02-FGSSS-04: Text units 134-41)

In other words, what really counts is the competence of the teacher and not the fact that they are from the north, or are Akan, Ewe, Hausa, or Krobo. Such a view point is significant because it shows that the connection between identity and knowledge production is not always made. While of course all students want to be taught by the 'best' teachers, the idea of students' feeling a certain comfort level in sharing experiences, and identifying, with teachers of their own ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic affiliation, cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to schooling. In another focus-group interview, six university students (five males and one female), from the University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, University of Science and Technology, and the Kumasi Polytechnic (a diverse group of ethnic minority students), comment on why it is important to criticize the 'one size school fits all' approach to schooling, as measured against the importance of having a diverse staff representation. The generalized concept/notion of the 'universal student' is problema-

134 Schooling and Difference in Africa

tized as the lens through which any of the initiatives on educational improvement are pursued. One student in the group observes: Student A: You see, we have a university whose system is based on centralization. They are trying to fit everybody, to measure everybody based on a single centralized format. And this creates problems. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 212-14)

When asked if an approach that recognizes diversity in the teaching staff was equally relevant, the students were emphatic in the justifications of their positions, challenging some of the views held by their counterparts in earlier focus-group discussions. The fact that the students in this second focus-group discussion were largely ethnic minorities may help to explain some of these differences in positions. In other words, majority students are likely to praise a common approach to schooling, while ethnic minorities see the efficacy of addressing differences among the student population: Student B: It makes a difference because, for example, I had a lecturer who was an Ewe, and when he came to the class, he seemed to know all Ewe students in my class. He always talked to students and took them sometimes to his office. So I got a sense that he knew them. So I thought that they could easily associate with him. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 372-6) Student C: Now let's analyse this situation. First of all, I am a northerner. When I started university, I attended my first lecture and I saw this man who was also a northerner. Then we met. And we talked and we became friends. So that is how it begins. If you are a northerner you easily associate with a northerner, if you are an Ewe, with other Ewe, Akans with other Akans, and so forth. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 387-92)

These students' comments stress the importance of ethnic identification as students navigate their way through schools, colleges, and universities. As an earlier discussion of ethnic discrimination in schools clearly showed, the experiences of marginality, disaffection, and disengagement can be so subtle that we could have students physically present in schools with their bodies, but somewhere else with their souls and minds. Having someone to share experiences with, to develop trust with, and to seek and receive comfort from (especially people in positions of authority) is significant for the students. Mana comes from the upper

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 135

west region of Ghana, specifically from the Sissala district, and is thus of an ethnic minority. Like Kumsa, he has been teaching at the senior secondary school level for over thirty years, and recognizes the relevance of schooling within diverse ethnic contexts, but only to a point. He indicates some of the discriminatory aspects of schooling that can be attributed to history. The concentration of schools in the southern part of the country means that students from the north always have to travel down south to secure an education. Most of the country's universities are in the south. Providing residential facilities for students is a nagging problem for Ghanaian educators, and in some cases, in order to be assured of campus accommodation, students have to excel academically at school, as Mana notes: Especially [those from] far North ... [YJou come all the way down here, I mean, up here ... to the South to pursue your education ... and [if] you do not have very strong grades, then you are automatically out... because you may not be given the boarding house. It is always advisable to have your education within your ethnicity, except when the education you are looking for is not available there, such as university education. We do not have universities in [the] upper west or upper east... [S]o if you want a university education, you have to move out. (File OO-GE-09: Text units 97-107)

Because of the experiences of having to live through discrimination and ethnic stereotypes, Mana has resolved that it is best to have one's education within one's ethnic region. However, the existence of sectoral and regional imbalances in the distribution of educational facilities do not make this possible for youth from the north. Bafowaa, the head of the technical vocational section of the Curriculum Research and Development Division of the Ministry of Education, sees ethnicity as a problem when pursued in the search for dominance: Sometimes it is a real problem. You know some ethnic groups - they are a real problem. I should say, you bring one here and they will bring everybody else ... [T]hey will bring in their people ... And they start undermining people ... (File OO-GE-13: Text units 308-14)

Considering the context of who Bafowaa is (that is to say, her ethnic background as a member of the dominant Akan group), a researcher should wonder where she is coming from with her concern regarding 'some ethnic groups.' As is invariably the case, when ethnic minorities try to assert

136 Schooling and Difference in Africa

their identity and rightful place in school systems, they are often branded as 'paranoid' and looking to dominate. Somuah, an economics teacher, is guilty of this practice. An assistant headmaster of a senior secondary school, he points to what are perceived as some of the sensitivities and sensibilities around teaching about ethnicity. His narrative is problematic in that he considers a student's search for the textual, curricular, and instructional representation of ethnic groups to be aggressive behaviour: Let me use one example. There was this boy from the ... northern part of Ghana. We called him [name withheld]. We have some of them here. And they are very sensitive, very aggressive. So, even in the classroom as we teach, you have to be careful about the examples you give, what comments you make, how you make those comments, how you address the students. And so you have that at the back of your mind ... People can really be aggressive when it comes to [ethnic] issues. So as a teacher you have to take all these things into account. And then you have to know what sort of things to say, what sorts of examples to give. And maybe something is a fact, you still have to state it in such a way that nobody gets offended. (File OO-GE-19: Text units 62-7, 70-4)

Somuah associates a learner's quest for critical knowledge with physical aggression. At worst one could see this as intellectual aggression. Mati, a senior house mistress of a teacher training college, is the mother of two boys and two girls. In terms of the social interactions in her school, she does not see much by way of ethnic differences. In fact, her response could be interpreted as the opinion of someone who is oblivious to diversity because the school 'treats everyone the same' and all groups get along: Well, if you talk about ethnic differences, I would say there hasn't been much difference. But you always see that when you're entering any institution, you'll see that the 'Ewes' usually behave unlike us 'Akans.' What I can say about Akans is that on social issues we interact easily. But those Ewes, they always keep to themselves. (File OO-GE-26: Text units 107-13)

Mati argues that Ewes (as minorities) act 'differently' than Akans. But in explaining such difference she falls back on old stereotypes about ethnic minorities when she says, 'Ewes always keep to themselves.' There is no critical engagement of the question Why is this the case? Besides, Ewes are not alone. Akom, a student in his final year in the Bachelor of Science tourism program, also argues that Ewes tend to favour their own

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 137

kind. According to Akom, an Ewe student or teacher would prefer to be in the company of someone from a similar cultural background. But Akom admits that sometimes Akans do likewise: In terms of social interaction, I would say there is a lot of favouritism among the Ewes, that's how we the Akans see it. We say that an Ewe lecturer will always mingle with Ewe people. And the Akans too sometimes they do the same. (File Ol-GUS-42: Text units 56-9)

Delia, a female student at the University College of Education in the final year of a three-year diploma program in art education, provides a more lucid interpretation of things. A Krobo (another Ghanaian ethnic minority group), she astutely observes: Socially, there is sometimes group differentiation and discrimination. Ewes like to work with Ewes [and] ... with Akans they don't mix that much. Northerners, they sometimes do the same. (File Ol-GUS-06: Text units 32-4)

In responding to charges that ethnic minorities 'keep to themselves,' Delia opines: Yes. But the problem with Ewe students is they like to isolate themselves ... Actually, people tease them a lot. So sometimes they shy away. (File Ol-GUS06: Text units 150-4)

Such an admission is significant because it does appear to contradict both Mati's and Akom's earlier positions that Ewes like to 'keep to themselves'just for the sake of it. There is obviously a reason. Dabenaa is an Asante university student who has been introduced previously. Here, she fails to see how majority-minority power relations work to create marginality for members of society: You see, that is why it is quite hard for me to understand these things. The Ewes, they are always together. They like each other. And you are so isolated whenever you are with Ewes, no matter what. They have particular liking for each other, specially the students. (File Ol-GUS-09: Text units 225-8)

Ewes are not isolating themselves. It is more of a response to their marginality that they 'stick together' by way of creating a comfort zone to address the problems they have to contend with in the power relations of schooling. Minority Ewe students' 'liking each other' cannot be inter-

138 Schooling and Difference in Africa

preted as these students disliking others. It is a search for identification, belonging, and comfort, something that Mati eventually concedes in a subsequent conversation on staff representation at school: We have Ewe teachers, males and females. We have Akans. Sometime ago we had an Nzimaa teacher and I think he has left. And we don't have enough teachers now. But I feel, had they all been here, it would help. Interviewer: How do you see it as being helpful? Ah well, they have their own people here. They may prefer to speak in their native language, and it'll help them to understand very well. At times, when you are among your ethnic group, you are able to express yourself better than when you speak in [the] English language. But as it is now, the person may not be able to express himself very well in English. But if he has a tutor who speaks his native language, then I think he'll do much better. (File 00GE-26: Text units 228-42)

Mati sees the relevance of having teachers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, although she does not connect the need to a search for belonging. Like Kumsah and Frema, she anchors her justification in the link between ethnic identity, schooling, and knowledge production. Linking identity and schooling, however, is not only about physical representation; it is also about students feeling a sense of belonging and connectedness. Tengi, an Asante who came to Canada in 1996, provides a good case of how some students may feel connected, while others feel disengaged from the school. In Ghana he went to a school where the majority of students were from his own ethnic background. To him there was a sense of comfort and belonging: Yeah I felt that I was included because most of the people were Asante. Assuming that most of the students were from different ethnic or racial groups, I might feel intimidated because I would feel I am the only Asante person or I am the only person from this ethnicity. Other than that I felt OK because most of the students were from my ethnic background. (File 01GCS-11: Text units 356-61)

He understands why another student from another ethnic minority background may feel a sense of disconnection from the school, and why

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 139

a student from the dominant group will see things as just 'fine.' Without a doubt, Tengi's experience as a minority person living in Canada has contributed to a rereading of his schooling experience in Ghana. Second-year sociology and French university student Joyce, who is Krobo (and rightly considers herself as a minority member), previously gave us a powerful example of exclusionary practice and dominance in the school setting and of the ways in which it is asserted (often with institutional support) by students who are in the majority. It is worth revisiting Joyce's experiences regarding the imposition of dominance in relation to space by the majority (in this case Asante) students and the implication of the university authorities in the process. As Joyce recalls, for the minority Krobo students, just the simple act of arranging and undertaking a meeting can be fraught with difficulty and tension. From her experience, it matters little if they are the first to occupy a particular area, or indeed if they are already in the middle of a meeting, they will still be coerced by the dominant majority into giving up the space: You see the Asante students are coming in and we are outnumbered. They just come and sit down. And we are having a meeting. And then we say: 'Could you please go out, because we are having a meeting!' And they go: 'No! Who are you to order us around?' And then you go to university officials or lecturers, and they say, 'You don't have any other choice. Just move out and find another place.' It's like that. (File Ol-GUS-10: Text units 8393) The dominant majority-group students assert their influence in the school system not just through the power of sheer numbers, but also with the support of institutional authority. Such incidents may not register in the minds of majority students, but for those who are minoritized, they are easily recalled and the effects can be disempowering. In a focus-group interview with six university students (five males and one female) from the University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, University of Science and Technology, and Kumasi Polytechnic, the students from ethnic minority backgrounds made the most astute observations about discrimination. One of them recalled: In the University of Ghana at one time, I was discriminated against because of the politics of [the] university. Whenever I took up any position, the Akans, especially in [one hall of residence] ... would throw [someone else] in. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 75-8)

140 Schooling and Difference in Africa

The student is alluding to discriminatory practices that sometimes work against ethnic minorities in running for office in school leadership positions. The majority group always has a way of voting for their candidate of choice given their numbers and dominance. As the discussion touches on some of the tensions on campus, a second student contrasts the differences between regions in terms of the provision of educational facilities. The student argues that the north is continually disadvantaged and that ethnic minorities from this part of the country applaud government assistance offered to students to rectify such imbalances. Unfortunately, this view, at times, creates tensions among students, as dominant groups maintain that all students are to be 'treated the same' irrespective of where they come from. This is a powerful evasion of the individual responsibilities that are required of students privileged by history to support measures that address social inequities. Being in a minority, this particular student, however, does not deny his responsibility: You see the structure is different in southern and northern parts of Ghana. The schools, the universities in [the] north, they are not in good shape. The living conditions there are not as good as here in the south. They even have [a] problem obtaining books and that. So, people keep coming to the south and settling here. And that's why there is this kind of government assistance. So it is up to us to help those who have fewer opportunities. (File 01FGS-01: Text units 116-22)

In Ghana's history the concentration of schools in the south that began with European colonization has served to privilege southern students while placing ethnic minorities from the north at a disadvantage (a realization that subsequent post-independence governments have sought to correct). Addo is a female student in her final year at the University of Cape Coast, studying sociology, history, and Ghanaian languages. An Akan and a Christian, she speaks about how students from the northern region are often looked upon differently than those in the south. There is a perception that the receipt of free education makes these students irresponsible: Oh at first you see the students insulting each other: You the northerners you don't pay anything and you are irresponsible - when you come, you come for free education and then stop. There is nothing you can do, because that thing has been something political. (File Ol-GUS-34: Text units 183-7)

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 141

This charge of irresponsibility is disturbing to say the least, given the sentiments expressed earlier by a student in the focus-group discussion. But such sentiments do prevail in the minds and hearts of some dominant students, who see the provision of educational incentives for youth from disadvantaged parts of the country to be discriminatory. Embedded in such thinking is the idea that justice means treating everyone the same while being oblivious to the history of injustices and to the workings of institutional and systemic dis/advantage. Agadu is a first-year Ghanaian-Canadian male student who has been in Canada for only seven months. Reflecting largely on schooling in Ghana, he shows how ethnicity, regionality, and class conflate and complicate discussions of social difference and schooling. He adds to the discussion of the sectoral and regional imbalances that favour southern students: There has not been equitable access to education. Looking at my graduating class at the University of Ghana, for instance, if I consider the level of people from various ethnic groups I will say that some people have more of an advantage. It has got to do more with resources, how or what you can pay and things like that. Also when I talk of education, let's say formal western education, my interest is more [on] the quality of education one receives rather than just going through the school system, because to me that is a very big issue. (File Ol-GCS-07: Text units 114-22)

Agadu links quality of education with the availability of resources, pointing out that the numbers, while important, are also one aspect of the story. The question of equity and access needs to be responded to, for to look at these issues through the lens of ethnicity and class is as legitimate as any attempts to deliver education and enhance learning for all youth. Tensions and Challenges A number of voices speak of the difficulties of evoking ethnicity given the historical baggage of ethnic group conflict. So the argument is made that in a nation-building project the less attention one pays to our negative tendencies the better. Oga is a university lecturer and head of his department who holds a doctorate from the United States. His areas of teaching are research science, technology education, and educational management. Oga's narrative reveals some of the tensions and contradictions in laying claim to ethnicity. At the level of national development and developing a sense of social cohesion, he argues, educators need to stress the commonalities that tie Ghanaians as a people together. But he

142 Schooling and Difference in Africa

also admits that an educator must be able to name differences and use ethnicity, religion, and nationality as teaching tools: My personal view is that Ghana ... is a multi-ethnic society and that feeling, you know, of ethnic differences has some negative consequences for our national development, so I would wish that at this stage of our development we should overemphasize homogeneity ... We have a lot of nonGhanaian in our midst so if in our teaching we cite only examples from, let's say, Akan or say one ethnic group, some of them may get lost, so I think you have to take that into consideration. Also, we have certain things that are peculiar to certain ethnic groups ... [T]hen we have to take them also into consideration. In Ghana we also tend to think that most people are Christians and so we tend to tilt mostly to Christianity, which is wrong ... Now we have even people from North America especially coming in, we have to adjust to accommodate them. (File Ol-GUL-01: Text units 91-5, 296-307)

The observation that ethnic differences can be perceived as negative' emerges from how majority-minority power relations play out and, in particular, how groups position themselves against each other. If an educator does not offer a critical interrogation of such practices, one may end up affirming existing social inequities. In the classroom, learners should be exposed to the differences around them and be assisted to appreciate the value of difference. Larbi, a second-year student in biological science, reaffirms Oga's misgivings about broaching ethnicity in uncritical ways. However, ethnicity itself is seen as the problem as opposed to critiquing the interpretations of particular ethnic identifications: I see all of us as Ghanaian. So, if you bring ethnicity to school, these are Fantis, these are Akans, you give rise to stereotypes. You bring certain [ethnicities] - you create difference. (File Ol-GUS-01: Text units 238-40)

The notion that accentuating ethnicity creates differences negates the social reality that ethnicity (as a form of difference) is very much part of people's identities, similar to class, gender, and sexuality. Introduced earlier, Marti shows how ethnicity has correlated with the labour market, jobs, and perceptions of groups: Because of peoples' perceptions ... they think, you know, years ago they

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity

143

were the people who, more or less, were doing the donkey jobs, and therefore, you know, people looked down on them. So in the school it happens. If, for instance, someone from the north is doing something, people just look down because you are from the north. So they don't really appreciate that. (File Ol-GUS-03: Text units 70-5)

To associate ethnic groups with certain occupations, and accord unequal treatment to them on that basis, is a serious problem to be addressed and should not simply be attributed to a tendency to accentuate difference at the expense of our commonalities. To look down on someone because she or he hails from a particular region of the country is racist and oppressive and must be condemned. The problem must be confronted. What is required is a critical engagement of ethnicity. Teaching practices that fail to take ethnicity into account in the classroom can have a negative effect on the learning process for students. Samara is from a small village in Navrongo in the northern region of Ghana. He professes that the ethnic rivalries and divisions of the past place a special obligation on communities and groups to come together. He sees the need for integrating all cultures and justifies the existence of admission quotas in school to address regional inequities in the education of youth: Ghana has suffered from tribal [ethnic] division for a longer time. Considering the history, I believe one of the things we try so hard was to integrate various cultures. It is one of the reasons why they give quotas for students of different region during admission. But what we did not try to do so far is to integrate various cultures into the curricula. That is a major problem but I still have a bright future despite these problems. We do so many things. So far there is no much problem openly. But I believe these problems have been handled [and] may be at the background. (File 02-GUS-01: Text units 286-93)

Samara argues that schools have not done much to integrate issues of diversity, access, and equity into the curriculum. He is optimistic that things will change despite what he perceives as problems lurking in the background. Addressing the problem calls for hard work from educators so that their classroom teaching practices extol what it really means to speak about the power of ethnic, gender, social-class, sexual, linguistic, and religious differences. As noted, although some students can be conflicted, they are nonetheless informed of the deep relevance of ethnicity. Ayi, an ethnic minority

144 Schooling and Difference in Africa

student from the north who had just completed a four-year program in agricultural studies at the University of Science and Technology at the time of our fieldwork, attests to this: In that, we are getting different ideas by coming together. We sort of learn from one another to forge ahead ... I see it negative in a sense that within the classroom, in my view, just like I said, even though I have a lot of contribution, I don't want to speak. Because I know that even if I speak, nobody would take it seriously because of the stereotypes and [all] that. (File 01GUS-08: Text units 110-11,115-18)

He believes he has much to offer to his peers given the difference that enriches his subjectivity and personal identity. But he keeps his knowledge to himself because of the negative stereotypes that others may have of his cultural and ethnic affiliations. Fobi, who comes from the Asante region, teases out what education should be about: stressing the things that unite us and make each of us unique. Education should serve multiple needs and purposes; failure to achieve this will create tensions and contentions. He states: Education should harp more on what unites us whilst still encouraging people to be who they are, otherwise there will be revolt. I mean people will be saying that you are trying to force them on the others especially when we talk about numbers; people are afraid that they will want us to be subservient to them. (File Ol-GUS-23: Text units 459-64)

Education should not assist in creating social hierarchies. It should be about harnessing our strengths and working on our weaknesses in order to enrich our collective existence. In this extract of the conversation with Baafo (a male student in his final year pursuing a degree in social studies education at the University of Cape Coast), some pedagogic insights on difference for the classroom teacher emerge: There was one instance where our lecture was touching on the issue of the Asante hegemony. Intewiewer: What do you mean by 'Asante hegemony'? I mean that we have been hoarding our powers over the other tribes [ethnic groups]. Then we stood up ... those Akans or the Asantes particularly myself rose to challenge that statement.

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 145 Interviewer: How did the lecturer react? Oh he took it like ... then some of the Ewes said they didn't understand why we were challenging the lecturer for saying that! And, I think we made ourselves clear to them for saying that he shouldn't use specific tribes [ethnic groups] in one [as an example]. Interviewer: Why do you say he shouldn't use one for specific [ethnic group]? Ah, it's going to create that sort of tension among the students, one particular group against the other. Interviewer: So how would you relate to a lecturer or student who always wants to confine to [her/his] own group? As I said, you know you have to [it] tolerate because maybe he will not know the implications of whatever he or she is doing and it may even tend to affect his lectures and it would be very bad. (File Ol-GUS-26: Text units 116-34)

The discussion is insightful because it aptly points to what happens when a pedagogy of difference ends up. highlighting one particular group or ethnicity. Whether it is in terms of a critique of the culture of dominance, or pinpointing the relative levels of privilege, an educator must exercise caution to ensure that difference is engaged in ways that allow transformative learning to happen. The strengths and contributions of diverse groups must always be emphasized. So must a critique of the asymmetrical power relations that exist among groups and how they can be ruptured so that no one group continues to accord unto itself a false sense of superiority. Teaching difference is tension-filled, and such tensions must be welcomed. But they must be directed towards positive (solution-oriented) ends. If this happens for the educator of difference, it is a victory worth celebrating. Nelsa, who is of Ga ethnicity, and had just completed his Bachelor of Education at the time of the interview, speaks of the sharing of ideas and how it allows learning to happen. He calls for an education of values that will place importance on ethnicity, culture, and social difference: We all have individual values. I guess, as you belong to different ethnic groups, you have different values. There might be certain things that I value

146 Schooling and Difference in Africa that maybe somebody from another Akan [group] may not value as such, maybe I would know something about resources that is available to me as a Ga, maybe we are by the sea we know how to fish, maybe an Akan they are in the hinterlands maybe they don't have an idea about the sea. (File 01-GUS35: Text units 77-83)

Nelsa is making the point that we can learn from each other. We must value our ethnic and cultural differences and respond to the challenge of education in order to ensure a more just and fair society. Students can unlearn their conditionings and become teachers themselves. We can value each other's contribution because everyone has something to offer. This is a pedagogic and teaching approach that furthers the cause of education. Students are able to identify with the curriculum and the texts and also appreciate the presence of a diverse body of learners where each person is affirmed. Mensi, who is in the second year of a senior secondary school, notes that the majority of students at her school are Ga and female. She herself is a Fante and in a minority at her school. But she associates not just with Fantes but with anyone who acts the way she acts: No, I have a friend who is Ewe and a friend from Nigeria and another friend from Asanti. I do not associate myself just only with the people of my tribe [ethnicity]. If I come across and I like the way you act, I just get close to you. I do not discriminate [against] you on the basis of region or tribe [ethnicity] when I make friends. (File 02-GSSS-01: Text units 156-60)

She does not discriminate against someone because they are different. While this statement is important in challenging those who insist that when students make decisions as to whom to associate with, the potential for discrimination exists, we must exercise caution. We need to draw the important distinction between minorities who are pushed into making such decisions everyday and those who are so privileged that difference does not present a concern. In other words, for ethnic minorities it is not always a simple case of one's choice or individual preferences. Their actions can be a response to their marginality and social condition. Discussion

The foregoing has highlighted the complexities and contradictions in speaking about ethnicity in Ghanaian schooling. While we noted earlier

Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 147

that ethnicity is a social relational category determined by socially selected cultural characteristics, it is quite clear that for many native subjects, ethnicity is complicated by the factors of history, location, culture, and region. In other words, the characteristics that define 'ethnicity' may include a conflation of language, culture, history, and religion. While we do not subsume these characteristics under ethnicity, it has been observed that in the narratives of some local subjects, culture and ethnicity, for example, can be conflated. To do so, however, is to fall victim to the very critique this book offers in challenging the seduction of merely acknowledging (but not responding to) difference. Thus, we would argue that language, ethnicity, religion, and culture must be treated as both separate and parallel notions of difference. For example, one may be a member of an ethnic minority belonging to an identified group and yet be a member of the dominant religious affiliation. Cultural minority status is attained when the dominant culture that is emphasized is not that of the student, even though the student may belong to a group that makes up a large proportion of students in the schools. In such a case, the minority status emerges from the way culture is taken up (in term of power) rather than from the sheer numbers of bodies in the school. In Ghana there are cases where Ewes or northerners, for example, may make up a large proportion of the school population and yet attain a cultural minority status. This is a case where 'minority' is defined more by power (or lack of it) than by sheer numbers. The designation of a religious, ethnic, or linguistic minority status must be understood in terms of the culture and cultural politics of schooling and of the connections with the culture, religion, language, or ethnicity that is dominant, even though the representation of actual physical bodies attest, to something different. In effect, by giving separate and distinct status to these aspects of one's identity, we are able to tease out the complexities of identity in terms of the relational and dynamic aspects of difference, as well a^ showing how these forms of identity are unique and contextual. It is the challenge of conceiving histories, experiences, and cultures as unique and, at the same time, contingent and intertwined to which this paper hopes to draw attention for those educators interested in responding to difference and diversity in transformative ways among the school population. Our discussion of ethnicity has implications for ideas of nationhood and nation building. The tensions between education for nation building and the recognizing of differences is not endemic to Ghanaian society, but rather is something that is constructed and/or located in the

148 Schooling and Difference in Africa

relations of schooling. The need to create a shared 'Ghanaian' identity must not conflict with support for various ethnic cultures. The Ghanaian community is a community of differences and the affirmation of ethnicities, rather than their denial, must be understood in ways that help strengthen the building of this 'community of differences.' In order for educators to work with ethnicity and other forms of difference in positive (i.e., solution-oriented) ways, we must uphold the virtues of difference and deal with the asymmetrical power relations that exist within schooling communities when some ethnicities, cultures, religions, and languages are affirmed while others are denied or marginalized. It is this practice that breeds resentment and feelings of exclusion on the part of the minoritized. The work of Young (1990), Espiritu (1994), and Lopez and Espiritu (1990) is informative in examining the tensions between education for nation building and the recognizing of differences. Schools are not just communities, they also create communities. Education can be seen as fostering a shared sense of identity and collective belonging. Young has argued for a 'concept of social relations that embody openness to unassimilated otherness with justice and appreciation,' along with 'a discourse and institutions for bringing differently identified groups together without suppressing or subsuming the differences' (1990, 320). At both the philosophical and practical levels, she has criticized the fact that dominant articulations of the ideal 'community' carry the urge to unity that obfuscates difference. The privileging of unity over difference can sometimes be seen in progressive politics to suppress differences and (in)directly, explicitly or implicitly, exclude from the 'community' persons with whom one does not identify. While Young may be making direct reference to politics of community in Diasporic, North American contexts (where racism, homophobia, and sexism may necessitate that marginalized and oppressed groups celebrate a common culture, heritage and experience), her work is relevant for interrogating a anti-colonial politics of nation building that subsumes differences under a shared national cultural project. The struggles against European colonialism may have provided some sound reasoning for such politics, but the postcolonial realities of today suggest that we must be wary of extending such politics of community into the fear of difference.

6 Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture

Gender is an important trope for understanding power relations in schooling. Unfortunately, not enough attention has been paid to the critical discussion of this topic in Ghanaian schooling. It is little wonder that learners still have a very limited understanding of gender relations and schooling and will interpret gender as simply female/male issues and relations. This chapter expands our current understanding of gender relations in schools by looking at the different ways gender is negotiated in the everyday lives of students, educators, and school administrators. Moreover, our interest is on analysing the transformative possibilities or resistances played out by subjects in their negotiations around gender and schooling. In the context of Ghanaian, and for that matter African, education, notwithstanding contemporary initiatives, one could still argue that very few resources have been allocated to support forms of intervention that are more than merely reproductive of the alienation, oppression, marginality, and exploitation of women as well as of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and other cultural minorities. In this chapter we show why it is crucial for us to attend more carefully to the transformative possibilities of reading the multiple, shifting, and contending voices of Ghanaian subjects across the borders of gender, class, ethnic, linguistic, religious, and age differences. All local subjects differentiated by the markers of gender, class, religion, language, and region are indeed actors and agents of change with reference to their own ancestral histories, traditions and local knowledges. The struggle for identity, power, and human possibility in the context of 'externally regulated' schooling demands that we make this fact abundantly clear. Schooling in the context of difference and diversity requires that we, as

150 Schooling and Difference in Africa

educators, consider how to begin to attend ethically to the social construction of relations constituting women's possibilities for participating within, and beyond, the ideologies inherent in a system of national and global economic/political interests serving those aligned with dominant •patriarchal school systems. Emerging from our research on Ghanaian schooling are questions about access, equity, educational process, content, and political/economic/socio-cultural context. Arguably, as we have noted, these issues have received cursory treatment in educational research in Africa. Fortunately, recent scholarship, including critical readings of modernist and postmodernist approaches to schooling, has begun to carefully affirm discursive frameworks for understanding African education. Gender is central to schooling, and if education is to promote social development, then gendered dimensions of schooling ought to be examined with a critical lens. In our work we have problematized the notion of 'education for development' by allowing our study to be framed by some key theoretical questions. Among these questions are, How does schooling and education in Ghana connect to the labour and political/ economic/cultural/historical contexts of development? How do the experiences of multiple identities, identifications, and representations inform understandings of the Ghanaian schooling experience? How do the noted differences, multiplicities, and ambivalences inform actual educational practice? How can schooling research attend to questions of power, language, identity, and representation in the post-colonial African context? And, finally, what are the policy implications of centring women in African educational practices? We pursue answers to some of these questions by looking at gender and schooling, fully aware that responses to these questions will never be exhaustive or fully comprehensive. As noted elsewhere (Dei and Connelly 1999) the body of work attending to educational reform for gender equity in Africa has not, as yet, begun to assess the implications of African women's sense-making about their everyday experiences. There are significant implications that are beginning to situate the multiple voices of different African subjects in educational research. We are particularly mindful of the need to problematize essentialism, while explicating and centring, particularly female, experiences in schooling in order to permit the reading of shifting female African subjectivities. We are staking out a 'language of possibility,' which refers to a perspective that does not give up hope for the victimizing positions many groups face. We use this perspective as we discuss and situate the socio-cultural dimensions of knowing bodies in terms of ethnicized/

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 151

engendered/class-regulated histories. We acknowledge the contradictions and inconsistencies in perceiving female students as agents/actors in social/political/economic/cultural transformation towards equity, as well as 'artefacts of hegemonic relations' rendered passive subordinated recipients of authority/knowledge. We hope, by presenting the multiple views of male and female experiences in schooling, that we are simultaneously contributing to unpacking the location of culture/difference from which males and females are heard and are permitted to interrupt, disrupt, or transgress the jurisdictions of power in school settings. From the onset we contend that female students, like their male counterparts, perform resistance in their everyday lives in using their local/ indigenous/cultural knowledge as informed by everyday schooling experiences. Just as there are sites and sources of oppression in the lives of female students, we also look for possibilities beyond (re) invoking the notion of the Ghanaian female as the quintessential victim in the power relations of schooling. While female learners may continue to be marginalized in the social, economic, and political structures of schooling, there is a politics of possibility that allows for the development of a body of knowledge for understanding the place of the female and male student in schooling for promoting social change in Africa. The potential for educational change lies in our ability to read the voices of gendered subjects and to apply knowledge about their schooling experiences to highlight the relevance of gender and schooling in Africa. The narratives on gender and schooling poignantly show the diverging and conflicting understandings of the importance of dealing with difference in Ghanaian schooling. The critical engagement of gender and the gendered relations of schooling offer some interesting possibilities. We explore gender and schooling under four main themes: (a) the social and cultural constructions of power, (b) access and equity, (c) voice and local knowledge, and (d) transformative possibilities and resistance. While the first two themes primarily describe the context in which and trends of how gender is portrayed within the Ghanaian school system, they also outline some of the continuing barriers to inclusive schooling as well as the strength of socially and culturally engrained beliefs in perpetuating inequalities, particularly those pertaining to gender. The last two themes introduce the saliency of local knowledge and voice as means of better understanding the ways in which local subjects negotiate the structures around them. We hope to bring to light the different forms of resistance and the transforming possibilities that people have used to deal with social injustice in schools.

152 Schooling and Difference in Africa Social and Cultural Construction of Power

Within Ghanaian schooling there is an interesting discussion of how gender, tradition, and culture work to inform schooling choices and decisions. There are cases where, if parents had to choose financially between sending a girl child to school or a boy child, they would select the boy because of traditional attitudes that the girl will marry, have children, and be supported by her husband. Just as there is recognition of these past (and still, to some degee, present) cases, there is a sense that the situation is changing. This section will illustrate four aspects of socially and culturally constructed realities of gender in Ghanaian schooling. First, the reasons why there are fewer female students that pursue higher levels of education will be outlined. Second, we examine the importance of women as role models. Third, we will take a closer look at the reproductive role of women. Lastly, we will discuss the lack of gender equality in schools. Females and Higher Education

Many have cited reasons why there are generally more boys than girls in schools, especially at the higher levels. These reasons range from domestic work obligations as a constraint on female schooling (Glick and Sahn 2000), to the influence of colonial beliefs about African tradition (Vavrus 2002), to irrelevant curricula based on patriarchal beliefs (Travers and Bennett 1997; Mirembe and Davies 2001). In the summer of 1999, UNESCO's world conference on science addressed some of the factors influencing the low numbers of women in the field of science and technology, which included an insufficient number of female role models, the impossibility of women reconciling their family demands with those of an education or career, as well as the absence of sociological equality between the sexes (UNESCO 1999). As in other African countries, Ghana's rural sectors have the greatest number of girls who do not attend school past the primary levels. This has been attributed to the migration of males to the large urban centres while the women perform the triple role of production (on the farms/ fields), household reproduction, and community management (Ansell 2002). For the few that do go further with their studies, there is a lack of relevance between the curriculum and the realities of their everyday lives. Moreover, interventions for improving schooling for girls still fall within a patriarchal framework, where the assumed roles of women, such

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 153

as those related to the home and industry, are encouraged, rather than the more technical occupations, involving mathematics and sciences, that males are encouraged to take. Most students, educators, and parents today support the education of girl children and criticize the view of choosing, or having to choose, in favour of educating boy children. Also there is support for government policies and activities aimed at changing parental attitudes towards educating girl children. In varying degrees, support extends beyond activities to changing attitudes. In a focus group consisting of students at the University of Science and Technology at Kumasi, students addressed the issue of women in the field of science as an example of how social norms are passed down through the generations and how remnants of traditional attitudes still exist: Student A: It's about the whole issue of science that females are not represented adequately ... I believe it's because of the social background. In JSS [Junior Secondary School], there are teachers who discourage females to go and study science. So from there you have it. And also there is a cultural background, which I think has affected the nation as a whole. I think the government is doing something about it. When you are talking about ethnic cultures, in some groups the girls are denied education. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 45-50) Student B: I also think that there is that kind of mentality. The sciences tend to produce that fear among females. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 56-7) Student C: The other thing is mathematics. The mentality is that ladies can't teach mathematics. So when we see a female teaching mathematics in the university, one tends to wonder what kind of mathematics does she teach? (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 153-6)

Student A makes a distinction between social and cultural backgrounds as two entities. 'Social' refers to a wilful training via norms, where schools play a big part in the shaping of roles, while 'cultural' is seen as an innate set of beliefs or known truths that have always been part of one's being. It is the combination of training and beliefs that forms an expected gender identity. Furthermore, he refers to certain ethnic groups in Ghana who have historically denied formal education to the girl child. While these girls did not go to formal schools, they received informal training through their upbringing. Students speak to the socialization of girls,

154 Schooling and Difference in Africa

who often fear subjects like the sciences and mathematics, and why it is important to overcome those fears. The reasons why girls do not continue their education, especially at the higher levels, are well known. Socio-cultural factors especially influence the lower attendance of females in science and technology as opposed to other subject areas. Girls are still not viewed as having the same aptitudes in the sciences as boys (UNESCO 1999). Moreover, the length of time needed to complete professional training in the sciences is usually longer than in other areas and often impinges on many women's plans for family life. But the issue also lies in the way that sciences and mathematics are taught to students. Doko is a Ghanaian-Canadian educator who taught home economics in a predominantly Christian school in an ethnically diverse region of Ghana. She dealt mostly with girls in school due to the nature of the subject that she taught. She also used the Twi language in class, other than the official English language, as much as possible. She speaks about the notion that girls do not have the same aptitudes in the sciences as boys, and as a result are encouraged, instead, to take classes that are more associated with the home: The only problem we had back home was with the parents. If you were a girl ... actually, that doesn't happen these days. But in the old days, if you were a girl, they thought that what would a girl do is to cook. All you do is, you grow up, and you marry, and your education would not be of any use. They encouraged the boys more to have a higher education than the girls. But in the cities, there was no discrimination - all girls and boys were treated equally. And while the girls would go for Home Science, we call it Home Economics, the boys, [the boys would go] at that time, [for] woodwork, practical education, educational education. So that was what we were doing. (File OO-GCE-13: Text units 61-71)

Doko mentions that gender discrimination, as it relates to subjects that are supposedly gendered, is a thing of the past. Clearly, we can see that this is not the case when most of the classes in home economics are still filled with girls. There is also a subtle hierarchy in that certain subjects are deemed to be better ('higher') than others. Doko mentions that boys are encouraged to have a higher education (i.e., in other subjects), while the girls remain studying in a lower educational state, learning about home science/economics. Ohemaa was born in central Ghana. As a social studies teacher in a secondary school with four children of her own, she notes that not only

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 155 does the school system streamline students into subjects that are supposedly gendered, but the students and teachers themselves think that there are such demarcations among subjects: Well, I would say that for females, there are certain subjects that we think are for males. And I'll use myself as an example. When I was in secondary school, my geography master discouraged me to take this subject. Because at the time it was believed that geography was a male thing! So as a female I didn't take much interest in this area. But when I graduated in the social sciences, I realized that geography was very central to my field. And apart from that, there are subjects that we think are for males, specially science and math. (File OO-GE-02: Text units 249-57) Ohemaa now realizes, based on her own educational experiences, that owing to the perpetuation of these mental blocks, ultimately both male and female students ultimately miss opportunities to partake in a variety of subjects offered by the school system. Female students, in particular, miss opportunities to further an education that directly relates to the country's economy if what is emphasized is only their role at home. There are more and more women like Ohemaa who are starting to realize this gender disparity and are now looking towards possible ways to increase female students' enrolment and participation in the sciences. One way is to have more female role models. Females as Role Models There is a general acknowledgment that there are fewer female than male teachers in Ghana, particularly in the secondary schools and universities. While no proactive suggestions for addressing this imbalance have been called for by local subjects, there is a view that the criteria for hiring teachers should be based on ability, not 'access/ability/merit.' The contention is that as more and more girls are educated, the pool of female teacher candidates will increase. While the presence of female teachers is seen as an effective form of role modelling, the desire for such representation is hindered by the concern that women have familial obligations that may impede their entry into the profession at the higher levels. Margi, who has extensive experience teaching in both the northern and southern regions of Ghana and is now working for the Ministry of Education, emphasizes the cultural attitudes towards the upbringing of women when she says:

156 Schooling and Difference in Africa The girl is not really encouraged to be independent - or something like that. She is always more or less brought up to be submissive. (File OO-GE-12: Text units 204-6)

The lack of independence and submissiveness are not only stereotypes but are part of the gender role-playing that young girls are trained to accept and uphold. There is also a sense that girls will be 'taken care of by their fathers, and then their husbands, so they do not need to work towards improving their skills in order to provide financial support for themselves or their families in a consistent way. Rather, a girl's energies may be focused on the development of a nurturing attitude towards her family, where she provides emotional support. These attitudes hamper girls' motivation to attend school or plan for their careers. Moreover, the implication of this way of thinking on how girls are treated at school is that teachers who do try to encourage girls to pursue their education struggle to impart confidence in. their students, since everybody else seems to send a different message. Previously introduced, Fremaa grew up in the eastern part of Ghana and is now teaching social studies in a Ghanaian secondary school. She comments on the importance of female teachers as role models for female students: I believe having a female teacher in the school system is very important especially to unisex [co-educational] schools where there are also males and females. I believe that we, female teachers, will act as role models for female students so that they will know that they can do this - we can also climb higher. (File OO-GE-07: Text units 132-7)

In other words, students relate best to the teacher they can identity with. Fremaa recognizes the importance of female teachers as role models for all students, but particularly for female students. While students can often establish some form of identification and connectedness with their teachers, those relationships are still always framed within gendered positionalities. For example, it is commonly difficult for male teachers to perform duties that require close relationships with female students, and sometimes female students may feel uncomfortable confiding in and working with male teachers. Yano, a male teacher who has been teaching for over thirty years, points out the sensitivities of students and how female teachers play an important role in comforting students:

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 157 Well, the children see their mothers working at home, and some of them working in other departments. If other sectors and departments allow them to work, then of course we have to allow them to work at school as well. Because the children themselves get more comfort from their mothers and from females, when there is a problem you need some motherly advice or motherly care. So it is very important that both sexes are allowed to teach. (File OO-GE-15: Text units 69-75)

Because female students are often reluctant to approach male educators with certain problems, the presence of female staff allows students to make such contacts. Thus, the discussion of personal 'gender-sensitive' issues becomes possible between students and teachers. In an excerpt from a focus-group discussion with university students from the University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, University of Science of Technology, and Kumasi Polytechnic, students comment on female students approaching male lecturers/instructors: Subject: As a female student, you cannot talk to a male lecturer outside. You cannot tell him that you don't see eye to eye with him on certain issues. And so, in the long run, [with female instructors] you will have more explanations for certain things. Even on certain points, with female lecturers, you can go in and talk with her, you discuss with her the problem. Interviewer: Does it make any difference when a lecturer is male or female? Subject: Yes, it makes a lot of difference. I would say that — OK, female students don't relate to male teachers that much. They easily identify with the female lecturers. The way she talks, the friendship, it's all there. But for a male lecturer, he just comes, talks and goes away. He doesn't mind what you are doing or whatever. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 267-78)

Increased female representation in staffing can only serve to encourage female students to strive harder. As for male students, negotiating a 'new presence' for female educators will serve to challenge their thinking about the different capabilities of women and men. In another focusgroup interview, the students spoke to how male teachers seemed as if they were only teaching the male students and thus created a sense of alienation among the female students: Subject: The sciences tend to produce that fear among females.

158 Schooling and Difference in Africa Interviewer: So you are attributing the problem to the fear of the population. Most of you have'talked about the way culture and tradition works. Subject: I like to say that also partly the problem has to do with teachers. Like, when I was in JSS, my science teacher, I was seeing that he was teaching to the guys. He would ask questions from the guys and would encourage them a lot. So, I think part of the problem comes from teachers. (File 01FGS-02: Text units 56-64)

However, beyond such questions of gender identity and identification, there are structural inequities around gender that are connected to schooling in African contexts. These inequities, which may be embedded in the curriculum, for example, must be challenged and brought to light. We broach this issue as part of the saliency of local voice and indigenous knowledge later in the chapter. The Reproductive Role of Women

Many female teachers are seen as having a 'motherly' role in the classroom. The female is seen as a soft-spoken, nurturing, and understanding caretaker who does not punish students if they do not do their work. Unlike the male teachers, who are tough and demanding, female teachers are seen as less rigorous and as non-specialists. Many times, female teachers are seen as elementary teachers who have not furthered their education to teach in more specialized fields at the secondary and tertiary levels. Of those teachers who do specialize, many teach business, languages, and the social sciences rather than the natural/physical sciences and mathematics. Rashi comes from a background where his father is a Muslim and his mother is a Catholic. At the time of the interview, he was studying English education at the University College of Education. He makes these observations about male and female teachers and what subjects they teach: Until recently when the idea of gender equality came and became part of [the] culture and Ghanaians have accepted it... Certain courses were preserved for men, especially in science and maths ... [TJeachers were men. We have few women in the language department and we have only [a] few women there. We do not have them in the sciences and maths. (File 02GUS-02: Text units 120-6)

Some groups, including UNESCO, have already made recommenda-

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 159

tions for increasing the number of female teachers who are properly trained in the sciences to act as role models for the students. Furthermore, they encourage communication between the schools and women in science and industry so that they can promote women in science. Akuma, whom we introduced earlier, is a vice-principal of a secondary school and an assistant director of education who has been teaching for thirty-five years in the Ghanaian school system. He aptly suggests the importance of and the need for more female teachers in the higher levels of schooling as well as in subjects such as mathematics and the sciences, where they are under-represented: OK. I think even the male students can learn something from these female teachers. In a sense, when a male student sees' a female teacher teaching mathematics, you see, he may have a young sister as well, and it will motivate him. And when he goes on vacation, he also sees to it that this sister is given some training, you know, so she can also grow and then pick up some occupation in the future. So I think it has this good point to the male teachers as well. We also feel proud when we see our female teachers are teaching mathematics. In fact we have someone, some lady, teaching mathematics here. You see, mathematics is a subject many females fear. So when a female is teaching mathematics, it is some incentive to encourage the females. (File OO-GE-20: Text units 347-57)

Some researchers who have examined the relationship between gender and leadership argue that there is a problematic association of leadership and competence with masculinity, rationality, and whiteness (Chisholm 2001). For example, even in schools with a fair representation of female teachers on faculty, more often than not the administration and leadership consist primarily of men. As an economics teacher in a Ghanaian secondary school and the assistant headmaster in economic affairs, Somuah is quite accustomed to his country's attitudes towards gendered roles. He broadly describes the role of women in Ghanaian society as follows: You see, Ghanaian society has a specific role for women. We have female teachers whenever there is a need to use them. We use them a lot, for welcoming the visitors, teaching, etc. ... and then they have that motherly touch. So, there are times when men are too aggressive. (File OO-GE-19: Text units 111-14)

Female teachers, in his view, are 'extras' and not fundamentally needed

160 Schooling and Difference in Africa

in the schools. The soft and passive nature of women, as opposed to men's aggressive nature, he says, is needed to welcome visitors as if in a home. Furthermore, the mothering or reproductive nature of women seems to dominate their role. This inherent subordination of women, by virtue of their perceived roles, speaks to the power relations between females and males. Somuah is not alone in his views about the minimal contributions that women can make in schools. These attitudes are slowly changing as we see more resistance from both male and female teachers to the underlying power differentials in schools. For example, female teachers are not only teaching more previously male-dominated subjects, but instead of conforming to the expectation of being 'tough' on students (as male teachers have been perceived), women in these fields are demonstrating that they can still have a nurturing and caring attitude while teaching science and mathematics. Ofori comes from the majority group in his region and teaches in a secondary school. He speaks to the domestic role of women in the school setting: Now we had a lady here, whom we miss so much. It is because this lady would come to the staff room, and if it was dirty, she would call on students to clean it up. Sometimes she'd do it herself. And we all gave her all the support she needed. However, we respect ladies. We don't look at them as second class or whatever. As long as they call attention to certain things, which we think women should do, we are all alright. (File OO-GE-22: Text units 5965)

Ofori strongly clarifies that men do not look at women differently, but only if they do what they were meant to do. Again, we see how deeply engrained gender roles and stereotypes, which come from the social upbringing at home, are perpetuated and how patriarchal notions of men approving or disapproving of women's work are negotiated. Children learn about notes from an early age, by looking at examples in their everyday environment. It does not matter how many times you tell a child that men and women are equal and that they both can and should do similar things, as related to household duties, for example; if the child constantly sees his mother cleaning and cooking, the child will believe that it is the woman's role to cook and clean. How, then, does this impact learning? What are the consequences of these stereotypes? If these notions are not challenged in school, then it will become increasingly difficult for girls to truly believe that schooling is not gendered. It

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 161

will be difficult to convince them that science is a good field of study for girls, or that boys can take home economics classes and feel comfortable with them. Furthermore, the role of women in administration is seen as an 'ethic of care,' whereby women are seen as empathetic and supportive and employ democratic styles of leadership (Chrisholm 2001). In other words, women in administration may not always employ the best strategies in the running of schools. This approach poses a challenge for women who work within environments that are dominated by men, and where they feel unsupported due to a lack of gender sensitivity. In contrast to the stereotyped role of female teachers in schools, it is believed that a mother's schooling positively impacts the attitudes of girls towards pursuits in education (Glick and Sahn 2000). Women who have been schooled are more likely to have higher incomes; therefore, they are more likely to spend on the educational needs of their children. Furthermore, the mothers who have, themselves, been educated, see first hand the benefits of educating girls, and as a result, positive attitudes towards schooling are easily passed on to their children since mothers are usually the first teachers of the children. With his extensive experience in teaching, as well as his experience in administration, Akuma has seen many trends in schooling practices. He comments: I could see the number of girls decreasing. But the actual cause, as far as the area is concerned, might be due to lack of seriousness or ignorance on the part of parents. With this view that a woman's job is to produce children and so on, if the woman doesn't take education seriously, itwouldn't bodier the headman because she is there to produce children. (File OO-GE-20: Text units 74-9)

Clearly, there is a need to call on everybody (the community, schools, parents) to work on deconstructing the stereotypes that have hindered girls from succeeding in furthering their education. Girls also need to take responsibility for how they want to support themselves and their families and not be dependent on the notion that a man will support them. If this were to happen, then the focus on marriage for the sake of economic support will decrease. It is also evident from Akuma's statement below that the main goal of education/schooling is economic gains, that is to say, it is a means for attaining employment. Since women's their main role is seen as bearing and rearing children, there is less emphasis on their training for outside employment. As Akuma reasons:

162 Schooling and Difference in Africa For a woman, even if she doesn't go far, she's got somebody to support her. You see she gets married and it becomes the man's business to take care of his wife. So this sort of apathy sets in and it has serious repercussions on the women. (File OO-GE-20: Text units 81-4)

Akuma speaks of a woman's reproductive role as a dominant feature in girls' schooling. There is no attempt, however, to link the education of girls with their reproductive roles. It is no wonder, then, that the 'lack of seriousness or ignorance' is passed on from generation to generation. The notion of schooling for economic gain (seen as more suitable for men) is problematic in that it creates a hierarchy between work done by men and work done by women. The employment gained by men or anyone who is schooled is seen as worth more than the unpaid work at home due to the reproductive role of women. Schools need to emphasize the benefits of education for girls by particularly linking their reproductive role with their training in school (i.e., teaching girls to be socially conscious and knowledgeable so that they can foster positive attitudes towards the education of their own children) as well as broadening their options for careers that can accommodate both family life and employment. Moreover, it is understood that education will 'take you far.' In other words, education opens doors to economic success, but it is seen as the male's role to take care of his wife financially once they are married. Female teachers can act as role models for both girls and boys in that their employment visually reinforces the capabilities of women. The Lack of Gender Equality in Schools

The classroom is situated within power relations that sustain tacit gender/power hierarchies in the social construction/regulation of minority girls and boys. The organization of social and educational activities in classrooms is not gender-neutral or 'gender-equal,' as presupposed by the schools' common-sense understanding of students' participation. Male and female students have different voices in the school setting and these reflect divergant and yet connected experiences. The challenge for classroom pedagogy is to be able to connect the voices and allow for the development of a springboard for action on educational transformation. Thus, classroom pedagogy must instil in learners a sense of the critical reading of experiences and an ability to act on the voicing of these experiences for change. Radical teaching is about shifting constructions of education in relation to a critical awareness among different identi-

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 163

ties. The power of different bodies comes from their different lived experiences. Girls and boys engaged in formal schooling are also involved in culturally embedded relationships with older adults who facilitate access to schooling by providing the material, educational and cultural support for learners. Culture, politics and history all influence how we make decisions on the basic provision of education. In fact, decisions made by government as they relate to the distribution of social goods and services show the reduction of fiscal expenditures and economic support by families, communities, and the nation-state for the education of women. Although this has been attended to, we cannot underestimate the urgency to attend to the re-allocation of resources to support girls and women in participating in secondary and higher education. Dealing with social difference in the context of local schooling in Ghana is about the possibilities of providing social and economic benefits for young women and men to participate in schooling. It is important to analyse interactions within the classroom to understand that schooling is not equally beneficial to all students. Some ethnic groups (especially in the north of Ghana) are patrilineal, while others practise matrilineal forms of inheritance. In either case, however, women are subject to their male relatives (fathers, husbands, and brothers) . In patrilineal societies, for example, it is customary for the groom to contribute bride-wealth to the bride's family, which gives him rights over his wife, while in matrilineal societies male inheritance is determined by his relationship to his mother and sisters. Therefore a man's property is passed on to his brother or sister's son and not his own children, who will receive their inheritance from his wife's side of the family. A new decree has now been passed by the Provincial National Defence Committee (PNDC) that allows more benefits to go to the wife and children of a man who dies. However, the general focus is on the male's inheritance, and his relationship to the family, rather than on the woman's. These practices are passed on in the home, where at an early age children already distinguish power relationships between males and females. While they attend school, they are again confronted by the power hierarchies played out within the roles of administrators and teachers. School administrators and leaders are typically male, while the teachers (especially in the primary grades) are female. At the time of the interview, Asima, a Muslim member of a minority, was in his final year at the University of Science and Technology. He speaks to the significant role that female teachers can provide to female students as important sources of perspective:

164 Schooling and Difference in Africa Let me put it this way. It is not just lowering the grade for female students. You see, when you always have male teachers teaching you, they teach you from a male perspective. They give you male examples. And maybe female students cannot relate to the way they teach. And maybe that is why they don't find it very attractive to be in the school or university. (File Ol-GUS-04: Text units 204-9) There is a recognition here that gendered perspectives are evident in the way a teacher lectures and relates to her/his students. Furthermore, with these gendered biases, some students may not be able to engage fully in what is being taught. This' influence has also been documented in the gender inequality seen in textbooks and the curriculum in general. Mariana, who comes from a long line of teachers, teaches management at a Catholic school. She points out the balancing of power relations between men and women in relation to marriage, stating emphatically: What happens with Ghanaian men is that, as soon as they realize we are married women, they respect us. It is only when you are not married, then they can crack certain jokes, in order to intimidate you or something. As soon as they realize we are married, they respect us. (File OO-GE-30: Text units 127-30) The respect that married women aquire relates directly to the respect of another man's property. Women, in turn, may use this as a form of resistance when it comes to the way they are treated by their male colleagues. For example, Fremaa, who teaches at a secondary school, uses the fact that she is a married woman to gain respect from her students: Interviewer: But were there situations for example where students have been able to take advantage of you just by virtue of the fact that you are young, you are female, and they think, 'No, no we can get away with this'? Yes, with regard to the males. With the females I do not have much problem with them, but with regard to the males, especially when I went to a Form Two class for the first time ... [They were attempting to flirt with me.] ... And I told them that I am engaged ... so they should stop doing all those things ... and they said, 'Ah, Madam, pa' or something like that... If I had allowed them from that time, the advantage would have been continued to increase by now ... (File OO-GE-07: Text units 102-13) Unlike single women, a married woman is seen to be settled and more

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture

165

secure by virtue of being married to a man who supports her. This attitude, in itself, may be used by women to help advance their credibility and voice and achieve respect in their jobs. This may be seen as a form of resistance in that the woman uses her association with her husband as leverage to advance herself instead of giving up her aspirations because of negative comments from others. Access and Equity

We suggest that there should be a direct relationship between schooling, education, and women's integration into the local workforce of communities. Part of the task of schooling in responding to difference is to offer possibilities for inviting, and supporting, social transformation beyond the formal/institutionalized hegemonic interventions of educational systems. This is crucial if we are to create meaningful education that engages and addresses local needs and aspirations. In this task, we argue that educational reform in Ghana must attend to both the possibilities and constraints in girls' and women's access to equitable education. The gendered access to education and schooling resources currently favours men over women. The social construction of girls' subordination and voicelessness in Ghanaian classrooms through female and male teachers' and peers' abusive and dismissive interactional behaviours normalizes the alienation of young women in their learning contexts through the reiteration of gender stereotypes about women's inferiority (Anderson-Levitt, Bloch, and Soumare 1998). There follow a few examples of interactions between female and male teachers that demonstrate power relations and the normalization of such relationships. Ohemaa teaches social studies at a local secondary school in Ghana. She speaks to an underlying imbalance of professional status between female and male teachers and to the harassment that female teachers overlook; it is almost as if harassment were a right of passage into the profession. She comments: Normally when they accept you as a teacher, it means that they take you in as a friend. So there are certain things that you have to overlook. Sometimes they make very funny, funny comments. And apart from that, there are some male teachers who think that a female is not able to tackle the teaching problems. For example, dealing with topics like math and science. (File OO-GE-02: Text units 142-8)

To begin, Ohemaa speaks about the delegitimization of a female

166 Schooling and Difference in Africa

teacher's professional status in that she may be hired because of her relationship as a 'friend' rather than for her professional abilities. The implication is that she must be thankful and perhaps ignore certain comments that are derogatory. This is compounded by the perceived inferiority of female teachers alluded to in comments they hear from their male counterparts. There is one thing I realized. They have this place called 'the button three,' and there they make funny, funny comments. If you don't take your time and get the experience, you cannot really cope with that. They make a whole lot of comments and sometimes they make very sexist comments. But if you get used to them, you'd then be able to move on. (File OO-GE-02: Text units 205-9)

The silence by both female and male teachers has normalized the 'funny and sexist' comments towards the women. Furthermore, Ohemaa states that the inferiority of females is so engrained in the culture that women themselves hold back and feel that they are incapable of certain feats. This scenario demonstrates that power negotiations as they relate to gender are clearly seen in schools as much as they are in the larger society. The cultural understanding of gender roles is very much portrayed in the roles that educators play within the school context. Amposo, the assistant headmaster and history teacher in a co-ed Catholic secondary school, refers to the general stereotype of a female teacher: These women treat these students as their sons. And so they have that motherly care for them. So the students benefit. But the problem with women generally is that they most of the time go home, going home for three months, six months, till finally they come back and get a chance to teach the students. (File OO-GE-04: Text units 229-33)

The motherly role is respected among students as it represents a person who has a sense of care and can console you with your problems. However, it is also seen by male teachers as a hindrance, since it takes time from the classroom. The disruption of class due to family and reproductive obligations is seen as indicative of a lack of seriousness on the part of woman about the profession. In reference to presumed gender roles, Adade, a chemistry teacher who has been teaching for twenty-seven years, comments on the expectations of a male to further his education, as opposed to females:

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 167 [I]n the big towns if you are a male and are teaching in a primary school, [raises his voice] people will look down on you for that... because it means that you are not making any effort to further your education. (File 00-GE08: Text units 240-2)

He points out strongly the hierarchical status of male and female educators vis-a-vis the schooling system. To be a primary teacher means that one is not as educated as a secondary or tertiary schoolteacher, thus, it is automatically assumed that women, being less educated, become the primary teachers, while men must strive to be secondary/tertiary teachers. While these attitudes are still rampant in the school system, many teachers (especially female) are resisting and challenging them. Ohemaa is a case in point: Well, you know, in terms of gender issues and things like that, men would say that they are superior to us. So no matter what you say, you make your point and so on, you speak your mind, but whedier they accept it or not, is a different issue. (File OO-GE-02: Text units 226-9)

The possibility of transformation starts from resistance such as this, where attitudes are challenged. However, Ohemaa speaks to the underlying ideology/belief system (that many carry with them) that is so difficult to break. She remains optimistic that, in time, even those beliefs of male superiority over women will change as resistance against them becomes more common and frequent. Mansa, however, makes an important point - that whether one is a male or female teacher, transformation can only occur if there is a change in consciousness or a paradigm shift in thinking about gendered roles: But the woman that is coming in, what are her own ideas about gender? How does she perceive gender? Is she a good role model for the girls? What are the issues that she must hold here so that girls' education can be endorsed? Now if a female teacher comes in and doesn't have these ideas it is just as well as you have all male on staff because it won't make much difference. But if we get women who understand these issues, right now I will say it is both imperative that we get both men and women. Even in same-sex segregated schools I think it is important because outside of the school buildings, you come home and you interact with the opposite sex. The same rule will hold. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 475-84)

The sense of agency that is evoked when women and men endorse girls'

168 Schooling and Difference in Africa

education by modelling positive gender attitudes (i.e., women in teaching and administration, men challenging sexist and patriarchal comments and attitudes in the workplace) will lead to a healthier view of the importance of schooling for girls. It will also provide a sense of belonging and validation for girls as they gain confidence in their training. Hassan is the national coordinator of a Whole School Development project. He received his doctorate from a Western university. Hassan comments on the influence of cultural upbringing and the recent push to engage young girls in formal schooling. His narrative highlights some of the cultural practices of Akan groups: We know that some of the Akan groups practise matrilineal inheritance, but, even there, in terms of attitudes, it is male chauvinists, alright, so everything weighs against the girl child, and this is why we have in place the girl child unit, which is sensitizing the community and making sure that they can promote and encourage the education of girls. (File OO-GE-10: Text units 510-16)

Despite to the patriarchal attitudes that surface when males are favoured over females with regard to education, some groups still practise the tradition of matrilineal inheritance. Societal pressure over gender roles often overrides the traditions of specific groups. However, programs such as the 'girl child unit' mentioned by Hassan prove to be slowly promoting the encouragement of girls'education. Voice and Local Knowledges

In examining gender and schooling in Ghana, we note the disjuncture and tensions between local women's historically situated knowledges and the knowledges imposed through community-based praxes of informal schooling and education. By asking local subjects to think critically about difference and schooling, we begin to unearth the importance of supporting local women to articulate indigenous local knowledge about the gendered dynamics of schooling and how these relate to their everyday needs, resources, and experiences. As subjects speak about the linkage between identity and schooling, we see the possibilities beyond hegemonic instances of power and difference. For example, the linkages between gendered identity, schooling, and the importance of considering local girls' knowledges about the challenges of attending primary/ secondary school or receiving university education (as knowledge) are

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 169

grounded in the immediate African cultural, economic, and social context in ways that support social realities. Why are these issues not taken up in class? How can information like this inform and foster open discussion about the power relations in schools and how can this be helpful to girls? Local narratives are rich in pointing out the energies and resources used towards supporting communities in establishing low-cost, self-sustaining, relevant education based on local experiences, needs, and knowledges. Addressing issues of gendered power relations in schools, for example, creates a forum where both girls and boys acquire a further understanding of how gender inequalities are perpetuated in school. It becomes relevant to the lived experiences of the girls and creates a space of resistance. Ampong makes a point about the importance of teaching gender issues in school so that students can have a forum to talk about varying perspectives and challenge the debilitating stereotypes that affect students based on their gender: I think it is necessary for schools to teach more on gender education because as a child it is very important to have different perspectives and so you wouldn't actually look down on other people. Just because you don't see, let's say a whole particular group of people. Just because you see them not being dominant in a particular field, you can't just generalize or make a more general assertion as to how these people actually perform in the school system. There are some people out there who are really capable of doing a whole lot more than you can actually think of. So I think the issue should be really dealt with to a greater degree. (File Ol-GCS-09: Text units 213-22)

Ampong alludes to the potential of female students in pursuing higher levels of education when she says, 'There are some people out there who are really capable of doing a whole lot more than you can actually think of.' Yet, there is a passiveness to just saying that girls can accomplish many great things! Again, this is an example of how engrained the 'knowledge' of the gender differential is; however, there is also an inherent feeling in Ampong's statement that what has been passed on for generations has negative and damaging consequences for many women and for the advancement of the community as a whole. Hassan speaks candidly about patriarchal attitudes in Ghana: [Everything weighs against the girl child, and this is ... why we have in place the girl child unit which is sensitizing the community and making sure that

170 Schooling and Difference in Africa they can promote and encourage the education of girls, you know. Besides that, as the girls grow, they fall out of school as a result of marriage, a result of unplanned pregnancies ... and that cuts across, but it is predominantly within the northern Moslem communities ... and this is culturally based ... (File OO-GE-10: Text units 517-19)

Margi, the deputy director for the Curriculum, Research and Development department for the Ministry of Education, has also taught at schools, in both the north and south of Ghana. She speaks generally about the lack of encouragement of girls to pursue schooling: Aah, always putting the girls in the lower background, you don't allow the girls to be assertive, to be able to find her level, and know that some of the securities within jobs the girls are always given the secretary, or any work that would not require much. Interviewer: Right.

When it comes to strength, the manual where you need strength, is going to the boys, the girl is not really encouraged to be independent, or something like that, always more or less brought up to be submissive. (File OO-GE-12: Text units 197-205)

The focus-group discussion among students at the University of Science and Technology at Kumasi also highlights some differences in schooling betwen past and present: I think we should have more facilities because if we have more facilities, everybody is catered for. And because if you compare now to older days, all you had to do in those days was to study and pass. And that was it. But if we have more facilities, we can address religious, gender, and ethnic differences comfortably. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 405-9)

In this section, we highlight some of the main thinking in the promotion of centring indigenous knowledge and local voices as well as discuss the transforming possibilities that are seen in the everyday experiences of students, teachers, and administrators when dealing with gendered issues. Among a variety of topics, Chandra Talpade Mohanty (1990) passionately writes about liberal education and how different knowledge (s) are

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 171

produced and disseminated. While ideas about differences in race, class, gender, and cultures are discussed in the classroom, Mohanty says that it is not enough to acknowledge difference; rather, it is more important to question what kinds of differences are found within the school curriculum. In other words, when we examine whose voices/stories are heard in the textbooks, how are the stories presented, and why are some stories not told? She stresses the importance of 'uncovering and reclaiming subjugated knowledge [as a] way to lay claim to alternative histories' (ibid.). Not only does she emphasize the importance of critically reading texts; she also highlights the methods that teachers can use to teach history to their students in such a way that the students may question how the history text itself was written. For example, history in Western schooling prioritizes the discovery of the world by European explorers and the economic, political, and scientific advancement of the West because of it. In terms of the peoples who were native to these newly 'discovered' lands, Western history depicts a story of a subjugated, exoticized 'Other' who usually does not have a voice in the story. It presents many binaries such as colonizer/colonized, West/East, and civilized/primitive. Mohanty suggests that a decolonizing pedagogy would entail not only critically analysing the history textbooks that are provided, but also 'actively transform [ing] knowledge' by theorizing and politicizing the experiences presented in the texts as well as the experiences of students. By questioning the production of knowledge, students will delve into many perspectives that may not be found in the standard text. The validation of these subjugated, indigenous knowledge (s) is an important part of a liberating education. Students will quickly understand that behind the production of acknowledged forms of knowledge is power. In Mohanty's analysis of discourses regarding race and difference (1990), she emphasizes that classrooms are not merely sites of instruction. Rather, they are also political sites where both teachers and students can transform ideas about differences. This type of critical pedagogy focuses on investigating how knowledge has been transmitted, as well as on how one is involved within the history of the production of knowledge. In other words, critical pedagogy deals with identifying one's subject position and voice in the educational process. For education to be critically conscious and liberating, Mohanty suggests, resistance must take place in the form of awareness of the dominant, 'normative discourses' and the active creation of opposing spaces. For example, by acknowledging and honouring subjugated, indigenous knowledge (s) and using them to

172 Schooling and Difference in Africa

explain power relations in education, one is creating a space that is not normally found in the curriculum. Terry is an African American student who traces his ancestry to Ghana. He studied African American studies and city/regional planning at a Midwestern university in the United States, and is currently studying at a Ghanaian university as an international student. Terry comments on the role of women in Ghana's nation-building agenda: A Ghanaian nationalist made this statement: If you educate a man you educate an individual; if you educate a woman you make a whole nation. So if you talk about feminism ... you only have 12% of the university population as women. How can Ghana take serious [the] issue by integrating women into nation building? So that is definitely an issue for the female population. (File OO-IS-07: Text units 554-9)

The education of women as a means towards educating a nation draws on the role of women as the first educator of children. The individual, the family, and then the community are all components of the nationstate. Foundational training takes place in the home, and attitudes towards learning and work are first learned there, even before one's schooling years. Educating the female child is now slowly starting to be seen as an important benefit to society as a whole. Terry asks a key question about the role of women in the nation-building agenda. As half of the population, women's role in this project is crucial. He also points out that it is an 'issue for the female population.' However, it is not only an issue for the female population; rather, it is one for the entire nation. Reflecting on this issue is Rashi, who comes from a family with different religious backgrounds. His father is a Muslim and his mother a Catholic. He elaborates on the need for educating women: ... because more educated women are better for Ghana. Purely male-dominated society is not good. Mostly men are good fighters but they are not good parents. Women who are equally educated can bring a child up with high quality. We can have the best situation if both are equally educated. I am not referring to how much they contribute to their economy but how much qualitative advice [they give]. Moral attention and care will be reflected when a women is highly educated. If we can have a good home we can have a model community and a model society. I think paying attention to that direction is a plus. (File 02-GUS-02: Text units 130-8)

By acknowledging a genuine discussion on the role that women/moth-

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture

173

ers play in the moral development of children, for example, we can tap into the indigenous knowledge of women so as to inform. a holistic approach to addressing gender issues in the classroom. Questioning the role that women have played in history and delving into a study of the lives of local heroines, and not just heroes, in history paints a more accurate picture of historical accounts for both male and female students. In articulating the possibilities of having a critical consideration of the relations of identity, power, and difference in Ghanaian and African education, we focus on the gender dynamics of schooling in examining the multiple voices of male and female subjects regarding their educational and schooling experiences. The construction of women's intersubjectivities within critical research is intended to claim voice/agency in education and schooling for difference. We have a long path to travel if we are to truly appreciate the power of local voices that can lead in the search for genuine educational alternatives and options. In the interrogation of gender and schooling in Ghana we are still missing a more critical reading of gender that allows for the questioning of school curricula, classroom pedagogy, and official texts in relation to how the processes of schooling serve to engage some students while disengaging others. Gender analysis of the processes of educational delivery requires a critical understanding of how schools reproduce and sustain gender inequities and differentiation. It requires that we tease out issues around male power, the discretionary use of male authority, the evocation of privilege, and how patriarchal structures function in school systems to establish inequitable outcomes for male and female students. As a professor at the University of Cape Coast and the head of the department of education foundations, Oga has seen trends within the changes of school culture: Essentially in the past five years, it's like a revolution - the women are becoming more and more aggressive, we attend workshops on gender issues and we are there to use what we learned to enrich the curriculum so these are even in admission policy, we make sure that at least 40% is reserved for women. So in my department, for example, sometimes we have to take women who would not have been taken, they have the basic qualification so now we make sure that the number balances, and even in terms of recruitment for a course we take gender equity into consideration. Every department working should have a certain percentage for opportunity for women. (File Ol-GUL-01: Text units 160-9)

The implications that this 'revolution' has on schooling for girls/

174 Schooling and Difference in Africa

women as well as the employment of women in academia are profound. For one thing, the resistance to patriarchal systems has become stronger and more visible. The more visibility women have when acquiring positions that were traditionally given to men, the more normalizing it will be for female students to pursue similar career paths in the future. The hopeful changes in thinking about gendered issues that are happening in the schools are also evidenced by Joyce, sociology major a at the University of Ghana who considers herself a minority person. She states: Gender is important in the sense that, if you are a man and I am a woman, sometime it means that I am put down, that you are better than me. Even in the past women weren't allowed to go to school and that. And we are meant to be in kitchen and work. In that sense, the male thinks that he is capable of almost doing anything; that he is better than the woman. And that way, he feels he is superior, and looks down upon the woman. But now, the woman is also being encouraged to come up and show herself. So if we do things together, you never know the capabilities of one person, it gets mixed up. You want to know what you can do and what you cannot do. If you see a man climbing up, you also want to climb up, and even go higher than him. (File Ol-GUS-10: Text units 151-61)

As part of John Willinsky's contributions to a decolonization project, he examines the role of Western education in dividing the world through centuries of exploring, classifying, and defining ideas regarding race, culture, and the East/West divide. Willinsky (1998) argues that students have a right to know that 'imperialism's legacy continues to contribute to what students learn about the world.' The legacy of domination, othering, exotifying, and civilizing are perpetuated in many subject areas, yet these processes are not identified and discussed. For the most part, what is written in textbooks today is taken as fact and seen by students as the only story of how things are. This status quo complacency is an example of the domination of imperialist education over contemporary student thinking. Willinsky further shows that one's comprehension of the world is directly tied to one's conquest of it. He points out Edward Said's definition of Orientalism as a way to 'dignify all knowledge collected during the colonial occupation with the title "contribution to modern learning" when the natives had neither been consulted nor treated as anything except pretexts for a text whose usefulness was not to the natives; to feel oneself as a European in command, almost at will of oriental history ...' (1998, 4).

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 175

Moreover, the way school has been divided into different subject areas is one example of how a colonizing pedagogy has been perpetuated even until today. Yet very few teachers and students discuss why the subjects are so divided or what power relations are found within the classroom, in the school, or in the textbooks. Willinsky challenges teachers to 'teach the conflicts' found within the curriculum as a step towards the decolonization process. Usually discussions about knowledge production and power are found in classrooms at the university level, but Willinsky makes a good point about teaching about the conflicts in earlier grades because more people can be reached. Furthermore, he proposes to supplement education with discussions about imperialism's influence on the different subject areas taught in schools. In this way, students may question the origins of knowledge production and realize that what is in their textbooks represents a limited perspective on the world. Willinsky states that 'we do not yet have an education prepared to deal with what has gone into the making of the boundaries between East and West, between races and cultures that we still live within' (1998, 247). He argues that teachers need to teach that imperialism's legacy continues to play a role in how subjects are taught today as well as in how students view the world. Such views continue to sustain and perpetuate the everyday systemic subordination of women and other minoritized subjects to the detriment of local/global social liberatory advancement. The everyday lives of female students must be seen as a dynamic process of creating spaces/possibilities for social participation, and for negotiation between individual and collective interests, within the context of a deteriorated social, economic, and political infrastructure for schooling. Early withdrawal from school to participate in domestic life, poor remuneration, and limited access to employment for women school leavers are all part of male patriarchal complicity in the normalization of the everyday experiences of gender oppression and exploitation. Under regulations laid down by the World Bank and the IMF, economic reform initiatives in Ghana have paralysed attempts to create gender equity through the educational system (Apusigah 2001). For instance, Mbilinyi (1998) considers the example of the institutionalization of a modernization-oriented curriculum directed towards the production of 'skilled' human capital to participate in a technical/scientific development agenda. Through a reading of colonial/apartheid relations of gender/class/territory/nationality/race (ibid., 280) in Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, and South African politics since the 1940s, she contextualizes how the impetus for educational change has reproduced

176 Schooling and Difference in Africa

and sustained social inequities. We believe that unless education takes seriously the question of equity and social difference, the creation of new possibilities for social, economic, cultural, and political participation in society by every citizen cannot materialize. By applying methods such as politicizing the curriculum and drawing on the lived experiences of students, schools can become more relevant to the lives of students and, as a result, perhaps go some way towards reducing the dropout rate of students (especially girls). If the purpose of schooling is to memorize knowledge that perpetuates a colonial past in the present without questioning how the events happened, such an approach will surely discourage students from seeing any value in school. If the identity that they perceive themselves to have (marginalized/subjugated/subordinate) is not questioned, there is little chance that they will see education as a means for empowerment. However, if teachers emphasize honouring identity (especially by questioning how students see themselves in the history of their texts) and supplement their lessons with stories that provide voices of indigenous knowledge that are not heard in the curriculum, the students may see the relevance of the education process that is presented to them every day. It has been documented by writers in the field of anti-racism education that one of the reasons that students drop out of school is because they do not feel connected to the school community (Dei 1995). Moreover, some students (particularly women and other minoritized subjects) do not feel that they can contribute anything valuable because they cannot relate their personal experiences to the curriculum currently being taught in schools. Perhaps by honouring indigenous knowledge and validating stories that are not necessarily found within textbooks, students may feel more connected to the experiences presented in those stories/perspectives and have a stronger sense of belonging within the classroom. The decolonizing act of interrogating the normative methods and knowledge (s) found in schooling may also provide alternative and engaging discussions that will help students to become empowered with the critical and analytical skills they will need to actively change what is unjust. At the same time, by working from a narrative of the injustice found within the diverse lives of students and by discussing conflicts in the interpretation of normative textbook knowledge (i.e., challenging what is published and considered as legitimate knowledge), students may become active participants in the learning process. Rowena, a female student of Asante background, talks about the contents of textbooks as a possible site of discussion about gendered issues and the attitudes that are perpetuated in society:

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 177 The textbooks actually emphasize a male dominant society; they have always given priority to males and you find most males doing most of the jobs, whereas the females are doing housewifely and domestic chores. But I think it is changing now. It is not as it used to be before. I think the society or schools are recognizing that females too have to be encouraged to have schooling and be given the places that they deserve - before it was not really an issue. I don't know if I look at me per se, it is something that I had not thought about but maybe males are given a certain priority over females. It is quite recently that we have started thinking about males having all the opportunities and females not having the opportunities. I think the society too was harsh on them ... [We need] to encourage more females to go to school and to emphasize about teaching us about our own knowledges rather than emphasizing on other knowledges. (File Ol-GCS-04: Text units 281-324) The relevance of textbook material for issues pertaining to women or depicting women as achievers has been a concern for some time. Not only is there a lack of attention to the myriad contributions of women and to the knowledge indigenous to the local populations in Ghana, but an underlying problem is that many of the textbooks used in schools are outdated, and as such present an even greater picture of irrelevance in relation to the present. Two issues arise then: (a) irrelevant material and (b) no access to current textbooks. Considering the situation of textbooks, Rowena seems optimistic about change as she sees that more and more people (teachers/community members) are pressing the importance of encouraging girls' education. Terry, an international student, emphasizes the significance of valuing the local, cultural knowledges of women: Yeah, that's something else, I talked about in my paper ... how do you value the land, particularly in the sense of an agrarian economy and also how do you value women? In one of Dr Equal's papers, talking about pottery of the Asante people ... the women were producing most of the pottery. So, I wonder, how much women are involved in production of agriculture, food, or harvesting. How much women are involved in society. Then there is a Ghanaian nationalist who made this statement... If you educate a man you educate an individual. If you educate a woman you make a whole nation. (File OO-IS-07: Text units 546-56) Terry speaks to the lack of affirmation in both discussions and writings about women's contributions to society. The implications of validating

178 Schooling and Difference in Africa

the contributions of women in textbooks or in school curricula are profound in relation to the self-esteem of girls and the encouragement of their education. When girls'/women's lives and contributions are positively reflected in the curriculum, they will become more empowered to pursue higher education as well as act as role models for equality among the sexes in all aspects of their lives. This in itself will have an amazing impact on the upbringing of generations of girls and boys and on how they see their roles within their communities. Transformative Possibilities and Resistance

Clearly, there is a need for greater female involvement and representation in schools, especially secondary and tertiary institutions. As culture and tradition are fundamentally connected to how gender roles and expectations are framed and taken up in schools, the realities and effects of gender oppression are reflected in schools in varied forms. One such effect is that female students have traditionally been streamed away from sciences and mathematics, and towards non-matriculation courses. However, there is now a push towards encouraging girls to pursue studies and careers in science and technology. There are also more female teachers teaching science and mathematics. Ohemaa expresses her view of this hopeful trend by stating: Well, I think in a way it is somehow settled that females can also do the things that males can do. There are times ... when you are teaching them about these things, although you are their teacher, but they still see themselves as superior to you in certain things! You know, but you have to make them understand that if you can teach them as a female teacher, then it goes to show that there are many things that women can contribute to society. It they cannot appreciate you as their female teacher, so how can they relate to their wives, sisters, and lady friends in the future? So they see that when there are female teachers in our schools, it is something that our community has achieved and that they should be proud of. (File OO-GE-02; Text units 169-79)

She elaborates further on the promotion of science for females, stating: But in reality, if females are given equal opportunity, they can do as good in those areas as their male counterparts. And now they are trying to do this. They are having shows to go and promote science for females. And I think it is helping a lot. (File OO-GE-02: Text units 169-79)

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 179

In our discussions regarding the role of non-governmental organizations in the promotion of education for females, Rashi had this to say: I think the NGOs are also coming in. Especially, [when] they offer food to girls who need food to attend school. Other NGOs take responsibilities for books and uniforms at school and I think that NGOs help to bring up gender equality. They recognize the right of women. But the government can do much more. I think the government has to send teachers to the most deprived areas and give special privileges in accommodation and transport provisions. Also, government has to provide subsidized medical packages for teachers who work under such deprived situations in rural areas. Then the village teacher can be comfortable to stay. The teacher who goes to villages may help this dream to become true because people will see differently and aspire to send their children to school. Especially in those areas when they do not have uniforms the government has to help them through relief packages. If you send a woman to a village to teach, they serve as models and the village may see that what men can do, women too can do. (File 02-GUS-02: Text units 140-54)

Rashi makes a poignant observation regarding the necessity for cooperation from all factions of society in providing and promoting girls' education. In terms of NGOs, it is clear that some have helped to further the cause in one way or another; however, it is the government and local communities who are best placed to 'do much more' in promoting and providing for those who are actively engaged in making transformative changes for girls' schooling. Gender analysis of the processes of educational delivery requires a critical understanding of how schools reproduce and sustain gender inequities and differentiation. Discussion

Questions about the gender implications of the shaping of school culture, environment, and organizational life and the institutional processes of delivering education (teaching, learning, and administration) are beginning to be engaged in radical ways that call for the uncovering of the power dynamics in schooling and education. If the gains made in recent years are to lend to real and lasting change, this work must continue to occupy the focus of our research interests and educational praxis in the years to come. In the next chapter, we look at the key issues of class and schooling. Both female and male students perform daily resistance in their lives

180 Schooling and Difference in Africa

using their local, indigenous knowledge that are informed by routine schooling experiences. According to the postmodernist thinker Michel Foucault, 'one needs to investigate historically, and beginning from the lowest level, how mechanisms of power have been able to function' (Foucault 1980b, 100). This comment alludes to the understanding of identity and power relations through an analysis of contextualized experiences. When analysing the relations of power and knowledge, Foucault does not question is in power^or why who. Rather, he looks at the relationships that demonstrate the use of power and traces the history (genealogies) of each interaction. This process in itself raises more questions and uncovers an understanding of where and how power is distributed. His philosophy 'embraces the theoretical tensions that result when one acknowledges that we are both victims and agents within systems of domination' (Sawicki 1991, 10). In other words, power is always shifting. He rejects the 'juridico-discursive' model of power that assumes power is possessed by a group of people or individuals, that it flows from top to bottom and is generally repressive (Sawicki 1991). Instead, his theory of power shows that it is exercised primarily in productive forms and comes from the bottom up. Foucault's inquiries are found among the subjugated knowledges that are revealed when one takes a closer look at the historical contents of local struggles (Foucault 1980b). In general, Foucauldian theory is opposed to grand theorizing. Rather, it suggests that truth is contingent and contextual. Foucault's genealogical methodology is an alternative to traditional revolutionary Marxist and radical feminist theories. His intent is to politicize grand theories by questioning them. In this radical approach of questioning the value of universal theories he does not hope to transcend the notion of power relations but rather to help create a growing number of resistances to the different forms of power. In other words, his methodology looks at all the stories and power relations (including the subjugated ones) within specific experiences and traces how certain kinds of knowledge have been created as a result of those relations. He believed that 'freedom does not basically lie in discovering or being able to determine who we are, but in rebelling against those ways in which we are already defined, categorized and classified' (Sawicki 1991, 27). Although the forms may not be blatantly obvious, resistance is manifested differently by females and males. If we seriously validate and recognize the ways by which subjects resist gender inequalities in schools, the transforming possibilities for change become more and more tangible. For example, Doko, a female teacher of mostly girls, makes a point

Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 181

of using the Twi language in class instead of the official English language. This form of resistance openly demonstrates how she uses language to centre the background of her students and thus create a more inclusive classroom. Moreover, she is centring the local voice and indigenous knowledge -that is relevant to her students. A male teacher who sends his eldest daughter to a private school demonstrates another form of resistance to the status quo of gender inequality. In this scenario (from his personal standpoint, he views private education as more rigorous), he is ensuring that his daughter gets a better education precisely because he sees the benefit of educating the girl child. Yet another form of resistance can be seen when female teachers/ lecturers emphasize a motherly, nurturing role as a validation of their contribution, rather than changing their instructional style to that most associated with male teachers (i.e., aggressive). Furthermore, one can see the myriad forms of resistance of both female and male students/ teachers as they question the 'male-dominated' curriculum, or petition about the need for gender-balanced schools and female perspectives and representation in teaching and recruitment policy in academic departments. As is evidenced from these narratives, female teachers have the potential to motivate both female and male students towards greater success in their schooling experience.

7 The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty

Socio-economic classes represent another area of difference and diversity that affects individuals' identities, world views, living conditions, and lifechances. Socio-economic inequalities, social classes, or social stratifications - as some prefer to call them - are not unique to modern capitalist or contemporary societies. Their existence can be traced as far back in history as the existence of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations some six millennia ago. Back then, socio-economic stratifications were largely formed between a minority ruling elite group and the masses of the ruled populations. Those belonging to the ruling group, those who ran the state apparatuses, and those affiliated with them were accorded higher economic power, wealth, social status, and of course, political power. In contrast, the masses of the subordinated populace were largely deprived of economic, social, and political advantages. By keeping the masses of the dominated stratum in a position of subordination and servitude, the dominant group controlled the means of production and enjoyed a privileged access to resources such as land, water, property, farms, herds, markets, and education. This kind of social stratification continued and evolved more or less in all societies, adopting different features and characteristics with the passage of time. In modern times, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels devoted their lives to analysing the role of class and class struggle in the industrial capitalist system. When they began their analysis a century and a half ago, England and France had just completed a successful industrial revolution, with Germany and the United States ready to follow. Marx and Engels viewed the modern capitalist system as capable of generating wealth and income unprecedented in human history. However, as they saw it, the wealth produced would benefit only the owners of the means

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 183

of production and exchange, not the workers. Modern capitalism, according to them, was a paradoxical system in the sense that it tended to produce both increasing poverty as well as incredible wealth. This system was characterized, among other things, by a growing disparity in income among various social groupings and individuals. Marx and Engels saw the inherent contradiction in the capitalist system as giving birth to two opposing classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, whose fundamental interests stood in opposition to one another. Like the ruling elite in pre-industrial societies, the bourgeoisie comprised the ruling class, who were the 'haves' (i.e., the owners and controllers of the means of production and exchange). They owned factories, mines, large farms, and capital. The proletariat, by constrast, hand, had no access to the means of production and its members had only their labour to sell in order to survive. As Marx and Engels wrote at the beginning of the Communist Manifesto (1948, 35), the 'history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.' From a Marxian viewpoint, it is the system of economic organization, or mode of production, that distinguishes various epochs and societies from one another. In ancient Greece and Rome, for instance, the slave-based economy shaped the nature of social order and historical movement, while in medieval Europe it was the feudal mode of production, and in modern industrial societies the capitalist mode of production that functioned as the engine of society. According to Marx, 'The mode of production of material life determines the general character of the social, political and spiritual processes of life' (1904, 11). Each of these societies is marked, according to Marx, by class struggles. However, it is the nature of the classes that distinguishes each society and each struggle from the other. In each epoch, the haves and the have-nots are the two primary classes, albeit in different forms, such as slaves versus masters in ancient times, serfs versus lords in the feudal era, and the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat in the capitalist era. This class-based struggle would continue, Marx and Engels envisioned, until the proletariat put an end to class-based divisions through a social revolution. Max Weber was another thinker who contributed immensely to the discourse on class divisions and social stratifications. In his critical analysis of the Marxian class system, Weber included some new categories such as wealth (economic status), power (political status), and prestige (social status) as having important functions in modern social stratifications. Following Friedrich Nietzsche, Weber saw economic power as representing but one aspect of power in general, which is defined as 'the

184 Schooling and Difference in Africa

ability to exercise one's will over others,' or more precisely, 'the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance' (Weber 1922, 53). According to Weber, wealth entails having material possessions such as property, land, and other types of assets that serve to distinguish certain individuals and groups from others. Likewise, having social prestige translates into respect, esteem, and other qualities that work as'sources of privilege in society while causing differential treatment among individuals. Weber also highlighted the importance of other categories such as race, religion, ethnicity, and nationality, which function as markers of distinction and differentiation and in certain historical situations often took priority over class and class distinctions. Thus, Weber emphasized notions of complexity and pluralism in formations of inequalities, highlighting the existence of multiple classes in capitalist societies and multiple power bases, as well as notions of power and structured domination. However, it is important to note that Weberian analyses do not serve to discard or undermine the existence of social classes; on the contrary, they reinforce Marx's initial conception of class and class-based inequality. By the end of the twentieth century, capitalism had already undergone profound changes since Marx and Engels's Das Kapital was published over a century before. In spite of the changes, however, widening class divisions and increasing income disparities have remained central to capitalist systems and free-market societies. Although Western scientific methods have achieved considerable developments in areas such as nuclear power, information technology, and genetic engineering, they have nonetheless failed to improve the living conditions for the majority of humankind. Not only does the majority of humanity continue to live in desperate conditions of poverty, and malnutrition, the remaining more privileged 20 per cent who live in the affluent North still continue to grapple with economic hardships, the effects of environmental degradation, racism, exploitation, exclusion, violence, drug abuse, and so forth. According to a United Nations Human Development Report (2003), the wealthiest 5 per cent of the world's people now earn 114 times as much as the poorest 5 per cent. Currently we are living in a world in which the five hundred richest people on earth own more than the entire gross domestic product of Africa, or the combined annual incomes of the poorest half of humanity (Cavanagh and Anderson 2002). The fact of the matter is that the gap between the rich and poor is increasingly widening in both the affluent North and the impoverished South. This fact itself indicates that poverty is not a local or a so-called

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 185

'Third World' issue; rather, it is the major global problem. Such dehumanizing poverty is a result not just of economic mismanagement and exploitation, but also of a myriad forces and factors such as environmental destruction, inequitable redistribution systems, civil unrest, armed conflicts, human rights abuses, racism, and the exclusionary functioning of global capital (see also Bhalla 2002; Collier 2002; Cornia and Court 2001). The globalization of poverty requires that solutions for its eradication should also be sought on a global level. In addition, it is imperative to realize that at the heart of any global solution to poverty alleviation and economic growth lie the issues of local peoples, their indigenous knowledges, and their locally constructed solutions. The creation of conditions through which local peoples are empowered to come to voice has a central bearing on any forms of economic, political, and social development that are undertaken in the South. What this means is that the views and knowledges of local populations, as well as those of excluded and marginalized communities, must be placed at the very centre of any democratic decision-making process that seeks to eradicate global poverty and foster socio-economic growth. In essence, what is needed is a combination of local and global strategies and solutions to eradicate the destructive impact of poverty, on the one hand, while facilitating political, social, and economic growth and development, on the other. This cooperation and combination of efforts will not come to fruition until non-indigenous powers, governments, NGOs, policy-makers, and developers begin to understand and respect local situations, indigenous knowledges, and specific conditions in each society. Heavily embedded in the processes currently identified as globalization, the Eurocentric global capitalism system has continued to dominate peoples and communities in all corners of the world who strive to maintain their unique ways of living and self-sustaining means of production and survival. Particularly in recent years, non-Western ways of living and knowing have been deeply affected by the trend towards globalization. This trend has been discussed using different terms such as neoimperialism, neo-colonialism, Americanization, colonization, empire building, the intensification of worldwide social relations, the internationalization of production, the new international division of labour, new migratory movements from South to North, transnationalization, hybridization, homogenization, and even 'localization' (see Amin 1992; Bigman 2002; Cox 1995; Giddens 1991a, 1991b; Hulsemeyer 2003; Robins 1997; Sassen 1998). A rich literature has been created around notions of global economy,

186 Schooling and Difference in Africa

global culture, global technological development, militarism, and global military order as different components of the trend known as globalization (see for example Goldblatt et al. 1997). Regardless of how one may approach the issue, there can be no question that globalization instils in us a consciousness of the world as a single place in which economic, technological, and cultural interconnectivities and interdependencies are becoming more salient and more visible than ever before. Through globalization processes, geographical distances are increasingly shrinking as the world becomes a single global society; cultural boundaries are being eroded, communities are unprecedentedly coming into contact with one another, and cultures are constantly rubbing against each other (Asgharzadeh2003). As discussed earlier, economic expansionism is not a new phenomenon in the world. In essence, the currently used term 'globalization' is a new word describing a very old process. Even before the beginning of European capitalist expansionism in the fifteenth century (see for example Seavoy 2003), various cultures and economies were in contact with one another, either naturally or through such phenomena as tribal and regional wars, occupations, and conquests. Of particular importance to African countries is the central role of colonialism and slavery in the current socio-economic problems with which contemporary Africa is afflicted. Much as with the rest of the Southern countries, the colonial order has fundamentally restructured the natural trend of life in Africa. The devastating impact of the Atlantic slave trade that entailed the uprooting and exportation of over eleven million Africans as slaves to Western countries can never be remedied by either African economies or African societies (see also Inikori 2003; Williams 1944). It cannot be denied that colonialism has constantly devalued African ways of living, visions of the world, languages, religions, and indigenous values. By imposing foreign languages on African peoples, the colonial order has cut off the natural attachment of the educated elite to their indigenous languages, experiences, and knowledgesras well as to grassroots communities. The western educational system has introduced Eurocentric methods of learning and teaching into the fabric of African life. As a result, meaningless credentialism, complicated bureaucracy, and specialization in subjects often irrelevant to the demands of African societies has replaced traditional African teachings that emphasized combining knowledge with experience and putting it to work in the real field. A devastating impact of Eurocentric education can be seen in the area of agricultural industry. For instance, an enormous body of indigenous

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 187

knowledges in such areas as irrigation, soil consumption, natural resource management, and the maintenance of the ecosystem have simply been ignored and brushed aside, only to be replaced by abstract Western notions. This erroneous situation still persists. However, what has changed in the past three decades are the unprecedented developments in the areas of information technology and military technology, with the parallel growth of transnational corporations that give this 'new globalization' a different impetus. Capitalist globalization aims to globalize the entire world economy on the basis of greed, the maximization of material possession, and a profit-driven mentality. Clearly, in this system profit justifies everything, from exploitation, to poverty, to inequality. As Hobsbawm notes, [W] e cannot overlook the extraordinary increase of the global gap between the rich and the poor in the era of free-market fundamentalism.... Patently, a billion people living in dire poverty alongside a billion in widening splendour in a planet growing ever smaller and more integrated is not a sustainable scenario. (2000, 164)

Just as the divide between the rich and the poor is becoming ever more evident on a global level, poverty is taking on horrifying forms in impoverished countries of the South, and in Africa particularly in the forms of mass famine and declining life expectancy and life-chances. Given all this, it becomes vitally important to see how students, educationists, and policy-makers in an African country like Ghana are looking at issues of poverty, wealth, class, social prestige, status, and so forth. The views provided here offer insights into issues specifically faced by students in Ghana. They also explore the general definitions, understandings, implications, and applications of 'class' as one of the primary sources of social differentiation. Some of the questions and issues explored include, Is class a relevant category in discussing issues of difference and diversity? Does one's class and economic background influence one's educational aspirations and achievement? Does class play a role in limiting one's life chances? How are class divisions and class-based distinctions understood in the Ghanaian schooling system? Is class simply a matter of wealth, social background, and lifestyle, or are there other factors imbedded in class distinctions and definitions? How do class distinctions manifest themselves among Ghanaian students? Are certain students and bodies discriminated against based on their class and socio-economic background? And, finally, how do school principals, administrators, and

188 Schooling and Difference in Africa

policy-makers deal with class inequality among Ghanaian student populations? Below we will explore some of these questions through the answers that our respondents have provided. Class Distinctions

Mana is a male teacher in a Ghanaian secondary school. He has been a teacher forH:Mrty_years and has experienced first-hand many painful experiences of poverty and exclusion: [I]f you are very poor, forget about your children going to senior school... Now, if you are not all that rich, the best thing is to look for the nearest school around you, walk to school and come back home, that's a day student - diey go to study and come back ... In that case whatever you have at home, you share together, so you do not have to spend so much. (File 00GE-09: Text units 345-51)

Mana points his finger at the heart of the matter: education is denied to the poor. The poor cannot afford to have an education. Here we see a very clear causal relationship between socio-economic background and education. What Mana is suggesting is that in Ghana, one's class background determines one's educational background, educational aspirations, achievements, and learning chances. This does not mean that class is the only factor determining one's education. Clearly, as we have discussed earlier, other social factors can play a role in whether or not one receives an education or gains access to the goods of society. However, here we are dealing with 'class,' and as Mana points out, class matters. It determines one's access to learning, particularly at the senior level. But what of those who are neither rich nor poor? What of those who just manage to get by, who fall within a category such as 'lower middle class'? Can they afford to send their children to school? Mana argues that the best option for them is to find the school nearest to where they live so their children can walk to it from homeland walk back home at the end of the day. Clearly, the choices of a student from a lower-middle-class background are extremely limited. She cannot attend schools with good facilities, good teachers, and a good reputation (unless of course they are near her place of residence). Why? It is because she cannot afford to pay for the transportation and food that would enable her to gain access to education outside of her community. She can only afford to go to a school that is within walking distance. Kum is a female teacher of English at a Ghana secondary school. She

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 189

has been introduced in an earlier discussion. In her experience, socioeconomic background makes a great deal of difference in terms of school achievement and performance: I want to look at the social/economic ladder. People from rich families have advantages over people from poorer families. The richer students can afford to buy their food at the school. The others can't. The richer student has a definite advantage. She is better equipped to study. She is able to buy all the books. She is able to pay for extra tuition, to study better and pass. (File OO-GE-01: Text units 50-6)

Kum accepts that students coming from poorer families do not have the same chances and opportunities as those coming from richer families. Students from higher socio-economic class backgrounds have definite advantages over those from lower classes for a number of obvious reasons: They can afford to buy food and eat properly at the school. They can buy the books that are required, pay the tuition fees, and focus on learning without worrying about where the next meal is coming from; a student with a hungry stomach cannot focus her undivided attention on learning. As Kum reasons, when students are faced with this dilemma they are not in a position to study well, to perform better, or to pass with high marks. What we notice from Kum's observation is the interconnection and interdependence between one's class position and one's school achievement. How can a student perform comparatively better if they cannot even afford to buy the textbooks and pay the tuition money? Clearly, students whose lack of financial resources denies them even the most basic necessities are in a disadvantaged position compared to their more privileged counterparts. Over the years, as an assistant headmaster, Somuah has witnessed the way students of lower classes have dealt with issues of poverty and the high cost of education. He explains one stigmatizing situation that students of poorer backgrounds commonly experience: Most of the students, or a large percentage of them, are coming from poor families. If a person comes in, and the school fees are not paid, you drive them from classes to go home and bring the money. The stigma of it... it demoralizes the student. And there is nothing much the school can do. (File OO-GE-19: Text units 280-4)

Somuah highlights the psychological impact of poverty on students. While other students are sitting in the classroom and learning, a poorer

190 Schooling and Difference in Africa

student is summoned and asked to go home and 'bring the money.' An obvious result of this situation is that the student's presence and participation in the class is interrupted. She was supposed to be engaged in learning, but instead is driven from the class and sent home for the tuition money. Thus, she is missing out on what the teacher will teach that day. However, she may be absent from classes for an even longer period, for there is no telling how long it will take her family to come up with the money. Obviously, the money is not just sitting there waiting for her to pick it up. Someone has to put together the money and then give it to her so that she can take it back to the school. So instead of studying and learning, she is placed in the role of being an agent of a collection agency, an agent who has to collect an unpaid debt from her family. Apart from the actual interruption of her learning process, there is no denying that such occurrences deeply scar the student emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. On the one hand, she is forced to undergo the humiliation of being called out of the classroom in front of her classmates, friends, and peers to go home and collect the money. Such humiliations can exact formidable blows to a student's self-esteem, self-worth, and self-reliance. The student may feel that perhaps she does not belong or deserve to be in the school, or that she is inferior to the other students. On the other hand, she may come to the painful realization that her parents are not able to provide for her education. This in itself may cause agonistic psychological reactions on the part of student towards her parents. It may lead, for example, to conflict and confrontations within the family. She may come to disrespect her parents because of their poverty. Moreover, she may decide to drop out of the school altogether, as many cases have shown. Overall, coming from a lower socioeconomic background can have a devastating effect on a student's performance, aspirations, and achievements. Teachers, however, are quite often asked to pitch in and pay the dues that a student owes to a school or university. This again tarnishes the student's pride, self-conception, and sense of independence and self-reliance. Sowah, a male teacher of agricultural science, has been asked many times to help pay for the school fees of students, as he attests: Sometimes the administration calls on the teachers and tells them that the student cannot pay and [then] ask[s] [the] teachers to contribute. The teachers share the amount and pay for the student. (File 02-GJSE-01: Text units 232-4)

But how clearly are the class lines drawn among Ghanaian student

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 191

populations? How obvious is the socio-economic background from which a student comes? Are there any discernible visible distinctions, divisions, attitudes, and behavioural patterns based on class? Oforiwaa is a female student of Akan background who completed her fourth and final year in economics at the University of Science and Technology. She has observed class-based interactions and behaviour among students: It happens a lot on campus. We have people coming from a higher class separating themselves from those from lower classes. They don't normally mix with them. And if they see somebody from the lower classes, they try to move the other way. Definitely somewhere along the line you see that the person moves away, like from the lower class wants to move to higher class. (File Ol-GUS-07: Text units 232-7)

Class divisions and class-based distinctions are not obscured or concealed within student populations. As Oforiwaa points out, such distinctions are very real and very visible. Usually, those belonging to higher classes tend to hang around with members of their own class. They are neither eager nor willing to let into their group those whom they think are not among the rich and wealthy students. The students coming from wealthy backgrounds are distinguished by the way they dress, the food they eat, and the time they spend in the market, restaurants, shopping centres, bars, discos, and other fancy places. So it wouldn't be that difficult to figure out the economic class to which a student belongs. However, there are instances when some students who have been excluded from the higher class groupings do in fact desperately desire to join those groups. To make this transition, however, is not so easy to achieve, particularly if one does not have the required resources. As Oforiwaa puts it, It is really bad, because for instance, if the person wants to move to a higher class, it means she has to dress like them, do everything like them. And her parents, they haven't got that kind of resources. So sometimes you see some people on campus and from their appearance you think they are from a higher class. But it is not like that at home. There is something wrong there. (File Ol-GUS-07: Text units 245-50)

Obviously there are advantages associated with being from a higherclass. Perhaps that is why some students desperately want to show that they belong to such a class. But when they do not have the material resources to back up their desires and their appearances, they then encounter problems and contradictions. As Oforiwaa observed, one of

192 Schooling and Difference in Africa

the contradictions that students face is between reality and appearance, between home and outside. That is to say, a student from a lower class background might be able to imitate rich students at least for a while (as far as appearance goes). But how far can this charade continue? How much energy and effort does one need to expend to cover up such a contradiction? What kinds of psychological, moral, and spiritual scars will such behaviour inflict on a person? And what are the consequences for learning? The Impact of Poverty

Dabenaa is a female student at the University of Science and Technology going into her third year in agricultural studies. She has three brothers. Her mother is a nurse and her father is retired. A Catholic Asante, she talks about the economic factors and issues of admission in relation to a particular student: She couldn't keep up the academic requirements. I think she was given admission even though she didn't have requirement. I think her father was really influential. So she had the money and her father could send whatever money she needed. So she could do whatever she wanted. (File Ol-GUS-09: Text units 39^8)

Dabenaa focuses on the area of admission, where wealth, class, status, and having connections make a lot of difference. Some students may indeed do well in high school, and they may easily acquire the admission letter from their chosen university. However, if they do not have the admission money, if they cannot afford to pay the required fee before entrance to university, they are denied access and their space is given over to those who do have the money to pay. In some cases, students coming from affluent, privileged families do not have the required grades for admission, but since they have the money to pay, they are admitted anyway. Aside from money, there are issues of social influence, power, and prestige connection that play important roles in gaining admission and acceptance to universities. The student that Dabenaa makes reference to has neither the admission requirements nor the ability to keep up her studies after admission. Instead, she has an 'influential father.' So she can do whatever she wants. Earlier we met Joyce, who considers herself a minority person. She also talks about the unfairness of economic conditions and their detrimental impact on school performance:

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 193 University education is somehow being reserved to [for] rich families. Because of the fact that it [the university] is constantly increasing users' fees and tuition, and doesn't take into account the fact that not everybody earns the same income. (File Ol-GUS-10: Text units 295-8)

Thus, one's class position plays a major role in one's inclusion or exclusion from the universities and colleges in Ghana. User fees, including for admission and tuition, are constantly on the increase, while the degree of poverty and income disparity among Ghanaians widens. Universities do not take into account the societal facts of students coming from different socio-economic backgrounds. Nor do they take into account that the parents of these same students may have vastly different levels of income (the significance being that not everyone can afford to pay the university expenses). And yet class-related issues do not stop at the level of admission but rather continue throughout the learning process in university. That is to say, wealth and social-class position continue to play a significant role even after one has gained admission to a university. Aside from being able to afford such basics as textbooks and food, having money and resources at university becomes a key factor in other aspects of a successful academic sojourn. These include, among others, the ability to perform favours for lecturers, hire tutors, and have access to computers. Kama, a male international student from Sierra Leone, has observed this economic differential along with some other aspects of being rich or poor in the Ghanaian schooling system. A master's degree student in economic policy management at the University of Ghana, he notes: We find the lecturers tend to be closer to them [the rich students] maybe because of the tips or they can carry them in cars and so on. So because of that they tend to [be] bias [in favour of] those rich students than those [who] are poor. (File OO-IS-01: Text units 197-200)

Minta, another male student from the University of Science and Technology, has made similar observations. He, too, confirms that having wealthy parents makes a lot of difference in terms of how one studies and performs academically in Ghanaian schools and universities: [The] economic situation is very difficult. Those whose parents got money, they have it easy by way of seeing the lecturer here and there. And they maybe try to pitch something, I mean money or something, buy a gift for them, etc. That is when their boy is qualified but his grades are not as

194 Schooling and Difference in Africa strong. So they pay their way through. And that is the way in Ghana. (File Ol-GUS-05: Text units 221-6)

Thus, the rich can tip the lecturers; they can give them rides in their cars; they can invite the lecturers to various places; they can bring them expensive gifts. These are all highly significant factors impacting the teacher-student relationship that have a critical effect on one's chances of educational success or failure. What they reveal is the inequality of both opportunity and condition that students of different socio-economic backgrounds are faced with in Ghana. Below is an excerpt from a focus-group interview with university students (five males and one female) from the University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, University of Science and Technology, and Rumasi Polytechnic. They discuss various roles of class and economic factors in school performance as well as in overall life-chances: Student A: There was a situation where these men socio-economically weren't so well-to-do, but all of them had excellent grades. So they all entered the university. Now, the one who has money can afford to get the best of everything ... because in our lives there are issues that demand money. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 483-7) Student B: If they are from a low economic background, at the same time that you are learning, they are thinking of getting something. But if you are financially sound, you concentrate on your studies. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 489-92) Student C: I can say that if you come from a rich family, this means that you are a person who could focus on learning without being interrupted by other factors. That gives you a chance to get the most out of school. (File OlFGS-01: Text units 498-500) Student D: Now, what I see from students of poorer background is that they know that they don't have it. So the little access that they get, they make maximum use of it. (File Ol-FGS-01: Text units 507-9)

Time and again our respondents emphasized that the learning processes of students coming from lower socio-economic backgrounds are often interrupted due to a lack of money, resources, and social influence. In such cases, the competition among the students is by no means

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 195

a fair and just competition in the sense that they do not start out on the same footing. The poorer students start out from a position of disadvantage, while those who possess money and resources start, and continue from, a position of advantage and privilege. Notwithstanding this fact, many respondents pointed out that the poorer students, despite all disadvantages and against all odds, still manage to do better and get excellent grades. How can this paradox be explained? In answering this question, many respondents tended to make similar comments, such as: 'they know that they don't have it. So the little access that they get, they make maximum use of it.' What this suggests is that the poorer students are trying much harder than their affluent counterparts. They realize that their occupational chances are tightly linked to their educational successes. As a consequence, they try their best to excel educationally in the hope that they may also excel occupationally. In contrast, the students of higher socialclass positions know that, in terms of employment prospects, there are always various avenues open to them, and even if they do not do well educationally, they still have the prospect of securing good jobs and higher positions through connections, networking, and the power, influence, and prestige of their parents and relatives. Through nepotism, favouritism, and connections, various doors are open to rich students that are normally closed to poorer students. So they try to make the best use of the only education door open to them; they often succeed. However, this educational success does not preclude the fact that there are injurious and dehumanizing class-based inequalities and divisions among the student populations. It is imperative that authorities put in place certain policies and strategies to adequately address such inequities. Private and Public Schooling One area in which class division and class-based inequities are clearly manifested is the realm of private versus public schools. During our research into the debates surrounding this issue many Ghanaians confirmed that in recent years the number of private schools has greatly increased in the country. Parents, teachers, and community activists believe that the quality of education offered in private schools is much greater than that offered in the public system, particularly at the elementary level. Thus, many parents want to send their children to private schools. However, not everyone can afford to do this. Only the members of the middle and upper middle classes are in a position to send their

196 Schooling and Difference in Africa

children to private schools. Thus, education in this sense has become a purely class issue. It has now become evident that the rich, by virtue of their wealth and resources, can send their children to the best (read private) schools, while the rest of the population are denied such a privilege. Ohemaa is teaching social studies in a secondary school. As a teacher in the public school system, she agrees that private schools offer better education than the public ones: We have two categories of private schools. When we are talking in terms of the primary level, then I'd say the private schools are doing better ... At the primary level, the private schools are doing good. They are well organized and since they are well paid, they provide good services. Usually the pupils there are fluent in English. Some of them even are using computers in the classroom. (File OO-GE-02: Text units 362-8)

The facilities that exist in private schools normally do not exist in public ones. The private schools have good teachers primarily because they pay higher salaries, and as a result they have the ability to attract educators with high levels of qualifications and experience. In addition, they provide good services, offering even computers and libraries. Clearly, the students attending private schools have opportunities that are not offered to the students in public schools. Thus, from the primary level of education on, students (as a consequence of socio-economic class differentials and inequities) embark upon the learning journey from an unequal footing. Even if these students at some point in the future were to share the same secondary school or the same university, the students coming from private schools would be in a better position to learn and to compete by virtue of the opportunities that they have obtained in private schools. For example, Ohemaa points out that most pupils in private schools are fluent in English. This is a major advantage in a country like Ghana, where English (albeit not the mother tongue of students) is the language of education and learning. The more fluent a student is in English, the better her progress in her studies. One's class position in society therefore makes a tremendous amount of difference in terms of educational attainment and success. Christo, who works at the District Capacity Building, was earlier introduced. He notes that private schooling has made class-consciousness and class-based debates unavoidable among Ghanaians: There is a line ... People feel that as soon as you start patronizing private

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 197 education, that you must deal with some class issues. (File OO-GE-16: Text units 459-60)

Mana notes that most children cannot go to private schools because they simply cannot afford it. He further observes that when there are a limited number of students attending private schools, this inevitably means fewer students per class, which in turn increases the quality of education for all the students. As Mana puts it, [T]he amount of money to be paid eliminates a lot of children ... So the teachers in the private schools also have small numbers of pupils to handle. So they are able to give their students individual attention. (File OO-GE-09: Text units 476-9) Class, Ethnicity, and Regional Disparity

Socio-economic disparity and class inequality in Ghana are not just limited to class divisions between and among various groupings. More importantly, class inequalities extend over various regions and sectors of the country in a very peculiar way. For example, extreme regional disparities have also linked the ethnicity factor to class divisions. Certain ethnic groups populate certain regions of the country that are comparatively developed and resourceful, while other ethnic groups populate the poorer regions. In other words, ethnicity, region, and economic development are strongly interconnected throughout the country. The southern region, for instance, is populated by the dominant Asante group, which enjoys resources and facilities that do not exist in the northern regions of the country, populated by various ethnic minorities commonly referred to as the northerners. Here, then, factors such as ethnicity, place of birth, and place of residence are closely connected to socio-economic factors and class position. In this regard, our research explored questions such as, What is the relationship between one's social-class position and one's ethnic background? How is class related to one's place of birth? How do we explain the inter-intra ethnic group class divisions and disparities? Does class cohesion exist across ethnicities, regions, languages, gender, religions, etc.? Is class an autonomous category functioning independently of categories such as ethnicity, gender, language, and place of birth, or is there a link between class and these other sites of differentiation and distinction?

198 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Ofei is a male student in the University College of Education at Kuraasi, where he is in his final year studying accounting and mathematics. He is an Asante and believes that there is a connection between class, ethnicity, and place of birth in Ghana: If you look at Ghana, you see that Asantes and the place that they come from - they have a lot of resources. But the other groups, they see that they are in the minority, and people downplay them. So, in order to get some recognition, they've chosen education. So they try to better their situation through education. (File 01-GUS-l4: Text units 131-5)

As discussed earlier, Akans constitute the dominant majority group in Ghana. They are mainly concentrated in the central and south-eastern parts of the country, which are relatively rich in resources. In the regions where the dominant Akan group live, there are also comparatively greater concentrations of educational, health, and commercial facilities, whereas in other regions, such as the north, there are no facilities to speak of, no sources of income, and hence no avenues for social mobility. It is for this reason that so many members of ethnic groups that come from these deprived regions attempt (in ways that often reflect a greater sense of determination than is shown by their majority, dominant-group counterparts) to maximize their chances of social mobility and decent living standards through education. They find education to be the only path to the world of so-called 'opportunities,' job markets, and higher incomes. The following is a brief excerpt from a group interview with eight students (males and females), most of whom come from the Accra region. The students had this to say on issues relating to the economics of schooling and the differential allocation of resources: Student A: No rich people live in the north. There are no private schools and no facilities for public schools. In private schools, we have libraries, computers and laboratories. These things do not exist in public libraries. (File 02FJSS-04: Text units 42-5) Student B: You simply have to learn hard in order to get out of poverty; you are not responsible for what you are now but you would be responsible for what you will be. Do not get depressed but work hard and aim high. (File 02FJSS-04: Text units 177-80)

Lack of facilities, poverty, and deprivation affect the north in a number

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 199

of ways. Usually, the educated, skilled, and specialist segments of the population in less developed rural areas tend to be pulled to the developing urban centres. Those individuals who complete their education in the South prefer to remain and work there. Similarly, those who complete their education in north usually end up in the south owing to the prospect of better employment and higher income. This is a good example of 'internal migration,' and it occurs for a number of reasons. Since there are not enough resources in rural, less developed areas of the north, people move to developing urban centres in the south to gain access to resources. Correspondingly, there are few compatible jobs and occupational opportunities in rural areas. People move to urban centres to find occupations suitable for a decent living. The movement of a professional and highly qualified workforce from less developed rural areas to developing and more developed urban centres within the same country tends, however, to leave the rural areas in a perpetual state of uneven development. AH, a male student leader, assesses the question of poverty and deprivation in the north: There is huge unemployment [in the north]. People are suffering and they do not think of going to school. Others do not buy what northerners' produce and there is no profit from their work and they remain powerless. Some people flee to the city and become thieves, criminals, and beggars. Poverty in the north produced a lot of problems. The North is effectively marginalized. (02-GSSS-03: Text units 5&-60)

Poverty is a core factor that deeply affects and influences a myriad of other factors on social/cultural, community/group, and individual levels. In some cases, poverty encourages families in the north to put their children through school as their only means of attaining social mobility. In other cases, poverty is so pervasive that even the idea of going to school is looked upon as absurd at best and luxurious at worst. Poverty drives the young and the unemployed from rural areas to the big cities, where they face even more hardships, disrespect, humiliation, and, of course, unemployment. As a result, they become 'thieves, criminals, and beggars.' Ghanaian society in this sense is unequally ordered along dimensions that include rurality, regionalism, place of birth, ethnicity, gender, religion, and language. These are often compounded by the addition of other factors resulting in unequal access to facilities: income distribution, educational attainment, occupational mobility, health care, housing, and so on.

200 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Rashi, introduced earlier, is a male Student Representative Council secretary studying English education at the University College of Education. He notes the changing attitudes towards school and education that have developed among the northerners in Ghana: In the north, it has not been the case [valuing education] because until the last decade the northerners spoke only about cattle. They tended to argue for not going to school because going to school is not to get money and breeding cattle is to get money. As a result, schools were left for children who were not the favourites of their father. The children who were not strong enough to farm were sent to schools for punishment. These people finally ended up obtaining high positions. Then the rest started to realize the value of education and started to send their children to school. (File 02GUS-02: Text units 167-75)

Only when education pays off do people realize its usefulness and begin to take it seriously, which shows that people evaluate education in terms of concrete material benefits. Here again we see a connection between education and socio-economic factors. As long as people do not see any economic advantages in having an education, they will prefer to engage their children in more practical fields such as farming, raising cattle, and so on. However, when they see that education gives them even better returns, then they are encouraged to send their children to school. It is apparent that an understanding of the dynamics of education and of its interconnections to occupational opportunities, higher incomes, and better life-chances has immensely contributed to the attitudinal change towards education in Ghana. In recent years, the Ghanaian government has taken initiatives to make evident the advantages of education to rural populations. It has also put some useful policies in place to help financially students coming from deprived regions and rural areas of the north. These initiatives are not without controversy, however. Here Akuma speaks about some of the resentments produced as a result of what some perceive as biased support of northern students by the government: One thing which is so absurd is that if a northerner comes to stay in a southern sector, by the mere fact that his children are bearing the northern names, they are given this free education. Why? Because of policy. And also educationally, a lot of northern people have got good educational background. (File OO-GE-20: Text units 170-4)

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 201

Government subsidies to northern students have not gone unnoticed by the general public, particularly in the south. While some people regard the government strategies as important and necessary, there are those who deeply resent such subsidies. The government is attempting to encourage the people of the north to embrace education. But while people of the south and other regions have to pay for their education, a northerner virtually receives what may be interpreted as 'free education,' which does not sit well with some southerners who are themselves living below the poverty line. Such a policy implies that although the south and other regions enjoy some rich resources and facilities relative to the north, the wealth and income generated from these resources has not been distributed equally among the people. This begs the question that many of the less privileged in the south are asking: If a southern family's socio-economic class position is the same as that of a family from the north, why are the children of this southern family not entitled to the same government-sponsored privileges that the children of the northern family are entitled to? In other words, should they not have free access to education as well? This question again brings us to the issue of class division, the nature of class formations, and the implications that class has vis-a-vis other sites of difference such as ethnicity, gender, language, and religion in Ghana. As we noted earlier, Hassan is a male Muslim working in Accra as a national coordinator for school development. Here he voices his opinion regarding further dynamics of class in Ghanaian society: [O]ne can not say that [class] is tied down to ethnic group per se; now the wealthy in each ethnic group would have their prejudices and biases against the poor. File OO-GE-10: Text units 334-6)

Although class and ethnicity are often conceptualized as autonomous categories, the existence of interconnections and interdependencies between them cannot be ignored. As we have observed previously, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds are usually looked down upon, discriminated against, marginalized, and excluded regardless of which ethnic group they belong to. Likewise, the rich, the affluent, and the powerful upper classes in all societies, and among all ethnic groups, enjoy certain privileges that are denied to the poorer groups and lower classes. Belonging to the same ethnic group does not automatically translate into equal access to resources and facilities. Chances are, for

202 Schooling and Difference in Africa

example, that a worker in a sweatshop is going to be subjected to constant exploitation regardless of whether or not s/he shares the same ethnicity with the factory owner. Discussion

There are structures in place in every society that function to the advantage of certain class positions while disadvantaging others. But this should not be taken to mean that ethnicity has no bearing on social class. As we discussed earlier, ethnicity may work for some as an asset for social and occupational mobility, while simultaneously blocking the path of others to similar opportunities. This is particularly evident in pluralistic contexts and in multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual societies like Ghana's. In certain multi-ethnic and multicultural contexts, for instance, the dominant language may serve to advance the occupational chances of those who claim it as their mother tongue, while keeping those for whom it is not firmly marginalized from the prospective job market. Evidently, in terms of finding good employment, particularly in governmental and educational sectors, fluency in the 'official' language is a must. In such cases, members of the dominant ethnic group have better chances of getting hired than do the members of minoritized communities. The same criteria could, of course, apply to other sites and categories of exclusion such as gender, religion, disability, age, sexuality, and language. Social-class position may have some degree of autonomy in and of itself, but its dynamics and dimensions cannot be fully grasped independently of other sites of difference, exclusion, and oppression, particularly in a multi-ethnic and multicultural country like Ghana. There can be little doubt that economic factors play a determining role in both the educational aspirations and attainments of students (see Riddle 2001; Cole 2000; Lawton, 1969; Macaulay 1977; Rogers 1986; Silver 1973). Poverty has a profound influence on who can become a student, who can have an education, who can participate in the learning processes, who can perform better, and who can achieve, higher and obtain better, life-chances. Needless to say, in the underdeveloped and povertystricken regions and countries of the South the impacts of economic factors are far more salient than in affluent northern societies. In countries like Ghana, for instance, economic factors not only determine the educational aspirations and attainments of students, they more importantly determine whether one can, or cannot, become a student in the first place.

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 203

Our study of the Ghanaian schooling system indicates that, in general terms, those coming from wealthy families do well and have far better chances of success in schools and universities than do those who come from poorer families. Of course there are always some from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who do exceptionally well in school, just as there are those from upper-class backgrounds who do poorly. Nonetheless, there is a general pattern that clearly indicates the privileges and advantages that come with a higher social-class background. That said, we may look at the impact of economics on schooling in Ghana in three stages: the pre-student stage; the pre-university stage, and the post-secondary stage. The pre-student stage is the period in a child's life when s/he has not yet become a student. Economic factors play a pivotal role in this stage by determining whether a child can go to school or not. Since it is up to the parents to see whether they can afford to send their child to school, such factors as their socio-economic background, level of income, and material possessions, along with the cost of schooling, government assistance, and overall socio-economic development in society, are critical in determining a child's destiny. In fact, if the family of a child is constantly grappling with the provision of basic needs such as food and shelter, sending that child to school would seem like an unattainable luxury. As in many poorer countries of the South, in Ghana, and indeed Africa as a whole, child labour is prevalent. In an impoverished household, children are expected to work and help the family from an early age. The work that impoverished children undertake ranges from helping their parents on the farm, to street-vending, to working in sweatshops, factories, and houses. In almost all Ghanaian cities and towns, for instance, it is normal to see children early in the morning walking to work with axes, mattocks, or hoes in their hands, and shovels, spades, forks, or rakes on their shoulders. One can see young boys pushing wheelbarrows twice their own size, and young girls carrying large buckets of water or loads of bread, yams, sugarcane, maize, or cassava on their heads. For a family that can barely make ends meet, having a working child means having an extra source of income. It means that if a child works, the chances are that she, her parents, and her brothers and sisters may not go to bed hungry. By any stretch of the imagination, therefore, it would seem quite normal and reasonable for an impoverished child to work and survive instead of starving inside a school or on the street. The horrible impact of poverty deprives impoverished children of their right to an education. Poverty marginalizes and excludes these children from

204 Schooling and Difference in Africa

the world of learning, of opportunities, and of better life-chances. It is therefore imperative that the dehumanizing impact of poverty on children be taken into full account in discussing any correlations between class and education. In affluent Western countries, studies of classschool relationships are usually based solely on children and youth who are already students. In impoverished Southern countries, however, the status of millions of would-be students (those whose access to education is blocked by poverty) must also be placed at the centre of any sensible class/school analysis. Moreover, social factors such as gender, birth order, number of siblings, and place of residence represent significant additional sites of contestation that serve to further impact the chances of a child going to school. All these factors play a critical role in relation to class contexts. For example, if the family income only allows one child to attend school, gender emerges as a deciding factor in determining who should, or should not, receive education. In such cases, it is usually, the boy child who is sent to school, and the girl child who has to stay home, work, and remain illiterate. Of course, there are many cultural, traditional, as well as economic explanations for these kinds of choices that parents make. However, despite significant changes in attitudes and world views, many parents still continue to believe that a woman's 'place' is in the home and, more specifically, the kitchen. Similarly, where there are economic restrictions, birth order also plays a crucial role when it comes to choosing a child for school. Usually it is the first-born who gets the first chance to attend school. When it comes to the younger siblings, often the family simply cannot afford it. In these circumstances, they will have to work and support the family while the eldest child receives an education. As we have noted, places of birth and/or residence seriously impact a child's chances of becoming a student. Ghana is a country where regional inequality and disparity prevail. Generally, the families living in the north are poorer and more impoverished than those living in the south. Moreover, the impoverished regions lack basic educational facilities, which seriously curtail the possibility of any child becoming a student. How can you send your children to school if there is no school in the village or town where you live? When an area or region suffers from a lack of resources such as schools, libraries, and educational centres for long periods of time, a set of corresponding attitudes and cultural values begin to develop based on the culture of deprivation within which a community lives. For instance, if a new school opens in a rural area where people have no experience of

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 205

seeing schools or having them as a part of their material culture, it will usually take quite some time for their attitudes to change towards schooling and education. In other words, they will not be so eager to send their children to school as soon as one is opened in their neighbourhood. Thus, this culture of deprivation is also part of a regional disparity that develops in deprived regions in particular and serves to further restrict children's chances of becoming students. Pre-university student life includes the living conditions of a student in the course of her/his primary and secondary schooling. Here too economic factors dictate whether a student can continue her/his education beyond either the primary or the secondary level. As we saw through the observations of our respondents, educational aspirations, school performance, and educational attainment are strongly conditioned by economic factors. Many students coming from disadvantaged class backgrounds cannot afford to buy such basic school materials as textbooks. It is no easy task to perform well in the face of such detrimental economic problems. Aside from the inaccessibility of materials and resources, the learning endeavours of economically poor students are constantly being interrupted by struggles related to tuition money, school fees, and other financial concerns. The inability to pay school fees, for example, causes a decline in the student's self-conception, self-reliance, and self-worth. It often serves to stigmatize the student and foster feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and inferiority. Coming from an economically disadvantaged family background also means that the students are unable to acquire certain non-material forms of assistance such as information and direction from their parents in areas such as language proficiency, vocabulary improvement, school regulations, future focus, curriculum content, and the importance of higher education (see also Bourdieu 1991). Thus, all these factors impact heavily on a student's school performance, chances of success, and prospects for getting into university. If a student from a disadvantaged class position succeeds in high school and has all the academic requirements to enter university, her entrance is still conditional on her ability to pay the fee required for admittance. As we have seen earlier, many potential students cannot enter university simply because they cannot afford to pay the admission fee. At the postsecondary level, economic factors continue to influence a student's aspirations, achievements, and chances of success, despite the fact that the government may provide some degree of financial assistance in the form of loans and/or scholarships. At this level, a crucial aspect of educational

206 Schooling and Difference in Africa

attainment for an impoverished student is deciding to stay on at university and survive its hardships. Although they do not amount to much, the government-provided loans do help in alleviating many problems associated with poverty and lower socio-economic class status. However, students' expenditures increase considerably at this level compared to the secondary-school stage. The tuition fees are much higher, and the need for school materials such as textbooks increases in both value and urgency. In addition, there are residential expenses such as rent that the student is forced to grapple with. Nevertheless, at the university level, students are at a stage where they can work (albeit on a part-time basis) and make a meagre income, which, in combination with any loan funding they may receive, may enable them to support themselves. Survival under these conditions is, of course, contingent on the availability of work, the procurement of a guaranteed loan, and the absence of other family and health-related concerns and problems. By way of comparison, we can see that students from upper-middleclass positions do not even have to think about the manifold crippling economic issues and problems that disadvantaged students have to encounter on a daily basis. As a result, affluent students are free to concentrate on their studies uninterruptedly and without any financial hindrances. Moreover, they are in a position to secure extra help by hiring private tutors, and by gaining access to invaluable resources such as computers, libraries, and research facilities that may not be available to other students who are less privileged. In addition, they have enough free time to attend extracurricular activities, seminars, and conferences that are related to their area of study. By virtue of their class position, advantaged students can also perform favours for teachers, lecturers, and administrative personnel. Such favours help to foster better relationships with lecturers and other officials, and these relationships in turn enhance the students' chances of success and higher attainment. Again, we should emphasize that the above-discussed three stages are further implicated by factors such as gender, place (region) of birth, place of residence, ethnicity, language, religion, birth order, number of siblings, and disability. In spite of considerable technological and economic developments in Ghana, class divisions and class-based inequalities continue to differentiate social groupings, communities, and individuals. Furthermore, the ongoing economic globalization project has not only failed to reduce the levels of unbearable poverty and deprivation in human societies, it has actually increased the economic gap between the rich and poor, the North and South, and the haves and the have-nots, to an unprecedented

The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 207

scale. Income disparity and catastrophic poverty on local, regional, and global levels have become salient markers of the current capitalist globalization process. In such an inequitable context, it is extremely important to see how notions such as socio-economic class, poverty, income disparity, social inequality, and capitalist globalization are understood and discussed by students, educationists, and administrative personnel in one of Africa's most vibrant and most diverse countries - Ghana. In this chapter we have examined the ways in which schooling is experienced differently by students coming from different region and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our research has shown that social-class position situates students in different relationships to knowledge, to schooling, and to the learning process. The chapter has brought interesting and revealing insights from parents, students, and community members as they navigate their ways through the schooling system in Ghana. Various issues and concerns related to poverty, wealth, social prestige, and parental influence have been interrogated by the respondents in an attempt to find an equitable and fair solution to the existing inhumane and dehumanizing state of student impoverishment. In general, the chapter has largely focused on the relationship between poverty and schooling in Ghana. In the next chapter we explore the pressing issues and concerns that arise from the experiences of students with disabilities in the Ghanaian context.

8 Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling

Disability is perhaps one of the most salient markers of social distinction that has been used throughout history to marginalize, exclude, and oppress individuals and bodies seen as different. In historical terms, perceptions of and conceptions about disability have varied from era to era, society to society, and culture to culture. In different stages of the evolution of human culture, numerous perspectives, from ancient religious narratives to modern scientific discourses, have engaged in conceptualizing and defining disability. In the majority of cases, individuals with disability have been viewed as 'abnormal' and linked with various negative conditions such as poverty, crime, disease, catastrophe, decadence, and degeneration. This has been pretty much the general trend in Africa, Asia, the West, and other parts of the world. While some significant work has been done around disability and education in the North American and other contexts (see Wright 1960; Adamson et al. 1969; Tomlinson 1982; Carrier 1986; Linton 1998; Hodges and Keller 1999; Marks 1999; Beloin and Peterson 2000; Hall 2002; Campbell and Cusklye 2003), the field has been relatively unexplored in African and Southern contexts. In the course of the past two decades, however, educational authorities in Africa, as well as some international agencies, have shown an interest in developing an inclusive school environment for students with disabilities. As a result, researchers have started exploring various aspects of disability issues in Africa and in Ghana (see Walker 1982; Chimedza 1998; Abosi 2000; Avoke 2001; Metts and Metts 2000; Mutua and Dimitrov 2001; Arbeiter and Hartley 2002; Muuya 2002; Lorenzo 2003). In a Ghanaian context, a government-sponsored study in 1960 established that out of a population of then six million, there were 100,000

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 209

individuals with disability in the country (Gadagbui 1998). Recent studies suggest that the size of the disabled population in Ghana has increased to 10 per cent out of a total population of 18 million (Avoke 2001). A document pertaining to Ghana's Special Education Division (1995, section 3a), identifies this division as being responsible 'for the education of handicapped pupils and students from the basic level to the university level' (see Avoke 2001, 38). Furthermore, through this division children and youth with disabilities are to be trained 'to lead independent lives.' The division is also empowered to provide 'in-service training for teachers in schools,' as well as guidance, counselling, and 'support of learning and teaching materials' for students with disabilities as well as for their parents and guardians (Special Education Divisional paper, sect. 3a; see also Avoke 2001, 38). This positive approach by the Ghanaian government towards disability and education has, no doubt, been influenced by the shifting treatment and conceptualization of disability on the part of the international community. From a global viewpoint, in the period following the two world wars, a different approach developed towards disability that, in a sense, fundamentally changed the overtly oppressive approaches of past eras. As a result of these horrible wars, many able-bodied individuals returned to their communities with various disabilities. The image of war heroes returning home as disabled individuals challenged many previously held negative perceptions of disability and gave rise in their stead to feelings of respect, care, and attention. This phenomenon also drew the attention of governments and medical communities to issues and concerns emerging from the site of disability. Thus, from previous attitudes of condemnation and stigmatization, attention shifted to a large degree towards the treatment, rehabilitation, and training of disabled individuals. This newfound emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation ushered in a new era that increasingly distanced itself from previously held beliefs of predestination, predetermination, and, in a sense, eternal condemnation. Irrespective of this important shift, or perhaps as a result of it, persons with disabilities came to be seen as victims in need of care, attention, and eventually charity (see for example Shapiro 1993). This image, needless to say, did not serve the best interests of people with disabilities and came to be challenged with the passage of time. It was primarily after the 1960s that, alongside the struggles for civil rights, women's rights, and minority rights, and particularly in a North American context, a movement developed that called attention to the rights of people with disability, especially to such basic rights as being fully included in society, living

210 Schooling and Difference in Africa

independently, making choices, contributing to society, achieving equality of opportunity, and pursuing meaningful careers (Scheerenberger 1987; Dybwad and Bersani 1996). Thus, through their constant struggles and endeavours, people with a disability increasingly gained the right to define their situation and articulate their condition, their needs and wants, through their own voice. This kind of empowerment to redefine disability by the disabled led to a new understanding of disability as a 'social/political category' (Linton 1998, 12). In the words of Linton: When disability is redefined as a social/political category, people with a variety of conditions are identified as people with disabilities or disabled people, a group bound by common social and political experience. These designations, as reclaimed by the community, are used to identify us as a constituency to serve our needs for unity and identity, and to function as a basis for political activism, (ibid.)

Following Linton's articulation, in this chapter we look at disability as a marker of difference that serves to exclude certain individuals from equal access to resources, power bases, and privilege, while subjecting them to differential treatment on the basis of their real or perceived, visible on invisible disabilities, the signs and symptoms of these disabilities may vary from physical impairment to neurological, psychiatric, sensory, intellectual, mental, or other impairments. Disability is a process of exclusion and othering that is created by the dominant group around notions of normalcy, ability, superiority, and a particular lifestyle as defined by the dominant group. It is not some negative attribute that individuals possess; rather, it is something that the dominant culture assigns to minoritized bodies that are seen as different when compared to the dominant standards of normalcy, beauty, functionality, and ability. In other words, it is the negative interpretation and representation of disability that is, and ought to be, the problem, not the people having a disability. As with other sites of exclusion, such as sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, language, class, age, and religion, the dominant interpretation of disability has served to limit individuals' life-chances by defining them as useless, abnormal, weak, incompetent, impotent, incapacitated, or disqualified outcasts. It has always been a privilege of dominant cultures and superordinate groups to define what is normal, what is abnormal, what is acceptable, and what is, and ought to be, the norm. Those with the power and authority to interpret disability have historically blamed

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 211

certain individuals and bodies for having a certain kind of disability by means of socially and politically reconstructing their status as handicapped, crippled, retarded, and other mainly derogatory terms. The following chapter on language discusses varied positions and functions that language assumes by virtue of which it is rendered as a site of both liberation and enslavement. A powerful attribute of language is its ability to name, define, describe, and identify. This can be employed to serve both negative and positive ends. We have seen the destructive impact of words in stigmatizing individuals through racial slurs, epithets, and derogatory terms. Words and terms have been employed in similar ways to dehumanize, marginalize, and exclude women, indigenous people, individuals with non-conventional sexual orientation, and a host of other minoritized bodies. Derogatory words and terms have been used in similar ways against people with disabilities. Again, it is important to note that it is not the language that in and of itself is oppressive and exclusionary. Rather, it is the people who use the language, who have power over the usage of language, and who assign negative values and terms to minoritized bodies. It is therefore of the utmost importance to pay close attention to the way people with disability use language to define themselves and articulate their own condition. Functioning as a mirror image of the larger society, schools always reflect the discriminatory, exclusionary, and stereotypical acts and attitudes that society exerts on individuals with disabilities/School administrators, teachers, educators, and fellow students may discriminate against individuals with a disability owing to their socialization in a society that holds little or no respect for people having a disability. Clearly, discriminatory attitudes in the school environment can severely limit the educational aspirations and performance of students with disabilities, thus significantly limiting their right to equal access, educational opportunities, and life-chances. It is also important to note that, in terms of education and schooling, other markers of discrimination such as class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity may be added to disability-based discrimination. In such cases, a student with a disability experiences oppression differently from other individuals with disabilities. Below we explore some narratives of Ghanaian students with disabilities, which will show the extent to which the Special Education Division in Ghana has been successful in implementing its policies. The narratives will also throw light on what the whole notion of disability and its culture means in a Ghanaian context. Thanks in large measure to the establishment of the Special Education Division, some school-aged

212 Schooling and Difference in Africa

youth and children with disabilities have been able to find their way to Ghanaian schools and universities. Although this may be considered a very important achievement in an African context, it should not be interpreted to indicate that the presence of a few students with disabilities in Ghanaian learning centres is a fair representation of the country's disabled population. Far from it; getting admission to school and becoming a student still remains an ideal for the vast majority of Ghana's disabled children and youth. There continues to be a lack of resources and infrastructure, as well as numerous economic barriers and obstacles, in the country for accommodating students with a disability. The narratives presented in the following pages are those of the disabled individuals with a disability who have been fortunate enough, as it were, to be a part of the school system. As stated earlier, in and of itself, this is a major achievement for both the Ghanaian education system and the students with a disability. Representation

Fair and equitable treatment of minoritized groups in schools and universities is first established through their representation in such institutions. Representation in this context refers to the physical presence of minoritized groups and bodies within these spaces of learning. In and of itself, physical presence is, of course, only a starting point from which is derived the representation of voice, participation, responsibility, accountability, and full inclusion (e.g., representation in the curriculum, in the allocation of resources, facilities, and spaces, and so forth). So, are individuals with a disability fairly and equitably represented in Ghanaian schools and universities? Have they been given sufficient voice to raise their own issues and concerns emerging from their specific situations and conditions? Do they have proportional representation within the student, teaching-staff and administrative personnel populations? More importantly, how often do university students come into contact with students, lecturers, or administrative staff with disabilities? Cramba is a visually impaired male lecturer teaching in the special education department at the University College of Winneba. As a minority faculty member, he responds as follows to the question of the representation of disabled bodies in his institution: It is very rare ... At the university here you only see two. There is another hearing-impaired person in the system .-.. But if you go to the training col-

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 213 lege, you will find them, if you go to secondary schools, JSS they are there. (File 03-DL-01: Text units 206-22)

Padamti, a male student of Krobo background, gives another account of the representation of students with a disability: There are some people, like, with financial needs, others are crippled and you can see them walking with a stick and at times they have to leave the hall for about 30 minutes before they get to the lecture hall... .But the two I can identify are those with financial needs and someone who is not. I can remember some guy with only one hand. He does everything with one hand. (File 03-DS-02: Text units 131-9)

Julie is a female student at the University of Education who agrees that there are people with a disability in her university. However, she does not believe that the university is doing enough to fully include them. Her response supports Padamti's observation: We have blind people, and those people ... with physical disability. They have problems with their legs, with other parts, and then also, some of them have hearing problem. (File 03-DS-01: Text units 34-9) In our area they learnt a lot about those people [with a disability], but they don't go out and even ... all those who are learning about this physical thing, when they complete the school, they don't feel like going to their place to help them to impart what they learnt over there. Yeah, they don't feel happy to go to those people to give them a helping something. What I have seen is that they do more theory than the practical thing. (File 03-DS01 .-Text units 204-19)

Such responses clearly point to the fact that there are students with a disability in the local school system who are indeed visible to, and whose presence can be felt by, all other students, teachers/lecturers, and administrative personnel. Perhaps in an African setting this kind of visibility alone can be taken as a major attempt on the part of the educational system towards integrating students with a disability into the mainstream universities and learning centres; it has long been argued that the integration of students with a disability into schools and universities represents a step towards integration into society (Jenkinson 1997; Leicester 1999).

214 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Among the salient advantages of the process of integration is its socializing quality, which enables students with a disability to interact with socalled 'ordinary,' able-bodied students. Socializing processes of this nature are seen to provide a positive means for boosting the morale, confidence, sense of self-reliance, independence, and growth in differently abled students. Likewise, able-bodied students are provided with a chance to interact with disabled students, which, in turn, gives them an opportunity to learn about the culture of disability and to interrogate the various negative, cultural and traditional, stereotypes surrounding disability issues and identities. There is, however, another reading of the preceding narratives in terms of representation. Although students with a disability are present in schools, dieir representation is not proportional to their population in the country. In fact, very low numbers of differently abled people are represented in the Ghanaian schools and universities. Julie rightly criticizes the government and educational authorities on the grounds that 'they do more theory than the practical thing.' The authorities will need to do more concrete work in terms of admitting youths and students with a disability into schools and universities; learning, teaching, and theorizing about disability, while extremely important, are not sufficient in themselves in challenging exclusionary practices as they relate to the disabled. From Padamti's responses it is obvious that there are strong correlations between class position and disability. In the chapter on social class we saw that students coming from lower socio-economic class backgrounds could barely survive economically in the school system. When these circumstances are compounded by a disability, one can only imagine the degree of hardship and difficulty that a student is forced to deal with. As Padamti recollects, the majority of students with a disability are, in the main, heavily dependent on others for their financial needs. We should note at this juncture that both Cramba and Padamti are alluding to what they perceive as visible (physical) disabilities. It is important to bear in mind, however, that the site of disability incorporates (and is represented by) multiple identities, challenges, and experiences that may, to some extent, be invisible (e.g., social, mental, intellectual, and emotional challenges, AIDS, etc.). Perceptions about Disability As noted earlier, there are different perceptions and conceptions regarding disability that have been transforming, shifting, and evolving

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling

215

through time. Conventionally and traditionally, it has been the prerogative of people with power, privilege, and authority to conceptualize and define the parameters of disability. In recent years, however, differently abled individuals have gained considerable voice and representation in terms of articulating their own experiences and conditions. The articulation of one's own condition and place in society underpins the liberatory shift from the colonial condition of subjugation and subordination to that of resistance, political agency, and self-actualization. In this light, then, we pose these questions: To what extent do differently abled students regard themselves as a minority group? How do they go about theorizing and conceptualizing such positioning? Serko is a visually impaired male student who firmly believes that students with a disability constitute a minority group because all the structures are constructed to suit the sighted students. So in this case I am marginalized here. My peculiar needs were not taken into consideration. Then if you talk of the national level, if at the end of the day I cannot be given employment on the basis of being blind then it means I am marginalized. So I belong to the minority. If I am to board a bus and have to struggle with the sighted people to get on board, here it is the same thing. Sometimes even voting during [an] election, every provision is made for the sighted person. For me I have to go with somebody and that in [itself] is not secret balloting. Here my concern has not been addressed. There are. so many things I think the nation is not helping us [with]. (File 03-DS-03: Text units 275-85)

Serko emphasizes disability in relation to the differential and unequal treatment that students with disabilities receive compared to their ablebodied counterparts. He views it politically in terms of unequal access to resources, facilities, and the power bases of society. This form of articulation of disability as minoritization/marginalization is in line with the overall definition of minority/majority status that our respondents have provided in earlier chapters. As a person with a disability, Serko has to live in an environment that has been designed to suit the needs and requirements of able-bodied individuals. In such an environment his needs as a differently abled person are ignored, to the extent that he is denied equal rights when it comes to such basic matters as boarding a bus, finding an employment, and voting. This kind of deprivation and lack of equality places him in a position of extreme disadvantage, which effectively renders him minoritized and excluded.

216 Schooling and Difference in Africa

The conceptualization of disability, however, is not limited to one's own understanding and articulation of one's condition. More often it is conditioned and shaped by the way the larger society understands and defines disability. As Cramba notes: I will say that a lot of people, even those who lecture [teach], might feel that some handicapped conditions are infectious. When such statements are made without further explanation it puts fear in the people. So this is the issue, at times those who handle handicap education don't make things clear. If some are infectious, which aspect or which one is infectious, and which is not, and how can one avoid that? (File 03-DL-01: Text units 334-9)

Cramba alludes to old stereotypes, discriminatory attitudes, and exclusionary behaviours that have been formed and nurtured over centuries in, and by, the dominant culture within historical colonial contexts. Defining disability in terms of an infectious disease is an oppressive discourse that serves to stigmatize, marginalize, and forcefully exclude differently abled communities. Needless to say, such inhumane and discriminatory social/cultural perceptions are translated into parallel actions and treatment in the classroom. Ansa is a physically disabled male student of mathematics and science at university who has some interesting observations regarding classroom discrimination: , When I was in at the secondary school they were shocked, even at the primary school, when you were at the assembly when you are about to march to the classroom. They will call you and say, 'Go and sit down, the rest will march.' You feel some way, you feel it. (File 03-DS-04: Text units 72-5)

How does one deal with devaluing, humiliating, and oppressive behaviour of this nature? Ansa firmly believes that the remedy to such injuries lies within. It is through the invocation and nurturing of feelings of selfworth and self-reliance that one can upset the crippling impact of such oppressive discursive/material practices. Ansa believes that to situate oneself in such a philosophy provides the most effective means for combating the negative impact of societal discriminations and cultural stereotyping: So I think on the part of physically disabled, we have to ... use ourselves as examples so that they will know when we go we can also do something. But

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 217 at times we feel reluctant. Even as I was saying we are having this association, when you call for [a] meeting people don't want [to] come because they feel that somebody will be saying, these disabled students have met, look at how this one is walking, look at how this one is doing that. So they feel shy, so they won't come. So that is how we .... feel about ourselves. But if you feel yourself important, you will be. (File 03-DS-04: Text units 235-43)

Ansa observes that 'if you feel yourself important, you will be' important. This powerful statement effectively captures the essence of what Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes (1998) have referred to as 'self-determined behavior' (327). They argue that 'self-determination is, indeed, education's ultimate goal,' suggesting that 'enabling a student to become selfdetermined may be the most important transitional outcome teachers can achieve' (67). It is a realization of one's self-worth and self-efficacy that eventually leads to a self-determined and self-relying behaviour. Instead of being enslaved by incapacitating cultural, social, and individual conceptualizations of disability, differently abled people need to be encouraged to take on the challenges in the paths ahead by relying, first and foremost, on themselves and their inner strength. It is, for the most part, the responsibility of education systems to instil and exalt feelings of mental and psychological empowerment in students with a disability so that they may develop the necessary skills and faculties to deal with various socio-economic issues and concerns emerging from their daily struggles. Culture also plays an important role in shaping our conceptions and perceptions about disability. More often than not, views and attitudes towards disability are strongly conditioned by entrenched cultural values, a phenomenon that Serko is deeply cognizant of: But again, some people will feel that they naturally don't like the handicap because of [their] cultural background ... I heard that in some areas, the chiefs are not supposed to see a blind person. Then in terms of history, some of these handicapped persons were actually annihilated for cultural or traditional purposes, because such physical challenges were seen as a calamity. That perception is still with some people. (File 03-DL-01: Text units 281-8)

In a diverse society, different cultures tend to treat people with a disability differently. While confirming the existence of a powerful landscape of cultural diversity in Ghana, this fact also indicates that beliefs and behav-

218 Schooling and Difference in Africa

iours stemming from culture play a central role in the formation of individual actions and attitudes. The importance of local culture, cultural values, belief systems, and traditions in the social, political, psychological, and behavioural development of both individuals and collectivities is undeniable. While it is important to emphasize the pivotal role of culture and tradition in this regard, it is equally important to interrogate the negative aspects of cultural mores and traditions. No culture is immune to critique or decolonization. A variety of local, traditional, and indigenous cultural values indeed play important roles in determining various aspects of social development, from cooperation in community building, to the economic practices of individuals, to issues of birth control, and educational aspirations and achievements. There is no doubt that revolutionary aspects of cultures and traditions ought to be particularly emphasized in the face of various colonialist and hegemonic encounters. However, such an emphasis should not be interpreted to indicate that cultures are essentially 'pure,' authentic, fixed, and unchanging. All cultures are fluid, non-fixed, and subject to change. Obviously, different cultures and traditions do not treat disability in the same manner. Such disproportionate treatment shows that scholars and researchers must exercise caution in interpreting various cultural values and avoid any sense of a romanticized approach to culture and tradition. Just as a clear understanding of diverse local conditions and cultural values are pivotal for social, economic, and political development, so too is it vital for combating various exclusionary and dehumanizing attitudes and acts towards differently abled people that may stem from certain cultural beliefs and values. Again, Serko offers some interesting insights into the correlations between disability and diversity: Ethnic wise, I think if you come to southern Ghana where we have the Akans, the Voltarians, within these groups ... we have the cultural belief if one is disabled ... that [this] person is considered as a taboo. It then hampers the development or the growth of every disabled person in any of this community. They tend to have negative perceptions that limit one's social integration as I said earlier on. But if you go to northern Ghana, there it is even a blessing to have a differently able child, and for that matter one is accepted in a way, and whatever assistance there is to be given, that person receives [it] from the society. For me the moment one becomes blind within the family, the attitude of the family will make those around ... react the same way. So if your family accepts you then it means [those] around

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 219 [you] are going to accept you. But if they refuse your company or tend to shun your company or keep you indoor to prevent you from [entering into] society then ... you aren't going to reach anywhere. (File 03-DS-03: Text units 296-310) So it makes it difficult for people to accept you [a person with a disability] in society. Even [if] they accept you they sometimes hide you [in] the room because the family or society may think it is a disgrace and for the neighbours not to say things that will offend the image of the family. They sometimes have to keep you in the room and that may prevent the person from getting [an] education. (File 03-DS-03: Text units 191-7)

Serko's narrative, again, draws attention to the rich cultural and ethnic diversity in Ghana. In effect, this diversity is so heterogeneous that different cultural communities have fundamentally different views on issues of disability that at times stand in opposition to one another. Whereas in certain communities disability is viewed as 'abnormal,' catastrophic, and 'taboo,' in other cultures it is looked upon as a sign of blessing and respect, deserving of assistance, attention, care, and acceptance. A point to be noted here is that cultures are not limited to and bounded within any given locality, community, or geography. They freely interact with one another, borrow from each other, and constantly influence each other. It is one of the responsibilities of education systems to elevate, through transformative teaching, the positive aspects of cultures while discarding or critiquing the negative ones. Through cultural interchange, sharing, and understanding, the transformative approach of certain communities in northern Ghana towards disability can be adopted by other communities as important African-centred values and world views. Noteworthy in Serko's narrative is the role of family in dealing with disability. The family has long been recognized as the most important socializing agent in every society. If differently abled individuals are treated with respect and dignity within their families, this will-no doubt have a positive resonance in the larger community and society. Conversely, if family members eschew respect and dignity, then it is clear that others outside the family will likely develop the same response. Respectful and dignified treatment of a person with a disability in the family is, moreover important in fostering feelings of self-worth, self-respect, and self-reliance, which are vital for the development, and promotion of autonomous behaviour and self-determined personhood.

220 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Cultural attitudes towards disability are, however, also strongly conditioned by gender. Cramba brings this insight to the discussion: What I have found out is that the women [with a disability] suffer very much, because a lot of people feel that these women cannot function, cannot perform their domestic chores. So mostly it is the women [with a disability] who suffer [the] most. In [the] case of the blind men and the hearing impaired, they are doing very well. The men [with a disability] have their wives. Some have teachers and prominent people as wives ... But others ... will play with them [women with a disability]. They sometimes have children and leave them to cater for it alone. Some even warn the women [with a disability] not to mention their name. (File 03-DL-01: Text units 318-28)

Evidently, marriage and family are obvious sites where the influence of gender vis-a-vis disability manifests itself. Among the men with a disability there are those who marry and establish a family, whereas differently abled women perform mainly housekeeping tasks such as taking care of the man's children, cleaning, and cooking. They are strictly confined to the house and are not even permitted to mention the man's (supposedly their husband's) name. Moreover, differently abled women, for the most part, enter into marital relationships from a position of disadvantage. If their disability is such that it does not prevent them from performing household duties, they are married primarily to fulfil that function. For instance, if a man has children from a previous marriage who need to be taken care of, he may then marry a woman with a disability to perform the task. There are also those rare cases when a woman with a disability happens to inherit wealth and as a result is able to provide a large dowry. On such occasions, it is the wealth and higher socio-economic class position of the differently abled woman that allows her to marry and form a family. However, it is to be noted that, in these rare circumstances, the women still start off from a position of disadvantage as a result of their disability, which places them on an incommensurable footing vis-a-vis their male counterpart. As far as schooling and education are concerned, the ratio of differently abled females to so-called 'normal' ones in Ghana's schools and universities is extremely high. While there are some males with a disability in some universities and colleges, there are even fewer females represented in the country's learning centres. There would seem to be a causal relationship between the lack of female representation in universities and the overall treatment of females with disabilities in both homes and

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 221

society at large. As compared to their male counterparts, there are even severer restrictions placed on them by families, communities, and society. Again, the education system can take the lead in these situations by facilitating the implementation of special provisions to attract and enrol differently abled females. Schools can encourage parents and guardians to send their differently abled female children to school through the provision of supportive assistance, rewards, and financial help. Educational authorities can also take the lead role in educating parents and communities about the rights of disabled children, especially females, in gaining access to education along with other rights in society. Scarcity of Resources

The lack of necessary resources and facilities was a main concern for research respondents, particularly for students who are differently abled. This scarcity of resources included an insufficiency of reading materials (especially for the visually impaired), lack of transportation (wheel-chair accessibility, etc.), lack of minimum funding, financial assistance, and counselling, and so forth. Cramba notes this scarcity regarding the visually impaired: In the case of the blind I think that the resources have been very scanty, in the sense that they need Braille equipment, like the Braille typewriters, Braille thermoform machine, Braille hand frames ... like the Braille mat... We use something like the Quebalytim, the Abacus, and so on. (File 03-DL01: Text units 60-4) At every level the blind have not been able to cope with Maths and Science ... We went and did research abroad, so that we can engineer this kind of area to help the blind to do [Math and Science] at every level because the University was trying to say that Maths and Science they cannot do, they can't take them. I think that also, integration wise, it limits the area they [can] operate. That is one problem we have. (File 03-DL-01: Text units 141-

Padamti points to further challenges and limitations in terms of resources, materials, and facilities: Yes, if you look at die structures we have in the system it doesn't really suit the visually challenged students in terms of the classroom location ... In

222 Schooling and Difference in Africa terms of the size of the class we don't also have plugs to fix your tape recorder ... to record the lecturers. During the classroom too when the lecture is going on you may not even get the attention of the lecturer because of the size of the class. Then when it comes to library facilities, we don't benefit because all the textbooks or whatever textbooks you may be prescribed ... are all in print. None of them are in Braille and we also don't have resource centres where the visually challenged can go there at their leisure time to even read or study and we solely depend on our sighted colleagues for reading assistance and that also has its own challenge. (File 03-DS-03: Text units 77-90) I can remember very well that when [it] is exams time, you at times have to go to a place called Great Hall. These people [students with a physical disability] can't go there, so they have a car to come and pick [up] these people. Apart from that, well one guy is using a wheelchair. But I don't know [if] it [the wheel chair] has been provided by the school or he brought it from home and even the wheel chair cannot enter the hall. He has to pack it some place and has to walk some meters, which [is] a problem. In fact this is serious. It is a problem to the guy, so the university is not doing anything to help as far as I am concerned. (File 03-DS-02: Text units 165-73)

Thus, lack of resources is a major hindrance that impedes the prospects of differently abled students achieving life-chances on a par with their able-bodied peers. Moreover, it is not only students with vision or hearing impairments that are affected by this resource deficiency; rather, it is the entire differently abled student community (i.e., students with communication difficulties, learning difficulties, and multiple and severe challenges). In the face of a general resource scarcity, however, it may be considered a luxury to talk about facilities such as 'resource rooms,' one-to-one attention, counselling, therapy, provision of special programs, individual tutoring, and financial assistance (resources available and implemented in many western countries with considerable success and effectiveness). Nevertheless, luxurious as it may sound in an African context, it is imperative to realize and acknowledge that students with a disability have different educational needs that urgently require the allocation of additional funds and resources. In order to fully include students with a disability in the schooling system, government and educational authorities must take into account their special needs. To this end, funds should be allocated to provide such necessities as appropriate teacher-student ratios in learning centres, additional quali-

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 223

fied resource teachers, and staff specialized in counselling and emotional support. Discussion The full and effective inclusion and integration of the differently abled community lies at the heart of any inclusive schooling system. In the case of Ghana, inclusion has already started. However, as we have discussed, there are formidable challenges and difficulties that will need to be faced before the Ghanaian education system can be considered fully inclusive. Our research has revealed that differently abled students are indeed represented in Ghanaian schools and universities. Their representation, however, is not proportional to the size of their population in the country. There is a need for more concrete work on the part of government and educational authorities to facilitate the enrolment of differently abled children and youths in schools and learning centres throughout the country. Authorities should see to it that information and knowledge with respect to disability is implemented in practical terms in the education system and society as a whole. There is no doubt that schools exist as important socializing agents that can, in effect, educate communities of learners and students to have a positive approach to issues concerning disability. The integration and inclusion of differently abled students in schools and universities undertaken so far represent important steps towards facilitating transformative interactions between differently abled students and their able-bodied counterparts. In addition however, school curricula should be designed in such a way that issues of disability are raised in a positive light, so that student populations (differently abled and able-bodied) can develop critical awareness and consciousness regarding the realities of the lives of differently abled people. Along with the curriculum, teaching staff should be sensitive to issues of disability and should try to enhance the critical knowledge and sensitivity of all students towards these issues. It is only through a positive and critical-thinking schooling system that students with disabilities can be empowered to take on the challenges of living in societies where they are constantly oppressed by negative stereotypes and attitudes. In addition, all students can serve as communicators of knowledge between schools and the larger society. It should be an intrinsic aspect of their responsibility as scholars, intellectuals, and learned individuals to impart transformative knowledge and experience regarding disability issues to their family members and the larger society.

224 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Ultimately, school authorities need to maintain good communications with the parents and guardians of students with disabilities. The families should be reminded of the crucial impact that their positive treatment has on the growth and development of differently abled members of the family. Our respondents emphasized the correlation between positive family treatment and positive treatment by the larger society. If the objectives of fair, dignified, and equitable treatment are attained within the family, school, and larger society, then we can hope that they will lead to an empowering liberatory sense of self-image, self-worth, and self-reliance among the differently abled. The importance of resources cannot be underemphasized towards achieving these objectives. No systemic transformative objective can be achieved in the absence of sufficient resources. In the case of differently abled students, resources include areas such as financial assistance, technological support, psychological, spiritual, and emotional support, as well as the provision of special services. Financial assistance can be made available in the form of scholarships, bursaries, grants, loans, benefits, and allowances. These resources need to be allocated in such a way that differently abled students are sufficiently provided for with regard to their accommodation, food, transportation, clothing, school tuition, school materials, school support services, mentorships, and other basic needs. Psychological, emotional, and spiritual supports need to include adequate counselling, guidance, support groups, and therapeutic help. Through these support mechanisms, a channel of communication must be kept open between differently abled students and the support staff, so that students can speak freely about their difficulties and challenges. The support staff, in turn, should be empowered to see to it that the needs of disabled students are met adequately and effectively. In the absence of sufficient resources, none of these objectives will be met. Technological support should include the provision of basic aids for students with different disabilities, particularly in such areas as vision and hearing impairment. For students with severe and multiple disabilities, adequate and necessary means of transportation including wheelchairs, wheelchair accessibility to buildings and classrooms, special school buses, and so on must be provided. Given the increasing role of computers in education and learning, the positive role of this particular technology ought to be emphasized. Computer technology can be utilized particularly in the areas pertaining to alternative forms of communication, learning, and teaching (such as visual aids and simulations).

Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 225

The positive experience of other countries in utilizing computers for differently abled pupils needs to be taken up, shared, and adapted to an African and Ghanaian context. Finally, we believe that it is our collective responsibility to pay attention not only to the periods before and during school years, but also to the situation and conditions of differently abled individuals beyond their formal schooling and education. In this regard, sufficient attention should be paid to issues related to employment, equality of opportunity, and the provision of decent living conditions. By providing education and employment for the differently abled community, our societies and governments are not doing them 'a favour.' It is their right as members of society to have equal access to the means for education, growth, employment, and social, political, economic, intellectual, and spiritual empowerment.

9 Language as a Site of Exclusion

Language is another important factor that, along with race, class, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, sexuality, and age, serves to differentiate and distinguish various social groupings. Based on various estimations, there are over 6000 living languages in today's world, of which over 2000 are spoken in Africa (see Batibo 2001, 311). The African continent has the highest number of spoken languages in the world, and this makes Africa a fertile ground for conflicting language issues, successful and unsuccessful language plannings, and language-related concerns, policies, debates, and discussions. The issue of language in education has been a central concern for many African countries. In many cases in Africa, the language of education has also been 'the official language,' 'the national language,' and, paradoxically, 'the colonial language' (see for example Dei and Asgharzadeh 2003; Awoniyi 1982). In the case of Ghana, English has performed a similar function, that is to say, it is the standard language of education as well as the official and national language of the nation. So, how can one deal with such a paradox? How can one accept a colonial language as one's official and national language? What would be some educational, cultural, economic, and developmental ramifications of such a condition? What would be some of the ramifications of having a colonial language as the language of education, vis-a-vis indigenous, national, and local languages? Significantly, language also has a crucial bearing on the economic, political, social, and cultural development of societies. The majority of African countries are extremely diverse, multi-ethnic, and multilingual societies. In such societies, issues related to educational and national development are tightly connected to developments in national Ian-

Language as a Site of Exclusion

227

guage(s) and literature (s). Maintenance of national unity and territorial integrity, for instance, has been rightly linked to issues and policies of multilinguality and cultural plurality. What forms of fair, equitable, and just language policies, therefore, must be put in place in countries like Ghana so that every ethnic group and linguistic community feels equally important in the national life of the country? How can the government strategize language policies and planning in such a way that no linguistic community feels excluded from the processes of national development? Moreover, and perhaps most important of all, we must remind ourselves that language is a deeply personal issue. In fact, the need for classroom instruction in the mother tongue of students has long been a central concern of many linguists and social scientists who see a clear connection between students' psychological/cognitive development and their mother tongue. Thus, the maintenance of existing and surviving languages in countries like Ghana is a major concern for both the state and the speakers of those languages. Aside from the survival issues, there are other important concerns such as the role of the mother tongue in education, the status of various local, regional, national, and standard languages, as well as the role of imported languages such as English. In a country like Ghana, such concerns are of crucial scholarly, developmental, and educational importance. Among other things, this chapter interrogates the dominant role of English in both Ghanaian society and its education system. It also looks into the various issues and concerns that emerge from language-based differences in society and among student populations. In a multilingual country like Ghana, it is a real challenge to develop a fair and equitable language policy. This chapter examines the ways through which the Ghanaian education system tries to cope with the insurmountable problems, and concerns emerging from linguistic plurality. The thoughts and ideas offered by the respondents revolve around such questions as, Is multilingualism a source of strength in Ghana or is it a source of weakness, conflict, and tension? How can the indigenous Ghanaian languages be preserved and maintained in the face of the growing popularity and importance of English as the national and standard language in Ghana? What are some of the ramifications of having English as the medium of instruction in Ghanaian schools and universities? What are the prospects for having one or more Ghanaian language (s) as the national and standard languages of all Ghanaians? What is the role of the state in all this? How can the state facilitate Ghanaian multiculturalism through funding, supervision, and language policies and programs.

228 Schooling and Difference in Africa Ghana as a Multilingual Society

Ghana is a multilingual country with over seventy living languages. Different languages are spoken by different ethnic groups residing in various regions of the country. While diverse speech areas are related to specific regions and geographical locations, speakers of different languages have come into contact with one another through internal migrations, educational needs, occupational issues, and socio-economic developmental projects undertaken by the government. Among the various Ghanaian languages, some, like the Asante, Fante, Ga, Ewe, and Akwapim, have (since independence) been developed to some extent by government and non-governmental agencies. As a majority language, Asante-Akan enjoys a dominant status, whereas the majority of other (particularly non-Akan) languages are considered minority tongues, and are often marginalized and excluded by the mainstream media, schools, and learning centres. Language-based exclusion and inequality give rise to socio-linguistic concerns and issues of marginalization and stigmatization within the relations of power and domination that occur, to varying degrees, in all multilingual societies, and throughout Africa in particular. Aside from the issues and problems pertaining to a dominant 'standard language,' which is often a colonial/imported tongue (e.g., English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese), there are numerous other linguistic issues that emerge as a result of the interactions, dynamisms, and relationships, between and among, various languages, their speakers, linguistic communities, and speech areas. One of the aims of our research has been to throw light on some of these issues and concerns emerging from the linguistic pluralism and multilingualism that is manifest in Ghana. It is interesting to see these issues through the eyes of our respondents. In the following example, Hassan emphasizes the importance of multiculturalism and multilingualism in Ghanaian society: Multilingualism - it's an everyday practice in our community ... it's very common ... Before the children even get to school, they already understand the local language which might be the local language from the north, or from the Volta region or from any other part of the country. (File OO-GE-10: Text units 79-86)

As Hassan states, multilingualism is a fact of life in Ghana. Even before going to school every child speaks a language (i.e.., her/his mother

Language as a Site of Exclusion

229

tongue). Once in school, they learn the official language, English (which is also the language of instruction and communication). In addition to the schools and learning centres, children are further exposed to 'the official language' through television, radio, and so on. However, it is in school that they are officially required to learn and speak English, as well as to conduct their homework in it. In effect, within the school system, English comes to replace the students' mother tongue. Little by little it overtakes the tasks of the mother tongue, relegating it to non-educational realms. As the students become more fluent in English, they feel more at home with it. Thus, their mother tongue acquires a secondary status. In spite of this tendency, however, the education system has taken some steps to prevent the alienation of children from their culture and their mother tongue. Addo, a vice-principal of a teacher training college, speaks of the issue of multilingualism in the curriculum: We now have one subject [called] 'Ghanaian Languages and Culture,' so when you look at Ghanaian Language and Culture, it really gives the children the chance to learn about the various cultures that we have in the country, the various languages which also form the culture of the people. This particular subject will take care of the differences. (File OO-GE-11: Text units 99-104)

As we have noted, when a language other than a student's mother tongue becomes the language of instruction and education, the student's mother tongue retreats from the schools into private realms. The student speaks her or his mother tongue at home with her/his family members, with friends, and in the neighbourhood, but not with her/his teacher, nor indeed in the classroom. She or he does not use the mother tongue when s/he talks to her/his teacher, nor when s/he engages in homework (the textbooks that they have to read are not written in their local language). In some multilingual settings, students are even punished if they dare to speak in their local language or among themselves in the classroom. Thus, a negative relationship develops between learning the mother tongue and the new tongue of instruction. The new language serves to block the connection between one's mother tongue and the learning process. Gradually this new language becomes associated with literacy, prestige, and education, while the mother tongue is viewed as a 'primitive' language incapable of transmitting knowledge, science, and technology.

230 Schooling and Difference in Africa

In order to find some solutions to this major problem, the Ghanaian education system has introduced 'Ghanaian Languages and Culture' as a subject to be taught in schools and universities. This is important in many ways. As Addo points out, it educates the students about themselves, their classmates, their country, and its multilingual, multi-ethnic, multicultural, and pluralist character. But is teaching a subject called 'Ghanaian Languages and Culture,' in and of itself, sufficient to maintain and even develop Ghanaian languages? What do parents, students, and the general public think about these issues? Margo is a mother of two children and has taught in an urban Methodist school in Ghana. She emphasizes the importance of one's own local language, and believes that parents and adults should take the initiative in transmitting and transferring their language to children and the younger generation: I don't want my child to forget my language, because no matter what, she is still a Ghanaian ... So at home, I would speak my [language] with her. And if she comes, because she is not in school, the TV and everything around here is English. (File OO-GCE-03: Text units 256-60)

It has been said that if there are no children speaking a particular language, that language will die. So, teaching the language to children is an essential method through which a community can guarantee the survival and preservation of its local, indigenous tongue. However, different individuals have different feelings about the preservation of their mother tongue. While Margo is very passionate about teaching her language to her children and keeping the mother tongue alive, there are others who view local languages as barriers that serve to handicap students and block their path to 'progress,' development, and personal advancement. As we have seen, in the majority of cases the official language (English) is exclusively used in schools and throughout the media. It is the language of education, social prestige and political power. Without fluency in it one cannot complete one's education; one cannot find decent employment. It has international credibility and application that opens the door to both local and global markets. Compared to such glamour, glory, and opportunity, what then does a local Ghanaian language have to offer its speakers? It is here that the magnitude of the sacrifices made by ordinary Ghanaians like Margo in keeping local languages alive becomes evident. Having said this, however, it is equally important to note that it is not just the official 'English' language that poses a real challenge to learning and

Language as a Site of Exclusion 231

education in a multilingual society like Ghana. There are other high-status, local, regional, and 'national' languages that serve to exclude those within the nation-state who do not speak them. Mati, a senior house mistress of a training college, talks about the dilemmas and.challenges that non-Akan students, for example, are facing in an Akan-populated area because of the language barriers: Most of the time those who understand the [Akan] language don't seem to be much different, but those who do not understand the language are very quiet. I can call on them and advise them that if they want to learn and to be good students and pass, then they have to draw near to their friends, specially those who are academically good. In here it is an Akan-speaking environment. The Ghanaian language is spoken and we teach it here. So if you come in and you can't write your language, then you have to befriend some of the Akan students, so that you'd be able to learn. (File OO-GE-26: Text units 126-34)

This observation presents a completely different situation. To the students of non-Akan background, the Akan language is an unfamiliar tongue, much like English. On the other hand, it is the mother tongue of most of their classmates, with whom these non-Akan students are expected to compete in terms of educational performance and attainment. Obviously, the non-Akans are at a clear disadvantage. At least with English there is an understanding that it is not a mother tongue to any particular group or community in Ghana. The point is that various groups and individuals are situated differently vis-a-vis the English language and have differential access to it based on their class, gender, place of residence, level of education, kinds of occupation, and so on. However, they still consider it to be an imported language, in the face of which they all stand, more or less, on similar ground. With the Akan language it is a completely different situation. In some ways, it seems to have even more of an exclusionary and marginalizing function compared to English, given that (at least in the context of Mati's statement) it is normalized as 'the Ghanaian language.' As Mati points out, in the classroom the non-Akans 'are quiet' and keep to themselves. They do not interact with other students, and do not fully participate in discussions. But how can a student participate in a learning process when she or he does not understand the language of instruction? As a remedy to this problem, Mati advises the non-Akans to 'befriend other Akan students,' in the hope that they might be able to learn the Akan language

232 Schooling and Difference in Africa

and participate in the learning process. However, in this context the act of friendship is conducted out of need and desperation. This friendship (if it takes place at all) is not based on the mutual desire of two independent and equal individuals; rather, the friendship is forced through the urgent need of one party to learn and understand the other's language in order to make sense of what is going on in the classroom. Thus, inequality lies at the centre of both the learning process and the act of friendship. Are there any equitable and fair solutions to this problem other than engaging in unequal acts of friendship? Mati suggests that an alternative situation is possible in which the student's own mother tongue is made to take precedence over other languages. In this process the student learns her or his own mother tongue, and later on works and teaches in the area where that mother tongue is the language of community. The course has been changed in such a way that to give them a proper education, you have to train them all equally, so that all children would benefit. That's why we have a common program for them. But they could easily have different access to Ghanaian language so that they each would easily benefit. As it is, some are losing. They are forced to do a language that maybe they are not well versed in. In the long run it will affect them. There should be a policy that when these students complete the training colleges, they ' should be posted to where they'll be able to teach their language. (File 00GE-26: Text units 158-66)

As Mati suggests, the students of non-Akan background are losing out because they are forced to study in a language that is not their mother tongue. Moreover, because the language that they are expected to learn is not designated as a second language, they are denied the accommodating facilities and considerations that learners of a second language are often accorded. Given that they are conducting their studies in the language that is the Akan students' mother tongue, how can they compete with their Akan classmates? How can they perform in the school at the same level as those whose mother tongue is the language of instruction? What kinds of psychological, social, and economic ramifications emerge for minority students who are forced to navigate such inequities of opportunity and conditions? Furthermore, what impact do conditions of this nature have upon students of the dominant majority group? Yamoah, an experienced teacher of education and economics, voices his observations regarding the differential treatment that different groups receive in society:

Language as a Site of Exclusion 233 It depends upon where the person is coming from. If the person is coming from the south, they are given much respect. If the person is coming from the Asante region, the same respect or maybe much more respect is given to them. But people coming from the northern part of the country are looked down upon by society. (File OO-GE-32: Text units 11-15)

Here we see a correlation between one's language and one's place of birth/residence. Those from the south are given greater respect, and those from the north 'are looked down upon.' Needless to say, social relations of this nature give rise to feelings of superiority and inferiority among different groups. By virtue of their advantageous socio-economic, regional, and ethnic status, some languages such as Akan/Asante are provided with funds, resources, facilities, and opportunities to develop and grow, while other languages are denied such chances. The dominant group comes to view its language as a superior language with a civilizing mission. Conversely, minority languages (and their speakers) are marginalized, degraded, and devalued. One of our respondents of Akan background believes that members of the dominant Akan group tend towards feelings of superiority when it comes to comparing the various Ghanaian languages and their speakers: You see, most of the Akans we think our language is superior. When I want to learn Ewe, because I am in love with them, and someone who tries to learn Ewe, we tend to laugh at him. Because we think our language is the best. Even the Asantes, they think of themselves as the best. (File Ol-FGS-02: Text units 270-4)

First and foremost, languages are means of communication. A language can never be superior to another language with respect to the communication and transmission of thoughts, expressions, and ideas. However, it is the speakers of a language (the people) who instil the belief that certain languages have superior qualities to others. When a language becomes the prime medium of instruction in schools, and when funds and resources are allocated to develop a certain language, to refine its literature, to support and cherish its writers, poets, thinkers, and literary figures, it becomes difficult to avoid (on the part of both its speakers and non-speakers) perceiving such a glorified language as anything other than superior. Conversely, when a language is banned in society, when one is punished for speaking it, or when it is not taught, learned, and discussed in schools and universities, and when the writers,

234 Schooling and Difference in Africa

poets, thinkers, and promoters of this language are branded as traitors, secessionists, or disloyal to the project of 'national integration' and 'national security,' then it is no wonder that such a language becomes undeveloped, uncultivated, and stigmatized. Our focus here, however, is on the analysis of languages, not in terms of their inherent qualities or deficiencies, but rather in terms of the economic, social, and political power that the speakers of those languages possess. In other words, we are speaking of relations of power, of domination, and of unequal access to resources. Is it any wonder then that the language of the dominant group invariably becomes the dominant language (i.e., the 'national and official tongue of the nation')? Larbi, a male student from the University of Ghana, discusses the status of the Asante language: There is one thing I can see, in terms of Asante language. The Asante language is dominant. Most of the people speak the Asante language. Until you question the person of their ethnic background, you can't really know. The Asante language is very popular and most of the people speak it very well. (File Ol-GUS-01: Text units 33-7)

Fluency in the dominant language of a multilingual society is therefore viewed as the key to educational success, good employment opportunities, and social mobility. Again, it is not the language per se that makes it 'qualified,' 'resourceful,' 'beautiful,' 'rhythmic,' 'poetic,' and 'popular.' On the contrary, it is the advantages, power, and privileges associated with it that make it attractive and necessary to learn. In countries like Ghana, it is often the government that represents the biggest employer, and without proficiency in the country's 'national' or 'official' language(s), one's chances of getting decent employment are doomed. In this context, language becomes an instrument for occupational, economic, and social prosperity. At the same time, the dominant status of a language does not necessarily imply that its non-native speakers 'love' learning it or 'enjoy' speaking it. In most cases there is a great degree of dissatisfaction and resentment associated with a language whose acquisition has been imposed on the learner. Baaba, a female student of Akan background, she is in her final year of Social Studies in Education. Here are her observations regarding language-based divisions among the students: Let's say when you are sitting in a room and you have two Akans and four northerners, the four tend to get closer together. And the other two, they

Language as a Site of Exclusion

235

also move closer together. If you are - most likely when you are - the only Akan, well, sometimes they discriminate. (File Ol-GUS-12: Text units 175-9)

Baaba belongs to the dominant Akan group. Her perception is that if there are four northerners and one Akan in a room, the Akan is most likely to be discriminated against, in the sense that the northerners are most likely to talk in their own indigenous language which may be unintelligible to the Akan student. In a situation like this, however, one wonders how the northerners could include the Akan student in their conversation? Clearly, if the Akan student does not understand the northerners' language the possibilities of participating in the general discussion are limited. At the same time, in the context of colonizing majority-minority power relations, the exacerbation of tensions (experienced by both parties) may well increase, given that the Northerners are automatically expected to know the dominant Akan language. Although the occurrence of language-based tensions and conflicts clearly play a significant role in the experiential reality of many students, Ofei, an Asante male student, takes a different view in terms of negotiating them. According to him: You learn to live with each other. Sometimes we tend to joke among ourselves when it comes to language, when someone speaks differently. But it is not something to take seriously. (File Ol-GUS-14: Text units 305-7)

When there is no equitable choice offered, however, one has to learn to live with whatever choice there is. As Ofei points out, one may even try to turn the whole linguistic issue into a comical state of affairs, by joking and laughing about the accents of others and their ways of communication. However, as a member of the dominant Akan group, what Ofei fails to mention here is the question of power: Who laughs at whom? Who tells the jokes about whose accent? In the majority of cases it is the dominant-group speakers who initiate the joke telling and ridiculing of the accents and languages of subordinated groups. Undeniably, the dominant language and the dominant accent are considered to be 'the standard' method of expression. The native speakers of a dominant language are not supposed to have an accent. In fact, it is in comparison to the accent of the dominant group that other accents, methods of expression, and pronunciations are judged and evaluated. In a multilingual society following a monolingual line, the minoritized group is inevitably coerced into emulating the accent of the

236 Schooling and Difference in Africa

dominant group; either that or submit to derogatory comments, humiliation, spirit injuries, and, to borrow Bourdieu's (1991) terminology, ' symbolic violence.' Adji, who has graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon, considers some of the problems and difficulties faced by Ewe-speaking students: They are always ready to look down on an Ewe student when he uses Ewe language. But also the use of Gan language has been some kind of fashion. I remember in our secondary school, those students who couldn't speak the Gan language, they were somewhat disappointed. So those from different ethnic groups were forced to learn their language, because it was considered as some sort of prestige. But at the university level, they are not ready to entertain the Ewe language, and specially the northerners' language. They don't want to entertain those languages. Therefore, the Akan and the Gan, they are willing to assert it. (File Ol-GUS-16: Text units 236-45)

Here Adji refers to language as a symbol of social prestige. A Ewe student is looked down upon when she or he speaks the Ewe language. Adji implies that this would not happen if s/he spoke some other prestigious language such as Akan or Gan. However, even in this case s/he may be ridiculed and laughed at because of her/his accent. One way or another, the language issue will continue to trap the Ewe student until one of two things happens: (1) she or he perfectly masters the dominant language and speaks it without an accent, thus mimicking the native speakers; (2) the governing bodies and educational authorities begin to treat her/his native language as a real language deserving the same privileges that other languages receive. When a minoritzed language is acknowledged as a legitimate 'official,' 'regional,' or 'national' language, then, and only then, will its speakers find relief from discrimination. Moreover, when a minoritized language becomes the medium of instruction, when it is taught and learned in schools and universities as an independent subject, and when individuals are hired and employed based on their knowledge and proficiency in that language, the systemic stigmatization and humiliation practised by dominant groups will dissipate immeasurably. As Adji suggests, the Akans and Gans (confident of institutionalized authoritative support) are willing to assign a subservient status to marginalized languages such as the Ewe and those spoken in the north. In colonizer/colonized contexts the dominant group invariably tends towards such an assignment given that there are certain advantages for them in

Language as a Site of Exclusion

237

preserving the status quo. Language-based privileges are strongly tied to social, economic, and political privileges in society. It is therefore not surprising to see certain members of the dominant group refusing to share those privileges with other minoritized bodies. As a result, they insist on maintaining the privileged status of their language, while simultaneously reinforcing the subjugated status of minority languages. Language as a Marker of Exclusion and Marginalization

In a multilingual society like Ghana, the role of language goes far beyond expression and the transmission of ideas. In addition to obvious socio-economic, cultural, and educational concerns, language encompasses myriad issues and problems at the psychological, behavioural, and personal levels. As a female teacher in an Akan populated area, Owusuwa has experienced some of these other forms of language-based practices that give rise to silencing, exclusion, and discrimination: I was in a big city and we had students from different backgrounds. But what I found was that if they can't speak the language fluently, they may be shy and they can't contribute as much. And, sometimes ... it is just like that here, even though we all come from the same country, we look down upon some people so that inferiority complex will have some effect on the students. (File OO-GCE-06: Text units 9-14)

If you are not fluent in a dominant language, you cannot speak out in a classroom where that language is the medium of instruction. Moreover, you can neither participate in discussions nor contribute to the learning process. Owusuwa suggests that under these circumstances one becomes 'shy' and develops an 'inferiority complex.' However, in light of her observations, how can one achieve anything educationally if one is not fluent in the language of instruction? What kind of impacts can the lack of fluency in the language of instruction have on one's school performance, educational attainment, and overall self-conception as a student? Owusuwa's reference to an 'inferiority complex' should not be taken lightly in this regard. Such feelings can have a crippling and devastating effect on the student's self-image and sense of self-worth. As a result, the student emerges as a body that is fundamentally wounded. She or he comes to believe that s/he is not as smart, or as talented, as others. S/he may think that s/he is stupid and does not have what it takes to be a student. S/he may internalize the belief that s/he does not even deserve to

238 Schooling and Difference in Africa

be in school. And yet, the fact is that one's lack of fluency in an alien language has nothing to do with one's educational skills, and intelligence. The students that Owusuwa is referring to are not fluent in the Akan language primarily because it is a second language to them, and as such should be studied on its own terms as an independent subject along with all the assistance and facilities that are accorded such a subject. If minority students are unable speak the Akan language with the same fluency as native speakers, the fault does not lie with them. The Akan students might well have comparable problems and challenges if they were placed in a similar situation where the language of education was alien and access to resources for learning the language significantly limited. In the following response, Rashi refers to the status of minority and majority languages in Ghanaian education system: The language department was not having courses for minority languages. The languages of [the] Frafra, Kasem, and Gonja tribes do not have [the] chance to be shared in big institutions like universities. It was only a few years back when a Frafra man became a principal and he expanded the program to take on these minority tribes and now there are differences of minority tribe. They can come under the umbrella of [the] faculty of language. Even with that the ratio of numbers who are admitted are so insignificant compared to minorities such as ... Ewe and Ga. (File 02-GUS-02: Text units 97-105)

Under regular circumstances, the languages of most ethnic minorities are not represented even in faculties of language, which are supposed to deal with the issues and concerns of all languages in Ghana. However, there are always those rare cases such as the one mentioned by Rashi when someone from a minoritized community comes along and secures a position in a department such as the faculty of education. It is only then that (depending on the interest and willingness of that particular individual) one (or a few) minority language (s) are given the chance to be included in the curriculum. This situation indicates the problems arising from the lack of ethnic and linguistic minority representation in Ghanaian universities and colleges. Educational authorities often argue that they do not offer certain language courses because there are no 'qualified' teachers to teach those languages (in this context the term 'qualified' alludes to the credentials obtained through an official institution such as a university or a teacher training college). In cases pertaining to unrepresented minority Ian-

Language as a Site of Exclusion

239

guages, however, the emphasis should not be placed on 'official credentials.' We say this because there have been few individuals from the minority communities graduating from colleges and universities. Instead, we believe that the emphasis should be placed on qualifications that are based on local cultural standards as measured by community activities and knowledge of the local culture, languages, traditions, and ways of life. The universities and colleges should be hiring knowledgeable local scholars and activists to teach the languages for which there are no university/college-trained teachers. Kumsah is a male teacher of Ewe background who has taught in elementary and secondary schools for thirty years. In the course of his teaching career, he has accumulated valuable experiences related to language and multilinguality: Being a Ewe man, coming to work among predominantly Akan people, I learnt the language very quickly because I saw that language is one of the cultural values that distinguishes one person from the other. I did not learn the language very well but my intonation [showed that I was] somebody who had learnt the language as [his] second tongue. (File OO-GE-05: Text units 83-8)

In a multilingual setting it is very important to learn the language of the community in which one works. As a teacher, Kumsah manages his teaching duties by relying on English as the language of instruction. Moreover, coming from a Ewe background, he knows another Ghanaian language (Ewe) in addition to English. Notwithstanding these abilities, he believes it essential to also learn the Akan language, among whose speakers he works. He has learned the Akan language not simply for the purpose of communication and the transmission of ideas, but also to show the degree of respect that he has towards both the language and the people speaking it. Needless to say, when he shows this kind of respect, he receives respect in return: There are times when they relate with you better if you speak their mouier tongue, when they have a problem, then they know they can come to you. If you are elderly, they come to you as their father, otherwise they come to you as a friend - somebody who will understand them better. (File OO-GE-05: Text units 131-6)

Speaking the language of a community (albeit not fluently and with an accent) serves to develop bonds of friendship, mutual respect, and trust

240 Schooling and Difference in Africa

and to facilitate interaction. The people in the community come to Kumsah asking for his advice on various issues and problems. They trust him and they respect his opinions. The fact that Kumsah has made an attempt to learn their language has helped to build this trusting relationship. As we have pointed out, in addition to the official language (English) and the regional language (Akan), Kumsah also has his own mother tongue (Ewe). As a minority-language-speaker within an Asante/Akan-speaking majority, how is Ewe received within the community where Kumsah works? And how does he deal with the minoritized status of his native language within the community where Asante/Akan is the dominant regional language? There was this time during church service where the lessons were being read in the various Ghanaian languages. Somebody came to read in English, then French, Gan, Chi, etc., and when this boy read in Ewe, there was an uproar. Those of us from that background were generally embarrassed and annoyed ... So, the following Monday morning I talked to the whole school and let them know that it was not Christianly to behave the way they did and that [this] language is also within the languages of Ghana. So, the best they could do if they did not like it was to tolerate it. Since then, we have changed the mode of reading the lessons: we only read English and no other language and so it has solved the problem ... (File OO-GE-05: Text units 264-76)

When the lessons are read in Ewe, there is uproar among the audience. They do not approve of Kumsah's indigenous language. As a result, the Ewe-speaking individuals feel 'embarrassed and annoyed.' Clearly, linguistic intolerance can lead to resentment, tension, and even conflict among different groupings within a multilingual community. Kumsah's solution is to resort to English for all the lessons. While we are mindful of the historical oppressive discourses and outcomes associated with the imposition of colonizing languages, in a multilingual and multi-ethnic country like Ghana, an imported language such as English may play an important role in national integration and ethnic unification. As mentioned before, many Ghanaians see English as an ethnically neutral language, and the neutrality factor makes a lot of difference when it comes to the question of choosing a common standard language for the educational, political, and national needs and demands of the nation-state. English, in its capacity as an imported standard language in Ghana, is used primarily in the educational and governmental realms. However, it

Language as a Site of Exclusion

241

also has currency at the local, regional, and national levels. Many Ghanaians believe that there is a sort of competition between the regionally dominant indigenous language of Akan and the English language. They compete in terms of their status as effective and practical national-level languages. Will Akan then be able to replace English in Ghana at some point in the future? Rashi, a Student Representative Council secretary, sees the Akan language dominating the entire country in the future: Akan will be the language of the country in the future. Akan occupied the central part of the country. Those who move from south to north or viceversa and from east to west and vice-versa have to pass through the Akan region. Thus, all are forced to know the Akan language. However, it is not easy to declare Akan language to be the national language. We do not have enough trained people in the Akan language to operate in [the] office. Also, the Akans have problems with many other ethnic groups such as Ewe, and these opposing tribes do not want to easily give into [the] Akan Language. Therefore, English is a unifying language and everybody feels comfortable [with it]. All equally begin from scratch and are able to attend school. Everybody starts English from the same footing. Nevertheless, Akan is dominating now. It is marginalizing other Ghanaian languages. (File 02GUS-02: Text units 249-61)

The rivalry between a dominant regional language and a dominant standard/national language is a crucial issue. For many independent African countries in the post-colonial era, it has not been easy to adopt English (or other colonial languages for that matter) as the national tongue of the nation. English in effect is a colonial language symbolizing a colonial past. It is rooted in the history of colonialism and colonial domination. On the other hand, some African countries like Nigeria have been successful in adopting a language policy that uses various indigenous languages along with English as the standard language. Ghana, however, has so far found it extremely difficult to replace English with other indigenous or regional languages. According to Rashi, the Akan language is likely to become the national language of all Ghanaians in the future. However, he mentions that such a decision would encounter considerable resistance on the part of other ethnic groups who do not speak the Asante/Akan language as their mother tongue. As he points out, many Ghanaians view English as an ethnically neutral language, whereas a Ghanaian language such as Akan would be considered ethnic-based and partial. In other words, a language of this nature may be unable to

242 Schooling and Difference in Africa

function as an impartial and neutral tongue, particularly in the face of various ethnic-based rivalries, competitions, tensions, and conflicts. Rashi's point is taken up by Ayi, who believes that it is not possible to choose a Ghanaian national language that would serve as a neutral language to all ethnic groups: We cannot have a neutral language because if you decide to choose any one Ghanaian language, we'll have a lot of problems. (File Ol-GUS-08: Text units 316-18)

Rashi makes the point that 'everybody starts English from the same footing.' This, to a certain extent, is true, insofar as English is not, and has never been, an indigenous native tongue in Ghana. It is learned as an imported language, not as a language belonging to any specific Ghanaian ethnic group. Nevertheless, does this mean that every Ghanaian has equal access to English as a medium of education, commerce, everyday communication, and self-expression? Is everyone situated equally in relation to English? Does each and every student really start learning English 'from the same footing'? Or do Ghanaians differ in their situatedness visa-vis English? In other words, is there an unequal access to English with respect to social factors such as class, gender, ethnicity, place of birth, place of residence, level of education, occupation, and so on? Margo is a female teacher who has witnessed the ways in which students have differential access to English, particularly in terms of their place of birth and residence: We have those students who come from the south ... And when they come from the south they understand more English than those coming from the north. (File OO-GCE-03: Text units 466-8)

Kofi, a male teacher at an elementary and middle school, comes from the Asante region in Kumasi. He reasons that having English as both a second language and the language of instruction creates major problems: [W]hat I have seen is that we have a problem with our teaching. Our problem is language because when we use English to teach in the classroom there is a time gap. For example, if you ask me a question and I can, say, I translate the English you have spoken to me back to my language ... and then at the same time I translate the answer from my language back to English [in my head and then to you] ... [S]o you see there is a time gap ...

Language as a Site of Exclusion

243

And the same thing goes for learning. I read the text in written paper in a different language and translate it back into my language, so you see, my philosophy is, if we can, teach in your first language, in your mother tongue. (File OO-GCE-05: Text units 122-43)

The question 'Which language should be the medium of instruction?' is not so easy to answer and solutions to it vary from country to country. From Kofi's observations we can see that having an imported language as both a second and official language is one thing, while using it as a medium of learning instruction is quite another, particularly in the lower levels of schooling. Kofi emphasizes that the students' mother tongue should be the language of instruction. This is indeed an important statement. The necessity and effectiveness of this strategy is becoming increasingly evident in both Africa and throughout the world. As a matter of fact, some African countries have adopted quite useful and practical methods to address the language-of-instruction dilemma in schooling systems. In Nigeria, for instance, at the pre-primary level, the language of instruction is the mother tongue, or the tongue of the child's immediate community (see Bamgbose 2000). The same trend continues in the primary level, where English is gradually included at a later stage. At the junior secondary level, the student studies her or his own mother tongue plus another Nigerian language along with English as the medium of instruction. And the same process continues throughout the education cycles within a very relaxed and pluralistic approach to studying one's mother tongue, other Nigerian languages, and English as one of the national/standard languages. Given the success and effectiveness of the Nigerian experience, it seems that this may be a good model to be followed in Ghana and other multilingual countries. Kofi's concern relates to the difficulties that arise for teachers in translating from the mother tongue to English and vice versa while one is communicating knowledge. In fact, these are very serious issues that have to be considered in dealing with the difficulties of having a second language as the medium of instruction. Nonetheless, these issues are by no means the only problems associated with teaching and learning in English. Rowena looks into some other aspects of having English as the national/standard language: Ghana was a British colony and most of the time our knowledge was put aside and the colonial knowledge was prioritized to the extent that we did

244 Schooling and Difference in Africa not even learn in our own languages. We were taught in the language of the colonialists, and there were certain things that we never saw but we were taught. For instance, we studied nursery rhymes about snow and autumn and winter, you know, whereas we never saw these things, it didn't apply to our lives but other important things that we should know were not taught. (File Ol-GCS-04: Text units 83-90)

There is a strong connection between one's mother tongue and the environment in which one lives. Specific languages develop over many generations as a result of people's reciprocal relationship with the immediate environment surrounding them. Language in this sense is a system of communication that tries to explain and make sense of individuals' interactions among themselves and with nature. Signs, symbols, and signifiers that develop this way are often unique to the culture of specific peoples living in specific environments. Thus, the mother tongue is the most appropriate vehicle to transmit a people's world views, thoughts, and experiences as they struggle to make sense of the world surrounding them. So, when a people use an alien, imported language, it brings with it various symbols and expressions unfamiliar to the new community. At the same time, it often does not have words, vocabularies, and signifiers to account for certain experiences to which it has not been exposed in the natural environment whence it comes. These are the problems that Rowena is addressing. In other words, she is speaking about the inability of a foreign language (imported into a community) to transmit indigenous cultural, environmental, and communal experiences, that is, experiences that only one's mother tongue is capable of transmitting. Oga, who is a professor and a department head at the University of Cape Coast, thinks that Ghanaian languages should eventually replace English as both the language of instruction and the national language: If every region of the country followed their language so that it will be used at least up to the university level as a means of instruction and then we move to English, then I believe that at a certain stage our languages will be so developed that we can adopt one or two as our national languages and for that matter the language of instruction. I have had some discussions with conservative people like the Akans and the Ewes. The Akans believe that because of their numerical strength their language ought to be selected. The Ewes also think that. So you have the political issue. So let us use English as the medium of instruction at this stage in our national development. We will be better in integration and by that time I think the national character will have sunk into us. (File Ol-GUL-01: Text units 141-57)

Language as a Site of Exclusion 245

Oga is thinking of the possibility of having 'one or two' Ghanaian languages as the national tongues of the nation-state. The kind of multilingualism he suggests may be a reasonable alternative to the possible political tensions that may arise if only 'one' language is selected as the national tongue of all Ghanaians. However, Oga emphasizes that it may not be an appropriate time now to make any changes to the status of English as the language of instruction. He believes that the present stage of 'national development' does not allow for the replacement of English. According to Oga, this will happen when the sense of national development or 'character' has 'sunk into' the consciousness of the people to a further degree. One should note, however, that by the time the required national development takes place, English will likely have already become an inseparable part of Ghanaian culture. Hence, Oga's observation begs the question 'How could English be replaced then?' Moreover, the dominant status of English worldwide is constantly boosted by ever-growing economic, cultural, and technological forms of globalization, at the heart of which lie, among other things, the image and the reality of an English language that is well on its way to becoming an international language of commerce, communication, technology, and even education. Just like the majority of people elsewhere, many Ghanaians are also looking at English as a medium that can open the doors of international opportunities, employment, and migration. As such, it seems that English has already the upper hand in its competition with indigenous Ghanaian languages to become Ghana's national/standard language. Sowah, a male teacher of Fante background, considers some practical aspects of using English as the language of instruction: Initially, you started English usage from P4 [Primary school 4th grade]. But from PI to P3 you could use a Ghanaian language. But this year, they have changed it. From classes one to GSS, we have to use English. But at times, some of the children cannot express themselves in English. At times, some of them are allowed to use their languages. But we do not encourage that in class. (File 02-GJSE-01: Text units 52-7)

Thus, English is already taking over as a medium of instruction in Ghana, starting from the primary level of schooling. Sowah observes that, although at times the teacher allows a student to express herself/ himself in their native language, such an expression is, however, not 'encouraged.' Thus, if a student cannot express herself in English, she is certainly not encouraged to express herself in her mother tongue. In

246 Schooling and Difference in Africa

such a case, it is obvious what will befall her mother tongue within schooling contexts when we look down the road a few years from the primary level of schooling. Nonetheless, in the face of this trend it is clear that many Ghanaians do not regard it as a positive thing to have English as the official language of the country. Here is Sowah again: Every nation is supposed to have its own language. Maybe we can study English as a second language. So we need to use one local language as our official language and use English as a second language. Even in school, children can explain themselves well when they are able to participate in class discussions in their own languages. I do not agree that we should use English as an official language. (File 02-GJSE-01: Text units 52-7)

Using English as an official language serves to hurt and wound the sense of pride that almost all Ghanaians have about their country as an independent nation-state. It seems as though national independence will not be fully complete unless there are indigenous national languages to symbolize that independence. Although the use of English as a second language is seen by many as normal, its use as either a national language or a medium of instruction seems to be highly problematic. Lidi, a student of psychology, argues that priority should be given to Ghanaian languages. He states: I think they should teach all the languages in the Country ... [I] t would be appropriate that they should teach all the languages that students can learn, almost all the languages in the country (File Ol-GUS-36: Text units 330-4)

Lidi views language as a marker of identity. One's language is the most visible and salient symbol for identifying who one is, where one comes from, and how one is distinguished from others. It [the language] tells us who we are, the moment you speak a certain language somewhere. You are easily identified by the language that you speak. (File Ol-GUS-36: Text units 343-5)

Switching from English to a Ghanaian language as a medium of instruction is easier said than done, however. Apau, a male student at the University of Cape Coast, talks of the problems involved with having Ghanaian languages as a medium of instruction:

Language as a Site of Exclusion 247 [L] anguage too I think is important and what I would say is that we should all get one common language. Especially for lectures because there are instances where lecturers would begin to cite examples in Akan and get people who don't understand Akan, so they have to complain and say they don't understand. So either you speak English or you don't cite the examples at all. So language is also important. (File Ol-GUS-41: Text units 140-5)

So, if one Ghanaian language is supposed to be the official language, which language could it be? Sowah is not satisfied with the way Ghanaian language issues are handled in education centres: I think that Ghanaian languages should be given more space because when you look at advanced countries, they use their own languages before they learn other languages. But we in Africa, especially Ghana, we depend on other people's language. We should use our own languages and add one or two languages to ours. We should not make ours a second class and [an] other language a first class. (File 02-GJSE-01: Text units 105-12)

Sowah here echoes the feeling that the majority of Ghanaians have regarding indigenous Ghanaian languages and their status vis-a-vis English. Ever since independence, various Ghanaian governments have also acknowledged this reality. What is lacking, though, is an effective language policy that can take into account the reality of multilingualism in Ghana by devising language programs in such a way that no Ghanaian language is excluded from the necessary funding and the attention it needs to develop and grow. Such a policy should see to it that every Ghanaian student feels comfortable using their own language as a medium of instruction in the schools and universities where they live. Likewise, the scenarios of using English only as a second language should also be taken into account. As well, the many communicational, educational, commercial, and international opportunities that fluency in English provides must be considered in any sensible language planning program. As far as language and linguistic issues are concerned, we can see three important aspects emerging from the observations, insights, and concerns of our respondents: (1) the importance of a transparent and effective language policy; (2) issues related to language of instruction in schools and universities; (3) the role of English as an imported language vis-a-vis indigenous local, regional, and national languages. Language planning and the formulation of a transparent language policy is essential in all multilingual and multi-ethnic societies. Among the most com-

248 Schooling and Difference in Africa

mon sets of issues to be considered in this regard are the selection of national and/or official language (s); selection of appropriate alphabet^); and the selection of the medium of instruction (see also Fishman 1973; Nahir 1984). Each nation-state has a language policy that is formulated on the basis of how (at least formally and officially) it organizes its linguistic affairs. However, many language policies are superficial and seldom reflect the ongoing social realities within multi-ethnic settings. In many Southern countries, language policies are developed based on the interests of certain dominant classes, ethnic groups, or a small ruling elite. When this is the case, it is obvious that conflicts are bound to surface. A veteran African sociolinguist, Ayo Bamgbose, has astutely observed that in many African countries, changes in governments have brought about corresponding changes in language planning, policies, and programs. He reports these changes in such African countries as Ghana where almost each change in policy has coincided with a change of regime ..., Guinea which abandoned its mother-tongue medium policy after the demise of its originator and first president, Sekou Toure, and Burkina Faso which also abandoned the same policy following a change of regime ..., Zambia which opted for English at independence but whose successor government to the Kaunda regime decided in 1992 that the main language of each area would become the teaching medium in the first four years of primary school, a decision which was subsequently reversed ... (2000, 50-1)

As Bamgbose points out, in Africa political power and language policy are strongly interconnected; perhaps this is why the African continent still suffers from language-based inequalities, conflicts, and tensions. Instead of considering elite preferences, political interests, class positions, or ethnic interests, language policies should be concerned with the interests of a society as a whole, that is, a society that includes linguistic minorities and minoritized ethnic groups. Usually, economic and political considerations of many ruling elite groups in developing countries run counter to the diverse social, ethnic, and linguistic realities of their societies, a fact that is neither productive nor healthy, either for national development or for national integration. Instead of elite interests guiding the development of language policies, the emphasis should be placed on broader concerns of linguistic human rights and of the various communities and ethnic groups that constitute a pluralistic society (Skutnabb-Kangass and Philipson 1994; Skutnabb-Kangass 2000).

Language as a Site of Exclusion 249

Language planning ought to take into account the geographical distribution of various languages along with other regional, ethnic, and educational considerations of each community and ethnic group inhabiting a particular environment or region. It is also important to note that planning and policy making, though extremely important in their own rights, will nonetheless remain ineffective if they are not vigorously implemented and enforced by the governing bodies. There are many cases in Africa and other countries where the language of minority groups are accorded constitutional recognition; such recognitions, however, have remained on paper without ever being implemented. There needs to be a strong political will to enforce equal status for all languages in teaching, learning, and speaking, and the development of each and every one of them in pluralistic settings. A mere theoretical recognition will simply not yield the intended results. States ought to see to it that their designated language policies are given teeth so that they can be implemented and enforced. Discussion

From about seventy languages spoken in Ghana, eleven have been identified by the Bureau of Ghana Languages as 'official' languages of the country. However, as we saw through the observations of our respondents, the granting of 'official' status has not been realized in practice. Perhaps a significant step in this direction has been the establishment of the School of Ghana Languages at Ajumako, which was transferred in 1992 to the University College of Education in Winneba. Currently it offers diploma and degree programs in certain Ghanaian languages. What this means is that some improvements have been made in terms of the provision of teaching materials, orthographical matters, and language standardization, and, to a limited extent, lexicological updating as far as these few selected languages are concerned. Nevertheless, these limited linguistic achievements fall well short of the recognition of those languages designated as 'official' in the true sense of the word. As we saw earlier, English remains the main language of instruction throughout the country. This means that none of the socalled co-official languages have been elevated to the status of medium of instruction. The government agencies and educational authorities cite such problems as a lack of qualified teachers, of teaching materials, and of textbooks in these languages as the main impediments preventing them from becoming mediums of instruction even within their own immediate speech community.

250 Schooling and Difference in Africa

English continues to enjoy a growing popularity, importance, and status in Ghanaian society. There is no denying that English has certain advantages in terms of employment and migration opportunities and commercial activities. Furthermore, the fact that English is seen by many Ghanaians as an ethnically neutral language helps boost its popularity and effectiveness not only as a language of instruction, but more importantly as a national language. Evidently, there is more to English in Ghanaian society than meets the eye. The role of the state is crucial in implementing language policies in societies. In most African societies, states are organized and run by a minority of privileged elite groups who, more often than not, are already fluent in the English language, particularly by virtue of their privileged social-class position. In many developing countries (as is the case of Ghana), the ruling elite use the dominant language as a means of maintaining an advantaged position, In these nation-states, fluency in English, or any other dominant language, plays a major role in one's attainment of top political positions in government and state institutions. In the majority of cases, even fluency alone is not enough and must be accompanied by a 'proper accent' if a person is to be assigned any glamorous influential position. So the failure of states in implementing equitable language policies can be partly explained by the power configurations that interplay in the state apparatus itself and by the role that speaking, for instance, 'proper English' plays within that governing system. It seems that a commitment to elevating indigenous languages to the status of official or national languages may serve to undermine the privileged position of those running the state in the first place. Thus, the choice of language for use at national and official levels (e.g., in education as the medium of instruction or in the state bureaucracy) has a central bearing on the processes by which the nation-state itself functions. In pluralistic societies, language is more than a cultural symbol or a simple means of communication. In fact, it can have detrimental sociopolitical and economic impacts within society. As Nash has observed: Language seems straightforwardly a piece of culture. But on reflection it is clear that language is often a political fact, at least as much as it is a cultural one. It has been said that 'language is a dialect with an army and navy.' And what official or recognized languages are in any given instance is often the result of politics and power interplays. (1989, 6) Bourdieu has also noted that the choice of an official language is never an impartial and neutral act:

Language as a Site of Exclusion 251 To speak of the language, without further specification, as linguists do, is tacitly to accept the official definition of the official language of a political unit. This language is the one which, within the territorial limits of that unit, imposes itself on the whole population as the only legitimate language ... The official language is bound up with the state, both in its genesis and its social uses. (1991, 45; emphasis in original)

The onus is thus on states and governments not only to formulate an equitable language policy but more importantly to oversee its implementation. Our research shows that, much as in the rest of the African countries, there is in Ghana an urgent need for coherent, meaningful, and practical language policies. Skutnabb-Kangas and Philipson (1994) have argued that '[i]n many nation states the uneven distribution of power and resources is partly along linguistic and ethnic lines, with majority groups taking a larger share than their number would justify' (4). If one learns anything at all from the unfortunate Yugoslavian experience, it is the bitter fact that suppression of ethnic groups and repression of their languages will not guarantee the 'national unity' and 'territorial integrity.' Instead, acceptance of difference and diversity, coupled with respect for the Other's language, culture, religion, and way of life have the potential to bring various groups and communities together as equal citizens of the same society. The prevalent myth that continues to view indigenous languages as obstacles to 'national homogenization, unity, and integration' cannot be substantiated in the light of various socio-cultural, educational, and developmental concerns. Monolingual and monocultural policies shaped on Euro-American models and projects, are proving more and more to be formidable obstacles blocking the path to inclusion, development, and progress (Grant and Lei 2001; Skutnabb-Kangass and Philipson 1994; Skutnabb-Kangass 2000). As a direct result of 'linguistic imperialism,' the dominant language is usually seen as superior, with an extremely high status and a 'civilizing mission.' Such a language is often cloaked in the mantle of the rational, the logical, the modern and progressive, whereas the indigenous/dominated languages are viewed as irrational, incomprehensible, undeveloped, and backward 'dialects,' idioms,' 'vernaculars,' and 'patois.' However, experiences of various countries show that, in diverse, multilingual societies, languages cannot and must not be hierarchically ordered. As in much of the rest of Africa, in Ghana multilingualism is a fact of life. Yet, instead of being viewed as a source of strength, mutual respect, understanding, and sharing, Ghanaian multilingualism is often viewed

252 Schooling and Difference in Africa

as a handicap to national integration, economic development, political reform, and educational attainment. This chapter has examined numerous issues, concerns, problems, initiatives, and possibilities emerging from language plurality and multilinguality in Ghana. More specifically, the chapter has explored the ways through which Ghanaian students, teachers, educational administrators, and educationalists are evaluating such notions as the importance of preserving indigenous Ghanaian languages; the importance of having one's mother tongue as a medium of instruction; the significance of having indigenous Ghanaian languages as the national and standard languages of the nation-state; and the ramifications of having an imported language (English) as the national/ standard language of the country. Given the daunting task of language planning and policy formulation for a pluralistic society like Ghana, the chapter has highlighted the role of the state in developing equitable and inclusive language policies, on the one hand, and ensuring their effective implementation, on the other.

10 Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools

In this chapter we take up the twin notions of religion and spirituality and highlight their relevance for inclusive schooling. This is a daring and perilous undertaking. We subscribe to a meaning of 'spirituality' that is not necessarily synonymous with religion. We see religion and spirituality as distinct and yet interrelated aspects of human life. The learner is a body, mind, and soul, and both religion and spirituality contribute to the development of this trialectic. We bring the twin notions together because we realize that while religion is separate from spirituality, for many people religion provides the basis of their spiritual beliefs. While our research directly solicited responses that address the question of religious difference, in reading the transcripts we have come to appreciate the role that indigenous religion and also the 'organized' religions (e.g., Christianity and the Muslim faith) play in the lives of students. Traditional religion in Africa is a cornerstone of human spirituality and within schools there are moments when religious tensions such as interfaith relations arise for students and when spirituality emerges as an arena for maintaining and sustaining one's identity and social existence. Religion is a marker of difference. Given the historic role of colonial missionaries in establishing schools in the country and the post-colonial situation, wherein some schools still maintain a strong religious affiliation, religious differences can and do provide a context for power and domination in Ghana. This is evident in some of the colleges selected for our research, which have strong historic ties with Christian missionaries. In some of the schools there is a strong religious flavour that can be problematic when students from different religious backgrounds have to come to grips with the culture of schooling and the processes of educational delivery (including teaching and the administration of educa-

254 Schooling and Difference in Africa

tion). The policy on religious denominational schools is that they have to be open to students from other religions. Freedom of religious practice is espoused and discussion of different religions is part of the curriculum. While these may be advocated in policy terms, actual practice has left many questions unanswered. There is knowledge inherent in the body that may not easily manifest itself in how we make explicit the understanding of our social existence. Religion offers answers to human problems, and for those who build their self-concept from moral and spiritual aspects of growth and development, religion and spirituality are inseparable. There is a place for religion and spirituality in the construction of one's subjectivity and identity. The self (as identity and subjectivity) is itself linked to schooling and knowledge production. The assertion of religion and spirituality as legitimate aspects of students' learning and knowledge is a daring idea. Religion and spirituality both emerge out of a community/human search for justice, dignity, and collective identity. Approaches to religion and religious differences need to be attentive to, as well as critical and respectful of, different faith traditions - including secular thought and spiritual beliefs. Failure to do so could make the theorization of religion and spirituality in schooling fundamentalist. For schools to be equitable and effective there need to be teachers who understand the value of religion for the spiritual and emotional development of the learner. Our understanding of religion and spirituality must not evade questions of power. That is to say, religion and spirituality cannot be discussed outside the contexts of power. For example, we need to explore how certain 'organized' religious systems and spiritual values come to dominate indigenous world views. Simply put, educators must eschew a liberal understanding of religion and spirituality that separates the material from the non-material reality of existence. Because of the predominance of Western science and dualistic thinking in schools, the introduction of religions and spiritual discourses into various social imaginaries has been viewed with suspicion. We begin with an important question: How can Ghanaian educators organize their teaching in a way that allows learning to happen in the context of religious and spiritual education in the schools? We pose this question because we believe that a strategy of empowering students/ learners can make space in our schools for different religious and spiritual belief systems; these can be discussed and taken up as part of a school's curriculum. Both religion and spiritual discourses broach ideas and ontologies that emphasize connectedness, belongingness, identifica-

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 255

tion, well-being, love, compassion, and peaceful coexistence with nature and among groups. In this chapter we highlight students', educators', and parents' understanding of religions and faith traditions, and how such knowledge is evoked in the contexts of Ghanaian schooling. As Dei (2002a, b) has argued elsewhere, to the sceptic, spirituality has no place in education. In North American public and academic discourses, the mention of spirituality and education is countered with a reminder of the separation of church and state. This is placed in a context, however, in which particular religions (e.g., Christianity) are openly embraced in the schools. But as Groome (1999) points out in another context, 'an established religion shouldn't mean excluding common spiritual values from our educational system. Proselytizing on behalf of a particular religion is very different than allowing spiritual values to permeate our approach to education' (1). We maintain that as schools embrace certain religious teachings, there must be an openness to different religions and belief systems as part of the project of knowledge creation and sharing. Hence, the evocation of 'spirituality' or 'religion' should not involve subscribing to any high moral/religious order. The discussion of either religion or spirituality ought not necessarily to be in association with any particular denomination or dogma. When this happens, schools run into trouble by valuing some forms of knowledge and human experiences over others; after all, as noted, religion may be a way to strengthen the spiritual sense of self. Religion and spirituality impact schooling in the sense that they both recognize emotions and intuition as significant ways of knowing, making use of personal histories, stories, and individual experiences/epiphanies, as sources of teaching/learning. Religious and spiritual beliefs both emphasize the self, personhood, the relationship of self to the cosmos, the meaning of life and existence, beliefs about the possibility of reincarnation, and the idea of life after death. Learners bring different meanings of faith to the classroom, and it is important, in the search for inclusivity, that the teacher and students explore their particular beliefs (religious or spiritual) in class in a safe atmosphere that allows each participant to speak freely about who they are, what they believe in, and what they see as their place in society. All learners have ideas about the concepts of life and death, whether the belief is in life after death (e.g., reincarnation) or the idea of no 'life after death' at all. Schools abound with many different religious traditions, and the teacher has a responsibility to point to the similarities and differences among these traditions (e.g., ethical systems, cosmologies, values, traditions, rituals). Recognizing such

256 Schooling and Difference in Africa

diversity as central to contemporary classrooms, teachers must invite learners to share their beliefs (e.g., beliefs in the existence of God or of a supreme Being and what they see as the power and purpose of such beliefs). Traditional religions offer an understanding of atheism and agnosticism that establishes a deeper appreciation for the spirit - beyond the tenets of organized religion - as a significant source of knowing. In Ghanaian schooling learners speak proudly of the power of religion. Such discussions of organized religions and of religious dogma and differences in schools are explored on the broad terrain of interfaith relations, that is, relations between Christians and Muslims and also between those subscribing to traditional African religions or other spiritual belief systems. The fact that religion provides a spiritual basis for personal and collective growth in many subjects cannot be underestimated. It is also for this reason that religion cannot be dismissed as an insignificant aspect of one's identity that has no linkage to schooling and knowledge production. Occasionally some students do make a more positive affirmation of the indigenous, and of African religion, and use that as a basis for a more critical look at the established religions (e.g., Christianity) . However, the common pattern is to acknowledge the existence of different organized religions, and also to recognize that there are different ways of worship and that everyone has a right to freedom of religion and religious differences. Students and educators frequently offer solid interpretations of important religious issues such as ethics and values, respect for higher authority, the actualization of self and personhood, and the importance of tolerance and respect for different religions. They also critique religious attitudes that appear to be intolerant of other belief systems and privilege some practices over others. In much of Africa, the role of Christianity in downplaying African indigenous faith and traditional religions is traced to the role of European colonization in privileging some forms of religious and spiritual knowing and practice over others. This history continues to produce consequences, afterthoughts, and contestations to this day. For example, there is an awareness on the part of educators and students that the task of scheduling classes/courses needs to take into account the different days of worship. This recognition is the outcome of voices of religious dissent in schools. While a majority in the conventional Ghanaian school setting may openly admit to their beliefs in an established religion, there is no similar openness about traditional religious affiliations. This is so because schooling structures have tended to use Christianity as the basis of reli-

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 257

gious instruction. Schooling (whether public or private) is often Christianized in the denominational schools. Local subjects who do not share a school's religious faith speak of some difficulties in pursuing a different religion even when they admit that schools tolerate the expression of religious dissent. Official policy direction is towards inclusiveness of religion and religious freedom, even within denominational schools. Within these policy directions there is discussion on the freedom of religion, the right to worship, and the illegality of imposing a faith belief on students not of the school's religious denomination. There is some tension in schools on the issue of religion and of the space allowed for various religious practices. Although there is open discussion of freedom of religion, there is less openness regarding the practice of local indigenous religions, as both those speaking about indigenous religions and those who practise them agree. Although there is discussion of religious openness among Ghanaian students, a closer look at the issue presents a more complex picture. Great secrecy surrounds the practice of indigenous religions, perhaps not so much in policy, but certainly in practice, owing to actual social pressure or perceived social pressure by those engaged in indigenous spiritual practices. In Ghana, regional differences are also reflected in the varied emphasis given religion and spirituality in schools. For example, indigenous religions are more prevalent in the north. Despite the official policy requirement that religious denominational schools be open to students from other religions, and that there be freedom of religious practice, there is no question that religion is an arena of minority - majority or subordinate — dominant relations, wherein power differences manifest themselves. Learners and educators alike are fully aware of the asymmetrical power relations regarding faith in the school setting. In the narratives of students, educators, policy-makers, and parents, there is much discussion about freedom of religious affiliation being generated in the country and in schools. But how the policy of religious tolerance is implemented (e.g., support mechanisms and resources) may be more complicated, given that some schools have explicit Religious Studies (read Bible Studies) as part of the curriculum, while students from other faiths take these same courses with the knowledge that the schools deny them time and place for worshipping in their own faiths. For some students, dealing with this tension requires that they seek refuge in a strong sense of personhood and identity that is enriched by and enshrined in spirituality and spiritual values. At this point it is important to emphasize that while students and educators do not explicitly name the issue of reli-

258 Schooling and Difference in Africa

gion and schooling in terms of spirituality, we have interpreted their voices to bring a different meaning to the word 'spiritual' as we see it manifested in their religious world views, practices, and collective identity. The purpose of such an interpretation is to raise awareness of the interconnections between the question of religion as a marker of difference, and the implications it has on the spirituality of a learner in the context of schooling. Acknowledging Religion as a Marker of Difference and a Source of Spirituality

In the African context, people do not conceive of themselves as separate from the cosmos but rather as completely integrated into a universe that is much larger than any of them and yet is centred around them (Mazama 2002). Colonialism, however, has been instrumental in stripping the African people of their indigenous spirituality. The colonizers used their potent religious weapon in the arsenal of European supremacy to exercise their psycho-political control over African people (Nantambu 1996). Christian missionaries undertook the task of exorcising African gods, and the rites associated with them, from African culture (Mazama 2002). This brief background helps us 'trace the patterns that constitute oppression over time and enables us to see the long-standing grievances of different groups in African society' (Bell 1997, 6). Kama, an international student from Sierra Leone, considers himself a Christian, but does not see the importance of the issue of difference along spiritual and religious lines. When asked to elaborate on this, he states: I don't see religion playing much effect, although generally it appears that most of Ghana's people are Christian. The Muslims are the minority. I don't see it causing any problem in schooling. We have both Christian and Muslim but no problem. (File OO-IS-01: Text units 255-60)

While Kama acknowledges that there are differences along religious lines, since both Christians and Muslims make up the student body, he does not see it being an issue because, from his location, they all seem to get along. It is interesting to interrogate his comment in terms of his social location. His response is not unusual, in that being Christian he belongs to the majority group and is therefore in a position of privilege given that he fits into the majority norm. According to Kama, the fact that Muslims are in a minority makes no difference to their schooling experi-

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 259

ences. His stance towards religious minorities is shared by some other Christian students. Nelsa, for example, a Christian male who belongs to the Ga tribe, does not see any disadvantages for religious minorities in schooling. Nelsa, we noted earlier, has just completed his studies in the social sciences at the University of Cape Coast. With respect to religious minorities, he comments: [T] he fact that they are in the minority does not mean that they are disadvantaged. They are not disadvantaged in any way. They allow them to pray they are able to pray and go about their business. It's just that some of these people are supposed to be in a Mosque, that's all. There hasn't been any confrontation as far as I'm concerned. (File Ol-GUS-35: Text units 295-303)

From the viewpoint of students like Kama and Nelsa, the issue of difference along lines of spirituality and religion is not an issue in schooling because they do not perceive any related open confrontations. In addition, Nelsa asserts that just because one belongs to a minority group this does not necessarily mean that one is at a disadvantage. It appears that students of the majority Christian group need visible confrontations to be convinced that issues of difference along lines of spirituality and religion should be acknowledged in people's schooling experiences. Their position, however, needs to be interrogated. If students and teachers make the assumption that only open confrontations and tensions between people of different religions justify acknowledgment of religion as an issue in schooling, they will fail to see the importance of religion and spirituality as part of the students' identity, their source of cultural knowledge and, most importantly, of who they are. Nelsa's privileged position can be further interrogated by examining his attitude towards Muslims who express their spirituality in schooling. He points out that Muslim students should not openly express their spirituality, as it belongs not on campus but in mosques. He does not problematize his attitude towards minority students even as he claims that religious minority groups are not 'disadvantaged in any way.' His normative attitude is problematic and harmful. For students like Kama and Nelsa, who belong to the Christian majority, the schooling environment is a safe place to express their spirituality (hence, they do not see issues of religion and spirituality as in need of acknowledgment in schooling). However, this is not the case for Thara, who is a Muslim female international student from Sudan, currently pursuing her doctorate in physics at the University of Cape Coast. As someone belonging to the Muslim

260 Schooling and Difference in Africa

religious minority, she does not share the same views as Kama or Nelsa about religion and schooling. When asked if she had faced any problems or issues with her religion at the university, Thara promptly replies: You see it is not direct. But sometimes when I call them and say that it is time for me to pray, they say no. They are the majority, so they don't attend [respond] to your problems. (File Ol-IS-09: Text units 174-9)

Thara's response reveals how students who come from minority religious denominations are forced to deal with resistance from the majority when expressing their spirituality in schooling. She points out that she is overtly marginalized through her spirituality as her requests for conducting prayers are ignored or even negated. Since she is in a minority, her spirituality is not considered important, and as such it is left unacknowledged by the Christian majority. This highlights the salient reality that questions of religion and spirituality invariably intersect with questions of power. Thara's religious social location puts her in a disadvantaged position. This type of disadvantage has negative repercussions on students' engagements with their schooling experiences, as they are made to feel a sense of alienation at the hands of the schooling system. Such spiritual disadvantages will persist unless the issues of religion and spirituality are acknowledged and addressed as a legitimate problem by administrators, teachers, and students in order to create a safe environment where students/learners are allowed to freely express their spirituality and religion: Acknowledging that there is a problem is the first step. For many, religion is a critical source of spirituality. In Africa it is very close to people's hearts. Boama, a Ghanaian-Canadian student exposed to schooling in the Canadian context, reflects on the question of religion and spirituality in Ghana. A recent arrival from Ghana, he points out the importance of religion and spirituality for his people back home: Everybody's religion is significant. People are so passionate they will even be prepared to fight over it and will go to war over religion. So if we can stop wars by incorporating ideas I think it will be a very good idea. (File 01-GCS01: Text units 117-21)

Boama's words eloquently describe the importance of religion and spirituality for Ghanaians. He points out that religion and spirituality are at the core of people's identity and a source of their embodied knowledge and strength. He adds that it is so important to people that they are pre-

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 261

pared to sacrifice their lives for it. Boama's words echo the fact that people's spirituality and religion cannot be ignored in schooling since they are so integral to who we are. He argues that people's differences across the lines of their religion and spirituality need to be acknowledged and incorporated in schooling as a project of knowledge creation/sharing, promoting tolerance, peace, and social justice. Boama understands the implications of acknowledging and sharing people's differences in order to enact peace resulting in environmental justice. However, some students do not share Boama's enthusiasm for acknowledging and incorporating the spirituality of students/learners in schooling, especially in the context of higher education in Ghana. When asked if she thought people's spirituality and religion are relevant to their schooling, Oforiwaa, a recent university graduate from Ghana, blatantly states that it has no place in the academy: I don't really feel they are important, I mean religion in the academic place is not that important. (File Ol-GUS-07: Text units 105-6)

Oforiwaa's comments reflect the suspicions that some people hold towards incorporating spirituality in higher education and schooling. Her response falls into the same rhetoric that is used by people in North America, where any mention of spirituality in academic discourse is countered with a reminder of the separation of church and state. Her comment moreover reinforces the 'ivory tower' notion of educational institutions, such as the university, where it is assumed that the abstract world of academic excellence is no place for spirituality (Shahjahan 2004a) and that the academy should not be 'contaminated' by diverse spiritualities or embodied knowledges of the social community residing outside of the educational establishment. Her response is not surprising when one considers the environment in which she is studying. Oforiwaa is pursuing her studies in an institution that predominantly espouses objective and quantitative knowledge. The knowledge she engages with every day clearly displaces or is antagonistic to any form of subjective knowing. The fact that people's spirituality is intertwined with their embodied knowledge and identity tends to go against the grain of Western science's notions of objectivity. It is considered messy. This antagonism towards spirituality and religion takes place not only in sciences and social sciences but also in the humanities. Rashi elaborates on the antagonism towards the issues of religion within the academy:

262 Schooling and Difference in Africa In the lecture hall, you do not discuss religion. You only discuss course contents - especially when it comes to English literature, you talk about [the] merits and demerits of certain human behaviours. You condemn the extremists. (File 02-GUS-02: Text units 228-31)

Rashi demonstrates that within academic discourse there is no room for issues of spirituality and religion. Instead, academic discourse (in the context of English literature) values objective knowledge. Discussions of course contents are therefore separate from the student's subjectivity and identity. In addition, academic discourse does not acknowledge or promote the idea that knowledge production is interconnected with identity. Rashi compares the discussion of spirituality with the study of English literature and points out that people's subjectivities are discussed within the framework of human behaviour in general. Any talk of people's religion is commonly associated with extremism and violence, which are to be condemned. While we agree that fundamentalist behaviour is inappropriate, the association of religion with fundamentalism is problematic because it fails to recognize that a people's spirituality may or may not be associated with religion. In addition, within these assumptions lies a condemnation of any discussion of spirituality in the academy, which, we would argue, is intertwined with students/learners' values, self/subjectivity, and identity. Futhermore, these arguments against religion tend to mask the colonial nature of knowledge production in the academy, allowing it to hide behind its neutrality in its claim to superiority in ways of knowing the world (Shahjahan 2004a). These issues also raise questions of the equity of knowledge production such as, What constitutes valid knowledge? And who determines what is valid knowledge in the academy? Rashi's comments demonstrate that academic discourse is permeated with dualistic thinking, wherein subject and object, spirit and mind, are kept separate. These sentiments are problematic for schooling in Ghana, where people's spirituality is intertwined with their lives. To be denied the expression of spirituality in the academy is to live a divided life both in and outside the academy. This amputation has drastic effects on students' engagement with the schooling process. Schools, administrators, and teachers need to acknowledge this problem and understand the implications of negating students'/learners' spirituality. These arguments are different within primary and secondary schooling because a lot of the schools in Ghana have religious affiliations, whereby religion and spirituality are incorporated and sometimes imposed on cer-

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 263

tain bodies, resulting in domination over these bodies. We will come to this point later. Mana is a male teacher at a Ghanaian secondary school who has taught for thirty years. He notes the importance of religion and spirituality to certain parents of Ghanaian children and how it is used to instil discipline and a collective sense of identity in their children. He states: [Diversity ... includes parental training and some of them come here with very strong religious backgrounds, so their behaviour is different from Christians or even those who worship idols. It instils a certain kind of discipline into their achievement. (File OO-GE-09: Text units 123-34)

One of the major symptoms of the colonial past is the social stigma attached to the practice and expression of African traditional religions. Student and teacher narratives provide us with a contemporary picture of the invisibility and the silencing of indigenous spirituality. This marginalization has serious implications for pedagogues and students within Ghanaian schooling. Students and teachers discussed the repercussions students felt as they tried to express their spirituality. In an interview with Joyce, who considers herself a minority-group student, the question of African traditional religions emerged, and she was asked whether she saw these religious groups as being marginal in the schooling system. She replies: Probably. They might be quite a number, but because the Muslims and Christians don't like them, and people, university students, most of them criticize the traditional religions, they don't really want to come out with their religion. Interviewer: What is the basis of that criticism? Some of their customs and traditions are outdated. Having been to university and being enlightened, they think that those customs and traditions should not be encouraged in the university, especially on the university campus. (File Ol-GUS-10: Text units 44-55)

Joyce's narrative reveals the internalization of oppression experienced by students who belong to indigenous religions. Systems of oppression not only operate against bodies, they are also internalized by those faced with domination. Internalized subordination consists of accepting and incor-

264 Schooling and Difference in Africa

porating the negative images of oneself fostered by the dominant society (Bell 1997,12). Here students internalize their subordination by making the decision not to express their spiritual identity. But what are the reasons for this internal subordination? Joyce argues that this is because their religious practices and forms of spirituality are 'outdated' and do not belong in the 'enlightened' environment of the university. Joyce's narrative is an indication of the colonial attitudes prevalent within Ghanaian schooling. The rhetoric of enlightenment is used to negate and ignore indigenous spirituality - a symptom of the colonial aftermath. University students, as products of the university, have assimilated the secular colonial discourse so as to objectify and stigmatize spirituality. Tacey (2002) points out that the 'secular university has constructed itself as a place where knowledge is imparted and information shared, and if lives are changed in the process, so much the better. But it does not seek to change lives in the sense of directing or guiding human experience into spiritual depths' (172). Joyce's narrative indicates that students who belong to indigenous religions are stigmatized by the majority Christians, Muslim minorities, and other students who may oppress them. We see here the varied ways in which difference can be used to exclude certain groups from participation in the everyday life of the university (i.e., dominant groups use their attitudes to maintain power and control over other groups). Thus, indigenous spiritualities are 'othered' as inferior and illegitimate forms of knowing the world. Most problematic is the idea that such spiritualities have no place in the campus space. Here, that space is claimed by certain groups while others do not have the right to make such claims. The problem, as Tisdell (1999) points out, is that some learners get to draw on their spiritual symbols and traditions to affirm their identity and guide their moral actions in the world. However, learners who belong to indigenous religions do not have the space for such expression. Their freedom of religious expression is therefore at stake. They are in a hostile environment that, in turn, will affect their academic success as they are forced to check their spirituality at the door of the academy before they enter. In a further elaboration on the reasons why students from indigenous religious backgrounds are afraid to express their spirituality, Joyce points to the common negative perceptions and stereotypes regarding their rituals and customs. She herself has problems with their traditions, which, she reasons, have to do with traditional rites, especially ... with being naked and walking around the town, dancing for others to see their naked body, and that. It's

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools

265

outrageous, thinking that I go and get naked for somebody who I even don't know to see me just like that. It's ridiculous. So I, for instance, would always talk against that thing. Some of the university students have this serious problem. (File Ol-GUS-10: Text units 57-62)

Joyce's comments provide us with the dominant colonial discourse regarding indigenous religions, which misleads subjugated people into thinking that they are 'uncivilized.' These common perceptions of indigenous religions are best grouped under the category of stereotypes used and disseminated by the dominant group. These traits are used to objectify a certain group and assign to them negative traits. In this instance, Joyce points to rituals and traditions such as 'dancing for others to see their naked body' to justify negating the group as a whole. This strategy is used by dominant groups to define the 'other' and to develop a network of beliefs and discourses regarding the dominated group that ultimately (in the case of indigenous religious minorities) results in the silencing and negation of indigenous spiritualities. Stereotypes are invariably dominant cultural expressions. Thus, the dominant often have little place for the experience of other groups, at most only mentioning or referring to them in stereotypical or marginalized ways (Bell 1997, 46). This raises a serious issue for pedagogues and learners. Do we let these stereotypes continue or do we do something about them? Educators and students need to critically analyse their positions and work together to acknowledge that the rationales used against minority groups are wrong and that something needs to be done to deconstruct such justifications for oppression. Joyce's narrative demonstrates how minority religions (i.e., traditional religions) continue to be stigmatized and silenced through the strategy of stereotyping, which in turn serves to justify their marginalization. It is imperative for educators to dislodge such negative assumptions and develop a safe environment where learners can practise their spirituality without fear of being stigmatized. The marginal status of traditionalists can best be understood from the viewpoint of the previously introduced Mansa, who points out the linkage between the status of indigenous religions and colonialism. She states: 'As for our traditional religion it has been shelved because of colonialism, we know that.' From Mansa's vantage point, indigenous religions have been taken out of the picture by colonialism. This significant historical underpinning is important to keep in mind in order to interrogate students' attitudes towards indigenous religions. Indigenous religions are not just stigmatized, they are systematically eliminated from view through banning or enforced invisibility in the schooling system.

266 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Boti, a Christian Asante, is a male student in the University of Cape Coast, studying business management. In an interview he discusses the plight of indigenous religious groups who are engaged in fighting the majority Christian groups for the right to practise their religion within the confines of the university. When asked which side he is on, he apolitically states: Me, I am a social commentator. But I am a Christian. Irrespective of this, these people have their own perspectives. In Christianity we have our own views. I believe they are entitled to their opinions. So I just don't condemn them. So whenever they have this occasion, I just go diere and listen to what they have to put across. Interviewer: So how did the school resolve this issue? What did they do? They banned it. There was a ban on traditional religious activities because the school realized it was not promoting a better school environment - not only in the University of Cape Coast but also in all the universities across the country. (File 01-GUS-l 1: Text units 383-96)

Boti's comments illustrate the harsh reality faced by indigenous religions in Ghana, where majority groups use their power to ban the practice of indigenous religions within the university system. The rhetoric used by educators positions indigenous religions as a force that is tarnishing the academic environment, and points to the inferior 'other' status assigned to them. This process is dehumanizing and is indicative of a colonial attitude that requires problematizing. Here difference is used to exclude a group from the everyday life of the university. However, the spirituality of students is a source of meaning and purpose in their life (Shahjahan 2004b). By banning this reality in the university, educators have in turn stripped learners of the opportunity of finding meaning in the schooling experience, which inevitably leads to an environment of alienation and disengagement on the part of students. The linkage between them and their community is ruptured in the university, and hence their collective identity is stripped away. Also problematic is the silence of students like Boti, who perpetuate this inequity. As someone belonging to the majority group, he does not see that what he perceives as neutrality is merely a perpetuation of domination by the status quo. Such denials leave a void in the schooling system, which might be good for some students, but carry negative consequences for the Ghanaian schooling system as a whole.

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools

267

There are several reasons for this. First, educators and learners do not get the enriching experience of diverse ways of knowing, which is quashed when indigenous religions are banned. Second, students who belong to these indigenous religious groups are silenced, marginalized, and assigned a second-class status within the university. They are thus dehumanized in their inability to express who they are, and turned into objects rather than subjects of difference. Third, this trend, as stated by Boti, has developed a ripple effect throughout the country that has led to the banning of indigenous religions throughout the universities in Ghana. Hence all these environments are now alien for the affected students. Fourth, this situation shows how colonialism is far from over. The nineteenth- and twentieth-century colonial mentality of stripping African people of their indigenous spirituality continues into the twenty-first century. To make Ghanaian schooling inclusive, such banning decisions need to be reversed to accommodate difference across the lines of religion. These decisions are disempowering not only for learners but also for communities of indigenous spiritualities, as the stigmatization and stereotypes continue to marginalize them and their children. This is a very grave matter. If left unchecked, the colonial master discourses will continue to affect African children. The plight of indigenous religions is destructive not only to higher education but also at the primary and secondary levels. Introduced earlier, Sowah, a male teacher at the university primary school, discusses the indigenous religions, which he feels are dying out: Nowadays, I do not know whether the Ghanaian traditional religions are dying. We don't preach that to children. We have it as a religion but we do not practise it. Interviewer: Why? Any reason? Because it is dying out. We do not see people actively participating in that religion. We do not want to implicate that in the minds of the children. (File 02-GJSE-01: Text units 192-8)

Sowah argues that religion is talked about but not practised. Moreover, he points out that educators are also playing a role in this termination of indigenous religions, maintaining that they refrain from discussing indigenous religions because 'they don't want to implicate it in the minds of children.' This attitude, as positive as it may seem, is highly problematic. Teachers continue to render indigenous religions invisible

268 Schooling and Difference in Africa

to the minds of children. Hence, when they do come across those people who belong to such groups, they are seen as the 'other' or as an abnormality. This unfair scenario is perpetuated in the university, where there are certainly no discussions regarding the termination of religions such as Islam or Christianity, both of which are foreign to Ghana. Educators need to take an active role in making sure that indigenous religions do not die out. They can do this by acknowledging the historical context of the invisibility of indigenous religions. Without taking into consideration the socio-political and historical context of these religions, people will continue to see their lack of presence as a case of their naturally dying out as opposed to being actively terminated. The Ghanaian education system needs to address the issue of indigenous spirituality seriously if we wish to take a positive step towards acknowledging difference across the lines of religion and spirituality. Failing to do so will not only harm students who belong to this group, but will also leave out a very important part of the heritage of Ghanaian history. If we do not interrogate this situation soon, indigenous spiritualities will die out and those attached to these spiritualities will find themselves alienated by the schooling system. The demise of indigenous religions needs to be interrogated at the structural level. In terms of schooling, this has many repercussions for both teachers and students. For students who are members of traditional religious groups, social stigma prevents them from openly expressing their faiths and who they are. At the same time, students who do not belong to such traditional faiths are never exposed to the indigenous religions and what they may have to offer to society. As a result, these non-traditional religious students will maintain prejudices and misunderstandings about indigenous religions and those people who are members of such faiths. In short, students are implicated in perpetuating the silencing and marginalization of traditional African religions in both schools and the society of which they are part. For teachers, the social stigma assigned to traditional religion creates some pedagogical challenges. First, teachers may not be aware that they are perpetuating this social stigma and sustaining the silencing of students belonging to traditional African religions by not acknowledging the difference and diversity among student bodies across the lines of religion. Second, in denying or avoiding the social stigmas associated with traditional religions, teachers ignore an important learning moment for students insofar as they can be exposed to the richness that different religions have to offer society.

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 269 The Perils and Desires of Acknowledging Religion in Educational Delivery and Student Life

Student and teacher narratives provide us with a complex picture of what goes on in terms of spirituality and religion in the context of educational delivery. One can see how this issue of difference operates in the context of teaching, resources, holidays, and decision making. Such issues of contestation are important to address, as they lay the platform for privileging some forms of religion and spirituality over others. Teaching lies at the heart of educational delivery. Educators take up this issue to point out strategies to address questions of religion and spirituality in the classroom. Previously introduced, Margo is a mother of two daughters. She has taught in a Methodist school in Ghana and now resides in Canada. At the school in Ghana, Muslims constituted 3 per cent of the student body and therefore were in the minority numerically. With respect to teaching, Margo states: I was teaching in a Methodist school ... I did not try to put other religions down because I think mine was the best. (File OO-GCE-03: Text units 40510)

She alludes to the fact that, in the school setting, one can become a minority person through one's religious identity. Here 'minority' is perceived numerically. Margo also points out the importance of not negating any religion or elevating one over another in the classroom setting. Her point is shared by Lidi, introduced earlier, who brings up the challenge of teaching difference along the lines of religion and spirituality in an inclusive manner. He states: [O]nce we all have different religions, you realize that if a lecturer does not take time and care and he or she says something against the other person's religion, it might bring a whole lot of problems. We must understand that each and every one of us belongs to a different religious group or therefore we need not say something wrong or even look down upon the other person who belongs to the other religion. (File Ol-GUS-36: Text units 282-8)

Lidi emphasizes the importance of educators knowing about and being sensitive to the diversity of religion and spirituality among students in the classroom. He contends that religion and spirituality should not be discussed in a hierarchical way. Instead, what needs to take place is a dis-

270 Schooling and Difference in Africa

cussion of the potential coexistence of different religions and spiritualities. As a student teacher, Lidi highlights the importance of educators taking into account students'/learners' diverse religions and spiritualities so that one's religion is neither negated nor enforced. He further elaborates on why it is important to acknowledge the difference across the lines of religion and spirituality, reasoning: I think schools should be doing that so that we all understand what is involved in a different religion and so that if you want to adopt that kind of religion then you understand what is in it. If we are not being taught then we come out just arguing. (File Ol-GUS-36: Text units 291-7)

Lidi emphasizes the need to raise awareness regarding religious difference and the implications this has for students/learners. With regard to the importance of incorporating difference across the lines of spirituality into the curriculum, he argues that this difference needs to be addressed so that students can learn from each other and critically interrogate their own identities and spiritualities. Furthermore, he asserts that through this type of pedagogy, students will learn to tolerate different spiritualities rather than argue about them. Lidi, like Margo, sees the importance of acknowledging different spiritualities, and understands how pedagogues need to take this into account when they are dealing with students. It is important to acknowledge this difference not only in the context of teaching, however, but also in the context of the curriculum. Lidi emphasizes how issues of religion and spirituality should not stay at the periphery of learning, but should be centred in the curriculum as a way of acknowledging human experiences. His point shifts our thinking towards the importance of having regard for what students consider sacred in their lives. As Cobb (2002) points out, 'it is the reverence for creation that drives us to learn,' which in turn 'drives us to our knees in awe of the mystery of life' (22). A study of religion and spirituality can provide a spiritual dimension to learning, whereby students can explore the mysteries of life and cultivate the inner lives of learners. These are not usually cultivated in schooling, where the search for goals and careers are imposed on students by external pressures from parents and educators (Kessler 1998-9, 51). Learners yearn to transcend perceived limits, a possibility that spirituality learning can offer them. Such study can help students connect 'to nature, to their lineage, to a higher power,' which gives them 'a larger ongoing source of meaning, a joy that gives them perspective, wisdom and faith' (ibid., 52). However, beyond the

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools

271

benefits of incorporating spiritual and religious differences into the curriculum, one still has to be careful with the mode in which they are presented. It is important to keep in mind that practice has to take inclusiveness into account or the contents will seem abstract and the positive ingredients, such as connection, meaning, purpose, and compassion, will be taken away. It is important that all students' spiritualities be acknowledged and responded to; if this is not done, the students will feel spiritually amputated (Shahjahan 2004b). It is critical to address the ways in which difference in religion and spirituality, when not acknowledged, can lead to exclusionary practices. Students and teachers provide sites of contestation in this terrain. Mansa, reflecting on her experiences as a student in Ghana, discusses the acknowledgment of religious difference in the context of scheduling holidays: I've never heard of a time when I was schooling that schools were closed down for people to go to observe Islamic holidays. As for our traditional religion it has been shelved because of colonialism, we know that. But of course, we came home for Christmas, for Easter and other Western styled holidays but not our own religious celebrations like Akwasidae. If you go to the Akan places we all do not all share the same religious practices, some people might be observing Akwasidae and others wouldn't. So Akwasidae wouldn't mean anything in the school curriculum. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 293-301)

Mansa discusses the importance of scheduling holidays in the schooling system. Clearly, the current schedule does not reflect the diverse religions of the student body. She points out how Christianized the system is in that those who do not fit into the majority cannot go home for religious holidays. In addition, the school curriculum does not reflect the diverse religions and spiritualities of society as a whole. As Mansa asserts, her religious holiday, called Akwasidae, meant nothing in the school curriculum when compared to Easter or Christmas. This scheduling of holidays reflects the Christian hegemony over the schooling system, marginalizing and belittling the faiths of those who do not belong to the Christian majority. Furthermore, it fails to acknowledge the religious diversity of Ghanaian society as it 'others' those from the religious minority groups. Such scheduling suggests that Ghana is predominantly Christian. It negates and does not respond to non-Christian faith celebrations and holidays. This in turn affects the spiritual lives of students, who need

272 Schooling and Difference in Africa

to feel that their spirituality is affirmed by the school. Providing the time off to do that is an important step. In addition, religious marginality divides a student from her or his community activities when there is a religious celebration, thus affecting the learners' collective identity and her/his community connections. Significantly, Mansa also addresses the colonial legacy of schooling, mentioning that an indigenous cultural day such as Akwasidae is not acknowledged even though it is an important day for her community. This poses a critically important challenge for all educators. How do we acknowledge the diverse religions in the scheduling of the school year? A cynic may argue that by acknowledging the diversity of religion and spirituality there would be no formal schooling, because most of the schedule would be consumed by religious or spiritual events. If that is the case, we would argue that the solution cannot lie in the acknowledgment of only the majority religion. If we wish to acknowledge these holidays, then we have to acknowledge all of them. Moreover, we must make sure that students who belong to particular religious groups are excused from school on days of worship and celebration, and that inside the school educators should discuss the importance of these days to the groups involved. However, it is also important to acknowledge the difference and diversity of religion and spirituality by addressing questions related to their representation among the staff in schooling institutions. Earlier we introduced Adobi, who teaches accounting at a Ghanaian secondary school. When asked whether there are Muslim teachers (because there are Muslim students) in his school, he replies: Well, over here we don't have any Muslim teachers. Interviewer. But do you see the need? For example, do you see the need for a teacher who is Muslim and he or she teaches Muslim students? Well, if we have them that might be good. But we don't have any. And there is nothing we could do about it. Interviewer: Alright. Well, it's something that... you aspire to, that you wish, to have. Oh, I don't think that is necessary. At times, Muslims here, they do attend Christian classes and ceremonies. So it is not necessary for a Muslim teacher to be put here for Muslim students. (File OO-GE-14: Text units 112-25)

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 273

Adobi acknowledges that it would be good if there were Muslim teachers but does not explain why. He then resigns himself to the idea that he has no power to either change the system or facilitate inclusive representation along the lines of religion among the teaching body. Adobi does not see the importance of having teachers of different faiths, as he fails to acknowledge that the embodiment of knowledge production is intertwined with one's identity. Moreover, he does not see a problem in a situation where Muslim minorities are forced to attend Christian classes and ceremonies or recognize the impact this might have on the students' sense of self-determination and identity. So why is it important to have a Muslim teacher? Diverse bodies bring different viewpoints to the classroom owing to the social reality that one's identity is interlinked with knowledge production. In addition, it has a positive effect on minority students to see a minority body as a teacher, as it provides self-esteem and a sense of hope that is derived from the knowledge that there are teachers who are like them. If such a message is not conveyed, such students feel they are inferior. At the same time, such a presence helps other students who do not belong to the Muslim minority to get a different perspective on the world around them. Issues of religious difference are linked not just to issues of pedagogy but also to the distribution of resources, administrative support, and decision making. Marti, a male student at the University of Ghana studying business administration, discusses how resources are distributed across the lines of religion: When you apply to the university, you are asked to state your religion. And I think they provide the students with churches and places that they can worship. I have noted that for [the] Muslim religion, they haven't made any provisions. But now I think they have given a site where they can worship. And for the other traditional religions there is nothing. (File Ol-GUS-03: Text units 209-14)

He points out the irony in the university system: on paper it acknowledges the learners' religion, yet in practice it does not respond to this difference in terms of resources. He indicates how, once again, the Christian majority is provided with provisions yet none are made for the minority groups. This biased type of allocation affects the equity of knowledge production, as certain religions and spiritualities are privileged and valued over others. A situation of this kind results in the alienation of students who do not belong to the Christian majority, as their spirituality is negated. Hence, privilege is perpetuated. In order to address these

274 Schooling and Difference in Africa

issues, educators need to accommodate all of the diverse spiritualities of students lest the students become alienated and disengaged. Certain religions are ascribed privilege over others not only through resources but also in terms of administrative support. Joyce is critical of her university, where she observes unfair treatment handed out to minority religious groups, while dominant religions get administrative support for their events. She states: That is a mistake that the authorities make. It is a very big mistake, because the Christians on campus enjoy more advantages than the Muslims and other groups. The Christian students have joint services, and in their joint services, they all come: the deans, the professors, the lecturers, everybody comes. You never hear the Muslims having a program where a lecturer - let alone the vice chancellor - is there. It doesn't happen. Not to mention the traditionalists, Ekists and other groups. We don't see that about them. But the Christians are given all these facilities. (File Ol-GUS-10: Text units 23442)

In this narrative religious privilege is associated with social capital rather than material resources. Some students receive institutional support for their spirituality through the participation of their faculty and administrators. Students who do not belong to this majority are not provided with the same support. This affects a learner's self-esteem, as her/his identity is not acknowledged but instead is negated. People in leadership positions can provide students with affirmation but it is wrong to provide one group support over the other; it perpetuates a hierarchy of religions. Religion and spirituality are associated with the sacred. However, the sacred cannot be institutionalized within an administrative system of power. Educators need to be cognizant of how they associate with such religious sessions as they can sustain, produce, and reproduce a hierarchy of knowledge. It is ironic that some students feel religion has no place in the academy, while others discuss how the administration perpetuates a hierarchy of religions by associating itself with some groups and ignoring others. This also effects the decision-making process. Introduced earlier was Adji, a graduate from the University of Ghana. Adji discusses how decision making can be a problem if the issue of difference across the lines of religion is not taken into account: In the university you have the Religious Board. They comprise the Christian groups, the Muslim groups, and other religions. I think the university

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 275 should move a step further and not recognize just a certain group. When it comes to decision-making, I think we should involve all the religious groups. We shouldn't be biased, because most of the lecturers are Christians, the idea of entertaining the Christian groups shouldn't be high. We should entertain the whole group. (File Ol-GUS-16: Text units 207-14)

For Adji it is important to acknowledge the difference and diversity of religion not only in the student body but also in the staff and administration. He contends that one group should not be favoured over the other, a problem that can arise in circumstances where the faculty and administrators stem from only one group. In such cases bias is likely to emerge in the decisions that are made. Adji brings up the important point of maintaining diversity in the decision-making bodies so that different perspectives are integrated. His point about religious representation in the decision-making body should be heeded by educators, for this will affect what agendas are addressed, and ensure that diversity and difference are responded to. It will benefit both students and administrators, as multiple perspectives are entertained. Mensi, a female student at a local secondary school, who is a Fante, discusses how her school tries to create an inclusive environment: Yes, the Muslims are allowed to meet. They meet on Sunday mornings. When it is Ramadan, they fast and we have cooks for them at their own time so that they could eat and participate in the prayer. We do not hinder them from having services from the school. (File 02-GSSS-01: Text units 100-3)

Mensi's narrative indicates that some secondary schools do try to allocate resources in order to respond to Muslim minority students and their spiritual traditions. She points out how it is important not to 'hinder' students' spiritual practices in schooling. Mensi provides one of the few examples that reveal a positive picture of some inclusive practices that are designed to respond to religious diversity among the student body. However, while it is important to see Mensi's narrative as an exemplary case, it is as yet an imperfect one. She does not discuss the plight of students of African traditional religions. The invisibility of the topic of African traditional religions is an indication of the silencing and invisibility of these religions in Ghanaian society and schooling. Though it is important to acknowledge religion and spirituality in schooling, it is also important to separate this area from institutional practices, as this may perpetuate power relations. The issue of religious

276 Schooling and Difference in Africa

indoctrination has been a site of contestation for both students and teachers in Ghanaian schooling. Their voices speak to how detrimental this practice can be when religious difference is used to include (in some instances for assimilation) and exclude others. Kumsah, who was introduced earlier, is a geography teacher at both the primary and secondary level. He is an Ewe who works in a predominantly Akan area. With respect to religion and schooling, he points to the problems that arise when one group is validated and acknowledged while other religious minorities are forced to partake in the dominant group's rituals. He states: [W] e ask them to come and sit in [morning assembly] and priests come to talk only about Jesus Christ, and any time Muhammad is mentioned in condemnation it is not fair to them ... so we allow them separate meeting Sunday evenings ... And some of them though would wish to go and worship on Fridays, but we have classes...so they can't go. They do not like it, but [they] have to conform to the norm. (File OO-GE-05: Text units 226-35)

Kumsah problematizes the hierarchy of religions prevalent in the schooling system. He interrogates the fact that religious minorities have to go through sessions where they do not feel like they belong and where members of the religious majority come and defame their spiritual leaders. This practice is unacceptable to him, as he considers it to be 'unfair.'. He also considers it to be assimilationist and points out that the norms of the dominant religious denomination are imposed on religious minorities; for instance, they cannot go worship on their religious holidays. In the end, owing to the prevailing power relations and their minority status, students conform to the norm defined by the religious majority. These impositions of values and restriction of personal and religious identity are an impediment to the free expression of the self. Educators need to interrogate these practices and see them as violent actions that jeopardize the freedom to express one's religious identity. What is most problematic is when priests praise Jesus Christ while condemning Muhammad. This kind of practice leads to the negation of Muslim students' spiritual identity. Such imposition needs to be stopped and replaced with a transformative response to religious diversity in schooling. These practices perpetuate societal power dynamics and systems of oppression along the lines of religion and spirituality. And yet, dominating practices of this nature are not going entirely unchallenged. Some

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 277

teachers disagree with them. Mati critiques the process of imposing dominating religious values on learners: I feel that religion should not be forced on individuals. You have to use your own free will. If it happens that you attend the mission, it shouldn't mean any religion should be imposed on you. Although, one may say, 'After all, you have your own churches, and they have this training there, why didn't you go there?' But it is not like everybody is able to get admission. I personally do not side with the way the students are forced to worship at the missionary groups. (File OO-GE-26: Text units 280-6)

Mati is critical of religion and spirituality when either one becomes dogmatic. She contends that spirituality and religion are matters of personal choice and should not be forced on any individual. She further problematizes the idea that because one chooses to join a denominational school, one forfeits the freedom to choose whether to follow the religious rituals of the school. Her stance is that students should have the freedom to express their spirituality without having to conform to any religious norms. She elaborates on this point by discussing student resistance to such assimilatory practices in her current school. She states: So it makes the student very reluctant. It is not within them but it looks like they have been forced to attend. When they get into the room, they don't show much excitement. So I feel they should be allowed to attend on their own. (File OO-GE-26: Text units 250-66)

Mati notes student resistance to the imposition of certain religious events, as shown through their disengagement from such practices, which alienate students from their schooling environment. As she points out, it is important for educators to make sure that students are given the choice either to attend or not to attend. Failure to do so only perpetuates the power dynamic and leads to disengagement on behalf of the students. These forced practices take away the spiritual humility in religion, and reduce spiritual practices to religious dogmatism, where only one norm is accepted and diverse spiritualities remain unacknowledged. Student resistance speaks to their sense of agency when it comes to such practices. Instead of conforming, students resist in order to affirm their own identity, which is linked to their community. Still, students should not have to engage themselves in an unrelenting struggle filled with tension and contestation. Instead, the schooling environment should be a safe space for

278 Schooling and Difference in Africa

everyone to express her or his spirituality without consequences. It must prevent one group from dominating others regardless of whether the school may be of a particular religious denomination. Such practices only perpetuate colonial relations, where missionaries forced Africans into a schooling system that 'destroyed and disfigured' their history and spirituality (Fanon 1963, 210). Schooling is an environment where learners should be allowed to express their identity and affirm who they are. Schooling should not rupture the sense of connection between the individual learner and her or his community, as colonial missionary schools sought to do so that African people would act and \hink like their colonial masters. These same practices will continue unless the religious minorities and their spiritualities are acknowledged. Schooling should be a place for sharing and giving, not a place where learners feel alienation and resentment about being there. Educators need to take these issues into consideration as they try to make schooling inclusive for all students from different religions and spiritual dimensions. Minta, an undergraduate student who is undertaking publishing studies in the University of Science and Technology, discusses the process by which students are disengaged from the schooling environment when religious differences are not addressed. He points out that his fellow Muslim students are disengaged from a lot of the social activities on campus. When asked if they do it by choice, Minta replies: Not really by choice but I'd say it is partly cultural. They somehow distance themselves ... Maybe there are certain structures and programs that leave them out. And maybe there are reasons for their being excluded ... Like they themselves don't want to be a part of what's going on. (File Ol-GUS-05: Text units 69-79)

These comments point to the structures in place that serve to disengage Muslim students from everyday life in the university, and that do not encourage them to develop their full capacities. This case can be made for any student or learner who is not part of the majority norm. Such structures of disengagement prevent and inhibit students from becoming active members of the schooling process, phenomenon that is detrimental to the schooling environment, since the members of these religious minorities are denied opportunities for full participation. Their voices are marginalized and riot heard. As Minta suggests, religious minority students who are alienated by the cultural norms of a schooling system that responds only to the religious majority are left with

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 279

no other choice than to disengage from the schooling culture and its everyday activities. This has serious implications for both students and educators as it prevents knowledge sharing, the inclusion of different voices in everyday schooling activities, and the humanizing of students who do not fit into the majority norms. Instead of blaming it on the students, one must address the structures in place that do not allow for an inclusive environment in schools, colleges, and universities. One student discusses Christian domination of the schooling system. Ayi, a male student in the University of Science and Technology introduced earlier, reflects upon the religious composition of the student body of his university: In university the Christians predominate [over] the other religious groups. When it comes to university, there is cordiality. Nobody really steps on the other's toes. So, personally we had a Muslim roommate. Aside from religious difference, we got together very well - We ate together, we studied together. (File Ol-GUS-08: Text units 278-82)

Ayi acknowledges that Christians dominate the schooling system. It is important for educators to acknowledge that this domination is a product of colonialism and the historical context of Ghana. This colonial domination persists to the present day, permeating the social structures and allocation of resources throughout the country. Nonetheless, Ayi believes that everyone gets along. Unlike Minta, Ayi does not see the disengagement of his fellow Muslim students. He argues that everyone seems to be cordial with each other. But what Minta's narrative points out is that underneath this cordiality there are other problems lurking unacknowledged. Ayi's narrative is a testament to the fact that some students, even though they are aware of the Christian domination in the schooling system, are unconscious of the disadvantages that religious minorities experience owing to their difference. It highlights the importance of seeing and listening to different bodies, as students embody varied forms of consciousness regarding the problems associated with difference in relation to religion and spirituality. If we perceive the schooling system through the eyes of Ayi, we see the issue of diversity and difference solely through the consciousness of the dominant. It is important for us as educators to interrogate and see the different perspectives prevalent among the people in the schooling system. It is very easy for educators to see the schooling process from the vantage point of just one group. To develop any strategies for creating an inclusive environment in Ghanaian school-

280 Schooling and Difference in Africa

ing, it is important that educators hear the voices of different bodies and value each equally so that students can be full participants in the schooling system. Some students and educators examine how religion, as a marker of difference, regulates student interactions. Mana, a teacher for over thirty years, comes from the Sissala district and belongs to the Enzalas group. Here he describes the interactions between students from different religions: [N] obody wants to be called a pagan. This school is divided between Christians on one side and Muslims on the other. When the Christians' activities are going on, Muslims do not go there - they too have their own [activities]. They also go to a mosque. In the dormitories, the Muslims have a place where they go to eat. Their prayer, as you know, is very different from that of the Christians. (File OO-GE-09: Text units 420-31)

Mana observes that the interfaith relations do not allow for mixing between students of different faiths, and as a result they divide themselves into separate groups. Their activities are also split along the lines of religion and spirituality. This narrative problematizes the view that when there is difference and diversity in religion among the student body, everyone will, as a consequence, get along. Instead, Mana points out that while there are differences, these differences are used by students to choose whom they should associate with and what activities they should participate in. Moreover, differences also need to be acknowledged in terms of space, food, and prayer. From Mana's narrative we get the sense that religion and spirituality play an important role in a student's navigation through the schooling system, as this marker of difference dictates what kind of food one will eat, what space one will occupy, whom one will associate with, and the way people will express their spirituality. All these factors need to be taken into account by educators if we are to understand what kinds of space to design, what kinds of food to serve in dormitories, what kinds of prayer facilities to make available, and so on. It is naive to believe that by putting students together in one single space, they will automatically mingle among themselves across difference. Religion as a marker of difference is an important mediator in terms of the kinds of people students associate with. Most of the time, as Mana points out, they tend to associate with their own kind. Elaborating on this point, Baaba, a female student in the University of College Education, comments:

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 281 When you see one is Muslim and one is Christian, you automatically go with the one from your own group. But it is not because you don't like the other person. (File Ol-GUS-12: Text units 156-8)

Baaba points out that it is not a question of whether one likes or dislikes the other person; rather it is the comfort zone that learners look for and enjoy when they associate with their own kind. Students need to be given the opportunity to share their identities and experiences with each other both across difference and within their own kind. Educators need to emphasize this point. We should remind ourselves that knowledge production is not static but fluid, and that the sharing of knowledge can go a long way towards helping students accept and learn from each other in terms of their differences, spiritualities, and embodied knowledge. To allow this kind of sharing, however, educators need to create an environment in the schooling system where students can become equal partners and thus develop to their full capacities. It is only in such an inclusive environment that students can share themselves and their experiences without facing the consequences of silencing and marginalization. Teachers can play an important role in making this happen in the classroom. Similarly, administrators need to take this point into account, as it is they who make the decisions regarding the allocation of resources, admissions, and so on. Some educators and students discuss the intersection between difference along the lines of religion and issues of class and minority-majority relations. Hassan, national coordinator of an educational project in Accra, comments on the Muslim communities and their reasons for not sending their children to school: The Muslim communities do not send their children to school and there are two reasons for this: (1) they fear that once their children attend the Christian or secular schools, they might end up converting into Christianity and (2) the second one is that these Islamic groups form the minority group, therefore they lack funds and are unable to send their children to school. (File OO-GE-10: Text units 173-82)

Hassan discusses the ways in which issues of religion and spirituality intersect with discourses of majority-minority relations. He points out a very significant issue among Muslim parents, that is, the fear that their children will be converted, which is extremely valid. Learners have an identity that is linked through their families to a community. No community wants to lose its members to another community. The Muslim commu-

282 Schooling and Difference in Africa

nity fears that they will lose their children if they send them to school, as they are aware that a Christian majority dominates the school. Hassan's comments indicate that the issues and concerns connected to religion and spirituality are important not only for the students but also for the parents, families, and the community to which they belong. Educators need to take these valid concerns of parents and families into account to ensure that the schooling environment does not impose certain values on students and learners. Hassan also indicates that it is important to maintain a student's identity in the schooling process. Educators have to make substantive and meaningful changes to ensure that parents and communities feel confident that this will happen. We should not be surprised by this concern when we take a look at the colonial history of Ghana, where many communities lost their children in a schooling system dominated by Christian missionaries. As these children returned from school, they felt alienated because they were taught in school that their communities and parents were savages. We cannot repeat this history. Hassan makes a further significant point regarding class and its association with children attending schools who come from religious minorities. Because of the social structure and the way resources are distributed along the lines of religion, Muslim students come from a class that is not privileged in terms of monetary resources. Consequently, Muslim parents cannot afford to send their children to schools. This point highlights the interlocking system of oppression whereby the intersections of class and religion may serve to prevent a community from fully participating in the schooling process. Educators need to take these interlocking aspects of difference seriously as (in the context of this discussion) we all too often tend to focus solely on the issue of class, while failing to recognize how class intersects with other forms of difference such as religion and spirituality. If we wish to fully incorporate difference in the form of religion and spirituality in Ghanaian schooling it is imperative that we take this intersection of differences into account. It is invariably the case that issues related to class prevent students who belong to religious minorities from fully participating in school activities, as they feel de-valued in the schooling system in terms of access, representation, and validation (e.g., tuition fees, administrative support, resources, voice, the decision-making process). Religion and spirituality intersect with'minority status. Boama, reflecting on his schooling experience back in Ghana, notes that religion, rather than ethnicity, is an important marker of difference that tends to place one in a minority position:

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 283 At the universities, minorities are mainly based on religion. I realize it is not based on ethnicity. I realize Christians are dominant in the area [rather] than Muslims and other religions. (File Ol-GCS-01: Text units 87-9)

Boama highlights an important point that educators tend to ignore when they fail to acknowledge religion as a marker of difference: the intersection of religion with minority status in the schooling system. As we address issues of religion, therefore, we need to take into consideration the multiple interlocking oppressions and challenges faced by minorities in the schooling system. We need to create an environment where power is deconstructed so that every student can be a subject, and not an 'object,' of difference. By being a subject a student has the opportunity to fully exercise her or his rights in the schooling system and freely express her/his religious identity and spirituality. However, if the issue of difference is ignored in the schooling system the continual harassment, dehumanization, and alienation of learners will continue. The following narrative demonstrates how being a female, and a Muslim, may represent points of negation for some students. Thara, an international student, asserts that her gendered Muslim identity is under constant interrogation and harassment: [A] s a Muslim ... they always tease me, 'Oh, you wear this, you wear that!' Or if you are Muslim this is how the marriage is; if you are Muslim we don't go this way; we don't do this. (File Ol-IS-09: Text units 187-90)

Thara's comments are an important lesson for those educators who fail to see the crucial role religion and spirituality can play in the lives of minoritized students as they navigate the schooling system. If we ignore this as educators, we run the risk of failing to respond to the embodied knowledges, struggles, challenges, and experiences of students like Thara, and in doing so, we become implicated in the production and reproduction of domination and inequity. Her narrative highlights how issues of gender and religion are exploited to negate one's religious identity. Thara points out that since she wears the Hijab, her difference is visible, under constant scrutiny, and is used as an object by dominant bodies to harass and stereotype her gendered role in the Muslim community. Thara's words are an important lesson on the need to address these stereotypes in the school curriculum. They remind us how issues of religious identity need to be discussed and tackled with knowledge sharing so that students feel safe to express their spiritualities and differences.

284 Schooling and Difference in Africa Discussion

As our narratives indicate, religion is a marker of difference that cannot be denied. Any such denial would render many bodies, and the issues interconnected with such bodies, invisible and unacknowledged. In this chapter, we have worked with the twin notions of religion and spirituality, but we have not made the assumption that 'not all religious people are spiritual and not all religious people are religious' (Meehan 2002, 304). In this chapter we emphasize 'spiritual development,' which in Ghana has some of its source in religion, rather than 'developing spirituality,' which has catechetical implications (Meehan 2002). Acknowledging religious differences is a first step towards dealing with the issue of religion as a marker-of difference in an inclusive schooling environment. However, it is important to keep in mind that religion as a marker of difference has interconnections with the questions of gender, race, class, ethnicity, language, and so on. To deny the interconnections between religion and these other markers of difference is to perpetuate another hierarchy. As educators we need to face the diversity of religion and spirituality. We must take into consideration the interlocking systems of oppression, such as gender, ethnicity, language, ability, and class, which are constantly shifting and not static. One of the serious issues that needs to be addressed in Ghanaian schooling is the plight of indigenous religions, an issue with many colonial implications. Learners must be able to express their indigenous religious identity in order to engage with the schooling process. In universities in Ghana, the expression of indigenous religions has been banned (as indicated by one of our participants). This policy needs to be seriously interrogated and reversed to make Ghanaian schooling inclusive. Schooling is for all students despite their differences, which need to be acknowledged and integrated rather than used for exclusionary practices. As educators we cannot stay apathetic to such exclusionary practices, in the clear understanding that education is a social process filled with power relations built on social, political, and historical underpinnings. Many of the issues that students face, in terms of indigenous religions, are colonial remnants that still permeate Ghanaian schooling and the society of which the schools are a part. As educators we have the responsibility to challenge and decolonize Ghanaian schooling in order to assert the difference and diversity among Ghanaians that is interlinked with knowledge production. One step forward in this process is to challenge and work towards reversing the ban on indigenous religions in Ghanaian universities.

Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 285

For Ghanaian schooling to be inclusive, the question of representation at all levels needs to be addressed. As this chapter demonstrates, religion as a marker of difference needs to be addressed in terms of the various bodies represented in the schooling process (e.g., faculty, students, administrators, other educators), the allocation of resources, pedagogy, scheduling of holidays, decision making bodies, school activities, texts and so on. Unless these issues are addressed, all learners will not feel relevant in the schooling process; they will remain at the periphery. As educators, it is important to hear diverse bodies. As the narratives here demonstrate, different bodies raise different issues regarding acknowledging and addressing the question of religion and spirituality in Ghanaian schooling. Moreover, as educators we also need to interrogate the social locations of such bodies, as this kind of information will provide a context from which we can understand why a certain body raises a certain issue. It is by listening to different voices that as educators we can develop a circle of issues that need to be addressed in terms of religion and spirituality in Ghanaian schooling. As educators, we might assume that bringing different bodies together will bring integration and harmony among them. But this is not the case, as the narratives on interfaith relations indicate. Learners manoeuvre through the schooling process according to the locations that constitute their identity, one of which includes their religion. Interfaith relations are permeated with power relations, such that learners divide themselves according to the lines of religion. Furthermore, religion as a marker of difference dictates the persons with whom a learner associates, the kind of activities in which she or he participates, the kind of food s/he eats, the kind of space s/he occupies, and the way s/he expresses her/his spirituality. Such issues need to taken into serious consideration by educators to create an environment where students can truly integrate across religious lines, which is important for the processes of knowledge sharing and knowledge production. To this end, educators need to understand the power relations that are prevalent among different bodies by allocating resources accordingly and distributing power relations equitably. Educators need to work with diverse bodies that are marginalized and silenced in order to make sure their voices and issues are represented. They also need to work with those who belong to dominant groups to make them understand their privilege and to work with it in order to redistribute resources and power relations. Education is meant to be a humanizing experience, and learners are meant to be subjects, rather than objects, of difference. By working with learners, rather than for learners, educators maintain learners as agents, rather than objects, of change.

286 Schooling and Difference in Africa

One of the challenges of addressing the issues of religion and spirituality in the schooling context is to do it in an inclusive manner rather than creating a hierarchy of values and faiths. In Ghanaian schooling, many Christian denominational schools exist that tend to perpetuate this hierarchy. This is problematic for learners who do not belong to the majority religion. Learners' religions and spiritualities need to be incorporated for spiritual development rather than for indoctrination. The question of dogma is very important and needs to be challenged. In many instances, where there is no professed valuing of a certain religion, as is the case with some universities and colleges, there is a hidden curriculum that tends to condemn expression of any form of spirituality, yet the scheduling of holidays still observes the Christian faith. Both ends of the spectrum are problematic. Educators need to address the issues of religion and spirituality in their complexity rather than with a quick-fix approach that may lead to the exclusion of certain bodies. To incorporate spirituality into schooling, it is important for educators to work with different communities and develop strategies for inclusion. But such procedures need to take up the questions of power, as they differ from one community to the next. For instance, members of indigenous religions face more barriers in having their spirituality acknowledged and incorporated than do those who come from organized religions. Educators must work for equity over equality and understand the social implications of doing so. The challenge is to work with communities with the understanding that the playing field is not level. Religion and spirituality can no longer be ignored in Ghanaian schooling, as they play an important role in the learner's engagement with the schooling process. As this chapter indicates, many issues require attention and all are important. The goal of acknowledging and incorporating spirituality is to help learners express and share their whole selves.

11 Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities

Contemporary world events demonstrate how the issues of difference and diversity are pressingly relevant. A plethora of concerns and demands call attention to the urgent need for multicultural, multilingual, and inclusive education. A rich body of literature has emerged in recent years that explores various educational policies and methods dealing with issues of difference and diversity in pluralistic contexts (Iram 2003; Schecter and Cummins 2003; Swiniarski and BreiteBorde 2003; Appelbaum 2002; Campbell 2002; Sanchez-Casal and MacDonald 2002; Nieto 2002). It is evident, that there are points of convergence and divergence in discussions of the possibilities and limits of inclusive education in North American/Canadian or African/Ghanaian contexts. We recognize that concepts like 'North American schools' and 'African schools' are indeed complex and that the challenges facing schools, whether in the United States, Canada, or North America in general, are very different than the ones facing those in Ghana and other African countries. However, we are engaging in broader philosophical and theoretical discussions that cut across the specifics of schooling in these diverse contexts. The intellectual engagement with North American schooling emerges from our prior research work with Canadian schools, and such acquired knowledge on the possibilities of inclusive schooling can help inform ongoing challenges of promoting inclusive schooling in Ghanaian contexts. As noted, one of the important features of our research is bringing a comparative lens to the subject of difference in multicultural and inclusive education. We do this byway of including in our research numerous interviews of groups of Ghanaian-Canadians. Many of these individuals have personally experienced the schooling system in both Ghana and

288 Schooling and Difference in Africa

Canada. Their comparing of the educational issues of difference and diversity in the two countries brings new impetus to our research and opens the way for analysis of cultural and ethnic plurality on a comparative basis. In general, this segment of the research focuses on three important areas affecting our notions of difference and diversity. First, it emerges through a comparison of understandings and conceptualizations of difference and diversity in Canadian and Ghanaian societies. Second, it explores, on a comparative basis, the processes and methods leading to the exclusion and inclusion of social groups and students in the two countries. And third, it looks into the possibilities for learning from each other and sharing experiences. In Ghana, issues and concerns of difference and diversity emerge from the richly multi-ethnic, multicultural, multilingual, and multi-religious character of society. They also emerge from differences in gender, socio-economic background, (dis) ability, place of birth, place of residence, and so forth. As far as categories and markers of difference and diversity are concerned, the Ghanaian case is not much different from the Canadian case. There are, however, dissimilarities (and similarities) in understandings and interpretations of difference and its intersection with identity. Aside from being a naturally multi-ethnic and multicultural society, Canada is also an immigrant society. In Canada, multi-ethnic and multicultural issues and policies are directly related to not only Canada's initial concerns with cultural and lingual plurality, but also to the continuous international migration of people to Canada, partly as a result of European colonialism, partly owing to Canada's need for migrant labour, and partly through the functioning of the current global economy. Like Ghana, Canada is a richly multicultural, multi-ethnic, and pluralistic society. Furthermore, both societies are grappling with issues of inclusivity, equity, and fairness, not only in schooling and education but, more importantly, in their nation-building processes and national integration programs. Schooling in both North America and Africa is still shaped by the notion that education must lead to better occupational opportunities and jobs. While a few individual teachers and students may hold the Freirian view that schools can, and should, exist for other reasons, the connection of education and schooling with the job market is clearly understood by students, teachers, school administrators, and the general public. Such an understanding is strongly reflected in debates about the 'internationalization and marketization of education,' which currently

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 289

appears to be a global trend (Wit 2002; Yang 2002; Claussen 1994). It is also reflected in on-going educational reforms in many developing countries under the auspices and dictates of the World Bank and IMF (Konadu-Agyemang 2001; Easterly 2001; Nelson 1999; Heneveld and Craig 1996; Jones 1992). A critical discursive dialogue can challenge overly commercialized, market-driven education and calls for an education that builds the individual and collective worth of learners as responsible and critically conscious human beings who appreciate one another and fulfil their obligations to a larger citizenry or community. While it is true that Africa is not outside of, or immune to, current global market forces, a genuine African schooling system must meet local (African) needs as opposed to those dictated by the global market economy (Teferra and Altbach 2003; Maloka and le Roux 2001; Brock-Utne 2000; Federici et al. 2000; Bassey 1999). By highlighting local responses to questions about difference, diversity, development, and responsibility, educators and policy-makers can understand, evaluate, and reform African education from within in such a way that it responds to local community needs. It is our understanding that educationists, policy-makers, politicians, social scientists, and activists can learn a lot from the experiences in each country. To this end, we present this chapter as a comparative look at some of the experiences in the two countries. Our main focus is to contextualize the perceptions on difference and diversity in the educational settings of students and teachers who have experienced schooling in both Ghana and Canada. Conceptualizing Notions of Difference: Minority and Majority An important learning objective for our study was to see the ways in which notions of difference and diversity were conceptualized, theorized, and defined in the case of each respondent. As a matter of fact, there was not much difference between the ways the two concepts were articulated by the respondents. Generally speaking, the terms difference and diversity were used to distinguish students and groups from different racial, ethnic, or regional backgrounds as well as from various socioeconomic, cultural, religious, linguistic, and gender backgrounds. In turn, these sites and markers of difference were used to identify and distinguish different individuals and groups from one another. Thus, 'identities' and identification processes were strongly linked to various markers of difference.

290 Schooling and Difference in Africa

In effect, identity and representation were explored as not entirely fixed or unchanging notions but possessing a degree of fluidity and flexibility. In general terms, identity was described as the all-encompassing self that included an understanding of one's background that might include the markers of race, class, gender, language, dis/ability, or sexual orientation. In this sense, identity implied both uniqueness and sameness in relation to others. For example, a student's identity could be constructed from her or his perception of individuality or uniqueness, as well as her/his relation to her/his peer group, school, or even ethnic group. In the following pages we will look into some of the issues regarding notions of representation and identification processes in the narratives of our respondents. Monta comes from the northern region of Ghana. As a doctoral student in a Canadian university, this Ghanaian-Canadian student brings with him a unique and diverse set of schooling experiences given that he has studied in Ghana, Tunisia, Malta, and Canada. Here he discusses different aspects of representations of diversity in Ghana and Canada: I got attention to these issues when I came here and outside Ghana, meeting colleagues, in our discussions and sharing our educational experiences ... I think it is quite obvious that the North American context is very multicultural, whether it is being advocated or not. So it leads to different kinds of discourses. I will not parallel that kind of discussions here to that of Ghana. From experience, I will say it was inclusive back home. Because there is no question of representation, you don't question things. You just pursue your education and you find yourself in the leeway. But here it is vital for survival. I guess it also depends largely to some extent on self-representation. (File Ol-GCS-05: Text units 137-49)

Monta makes the point that Canada is very multicultural. As such, difference is central to the representation of its peoples. Although Ghana is also multicultural, discussion about difference is avoided. In Canadian schools, the expression of difference and individuality is a form of selfrepresentation. To a certain extent Monta sees Ghanaian contexts as more inclusive, since there is a primary emphasis on similarities rather than differences. The sense of inclusivity within the Ghanaian context, however, de-emphasizes the differences between ethnic majority and minority groups. According to Monta, in Ghana 'you don't question things.' In Canada, questioning the authorities in terms of proportional representation and acknowledgment of difference 'is vital for survival.'

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities

291

As the majority of respondent narratives in this book clearly show, the majority of minority students in Ghana do indeed question the educational policy-makers and authorities. Some of them do not find the school environment inclusive of their backgrounds, experiences, and languages, and many of them speak out against it. Admittedly, they may not constantly question the exclusionary policies, attitudes, and actions of the dominant group; however, this does not mean that they are unaware of the existence of inequities, inequalities, and differential treatments. Although in Canada a tradition of transparent discourse and discussion on issues of difference and diversity has developed to a considerable extent, such discussions and discourses are absent in the Ghanaian political culture. They are, however, beginning to emerge, as the findings of our research clearly indicate. Mansa is a Ghanaian-Canadian student from an Akan background in southern Ghana who has completed her doctoral program at a Canadian university. She mentions some differences in the articulations of issues of minority, ethnicity, and representation in the two countries: Minority, I think we have to restrict it to the Canadian, North American usage because in Ghana we don't usually talk of minorities. There, we talk of ethnic groups. But here they are talking about people who are not on the mainstream. (File Ol-GCS-08: Text units 36-9)

The use of the term minority in the Canadian context is clear to Mansa in that it represents groups of people who are not included within the domain of the dominant group, its culture, and its bases of social, political, and economic power. As a result, they do not have access to the privileges and advantages that such inclusion entails. In general the term minority in the Canadian context alludes to immigrants who are new to the country and who are often marginalized and denied a share in the power and material resources of society. It also applies to individuals and groups with visible markers of race, ethnicity, religion, language, skin colour, place of birth, socio-economic background, culture, as well as sexual orientation and physical disability. In the Ghanaian context there seems to be an avoidance of all discussion related to who is marginalized (with regards to ethnicity, for instance) from the mainstream. However, there is a clear understanding that there are many ethnicities within Ghana. The reason for this discrepancy in perception may be the fact that issues of difference and diversity have been addressed differently in the two countries. While the Ghanaian education system has not addressed

292 Schooling and Difference in Africa

such diversity issues in any coherent and systematic way, the North American and Canadian education systems and their curriculum designers have been grappling with issues of integration, inclusion, and multicultural education going as far back as the civil rights movement in the United States. Mansa also observes some aspects of gender and class-based discrimination: Back in Ghana there were issues that we wouldn't even question. We lived in Adehye Hall. We had all entered university. We qualified to be there but then you could see the gender discrimination. Like the SRC it is always a guy who is the president. All the department heads are men. The hall wardens are men. It is only in Adehye Hall that is different because it is an allfemale hall. Girls can't even talk. We are silenced most of the time because these guys will just get up and say all sorts of disparaging things about us. Now you come here and you see how important it is for women to be given a voice too. And when we are giving voice to women we are acknowledging difference. When you put it on a larger scale, [you see] not ethnic difference and gender difference alone, but class [differences as well]. Must people stop school because they are poor? The way we pick on students that don't dress well and students from particular ethnic groups and all of those things. Sometimes we don't tolerate difference and our way of doing it is so subtle that you don't really feel its influence on the students. (File 01-GCS08: Text units 516-32)

From Mansa's observations it is easy to see the intersections between different sites of oppression such as ethnicity, gender, and class. In Mansa's case, she was drawn to talk about gender issues over those of ethnicity perhaps because of her sex. As a woman coming from a dominant group in Ghana, Mansa has a keen sense of gender-based inequality. However, being a member of the dominant Akan group, she does not demonstrate an equal degree of sensitivity towards ethnic-based exclusions. She also incorporates issues of class in a way that balances her comments on gender marginalization. In other words, she identifies with being oppressed.as a woman in Ghana but then positions herself in a class from which she questions her own privileged perspective that does not tolerate 'students that don't dress well.' This demonstrates the shifting nature of power based on one's relative place within a group, as well as in the larger society.

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 293

Tengi is an undergraduate student in geography at a Canadian university who has also been schooled in Ghana. He expands on how the term minority is used comparatively in the Ghanaian and Canadian contexts: Say if you are from Africa or Asia and you are born here, I think it depends on what time that person's family came to Canada. If you talk of Canada to me, everybody is a foreigner in Canada because even the Caucasians came from Europe; right? So it depends on what generation. If it is a generation from time immemorial. I will not consider it as a minority but if it is a generation from previous years then I will consider it as a minority. So ... I think somebody who was born here is still a minority. If you talk about it in the broad context he is still considered as a minority. (File 01-GCS-ll: Text units 118-26) In Ghana, we are all from the same country like Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, etc. We are from the same country. But here, there are a lot of minorities in Canada. We are not all from Canada. We are people from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and other continents. The reason why it is different is that the minorities are not from here but from different parts of the world, whereas in Ghana all the ethnicities are from the country. So that is the difference I know between Ghana and Canada. (File 01-GCS-ll: Text units 276-82)

Tengi looks at the minority concept in terms of one's place of birth, place of origin, and the relevance of these to where one lives. The important point he makes is that in Canada, minorities mostly come from other countries, while in Ghana, minorities mostly come from different ethnic groups within Ghana itself. The terms minority (in the Canadian sense) and ethnicity .(in the Ghanaian sense) are similar in that they both refer to groups that are not mainstream and have relocated from their place of origin - in the case of Canada from different countries and in Ghana from different regions. Tengi does not look at 'minority status' in terms of power relations determining access to resources and privileges. The salient aspect of his conception of 'minority' concerns a sense of belonging to a country, a territory, and nation-state. His migrant status in Canada prevents him from seeing Canada as an original homeland. He is coming from somewhere else and as such he believes his origins are not rooted in Canada. Feelings of dislocation and displacement such as these are common among the majority of exiles and migrants who (due to a variety of racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural, and other

294 Schooling and Difference in Africa

barriers) do not see themselves as 'fitting in' within the host society. It is a feeling of living in-between, of not belonging entirely in one place, and of not being fixed to a particular territory. It is a condition that migration imposes upon migrants. Such conditions, however, are also reinforced by the way one is received and treated in the new society. Thus, while Tengi harbours feelings of dislocation and perceptions of minority status, such feelings may fluctuate depending on how the host community views his status as an immigrant. Tengi's emphasis on notions of home, origin, and migration may suggest the possibility that immigrants like him are not made to 'feel at home' in Canada. As opposed to other Canadians, immigrants like Tengi may feel minoritized in Canada, partly because 'minoritized' is how the dominant group in Canada views and treats them. Thus, although immigrants may be fully accepted as Canadian citizens, such acceptance does not guarantee equal treatment and equal access in the real society. Comparisons of School Environments and Educational Settings

Following the educational effects of the American civil rights movement, attempts were made by North American educators and the educational establishment to integrate racial and ethnic minorities into the school systems. Racial integration discourse in the 1960s and 1970s was followed by further attempts to take into account class issues and the needs of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The 1960s also saw the rise of feminism and the women's movement, which vigorously put the issues of gender inequality on the educational agenda. Concomitant with gender-based struggles, the needs of disabled children, as well as of linguistic minorities, were also advocated. In addition, vigorous efforts were made in the 1980s to fully include students of different sexual orientations in both curriculum and school activities. All these curricular innovations and educational transformations have served the cause of consciousness-raising among both the Canadian public and Canadian students. This in itself does not mean the issues have been truly addressed. But Ghana's educational system has not been able to pursue curricular and educational changes similar to those undertaken in Canada. In this respect, the two cases differ to a great extent. Let us view some of the respondents' narratives to this effect Before moving to Canada, Cindy taught home science at the primary school level. She points out some differences between schooling in Ghana and in Canadian contexts:

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 295 Well, over here [Canada], you know, I can say I have been to the classroom. I had a friend who had difficulty with the language sometimes when she had to discuss something in class. When we had a test, she went to ask the teacher to use a Greek dictionary before she [could] explain herself. So, over here, you see, it is much more [transparent] ... You know, even though we are minorities, in the same class, I mean, there are different people and you feel it. But compared to back home, you don't feel it there ... I have been to the classroom so I know how it is. And when I came here, at first, the English language even though we use English, even though my spoken English was good or what, but you know over here, you have to do more. It is totally different from back home. (File OO-GCE-18: Text units 40-52) [O]ver here they see you like an individual human being. It is different. Once we were given family assignments to do and I selected immigration refugee camp families, and the way I wrote that essay and the way I expressed myself the teacher was so surprised. And I said, 'You have to believe that because the individual that you see in the classroom is the same person so you better treat them right from here because you are going to meet the same people over there.' (File OO-GCE-18: Text units 272-83)

Cindy notices that in her Canadian classroom there are resources for students who need supplemental facilities in order to understand the class lessons. This implies that not all students are treated the same way. This allows students to better adapt to the curriculum. However, she also points out the fact that she felt 'the difference' in the classroom. This experience was unlike the situation back home where she did not notice either her own difference or the differences of other students. This may have been due to a feeling of exclusion or a feeling of inadequacy since she was having difficulties with the English language. Her second statement, however, evokes a sense of pride in the way students are treated as individuals in the Canadian classroom. In this way, students have a means of expressing their identity and individuality, which allows them to stand out. She speaks of being able to freely express herself and tell her stories. Likewise, one of the important observations that Cindy makes has to do with 'feeling the difference.' In the particular Canadian classroom that Cindy refers to, a person may not be fluent in the dominant language and may ask the teacher to use 'a Greek dictionary.' From Cindy's viewpoint it means that this person does not try to hide her different linguistic or ethnic background. She is not 'ashamed' or uncomfortable to

296 Schooling and Difference in Africa

say in front of everybody that she speaks a different language and needs to consult her dictionary. Being different, in other words, is not discouraged. The credit goes to the school system that provides students with a space in which they are encouraged to be proud of who they are and where they come from. Conversely, from Cindy's narrative regarding 'back home' it can be seen that this is not the case in the Ghanaian schooling system. It is nonethelss important to realize that the Canadian education system is still grappling with issues of exclusion, racism, and the differential treatment of students. The advantage that the Canadian education system may have over its Ghanaian counterpart in terms of 'addressing difference' should not be taken to indicate that there is full, equal, and equitable access. Yori is a graduate student at a Canadian university. He comes from the central region of Ghana. With his background studies in information systems, Yori compares the technological resources available in Ghanaian and Canadian schools and the differences in pedagogical practices: I like the Ghanaian school system because over there the professor comes and he teaches; but here it is not like that. Here the professor comes and he just keeps on showing slides ... But in Ghana, depending on the class you take, if it is a technology-based course and if it keeps on changing a lot they tend not to have a lot of books on those technology-based courses so the professor or the teacher will tell you or give you all the stuff. So, like, what you produce, whatever you use, the course notes or the lecture notes that's what will be required but here you have the books so they come and they push everything on you. So you will have to go and do your research. But in Ghana they will teach you and you will understand it and you will understand it before you start writing your exam. (File Ol-GCS-06: Text units 233-50) The main problem is that you don't have ready access to the Internet. Unlike this place where you can just go on the Internet and you get a whole batch of information for your project or for any assignment that you have been given. But in Ghana, the connection to the Internet is through the phone lines. Getting access to the computer is limited. You can't be on the Internet till you break. You have a time frame that you have to get up when it is somebody's turn. But here you can search and search and search. (File Ol-GCS-06: Text units 266-76)

Yori observes that the difference in teaching styles between Ghanaian and Canadian professors is related to the availability of resources. In

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 297

Ghana, where the resources are not as readily accessible, it becomes the responsibility of the professor as an expert in her or his field to explain everything in a lecture, thus giving everyone access to the information at hand. By contrast, since resources such as books, current articles, and high-speed Internet access is quite readily accessible to students in Canada, the professors adopt a different type of teaching style whereby they act more like facilitators of learning by creating forums for discussion and question raising. The students are then expected to independently investigate further. Thus, in the Ghanaian case, there is more dependence and reliance on teachers and professors. As a result, a closer teacher-student interaction and relationship may develop. In Canada this may not be the case, given the degree of relative independence that students have from their teachers and professors in pursuing their research and study. Adagu is a graduate student at a Canadian university who has lived all his life in Ghana and has recently come to Canada. He speaks about some strategies in the Canadian educational system that allows students to succeed in school. Here you have so much resources that sometimes it even becomes a problem to limit yourself here. You have all the books and at the general level you have more time to interact with your instructors than you would back home. There are more instructors and so there is more time for you to go to them. Back home there are very few instructors relative to the number of students so that is one big plus that I have here. Here there is also the attempt to put the student first that everything has to be at the convenience of the students. Like, it is not a problem to seek an extension if you have a genuine cause. These are some of the things that help students to cope. (File Ol-GCS-07: Text units 327-36)

Adagu's observation about the availability of resources (both supplies and abundance of teachers) in Canadian schools points to the saliency of recognizing the intersection between higher education and access to needed resources. Students may become discouraged if they cannot fully benefit from their studies. As a result, fewer students may continue on to higher education, and thus fewer instructors will emerge in the future. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that the availability of resources is not something that the educational authorities in Ghana are unaware of. On the contrary, they understand the importance of resources and try very hard to provide them. However, the fundamental problem in this

298 Schooling and Difference in Africa

case does not lie with the authorities and school administrators in Ghana; rather it is Ghana's overall economic, industrial, and infrastructural standing in the world, as compared to Canada, that is at issue. It is obvious that, as a post-colonial African country, Ghana cannot compete with a G-8 member like Canada when it comes to the availability of resources and facilities. Canada is one of the richest countries in the world, with a very advanced economy, industry, and level of technological development and infrastructure, and an abundance of resources and facilities. Thus, Adagu's comparison of the differences in the availability of resources in the two countries cannot be fully grasped unless the place of the two countries within the current global economy is fully understood. Togo is a Ghanaian-Canadian undergraduate student in sociology and political science at a Canadian university. He talks not only about the limitations and scarcity of resources such as textbooks and facilities in Ghanaian schools but, more importantly, of the peripheral systems that may support students while they are in school. These systems are government loans/funding and support personnel such as guidance counsellors. He says: In terms of having access to the school system, it is a matter of having the money to pay your tuition and extra things that you will need the money for when you are in the boarding institution. There isn't any kind of system in place back home to put us on equal footing like what we have here. Here the government is taking care of everybody even if you don't have the money, the system is created in such a way that you will be able to get a loan, go to school, when you finish get a job and you will be able to pay for your loan. Which makes it very easy for students all over. (File Ol-GCS-10: Text units 40-8)

The economics of schooling (e.g., financial support, resources, and facilities) remains among the most significant concerns of all students. In Canadian settings such concerns are usually taken for granted, in the sense that once you enter a university or a college in Canada, there is always some sort of financial support, however inadequate, to help you through your education. Canada is also one of the most economically advanced countries in the world. It is therefore understandable that the resources and facilities offered in Ghanaian universities and learning centres are not comparable to those offered by Canadian universities. As discussed in our Chapter on class differences, in Ghana, social and eco-

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities

299

nomic conditions play a crucial role in determining who can be a student, who can perform better in school, who can stay in school and finish the primary and secondary levels of schooling, who can enrol in university, and who can eventually complete a post-secondary education. In additional, necessary facilities and resources as basic as textbooks, computers, and Internet access, to name but a few, are just not available when students in Ghana need them. As Togo puts it, Lack of facilities, scarcity of textbooks; there isn't a direct support in terms of guidance counsellors guiding the students as to where to go and where their weaknesses are and where they are going to excel. All those things are not in place there. Here everything is in place. We see counsellors and they help you know where your strengths are and where your weaknesses are ... which gives you a very good or straight focus as to which direction you should be going. (File Ol-GCS-10: Text units 52-8)

Togo alludes to the fact that access to schooling does not necessarily depend merely on acceptance and being able to fund one's education. Access depends also, he points out, on the support systems that guide students towards a career goal that suits them and, more importantly, shows them the various options and opportunities for social mobility. Access to facilities and resources helps needy students to a great extent as they struggle through the schooling system. That said, this does not preclude the fact that, like Ghana, Canada is also a 'class' society (Li 1988). We still need to explore the notions of class, class division, and class-based inequalities in Canadian contexts. As a matter of fact, in recent years it has become extremely difficult for many students to secure adequate student loans from government agencies to continue their education without interruptions based on financial problems. For instance, a recent Toronto Starreport (6 October 2003, A4) indicated that fewer Canadian students attend universities now in comparison to previous years owing to higher tuition fees and a lack of financial support. The report also mentioned that enrolment in more affordable colleges has gone up as a result of the high cost of university education. In fact, there is a growing body of literature indicating that social-class position continues to situate different student bodies, groups, and communities differently in their relation to knowledge, access to resources, access to education, and general life-chances (Li 1988; Gaskell 1989; Contenta 1993; Smaller 1993; Barlow and Roberston 1994). Thus, Cana-

300 Schooling and Difference in Africa

dian students of all levels may fare well as compared to Ghanaians in terms of having access to facilities and resources, but in terms of classbased divisions, antagonisms, opportunities, and inequalities, there may not be much difference between the two societies. As such, the populations in both societies are subject to similar degrees of exclusion, deprivation, and marginalization that are, more or less, inherent to all classbased societies. As can be seen through the narratives of our respondents, a comparison of issues of difference and diversity in the two countries of Ghana and Canada proves to be significant in a number of important ways. While the Ghanaian government and educational authorities have only recently begun considering the impact of difference and diversity in the schooling and education of students, these issues and concerns have been the subject of numerous debates, policies, and discussions in Canada for quite some time. In most cases our respondents noted that, as a democratic multicultural society, Canada can play an important role in sharing its diversity-related experiences with Ghana. Although the Canadian experience cannot be fully exported to Ghana as such, there are, nonetheless, significant issues and experiences to be shared and learned from in both settings. Canada is an independent country with a population of thirty-one million people. Among the world's various countries, Canada is distinguished for its multiculturalism, resourceful educational facilities, publicly funded health-care system, and effective federal system of governance. But most of all, it is the rich diversity of its residents that sets Canada apart from other countries in the world. It could safely be argued that cultures and languages from all over the globe are represented in Canada, particularly in major metropolitan .centres like Toronto and Vancouver. A great number of the world's immigrants choose Canada as their home, a fact that has essentially made the country a lively mosaic of languages, cultures, religions, races, and communities. One in every ten Canadians is a member of a visible minority. In high-density urban centres such as Toronto and Vancouver the ratio is one in three and one in four, respectively (Driedger and Shiva 2000). Obviously, there is much to be learned from the way the Canadian government, its education systems, and learning centres are dealing with the extraordinarily diverse mosaic that is Canada. Politically, Canada is a federal system with two official languages - English and French - and with a multicultural policy that allows all citizens to flourish as individuals and to preserve and develop their collective identities, cultures, and

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 301

languages as groups and communities. Various provinces and regions in Canada have come together within a federation that has a strong central government and a parliament, while giving a considerable degree of autonomy to each of the provinces and territories. True, the country has had its fair share of exclusionary history, assimilationary policies, and racist practices. Notwithstanding such shortcomings, Canadian multiculturalism and federalism have been successful in bringing together various nationalities, ethnic groups, languages, and religions within a single nation-state. In 1982 the Canadian government included in its constitution an important document that further highlighted the commitment of both Canadian governing bodies and people to the preservation and enhancement of individual rights and freedoms: the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This document was introduced to improve basic individual rights, particularly in areas pertaining to the cultural, linguistic, and mobility rights of all citizens. In terms of education and schooling, there are public, private, and separate schools in Canada. While public schools are fully funded by the government, the others are, for the most part, privately funded and organized. Design and implementation of an 'inclusive curriculum' has been one of the major tasks of Canadian policy-makers and education authorities. Faced with an extremely diverse population in terms of ethnicity, race, gender, class, language, religion, physical ability, culture, and sexual orientation, schools are finding it more and more difficult and extremely challenging to accommodate such extraordinary difference and diversity. The importance of 'inclusive education' and 'inclusive curricula' has been widely realized and acknowledged in Canada - at least among educationists and policy-makers. However, the realization of principles of inclusivity is nowhere near completion. In Canadian schools and learning centres, all too often students of colour, of visible-minority background, as well as those from different religious, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, have been subjected to acts of racism, xenophobia, and exclusion. Likewise, students coming from a non-European country as well as those coming from non-English- and non-French-speaking societies continue to suffer from racism and negative stereotyping. In a similar vein, disabled students and students of non-conventional sexual orientation have not been fully included either in the school environment or curricula. Thus, it is easy to see that similar categories and sites of discrimination serve to exclude students from having equitable access to education in both Ghana and Canada.

302 Schooling and Difference in Africa

In Ghanaian schooling we note that difference is also evoked to either affirm or deny the complexity of integrating different bodies in schooling. While some school administrators, teachers, and students do not critically engage social difference and the asymmetrical power relations that structure the life-chances of the learner, it is clear to most individuals that difference is relevant to understanding the everyday practices of schooling. In Ghana, multicultural education may not be discussed directly, but the assumption underlying this form of education (e.g., the importance of culture, students' identities, and their links to knowledge) can be gleaned in discussions about global and citizenship education. The educators' strategies to achieve global/citizenship education may vary from an approach that avoids difference to one that recognizes the specific contributions of diverse groups and acknowledges their 'presence' as members of a community. But just as in the Canadian and North American contexts, it is apparent in Ghana that for schooling to promote the strengths of difference, an integrative analysis is necessary that recognizes the power of difference and interrogates how questions of identity in terms of culture, ethnicity, class, gender, physical ability, and so on affect knowledge production. As in other pluralistic contexts, we note that schooling in Ghana is a process and a practice mediated by the powerful intersections of ethnicity, class, gender, language, physical ability, religion, and culture. An inclusive schooling system in Ghana (as elsewhere) is one capable of responding to ethnic, cultural, physical, sexual, economic, and other differences among the community of learners. Inclusive schooling is about a demonstrated commitment to addressing the diverse needs of all students. It requires an acknowledgment of the historical and institutional structures and contexts that sustain educational inequities in schools. The narratives of some Ghanaians about the marginalization of difference within the school system suggest that these individuals have developed a theoretical and practical conception of what difference is and what it means for effective social and political practices as they relate to educational change. The educational concerns, issues, and challenges are not that different in Canada than they are in Ghana. What is different is the degree of overall economic growth, industrial development, poverty, and opulence within the two countries. As in the Ghanaian case, there is concern in Canada about geographic and regional differences. Not only are some regions and provinces in Canada culturally, linguistically, and religiously different than others, but many are also different in terms of uneven eco-

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 303

nomic development, distribution of natural resources, as well as access to facilities and resources. For instance, the province of Quebec, in eastern Canada, is predominantly French-speaking and Roman Catholic, with French civil law and a distinctively religious system of education, whereas the province of Ontario in central Canada is populated by a mainly Protestant English-speaking majority. Likewise, Canada's indigenous peoples have their distinct languages, cultures, and ways of life that are fundamentally different from the dominant Canadian culture. Despite years of colonial oppression and domination, the indigenous peoples of Canada maintain their differences and demand that the education system acknowledge and respect those differences by including indigenous peoples and their history in the school curriculum. In addition, one of the goals of the Canadian education system as a whole is to ensure that the poorer provinces and regions have the necessary resources and facilities to provide comparable education for their students in public schools. The same concerns are true of course for schools and students in rural areas, who may not have sufficient resources to maximize their potential. There are similar concerns with 'inner city' schools and schools in the poorer neighbourhoods of major urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver. As in Ghana, the kind of education received in Canada, and the degree of student success or failure, largely depends on one's geographic location, social class, and cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic background. Although there are more opportunities for students in Canada than in Ghana, there is neither equality of condition nor equality of opportunity for students coming from different socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds within Canada. As in Ghana, questions and concerns of 'national unity' and 'national integration' in light of enormous ethnic and cultural diversity have been at the centre of Canadian multiculturalism. Many who oppose the acknowledgment of diversity assert that by supporting ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity, the Canadian government is driving the country towards 'ghettoization,' thereby preventing the development of a unified national identity, national consciousness, national culture, and national language among Canadians of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Nonetheless, the federal and provincial governments in Canada, like the majority of Canadians themselves, are increasingly finding the diversity of the population a great source of strength. In essence, a formidable challenge for the Canadian government lies in the way it is able to 'manage diversity' in a manner that maintains the country's

304 Schooling and Difference in Africa

'unity in diversity,' while at the same time leaving individuals and groups of diverse backgrounds to develop their own language, culture, religion, and ways of living. Final Words

There is much to be learned from the examination of how students, educators, parents, and communities understand difference and diversity and their relevance for schooling and education in an African context. In terms of the advancement of knowledge, our research has pointed in a number of important directions. In general, the following five objectives have emerged as recurring themes throughout the study: (a) 'difference' affects educational change and schooling in African contexts; (b) the specific educational practices pertaining to pedagogy, instruction, curriculum, texts, and discourses that address difference and the intersections of gender, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, physical ability, and class minority issues enhance the learning environment for all students; (c) identity must be linked with schooling and knowledge production; (d) Ghanaian-born educators, students, and parents in Canada reflect on and articulate schooling in Ghana using a knowledge base informed by their experiences in the Canadian setting; (e) difference and diversity have serious implications for schooling, for peace education, and for democratic citizenship participation in Ghana and in Africa. Arguably, critical educational research on inclusive schooling in Africa has two challenges. First, research must interrogate existing approaches and practices that alienate minorities. It should also suggest specific creative ways for transforming conventional schooling so that it better serves the needs of diverse student bodies. Second, educational research must ensure a sustained contribution to social development by demonstrating the possibilities for the educational knowledge obtained in individual schools, colleges, and universities to be used effectively to contribute to the formulation of comprehensive strategies for genuine and fundamental structural changes. The present research contributes to addressing these challenges by providing significant lessons on how knowledge about these innovative practices can inform debates on educational change and guide broader policy initiatives in national and transnational settings. The appropriateness and timeliness of works such as this one is clearly evident, particularly in the light of the ever-increasing support of the international financial community for educational reforms in Africa and elsewhere.

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities

305

The findings of the study contained here constitute both a theoretical and a practical reflection on education for change as we move into the twenty-first century. Given the importance of difference and diversity, in and for inclusive education, throughout this study, a particular emphasis is placed on identifying and investigating school practices that promote inclusion by addressing difference and diversity, both in and among student populations. Our research findings contribute to the development of a body of knowledge for educational change in Africa. By utilizing the knowledge gained from ongoing research related to Canadian contexts, we are able to offer a comparative analysis of the efficacy of various models of minority education adopted in environments characterized by difference and diversity. Throughout this study we highlight four significant areas for the advancement of knowledge: First, from diverse vantage points in comparative contexts, the study points to local conceptions of what it means to acknowledge and affirm social difference in schooling initiatives. Second, the study provides critical information on how educators, learners, and policy-makers in diverse settings link identity (ethnic, gender, class, physical ability, linguistic, cultural, and religious) with schooling and knowledge production. Third, the study shows how the relational aspects of difference and diversity affect the pursuit of educational reform in African contexts, as many aspects of the educational reforms are largely neglected in official policies. And fourth, the study points to the complexities of minority education in comparative contexts. To address these four issues and their implications for critical education, we have developed the theoretical and practical underpinnings of minority education and inclusive schooling in African contexts. Our main thesis is that African schools are well placed to learn from strategies for inclusive, integrative approaches to learning and education in other pluralistic contexts, while understanding their own unique contexts and histories. Contemporary African schooling has powerful connections with colonial education. Resisting and rejecting the colonial relations and structures of schooling poses a challenge. By exploring school and particular teaching practices that promote inclusive schooling, research is pointing to innovative ways to enhance learning for a diverse student body in Africa. We believe it is important to engage Ghanaians in local communities in follow-up discussions, using documents developed from this research as the springboard (codes) for further reflection and for the planning of some follow-up action, activities, and programs. In this respect, we pro-

306 Schooling and Difference in Africa

pose two areas of focus: First, to ensure that children from low-income families have access not just to basic education but to the necessary resources to support their learning. Questions of poverty in urban and rural settings to address the needs of poor children would be discussed, sharing the views, concerns, experiences, and recommendations of study participants as well. This issue would centre on the question of schoolage child poverty and the differing economic capital of families with school-age children. Second would be an international and national focus on girl-child education, which has been making a difference in Africa, and of which the participants here speak encouragingly, particularly in terms of the need to change attitudes and provide supports. Also to be included would be the work that has been done in modifying school practices to meet the needs of rural farming communities. Many gains on these issues have been noted, and still more gains need to be made. Just as it has been important to focus discussion, policies, and practices on educating the girl-child in Africa, so too it is important to centre a discussion on the specificity of educating the poor child in distinct settings, namely the urban and rural poor. We need to develop specific working documents on what the different participants in our study are saying about these issues, just as we need to develop locally based solutions for various educational problems. One other issue that should be developed for discussion during this pilot sharing of research for the purposes of developing similar working groups is the question of language maintenance, language acquisition, and language development within the context of Ghanaian schooling. Much has emerged on the tensions of acquiring, maintaining, and developing English and other international languages for the purposes of both Ghanaian students and Ghana itself having and holding on to their place in the international community and the world of opportunities. How do students maintain and develop their local languages? How can the teaching of these different languages be supported in educational policies and practices in different schools? What training do teachers need? What curricula and school practices are suitable and adequate to support and promote learning of the different Ghanaian languages while also supporting the proficiency of Ghanaian students in international languages? The above questions, and others similar to them, have emerged in the criticism of the literacy work of Paulo Freire and Amilcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau. The well-known Brazilian educator Paulo Freire's pedagogical instructions and letters to the new education authorities in

Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 307 Guinea Bissau during the mid-1970s have been published in a work entitled Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea Bissau. Here Freire talks about his involvement in the adult education program in Guinea Bissau from May 1975 to October 1976. The book also contains seventeen letters from Freire to Amilcar Cabral, the Commissioner of State for Education and Culture, and his team of educators in Guinea Bissau. Through these letters, Freire instructs the educators in the newly liberated Guinea Bissau to advance the cause of learning and education. Though extremely valuable in many respects, Freire's instructions, observations, and insight fail to pay due attention to local languages, language issues, and the necessity of education in one's own mother tongue. By contrast, Ngugi Wa Thiongo's (1986) work Decolonizing the Mind speaks strongly to the question of maintaining and developing proficiencies in African languages. As Ngugi puts it, [T] he biggest weapon wielded and actually daily unleashed by imperialism against that collective defiance [the oppressed and the exploited of the earth] is the cultural bomb. The effect of a cultural bomb is to annihilate a people's belief in their names, in their languages, in their environment, in their heritage of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and ultimately in themselves. It makes them see their past as one wasteland of non-achievement and it makes them want to distance themselves from that wasteland. It makes them want to identify with that which is furthest removed from themselves; for instance, with other peoples' languages rather than their own. (1986, ii) Language issues are very important, not only in the processes of identity formation, but also in the processes of learning, and in psychological, spiritual, mental, and cognitive development. Language is also central when it comes to notions of exclusion, othering, and stigmatization. The participating students, parents, and teachers in this study interact with the language question with varying degrees of tension. In-depth followup discussions on these issues are critical, particularly around the issues regarding international linguistic capital and the portability of education, alongside concern for the survival and development of African languages and cultures. Dealing with issues of difference and diversity in schooling is becoming a worldwide concern for many educators and education systems. This book has looked into the results of our multi-year field research and study in Ghana and Canada on inclusive education and the issues emerging

308 Schooling and Difference in Africa

from difference and diversity. It has explored the respondents' perceptions about differences in Ghanaian and Canadian student populations and the ways in which authorities are addressing them. Drawing on the respondents' voices and lived experiences, the book has interrogated the methods by which the North American and African education systems deal with issues of difference and diversity within student populations. The learning objective here has been to discuss and examine the ways in which the lived experiences of the study participants inform their shared, competing, and contested understandings of the challenges of inclusive schooling in pluralistic contexts. Looking at Canadian federalism as a successful experiment in democratic nation building, we have discussed here some lessons that can be learned from the Canadian model, particularly in dealing with multicultural and multilingual issues. In a similar vein, the Canadian federal system, which supports the individual rights and freedoms of its citizenry, has been useful in illustrating the interconnections and inter dependencies among various branches of governing bodies, the functioning of political power, the organization of civil society as well as a multiplicity of issues and concerns emerging from multi-culturality and multilinguality. If notions of difference and diversity are acknowledged by powerful governing bodies in society, and if such bodies regard it as their duty to address such issues in fair and humane ways, it will become much easier to deal with such issues in schools and learning centres. Conversely, if governments and political organizations ignore the pluralistic aspects of their respective societies, the schools and education systems will have a much harder time dealing with such issues. Compared to the Ghanaian case, Canadian schools and the education system have been somewhat successful in addressing difference and diversity among student populations, partly because the Canadian government has acknowledged the existence of pluralism in the larger society and has undertaken to address it in a democratic manner. This is an invaluable experience that educational authorities and governing bodies can share and benefit from in addressing the crucial issues of difference and diversity in the Ghanaian context.

References

Abosi, O. 2000. 'Trends and Issues in Special Education in Bostwana.'/ownwz/ of Special Education 34, 1: 48-53. Adamson, G.W., et al. 1982. Educational Modulation Center: Model for Education of Learning Disability Children. Lawrence: University of Kansas School of Education. Afenyadu, D. 1998. 'Changes in Practice and Students' Aspirations in the Era of Globalisation.' Papers in Education, Training and Enterprise No. 1. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Centre of African Studies. - 1999. 'Learning to Compete: Ghana Synthesis.' Papers in Education, Training and Enterprise No. 22. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Centre of African Studies. Agboka, G. 2000. 'Teacher Trainees to Be Sanctioned.' Report in Ghana Daily Graphic. Agyemang, H. 2002. 'The Structural Adjustment Programme and the Poverty Level in Ghana.' University of Ghana, Diploma thesis, Accra. Ahmad, A. 1995. 'The Politics of Literary Post-Coloniality.' Race and Class 36, 3:1-20. Ahmad, E. 2000. Confronting Empire. Cambridge: South End Press. Akyeampong, K, and M.K. Levin 2002. 'From Student Teachers to Newly Qualified Teachers in Ghana: Insights into Becoming a Teacher.' The Centre for International Education, University of Sussex Institute of Education. Alexander, M.J., and C.T. Mohanty., eds. 1997. Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures. Routledge: New York. Alwy, A., and S. Schech. 2004. 'Ethnic Inequalities in Education in Kenya.' International Education Journal5, 2: 266-74. Amin, S. 1973. Neo-Colonialism in West Africa. New York and London: Monthly Review Press.

310 References - 1992. The Empire of Chaos. New York: New York Monthly Review Press. Anderson, K. 2000. 'Thinking "Positionally": Dialogue across Multiculural, Indigenous and Settler Spaces.' Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90, 2: 381-91. Anderson, M.L., and P.H. Collins. 1995. 'Toward Inclusive Thinking through the Study of Race, Class, and Gender.' In M.L. Anderson and P.H. Collins, eds., Race, Class and Gender. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth Publishing. Anderson-Levitt, ELM., M. Bloch, and A.M. Soumare. 1998. 'Inside Classrooms in Guinea: Girls' Experiences.' In M. Bloch, J.A. Beoku-Betts, and B.R. Tabachnick, eds, Women and Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Power, Opportunities and Constraints: Women and Change in the Developing World, 99-130. London and Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Ansell, N. 2002. 'Secondary Education Reform in Lesotho and Zimbabwe and the Needs of Rural Girls: Pronouncements, Policy and Practice.' Comparative Education 38, 1:91-112. Appelbaum, P.M. 2002. Multicultural and Diversity Education: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Apple, M. 1986. Teachers and Texts: A Political Economy of Class and Gender Relations inEducation. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. - 1990. Ideology and Curriculum. New York: Routledge. - 1993. Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age. New York: Routledge. Apple, M., and L. Weiss. 1983. 'Ideology and Practice in Schooling: A Political and Conceptual Introduction.' In Apple and Weiss, eds, Ideology and Practice in Schooling. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Apusigah, A. 2001. 'Reconsidering Women, Development and Education in Ghana: Toward Critical Transformation.' Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Education, Queen's University, Kingston, ON. Arbeiter, S., and S. Hartley. 2002. 'Teachers' and Pupils' Experiences of Integrated Education in Uganda.' International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 49, 1:61-78. Aronowitz, S. 1992. The Politics of Identity. New York: Routledge. Asgharzadeh, A. 2003. 'Islamic Fundamentalism, Globalization, and Migration: New Challenges for Canada.' In Rose Folson, ed., Calculated Kindness: Immigration and Settlement Policies in Canada. Toronto: Fernwood Publishers. Ashcroft, B. 2001. On Post-Colonial Futures: Transformations of Colonial Culture. London and New York: Continuum. Ashcroft, B., G. Griffiths, andH. Tiffin, eds. 1995. The Post-colonial Studies Reader. New York: Routledge. Avoke, M. 2001. 'Some Historical Perspectives in the Development of Special

References

311

Education in Ghana.' European Journal of Special Needs Education 16, 1: 29-40. - 2002. 'Models of Disability in the Labelling and Attitudinal Discourse in Ghana.' Disability & Society 17, 7: 769-77. Awoniyi, T.A. 1982. The Teaching of African Languages. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Balibar, E., and I. Wallerstein. 1988. Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities. London and New York: Verso. Barne, K.N. 1991. Teacher Motivation and Retention in Ghana. Accra: Ghana University Press. Bamgbose, A. 2000. Language and Exclusion: The Consequences of Language Policies in Africa. Miinster: Lit Verlag; Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers. - 2004. Language of Instruction Policy and Practice in Africa. http://www .unesco.org/education/languages_2004/languageinstruction_africa.pdf (accessed 7 January 2005). Banerjee, S.B. 2000. 'Whose Land Is It Anyway? National Interest, Indigenous Stakeholders, and Colonial Discourses: The Case of thejabiluka Uranium Mine.' Organization and Environment 13, 1: 3-38. Banks, J.A. 1995. 'Multicultural Education: Historical Development, Dimensions, and Practice.' In J.A. Banks and C.A.M. Banks, eds, Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, 3-24. New York: Macmillan. Banks, J.A., and C.A. McGee Banks, eds. 1997. Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Barlow, M., and H. Roberston. 1994. Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada's Schools. Toronto: Key Porter Books. Bassey, M.O. 1999. Western Education and Political Domination in Africa: A Study in Critical and Dialogical Pedagogy. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. Batibo, H.M. 2001. 'The Endangered Languages of Africa.' In L. Maffi, ed., On Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge, and the Environment. Washington Smithsonian Institution Press. Bedard, G. 2000 'Deconstructing Whiteness: Pedagogical Implications for AntiRacism Education.' In George J. Sefa Dei and Agness Calliste, eds, Power, Knowledge and Anti-Racism Education: A Critical Reader. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. Bell, L.A. 1997. 'Theoretical Foundations for Social Justice Education.' In M. Adams, L.A. Bell, and P. Griffin, eds, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook, 3-15. New York: Routledge. Beloin, K., and M. Peterson. 2000. 'For Richer or Poorer: Building Inclusive Schools in Poor Urban and Rural Communities.' International Journal of Disability, Development and Education^, 1: 15-24.

312 References Bhabha, H. 1990. Nation and Narration. London: Routledge. Bhalla, S.S. 2002. Imagine There's No Country: Poverty, Inequality, and Growth in the Era of Globalization. Washington: Institute for International Economics. Biddle, B.J., ed. 2001. Social Class, Poverty, and Education: Policy and Practice. New York: Falrner Press. Bigman, D. 2002. Globalization and the Developing Countries: Emerging Strategies for Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation. Wallingford, UK, and New York: CABI Publishing. Bourdieu, P. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Trans. G. Raymond and M. Adamson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bracy, W. 1995. 'Developing the Inclusive Curriculum: A Model for the Incorporation of Diversity in the Social Work Curriculum.' Paper presented at the 41st annual program meeting of the Council of Social Work Education. San Diego, 2-5 March 1995. Brock-Utne, B. 1999. 'African Universities and the African Heritage.' International Review of 'Education 45, 1: 87-104. - 2000. Whose Education for All?: The Recolonization of the African Mind. New York: Falmer Press. Brock-Utne, B., and H.B. Holmarsdottir. 2001. 'The Choice of English as Medium of Instruction and Its Effects on the African Languages in Nambia.' International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift fur Erziehungswissenschaft/ Revue inter 47, 3-4: 293-322. — 2004. 'Language Policies and Practices in Tanzania and South Africa: Problems and Challenges.' International Journal ofEducational Development 24, 1: 67-83. Bourdieu, P. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Trans. Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Braddock, D. 1977. Opening Closed Doors: The Deinstitutionalization of Disabled Individuals. Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children. Bunyi, G. 1999. 'Rethinking the Place of African Indigenous Languages in African Education.' International Journal of Educational Development 19, 4-5: 337-50. Butler, P. 2003. Research essay. Department of Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Cabral, A. 1969. Revolution in Guinea. New York: Monthly Review Press. - 1970. 'National Liberation and Culture.' The 1970 Eduardo Mondlane Lecture, Program of Eastern African Studies of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 20 February. Campbell, J^G. 2002. The Individual within Multi-socio-cultural-realities: Culture Analysis as a Reading Strategy. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Campbell, J.G., and M. Cuskley. 2003. 'Changing Student Teachers' Attitudes

References

313

towards Disability and In elusion. 'Journal of'Intellectual & Developmental Disability 28, 4: 369-79. Carrier, J.G. 1986. Learning Disability: Social Class and the Construction of Inequality in American Education. New York: Greenwood Press. Cavanagh, J., and S. Anderson. 2002. World's Billionaires Take a Hit, but Still Soar. Institute of Policy Studies, http://www.ips-dc.org/projects/global_econ/ billionaires.htm. Cesaire, A. 1972. Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press. Chamberlayne, P., J. Bornat, and T. Wengraf, eds. 2000. The Turn to Biographical Methods in the Social Sciences: Comparative Issues and Examples. London: Routledge. Chapman, C.D., P. Kaufmann, and M.N. Alt. 2002. Dropout Rates in the United States. NCES Report no. 2002-114. Washington: National Center for Education Statistics. Chimedza, R. 1998. 'The Cultural Politics of Integrating Deaf Students in Regular Schools in Zimbabwe.' Disability & Society 13, 4: 493-502. Chisholm L. 2001. 'Gender and Leadership in South African Educational Administration.' Gender and Education 13, 4: 387-99. Chisholm, L., C. Soudien, S. Vally, and D. Gilmour. 1999. 'Teachers and Structural Adjustment in South Africa.' Educational Policy 13, 3: 386-401. Chisti, M. 1999. 'Muslim Women, Intellectual Racism and the Project towards Solidarity and Alliance Building.' Unpublished paper, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Chrisman, L., and B. Parry. 2000. Postcolonial Theory and Criticism. Cambridge: The English Association. Church, K. 1995. Forbidden Narratives: Critical Autobiography as Social Science. New York: Gordon and Breach. CIDA. 2002. CIDA's Action Plan on Basic Education. Ottawa: Canadian International Development Agency. - 2004. Stones from the Field: Africa and the Middle East, http://www.acdi-cida.gc. Ca/cida_ind.nsf/b2a5f300880e7l92852567450078b4cb/568f3684389031058 52568fc0050a6de?OpenDocument (accessed 7 January 2005). Claussen, B., ed. 1994. 'Aspects of Globalization and Internationalization of Political Education.' Political Education. Vol. 7. Hamburg: Kramer. Cobb, P. 2002. 'Teaching in an Age of Religious Pluralism, Skepticism, Resurgence, and Ambivalence.' Independent School61, 2: 18-26. Cole, M., ed. 2000. Education, Equality and Human Rights: Issues of Gender, Race, Sexuality, Special Needs and Social Class. New York: Palmer Press. Collier, P. 2002. Globalization, Growth, and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy. Washington: World Bank; New York: Oxford University Press.

314 References Contenta, S. 1993. Rituals of Failure: What Our Schools Really Teach. Toronto: Between the Lines. Cooppan, V. 2000. 'W(h)ither Post-Colonial Studies? Towards the Transnational Study of Race and Nation.' In Laura Chrisman and Benita Parry, eds, Postcolonial Theory and Criticism. Cambridge: The English Association. Cornia, G.A., andj. Court. 2001. Inequality, Growth and Poverty in the Era of Liberalization and Globalization. Helsinki: United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research. Cox, R.W. 1995. Approaches to World Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Craig, J. 1990. Comparative African Experiences in Implementing Educational Policies. Washington: The World Bank. Crawhall, N. 1999. 'Going to a Better Life: Perspectives on the Future of Language in Education for San and Khoe South Africans.' International Journal of Educational Development 19, 4-5: 323-35. . Danforth, R., and T. Smith. 1995. 'Inventing the Future.' InJ. Paul, H. Roselli, and O. Evans, eds, Integrating School Restructuring and Special Education Reform. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace. Dei, G.J.S. 1993. 'The Challenges of Anti-Racist Education in Canada.' Canadian Ethnic Studies 25, 2: 36-51. - 1994. 'Reflections of an Anti-Racist Pedagogue.' In Lorna Erwin and David MacLennan, eds, The Sociology of Education in Canada, 290-310. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman. - 1995. 'Examining the Case for African-Centred Schools in Ontario.' McGill Journal of Education 30, 2: 179-98. — 1996. Anti-Racism Education: Theory and Practice. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. - 1999. 'Education Reform Efforts in Ghana.' International Journal of Educational Reform 8, 3: 244-59. - 2002a. 'Local Knowledges and Education Reform in Ghana.' Canadian and International Education 29, 1: 37-72. - 2002b. 'Spirituality in African Education: Issues, Contentions and Contestations from a Ghanaian Case Study.' International Journal of Children's Spirituality 7,2:37-55. - 2002c. 'Learning Culture, Spirituality and Local Knowledge: Implications for African Schooling.' International Review of Education 48, 5: 335-60. - 2004a. 'Dealing with Difference: Ethnicity and Gender in the Context of Schooling in Ghana.' InternationalJournal of 'EducationalDevelopment 24, 4: 34359. - 2004b. Schooling and Education in Africa: The Case of Ghana. Trenton, NJ: African World Press.

References

315

Dei, G.J.S., and A. Asgharzadeh. 2001. 'The Power of Social Theory: The AntiColonial Discursive Framework.' Journal of Educational Thought 35, 3: 297-323. - 2003. 'Language, Education and Development: Case Studies from Southern Contexts.' International Journal of Language and Education 17, 6: 421—49. Dei, G.J.S., and C. Connelly. 1999. 'Review Essay. Women and Education in SubSaharan Africa. Power, Opportunities and Constraints: Women and Change in the Developing World' [M. Bloch, J.A. Beoku-Betts, and B.R. Tabachnick, eds. London and Boulder: Lynne Reinner Publishers, 1998]. Journal of Contemporary African Studies 18, 2: 306-9. Dei, G.J.S., L. Holmes, J. Mazzuca, E. Mclsaac, and R. Campbell. 1995. Push Out or Drop Out? The Dynamics of Black/African-Canadian Students'Disengagement from School. Final report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, Toronto. Dei, G.J.S., I.M.James, S.James-Wilson, L. Karumanchery, andj. Zine. 2000. Removing the Margins: The Challenges and Possibilities of Inclusive Schooling. Toronto: Canadian Scholar's Press. Dei, G.J.S., S.James-Wilson, and J. Zine. 2002. Inclusive Schooling: A Teacher's Companion to Removing the Margins. Toronto: Canadian Scholar's Press. Dei, G.J.S., and L. Karumanchery. 1999. 'School Reforms in Ontario: The Marketisation of Education and the Resulting Silence on Equity.' Alberta Journal of Education Research 45, 2: 111-31. Dei, G.J.S., J. Mazzuca, E. Mclsaac, andj. Zine. 1997. Reconstructing 'Dropout': A Critical Ethnography of the Dynamics of Black Students' Disengagement from School. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Dei, G.J.S., and S. Razack, eds. 1995. Inclusive Schooling: An Inventory of Contemporary Practices Designed to Meet the Challenges of a Diverse Student Body. Toronto: Ministry of Education and Training. Desai, Z. 2001. 'Multilingualism in South Africa with Particular Reference to the Role of African Languages in Education.' International Review of Education / Internationale ZeitschriftfurErziehungswissenschaft /Revue inter ^7, 3—4: 323-39. Driedger L., and H.S. Shiva, eds. 2000. Race and Racism: Canada's Challenge. Kingston: Queen's University Press. Dybwad, G., and H. Bersani, eds. 1996. New Voices: Self-Advocacy by People with Disabilities. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books. Easterly, W.R. 2001. The Effect of IMF and World Bank Programmes on Poverty. Helsinki: United Nations University, World Institute for Development and Economics Research. Espiritu, Y.L. 1994. 'The Intersection of Race, Ethnicity and Class: The Multiple Identities of 2nd Generation Filipinos.' Identities - Global Studies in Culture and Power!, 2-3: 25.

316 References Fanon, F. 1952 (translated 1967). Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press. - 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. - 1988/2000. 'Racism and Culture.' In C. Eze, African Philosophy, 305-11. London: Blackwell Publishers. Fardon, R., and G. Furniss, eds. 1994. African Languages, Development and the State. New York: Routledge. Farley, J.E. 2000. Majority/Minority Relations. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Federici, S., G. Caffentzis, and O. Alidou, eds. 2000. A Thousand Flowers: Social Struggles against Structural Adjustment in African Universities. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. Fine, M. 1991. Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban Public High School. New York: SUNY Press. - 1993. ' [Ap] parent Involvement: Reflections on Parents, Power and Urban Schools.' Teachers College Record^, 4: 682-710. - 1994. 'Dis-stance and Other Stances: Negotiations of Power inside Feminist Research.' In A. Gitlin, ed., Power and Method: Political Activism and Educational Research, 13-35. New York: Routledge. Fishman,J.A. 1989. Language and Ethnicity in Minority Sociolinguistic Perspective. Clevedon, UK, and Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters. Foster, P.J. 1962. 'Ethnicity and the Schools in Ghana.' Comparative Education Review 6, 2: 127-35. - 1963. 'Secondary School and Social Mobility in a West African Nation.' Sociology of Education 37, 2: 150-71. Foucault, M. 1972/1980. 'Two Lectures.' In Colin Gordon, ed., Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977. London. Harvester Press. - 1975/1979. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a Prison. New York: Vintage Books. - 1976/1978. The History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books. - 1979/1991. 'Governmentality.' In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, and P. Miller, eds, The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. - 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews, 1972-77. Ed. C. Gordon. Brighton: Harvester Press. - 1982. 'The Subject and Power.' In H.L. Dreyfus and P. Rabinow, eds, Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism andHermeneutics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Freire, P. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum. Freire, P., and D.P. Macedo. 1995. 'A Dialogue: Culture, Language, and Race.'

References

317

In P. Leystina, A. Woodrum, and S.A. Sherblom, eds, Breaking Free: The Transformative Power of Critical Pedagogy, 199-228. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Furniss, E. 1999. The Burden of History: Colonialism and the Frontier Myth in a Rural Canadian Community. Vancouver: UBC Press. Gadagbui, G. 1998. Education in Ghana and Special Needs Children. Accra: City Publishers. Gaisie, S.K 1976. The Population of Ghana. [Paris]: CICRED. Gandhi, L. 1998. Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press. Gandhi, M. 1967. Political and National Life and Affairs. Ahmedabad: Navijivan Press. Gaskell. J. 1989. Claiming an Education: Feminism and Canadian Schools. Toronto: Lorimer. Ghana. Ministry of Education. 1990. Keynote address by Mrs Vida Yeboah, Deputy Secretary for Education at National Seminars on the Education Reform Program, January, Accra. Ghosh, R., and D. Ray. 1995. Social Change and Education in Canada. 3rd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada. Giddens, A. 1991a. The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press. - 1991b. Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Giroux, H. 1983. 'Theories of Reproduction and Resistance in the New Sociology of Education. A Critical Analysis.' Harvard Educational Review 53: 257-93. — 1988. Teachers as Intellectuals: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Learning. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey. Click, P., and D.E. Sahn. 2000. 'Schooling of Girls and Boys in a West African Country: The Effects of Parental Education, Income, and Household Structure.' Economics of Education Review 19, 1: 63-87. Goldblatt, D., D. Held, A. Mcgrew, and J. Perraton. 1997. GlobalFlows, Global Transformations: Concepts, Evidence and Arguments. Cambridge: Polity Publishers. Goldblatt, P. 2002. 'Reflection on Leaving My Postcolonial Classroom.' Multicultural Review, September. Goldstein, L. 1994. 'Achieving a Multicultural Curriculum: Conceptual, Pedagogical and Structural Issues.' Journal of General Education 43, 2: 102-16. Gordon, L.R. 1997. Her Majesty's Children: Sketches of Racism from a Neocolonial Age. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. The Prison Notebooks: Selections. Trans, and ed. Quintin Hoare and G.N. Smith. New York: International Publishers.

318

References

Grant, A.C., andJ.L. Lei, eds. 2001. Global Constructions of Multicultural Education: Theories and Realities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Groome, T.H. 1999. 'Infuse Education with Spiritual Values.' At http://www .lightparty.com/Spirituality/Education.html. From Christian Science Monitor, 10 February 1998. Guevara, C. 1997. 'The Essence of Guerrilla Struggle.' In David Deutchmann, ed., Che Guevara Reader, 66-72. New York: Ocean Press. Hall, J. 2002. 'Can Disability Culture and Full Educational Inclusion Be Reconciled?' Journal of Disability Policy Studies 13, 3: 144-52. Hall, S. 1991. 'The Local and the Global: Globalization and Ethnicity.' In A. King, ed., Current Debates in Art History 3: Culture, Globalization and the WorldSystem, 81-123. New York: Routledge. Haraway, D.J. 1988. 'Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective.' Rep. and rev. in Haraway 1991. - 1991. Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. London: Free Association Books. Harber, C. 1998. 'Desegregation, Racial Conflict and Education for Democracy in the New South Africa: A Case Study of Institutional Change.' International Review of Education 44, 5-6: 569-82. Hatcher, R. 1998. 'Social Justice and the Politics of School Effectiveness and Improvement.' British Race, Ethnicity and Education 1, 2: 274-85. Heneveld, W., and H. Craig. 1996. Schools Count: World Bank Project Designs and the Quality of Primary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington: World Bank. Herman, H.D. 1995. 'School-Leaving Examinations, Selection and Equity in Higher Education in South Africa.' Comparative Education 31, 2: 261-74. Heugh, K. 1999. 'Languages, Development and Reconstructing Education in South Africa.' International Journal of'Educational Development 19, 4-5: 301-13. Hobsbawm, EJ. 2000. The New Century: Eric Hobsbawm in Conversation with Antonio Polito. Trans. A. Cameron. London: Little, Brown. Hodges, J., and M. Keller. 1999. 'Perceived Influences on Social Integration by Students with Physical Disabilites,' Journal of College Student Development 40, 6: 678-85. Hogg, M., and D.J. Terry, eds. 2001. Social Identity Processes in Organizational Contexts. Philadelphia: Psychology Press. Hughes, C. 1991. 'Independent Performance among Individuals with Mental Retardation: Promoting Generalization through Self-Instruction.' In M. Hersen, R.M. Eisler, and P.M. Miller, eds, Progress in Behavior Modification, vol. 27: 7-35. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Hulsemeyer, A., ed. 2003. Globalization in the Twenty-first Century: Convergence or Divergence'? New York: Palgrave, Macmillan.

References

319

Inikori, J.E. 2003. 'The Known, the Unknown, the Knowable, and the Unknowable: Evidence and the Evaluation of Evidence in the Measurement of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.' In T. Falola, ed., Ghana in Africa and the World, 535-65. Trenton: Africa World Press. Iram, Y., ed. 2003, Education of Minorities and Peace Education in Pluralistic Societies. Westport, CT: Praeger. Jacob, E., and C.Jordan, eds. 1993. Minority Education: Anthropological Perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Jacobs, J. 1996. Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City. London: Routledge. James, C. 1995. 'Multicultural and Anti-Racism Education in the Canada Context.' Race, Gender and Class 2, 3: 31-48. Jenkinson, J.C. 1997. Mainstream or Special"?: Educating Students with Disabilities. London: Routledge. Jones, P.W. 1992. World Bank Financing of Education: Lending, Learning, and Development. New York: Routledge. - 1998. 'Globalisation and Internationalism: Democratic Prospects for World Education.' Comparative Education 34, 2: 143-55. Kadzamira, E., and P. Rose. 2003. 'Can Free Primary Education Meet the Needs of the Poor? Evidence from Malawi.' InternationalJournal of~Educational Development 23, 5:501-16. Kalu, A. 1996. 'Women and the Social Construction of Gender in African Development.' Africa Today 43: 269-88. Kankwenda, M. 1994. '"Marabouts'" and Merchants of Development in Africa.' CODESRIA Bulletin 3: 9-15. Kessler, R. 1998-9. 'Nourishing Students in Secular Schools.' Educational Leadership 56, 4: 49-52. King, K., and C. Martin. 2002. 'The Vocational School Fallacy Revisited: Education, Aspiration and Work in Ghana, 1959-2000.' International Journal of'Education 22, 1: 5-25. Konadu-Agyemang, K, ed. 2001. IMF and World Bank Sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs in Africa: Ghana's Experience, 1983-1999. Aldershot, UK, and Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Kristensen, K., M. Omagor-Loican, and N. Onen. 2003. 'The Inclusion of Learners with Barriers to Learning and Development into Ordinary School Settings: A Challenge for Uganda.' British Journal of Special Education 30, 4: 194-201. Lawton, D. 1969. Social Class, Language and Education. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Leicester, Mai. 1999. Disability Voice: Towards an Enabling Education. London and Philadelphia: J. Kingsley Publishers.

320 References Lentz, C. 2000. Ethnicity in Ghana: The Limits of Invention. Houndmills, Basingstoke, and Hampshire: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press. Li, P. 1988. Ethnic Inequality in a Class Society. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing. - 1990. 'Race and Ethnicity.' In Peter Li, ed., Race and Ethnic Relations in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press. Linton, S. 1998. 'Reassigning Meaning.' In Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity, 8-33. New York: New York University Press. Loomba, A. 1998. Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London: Routiedge. Looye, J., and A. Sesay. 1998. 'Introducing Diversity into the Planning Curriculum: A Method for Department-wide Implementation. 'Journal of Planning Education and Research 18, 2: 161-70. Lopez, D., and Y. Espiritu. 1990. 'Panethnicity in the United States: A Theoretical Framework.' Ethnic and Racial Studies 13, 2: 198-224. Lord, C., and O. Strietska-llina. 2001. Parallel Cultures: Majority/Minority Relations in the Countries of the Former Eastern Bloc. Aldershot, UK, and Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Lorenzo, T. 2003. 'No African Renaissance without Disabled Women: A Communal Approach to Human Development in Cape Town South Africa.' Dis-. ability & Society 18, 6: 759-78. Louise, B.S., and M. Breitborde. 2003. Educating the Global Village: Including the Young Child in the World. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill / Prentice Hall. Mabokela, R.O. 2000. '"We Cannot Find Qualified Blacks": Faculty Diversification Programmes at South African Universities.' Comparative Education 36, 1: 95-112. Macaulay, R.K.S. 1977. Language, Social Class, and Education: A Glasgow Study. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Maloka, E., and E. le Roux, eds. 2001. Africa in the New Millennium: Challenges and Prospects. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. Maluwa-Banda, D. 2004. 'Gender Sensitive Educational Policy and Practice: The Case of Malawi.' Prospects 34, 1: 71-84. Marks, D. 1999. 'Dimensions of Oppression: Theorising the Embodied Subject.' Disability & Society 14, 5: 611-26. Marx, K. 1904. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr. Marx, K, and F. Engels. 1948. The Communist Manifesto. New York: W.W. Norton. Mazama, M.A. 2002. 'Afrocentricity and African Spirituality.' Journal of Black Studies 33, 2: 218-34. Mbilinyi, M. 1998. 'Searching for Utopia: The Politics of Gender and Education in Tanzania.' In M. Bloch, J.A. Beoku-Betts, and B.R. Tabachnick, eds, Women

r

7 and Change in the Developing World, 277-98. London and Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers. McCarthy, C. 1990. Race and Curriculum: Social Inequality and the Theory and Politics of Difference in Contemporary Research on Schooling. Basingstoke: Palmer Press. - 1993. 'After the Canon: Knowledge arid Ideological Representation in the Multicultural Discourse on Curriculum Reform.' In C. McCarthy and W. Crichlow, eds, Race, Identity and Representations in Education, 289-305. New York: Routledge. - 1998. The Uses of Culture: Education and the Limits of Ethnic Affiliation. New York and London: Routledge. McCarthy, C., and W. Crichlow, eds. 1993. Race, Identity and Representation in Education. New York: Routledge. McKenzie, J. 1997. 'South Africa. Education for all: A programme for the inclusion of children with disabilities and other special education needs into early ' childhood development programmes.' In UNESCO, ed., First Steps: Stories on Inclusion in Early Childhood Education, 101-10. Paris: UNESCO. Meehan, C. 2002. 'Resolving the Confusion in the Spiritual Development Debate.' International Journal of Children's Spirituality 7, 3: 291-308. Memmi, A. (1957) 1965. The Colonizer and the Colonized. Boston: Beacon Press. Metts, R., and N. Metts. 2000. 'Official Development Assistance to Disabled People in Ghana.' Disability & Society 15, 3: 475-88. Mirembe, R., and L. Davies. 2001. 'Is Schooling a Risk? Gender, Power Relations and School Culture in Uganda.' Gender and Education 13, 4: 401-16. Mohanty, C. 1990. 'On Race and Voice: Challenges for Liberal Education in the 1990V Cultural Critique 14: 179-208. Mukudi, E. 2004a. 'Education for All: A Framework for Addressing the Persisting Illusion for the Kenyan Context.' International Journal of Educational Development 24, 3: 231-40. - 2004b. 'The Effects of User-fee Policy on Attendance Rates among Kenyan Elementary Schoolchildren.' International Review of Education 50, 5-6: 447-61. Mutua, K, and D. Dimitrov. 2001. 'Prediction of School Enrolment of Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Kenya: The Role of Parents' Expectations, Beliefs, and Education.' International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 48, 2: 179-91. Muuya, J. 2002. The Aims of Special Education Schools and Units in Kenya: A Survey of Headteachers.' European Journal of Special Needs Education 17, 3: 22939. Nahir, M. 1984. Language Problems and Language Planning. 1980-. Austin: University of Texas at Austin Press.

322 References Nantambu, K 1996. Egypt & Afrocentric Geopolitics: Essays on European Supremacy. Kent, OH: Imhotep. Nash, M. 1989. The Cauldron of Ethnicity in the Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Nekhwevha, F. 1999. 'No Matter How Long the Night, the Day Is Sure to Come: Cultural and Educational Transformation in Post-colonial Namibia and Post-apartheid South Africa.' International Review of Education 45, 5-6: 491-506. Nelson, J.M. 1999. Reforming Health and Education: The World Bank, the IDE, and Complex Institutional Change. Washington: Overseas Development Council, Johns Hopkins University Press. NEPAD. 2004a. New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Annual Report, 2003/4. Addis Ababa: African Union Headquarters. - 2004b. 'A Summary of NEPAD Action Plans.' At http://www.nepadst.org/ publications/docs/doclO_032004.pdf, accessed 7 January 2005. Nieto, S. 2002. Language, Culture, and Teaching: Critical Perspectives for a New Century. Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum. Nkrumah, K 1963. Africa Must Unite, 9-49 London: Heinemann, - 1965. Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism. Nairobi: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. - 2000. 'Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization and Development with Particular Reference to the African Revolution.' In E.G. Eze, ed., African Philosophy: An Anthology, 81-93. London: Blackwell Publishers. Nti, J. 1997. 'Report of Consultancy on Organisational and Institutional Analysis.'Ministry of Education, Accra. Nyalemegbe, K. 1997. 'The Education Reforms So Far.' Daily Graphic [Ghanaian National Daily], 26 February. Obanya, P. 2004. Promoting Basic Education for Women and Girls. A Survey of Structures, Programmes and Activities in Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Obasi, E. 2000. 'The Impact of Economic Recession on UPE in Nigeria.' InternationalJournal of Educational Development 20,3: 189-207'. Obiakor, F.E. 1998. 'Special Education Reform in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges.' European Journal of Special Needs Education 13, 1: 57-71. Parry, B. 1995. 'Resistance Theory / Theorizing Resistance or Two Cheers for Nativism.' In Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin 1995, 72-96. Popkewitz, T.S. 2000. 'Reform as the Social Administration of the Child: Globalization of Knowledge and Power.' In N.C. Burbules and C.A. Torres, eds, Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives, 157-86. New York and London: Roudedge. Prakash, G., ed. 1994. After Colonialism: Imperial Histories and Postcolonial Displacements. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

References

323

Principe, T. 2003. Research essay. Department of Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Psacharopoulos, G. 1989. 'Why Educational Reforms Fail: A Comparative Analysis.' International Review of Education 35, 2: 179-95. Quist, H.O. 2001. 'Cultural Issues in Secondary Education Development in West Africa: Away from Colonial Survivals, Towards Neo-colonial Influences?' Comparative Education 37, 3: 297-314. Rizvi, F. 2000. 'International Education and the Production of the Global Imagination.' In N.C Burbules and C.A. Torres, eds, Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives. New York and London: Routledge. Robins, K 1997. 'What in the World's Going On?' In P. DuGay, ed., Production of Culture / Cultures of Production. London: Sage, Open University. Rogers, R., ed. 1986. Education and Social Class. London: Falmer Press. Said, E. 1978, 1985. Orientalism: Western Representations of the Orient. Harmondsworth: Penguin. - 1979. 'Introduction to "Orientalism."' In Orientalism, 1-28. - 1993. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books. Samoff,J. 1996. 'African Education and Development: Crises, Triumphalism, Research, Loss of Vision.' Alberta Journal of Educational Research 43,: 121-47. Sanchez-Casal, S., and A. MacDonald, eds. 2002. Twenty-first-century Feminist Classrooms: Pedagogies of Identities and Difference. New York: Palgrave. Sandercock, L. 1998. Towards Cosmopolis: Planning for Multicultural Cities. Chichester: Wiley. Sandercock, L., ed. 1998a. Making the Invisible Visible: A Multicultural Planning History. Berkeley: University of California Press. Sartre, J.P. 1964, 2001. Colonialism and Neocolonialism. Paris: Editions Gallimard; London: Routledge. Sassen, S. 1998. Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: New Press. Sawicki,J. 1991. DiscipliningFoucault: Feminism, Power and the Body. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall. Schecter, S.R., andj. Cummins, eds. 2003. Multilingual Education in Practice: Using Diversity as a Resource. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Scheerenberger, R.C. 1987. A History of Mental Retardation: A Quarter Century of Promise. Baltimore: P.H. Brookes Publishing. Schweisfurth, M. 2002. Teachers, Democratization and Educational Reform in Russia and South Africa. Oxford: Symposium Books. Seavoy, R.E. 2003. Origins and Growth of the Global Economy: From the Fifteenth Century Onward. Westport, CT : Praeger. Selod, H., and Y. Zenou. 2003. 'Private versus Public Schools in Post-Apartheid South African Cities: Theory and Policy Implications. 'Journal of Development Economics 71, 2: 351-94.

324 References Senghor, L.S. 1996. 'African Socialism.' In Molefe Kete Asante and Abu S. Abarry, eds, African Intellectual Heritage, 342-54. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Shahjahan, R.A 2004a. 'Spirituality in the Academy: Reclaiming from the Margins and Evoking a Transformative Way of Knowing the World.' Forthcoming in International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. - 2004b. 'Reclaiming and Reconnecting to Our Spirituality in the Academy.' International Journal of Children's Spirituality Q, 1: 81-95. - 2005. 'Mapping the Field of Anti-colonial Discourse to Understand Issues of Indigenous Knowledges: Decolonizing Praxis.' Forthcoming in McGillJournal of Education. Shapiro, J.P. 1993. No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement. New York: Times Books. Shohat, E. 1992. 'Notes on the "Post-Colonial."' Social Text 31/32: 99-113. Silver, H. 1973. Equal Opportunity in Education: A Reader in Social Class and Educational Opportunity. London, Methuen; New York: Harper & Row. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. 2000. Linguistic Genocide in Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights'? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Skutnabb-Kangas, T., and R. Philipson, eds. 1994. Linguistic Human Rights: Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Slemon, S. 1995. 'The Scramble for Post-Colonialism.' In Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin 1995. Smaller, H. 1993. Stacking the Deck: The Streaming of Working-class Kids in Ontario's Schools. Toronto: Lorimer. Smith, L. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies. London: Zed Publishers. Snauwaert, D. 2001. 'Cosmopolitan Democracy and Democratic Education.' Current Issues in Comparative Education, 4, 1: 1-13. Solomon, R.P., and C. Levine-Rasky. 1996. 'Transforming Teacher Education for an Anti-racism Pedagogy.' Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 33: 337-60. Spivak, G.C. 1988. 'Can the Subaltern Speak?' In C. Nelson and L. Grossberg, eds, Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Basingstoke: Macmillan Education. - 1990. The Post-Colonial Critic: Interviews, Strategies, Dialogues. Edited by Sarah Harasym. New York: Routledge. - 1999. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Stefanos, A. 1997. 'Women and Education in Eritrea: A Historical and Contemporary Analysis.' Harvard Educational Review ttl, 4: 658-88. Suleri, S. 1992. The Rhetoric of English India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

References 325 Swainson, N. 2000. 'Knowledge and Power: The Design and Implementation of Gender Policies in Education in Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.' International Journal of 'Educational Development 20,1: 49-64. Swiniarski, L.B., and M. Breitborde. 2003. Educating the Global Village: Including the Young Child in the World. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. Tabulawa, R. 1997. 'Pedagogical Classroom Practice and the Social Context: The Case of Botswana.' International Journal of Educational Development 17, 2: 189204. - 2003. 'International Aid Agencies, Learner-centered Pedagogy and Political Democratisation: A Critique.' Comparative Education 39, 1: 7-26. Tacey, D. 2002. 'Student Spirituality and Educational Authority.' International Journal of Children's Spirituality 7, 2: 171-82. Teferra, D., and P.G. Altbach, eds. 2003. African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Thiophene, H. 1995. 'Post-colonial Literatures and Counter-discourse.' In Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin 1995: 95-8. Tikly, L., and T. Mabogoane. 1997. 'Marketisation as a Strategy for Desegregation and Redress: The Case of Historically White Schools in South Africa.' International Review of Education 43, 2-3: 159-78. Tisdell, E.J. 1999. 'The Spiritual Dimension of Adult Development.' New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 84 (Winter): 87-95. Tomlinson, R. 1982. Disability, Theatre and Education. London: Souvenir Press. Toronto Star. 2003. 6 October: A4. Tournas, S.A. 1996. 'From Sacred Initiation to Bureaucratic Apostasy: Junior Secondary School-leavers and the Secularisation of Education in Southern Africa.' Comparative Education 32, 1: 27-44. Travers, M., and L. Bennett. 1997. 'AIDS, Women and Power.' In L. Bennett, C. Hankins, and L. Sherr, eds, AIDS as a Gender Issue: Psycho-Social Perspectives. London: Taylor & Francis. Ufomata, T. 1999. 'Major and Minor Languages in Complex Linguistic Ecologies: The Nigerian Experience.' International Journal of Educational Development 19,4-5:315-22. UNESCO. 1999. World Conference on Science (Summer 1999). Forum on 'Women, Science and Technology.' At http://www.unesco.org/science/wcs/ meetings/afr_ouagadougou_99_report.htm#panel_l, accessed 29 September 2003. - 2001. Including the Excluded: Meeting Diversity in Education. Example from Uganda. Paris: UNESCO. - 2003a. Overcoming Exclusion through Inclusive Approaches in Education: A Challenge and a Vision. Conceptual Paper. Paris: UNESCO.

326 References - 2003b. 'Education. Inclusive Education: Africa.' At http://protal.unesco.org/ education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25802&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_ SECTION=201.html, accessed 7 January 2005. Ungerleider, C. 2003a, Reading from Failing Our Kids (below). Speaker Series. Department of Theory and Policy Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. October. - 2003b. Failing Our Kids: How We Are Ruining Our Public Schools. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Publishers. United Nations Development Programme. 2003. Human Development Report 2003. New York: Oxford University Press. Unterhalter, E., E. Kioko-Echessa, R. Pattman, R. Rajagopalan, and F. Jai. 2004. Scaling Up Girls'Education: Towards a Scorecard on Girls'Education in the Commonwealth. London: Institute of Education, University of London. Vavrus, F. 2002. 'Uncoupling the Articulation between Girls' Education and Tradition in Tanzania.' Gender and Education 14, 4: 367-89. Walker, S. 1982. 'A Comparison of Attitudes and Knowledge of Ghanaian College Students Relative to the Mentally Retarded.' Applied Research in Mental Retardation 3: 163-74. Wallerstein, I. 1983. Historical Capitalism, with Capitalist Civilization. New York: Verso. Warsame, A.A. 2001. 'How a Strong Government Backed an African Language: The Lessons of Somalia.' International Review of Education /Internationale Zeitschrift fur Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue inter 4*7, 3—4: 341—60. Wa Thiongo, N. 1986. Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: James Currey. Webb, V. 1999. 'Multilingualism in Democratic South Africa: The Over-estimation of Language Policy.' International Journal of Educational Development 19, 4-5: 351-66. Weber, M. 1922, 1989. On Economy and Society. Trans. R. J. Holton and B.S. Turner. London. New York: Routledge. Wehmeyer, M.L., A. Martin, and C. Hughes. 2001. Teaching Self-Determination to Students with Disabilities: Basic Skills for Successful Transition. Baltimore: P.H. Brookes Publishing. Williams, E. 1944. Capitalism and Slavery. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Willinsky, J. 1998. Learning to Divide the World: Education at Empire's End. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Willis, P. 1977. Learning to Labour. Farnborough: Saxon House. - 1983. 'Cultural Production and Theories of Reproduction.' In L. Barton and S. Walker, eds, Race, Class and Education. London: Groom Helm.

References

327

World Bank. 1994. 'Gender and Economic Adjustment in Sub-Saharan Africa.' At http://www.worldbank.org/aftdr/fmdings/english/findl9.htm, accessed 6 October 1999. - 1995. Priorities and Strategies for Education. Washington: World Bank. - 1999. Comprehensive Development Framework. At http://www.worldbank.org/cdf/ cdf.pdfon, accessed 6 October 1999. Wit, H. de. 2002. Internationalization of Higher Education in the United States of America and Europe: A Historical, Comparative, and Conceptual Analysis. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Wright, B.A. 1960. Physical Disability: A Psychological Approach. New York: Harper and Row. Yakubu, J.M. 1994. 'Integration of Indigenous Thought and Practice with Science and Technology: A Case Study of Ghana.' International Journal of Science Education 16, 3: 343-60. Yang, R. 2002. Third Delight: The Internationalization of Higher Education in China. New York: Routledge. Yetman, N.R. 1991. Majority and Minority: The Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in American Life. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Yetman, N.R., and C. Hoy Steele. 1978. Majority and Minority: The Dynamics of Racial and Ethnic Relations. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Young, I.M. 1990. 'The Ideal of Community and the Politics of Difference.' In L. Nicholson, ed., Feminism /Postmodernism, 300-23. New York: Routledge. Young, R. 1995. Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and Race. New York: Routledge. - 2001. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

This page intentionally left blank

Index

Access to resources, 60, 99, 100, 182, 199, 210, 215, 233, 237, 293, 299 Administration of education, 7, 63, 69,131,173,179, 253 African education, 5, 7, 41, 65, 66, 148, 149,172, 289, 308 African proverb, 3 African schooling, 3, 5, 7,13, 29, 40, 55, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 289, 305 Allocation of resources, 34, 66, 118, 198, 212, 279, 281, 285 Angola, 24 Anti-colonial, 12, 13, 37, 53-9, 60-4, 117, 146 Benin, 18, 24 Bhabha, Homi, 57 Botswana, 27 Bourdieu, Pierre, 205, 235, 250 Burundi, 18 Cameroon, 24 Canadian education, 39, 291, 295, 297,303 Canadian schools, 44,287,290,296-7, 301, 308 Centralism, 51

Centralized education, 51 Chad, 18, 24 CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), 19 Citizenship, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 52, 61, 63, 70, 90,117,120, 302, 304 Class distinctions, 20, 184, 187, 188 Class divisions, 10,96,183-4,187,191, 197, 206 Classroom interaction, 51 Classroom pedagogy, 76,161,172 Class struggle, 182, 183 Colonial education, 54, 63, 305 Colonial elite, 58 Colonial experience, 22, 57 Colonial rule, 51, 57, 29 Colonizing practices, 58 Commonalities, 4,8, 51, 62, 73, 87,90, 117, 125,140, 141 Community involvement, 35, 44 Counter-knowledges, 57 Critical consciousness, 111, 119 Critical ethnography of schooling, 45 Cultural capital, 54, 102, 103, 107 Curriculum, 8,9,13,18,19, 25, 27, 28, 32, 34, 51, 60, 63, 64, 67, 68, 72, 87, 110,112,131,133, 141,144,151,

330 Index 157, 163,169, 170,172,174,175, 177,181, 205, 229, 238, 253, 254, 257, 270, 271, 283, 286, 291, 294-5, 301, 303, 304 Data analysis, 41, 47, 48, 51 Decolonizing, 56, 58, 307 Differential treatment, 9, 51, 80, 87, 95,120,125,184, 210, 232, 290, 295 Discourse of sameness, 60 Discrimination, 8, 12, 13, 17, 39, 82, 83, 92,105, 114,116, 122-4,127, 133,135,138,144,153, 211, 216, 236-7, 291, 292, 301 Discriminatory, 17, 82, 87,113, 116, 121,127,133,138,139, 211, 216 Discursive, 13, 15, 37, 53, 54, 56, 57, 59-61, 81, 87,149,179, 216, 261, 288 Disempowerment, 130 Disengagement, 7, 78, 110, 133, 266, 277-9 Dominant accounts of schooling, 59 Dominant discourse, 56, 59 Economic development, 8, 24, 33, 92, 93,197, 203, 206, 251, 302 Economics of schooling, 38, 70, 182, 198, 298 Educational authorities, 208, 214, 220, 222, 236, 238, 249, 297, 299,

308 Educational change, 5, 32, 35, 47, 49, 52, 56, 61, 64,150, 175, 294, 302, 304, 305 Educational delivery, 63, 109, 110, 172,178, 253, 268, 269 Educational process, 35, 66, 148, 170 Educational reforms, 11, 20, 32, 34, 41,46,288,304,305

Engagement, 5, 7, 78, 85, 87,110,118, 122,135,141,150, 260, 262, 266, 286,287 Engels, Friedrich, 182, 183 Equal access, 20, 29, 50, 201, 210-11, 224,241,294 Equal opportunity, 20, 29, 178 Eritrea, 23 Established religion, 255, 256 Ethiopia, 19, 23 Euro-American contexts, 65 Eurocentric, 63, 185, 186,187 Fanon, Frantz, 53, 56, 57, 59, 62, 277 Female role models, 151, 154 Focus-group, 42-7, 50, 83, 106,107, 116,123,137,139,152,156,169,194 Foucauldian, 59, 180 Foucault, Michel, 53, 59, 179,178 Freire, Paulo, 67, 306, 307 Gambia, 24 Gandhi, Mahatma, 56, 57 Gender Appropriate Curriculum, 19 Gender equality, 18, 19, 157, 161, 178 Ghanaian-Canadian, 44, 85, 87, 97, 102,110, 111, 127, 129,139,153, 260, 287, 290, 291, 298 Ghanaian education system, 38, 39, 124, 212, 222, 227, 229, 237, 291 Ghanaian languages, 29, 31, 32, 34, 50,138, 227-9, 233, 239, 241, 244-6, 247, 249, 251-2, 306 Ghettoization, 303 Giroux, Henry, 64-6 Global capitalism, 29,185 Global community, 84 Globalization, 6,11,14, 52,185-7, 207, 244, 252 Guevara, Che, 56

Index 331 Guinea Bissau, 306, 307 Hidden curriculum, 286 Hidden narratives, 58 Hegemonic knowledges, 58 Heterogeneity, 8, 17, 59, 69, 80 Higher education, 44, 151, 153, 162, 177, 205, 261, 267, 297 Hybridity, 57 Identification, 39, 80, 84, 86,121,133, 136, 140,149,155, 157, 254, 289, 290 IMF, 15,174, 288 Imperialism, 58, 63, 173, 185, 251, 307 Inclusive education, 10,11,12,14,16, 27, 41, 49, 55, 60, 64, 67,106, 287, 301, 304, 307 Inclusivity, 7,11, 19, 43, 46, 50, 64, 65, 66, 78, 120, 255, 288, 290, 301 Indigeneity, 57, 66 Indigenous knowledges, 185, 187 Indigenous religions, 256, 257, 263-8, 284, 286 Inequality, 38, 65, 66, 93, 112, 122, 124,163,179-80,184,187,188,194, 197, 204, 207, 228, 231, 292, 294 Inequity, 18, 108, 119, 266, 283 International students, 42, 78, 103, 104, 105 Interview participants, 47 Justice, 8, 10-12, 16, 126, 139, 146, 254, 261 Kenya, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 78, 80 Knowledge production, 12,16, 45, 53, 54, 57, 61, 85, 89,110,120,130,132, 136, 174, 254, 256, 262, 272-3, 281, 284, 285, 302, 304, 305

Language policies, 22, 24, 226-7, 24752 Latin America, 67 Lesotho, 23 Life-chances, 182, 187, 194, 200, 202, 203,210,211,222,299 Linguistic differences, 39, 71 Lived experiences, 7, 35, 53, 54, 59, 64,101, 105, 130,161, 168, 175, 308 Local communities, 11, 20, 35, 64, 178, 254, 305 Local knowledges, 148, 167 Madagascar, 18, 23 Majority group, 50, 95-6, 98-9, 103, 104, 108, 110-11, 113-14, 116, 119, 137-8, 159,198, 232, 251, 257, 266 Majority-minority relations, 78, 85, 102, 114-19, 281 Malawi, 18,19, 20, 25, 29 Mali, 22, 27 Marginalization, 13, 14, 39, 61, 65, 108, 215, 228, 236, 263, 265, 268, 281,292,299,302,308 Marketization of education, 10,52,288 Marx, Karl, 182-4 Mauritia, 24 Mazrui, Ali, 24 Medium of instruction, 22, 23, 34, 227,233,236,237,242-51 Minority group, 36, 83, 85, 88, 92, 945, 98-9,100-1,103,105,108-9, 111, 115-18,136, 215, 248, 259, 265, 271, 273, 281, 290 Multicultural education, 11-12, 36, 291, 301 Multiculturalism, 11, 36, 112, 227, 228, 300, 303 Multilingualism, 227-9, 244, 247, 251 Multiple identities, 7,149, 217

332 Index Namibia, 23 National integration, 7, 8,110, 121, 233,240,248,251,288,303 National unity, 226, 251, 303 Nation-state, 6, 54,162,171, 251 Neo-colonialism, 15, 61,185 NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development), 14 NGO, 19, 27,178,185 Nietzsche, Friedrich, 183 Niger, 18,19, 22, 24 Nigeria, 18, 20, 23, 24, 26, 82,144, 175,241-3 Nkrumah, Kwame, 43, 56 Othering, 173, 210, 307 Pedagogical practices, 8, 47, 296 Pedagogy, 6, 75-6, 82,121,143,161, 170,172,174, 270, 273, 285, 304, 306 Post-colonial, 5,7,32,54-8,62,63,93, 120, 149, 241, 253,-297 Power and knowledge, 59,179 Power relations, 38, 45, 50, 54, 55, 60, 61, 69, 87,106,108,112,121,123, 136,140,143,146-8,150,158,16170,174,179,180, 234, 257, 275, 276, 284, 285, 293, 301 Private schools, 20, 21, 55, 56, 195-8 Pluralism, 184, 228, 308 Pluralistic contexts, 65, 71, 93, 202, 287,302,305,308 Public schools, 21, 56,195-6,198, 301, 303 Regional differences, 77, 101, 257, 302 Regional disparity, 51, 122,197, 205 Regional inequality, 204

Reproductive role of women, 151, 157,161 Resistance, 6,15,16, 50, 57-8, 64, 66, 103,112-13,116-18,148,150,159, 163,164,166,168,170,172,177, 179-83, 214, 241, 260, 276, 277 Role model, 51, 77,151,154,155,157, 161,166,177 Rural areas, 30, 51,178,198-200, 207, 303 SAPs (structural adjustment programs), 15, 21 Schooling practices, 17, 35, 36,50, 61, 77,110,160 Senegal, 18,19, 24, 27 Sense of belonging, 39, 90,115, 116, 136,167,175, 293 Sexuality, 5, 7,13,16, 37, 38, 52-3, 62, 84, 94,141, 202, 211, 226 Sierra Leone, 24, 80, 82,103,105,193, 258 Socio-economic class, 55, 189, 196, 201, 206, 207, 220 Somalia, 23 South Africa, 15,19, 22, 27, 29, 80, 175 Speech community, 249 Staff representation, 9, 125,130-2, 136 Standard language, 226-8, 240-1, 243, 245, 246, 252 Stereotyping, 18, 19, 103, 123, 216, 265, 301 Stigmatization, 209, 228, 236, 267, 307 Tanzania, 18,19, 23, 25, 26, 29,175 Technological development, 39, 186, 297

Index 333 Traditional religions, 122, 255, 256, Universal Primary Education (UPE), 263,265-8,273,275 26 Transformative learning, 143 USAID, 19 Uganda, 23, 25, 26 UNESCO, 13,14,16, 17, 25, 26, 27, 30,31,151,153,157 UNICEF, 19

wa Thiong'o, Ngugi, 307 World Bank, 15,19, 32, 78,174, 288 Zimbabwe, 18,19, 25-6, 29