ADLT 101 Introduction to Adult Education Session 8 – Festivals in Ghana & Philosophies of Adult Education in Africa Lecturer: Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney Contact Information: kbiney@ug.edu.gh/ikkbiney@yahoo.co.uk College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017
Session Overview Goals and Objectives At the end of the session, the student will • Learn to appreciate and understand major festivals celebrated in Ghana • Discuss African Philosophies of Adult Education • Explore more about Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and African Philosophy • Discuss Julius Nyerere & African Philosophy • Understand Nationalistic-Ideological Philosophy • Explain Professional Philosophy • Discuss Philosophic Sagacity Slide 2 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Session Outline • Introduction • Festivals in Ghana and Indigenous Adult Education • African Philosophies of Adult Education • Dr. Kwame Nkrumah & African Philosophy • Julius Nyerere & African Philosophy • Nationalistic-Ideological Philosophy • Professional Philosophy • Philosophic Sagacity • Conclusion • References Slide 3 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Reading List • This week, complete the following tasks: • Log onto the UG Sakai LMS course site: http://sakai.ug.edu.gh/XXXXXXXXX • Watch the Videos for Session 9 – Evolution of Adult Education Worldwide • Review Lecture Slides: Session 9 – Evolution of Adult Education Worldwide • Read Chapter 3 of Recommended Text – Nafukho, F., Amutabi, M. & Otunga, R. (2005). African Perspective of Adult Learning - Foundations of Adult Education in Africa. Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for Education. Pages 42 – 56. Kwapong, O. A. T. F. & Aggor, R. A. (2012). Introduction to Adult Education . Accra: University of Ghana. Pages 110 - 118 • Visit the Chat Room and discuss the Forum question for Session 8 • Complete the Individual Assignment for Session 8 Slide 4 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Introduction • Festivals in Africa play an integral role in the life of the people. • Some examples include harvest festivals on a particular crop, religious and cultural festivals. • They are celebrated among groups of people to remember and honour ancestral spirits to guide , protect and purify the people and their traditional area. • In Ghana, these celebrations are essential for the provision of education, for the adult population. • It offers a platform for people to display and share the rich culture, their history and origin which in turn provide moral education inspiration for community development. Slide 5 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Major Festivals in Ghana The Aboakyir Festivals • One of Ghana’s major events is the Aboakyir festival which attracts lots of visitors and tourists from all over the world. • It is celebrated among the people of Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana during the month of May. • Its celebration marks the migration of the people from Western Sudan Empire to their present location. • They were led by two brothers and their god “Otu”. Slide 6 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Aboakyir Festival (Contd.) • Through the traditional priest, they are to sacrifice a young member of the royal family every year to “Otu” . • Appeal to the god led to the use of the head of an animal from the wild cat family caught alive. • “Otu” was settled at Penkye and became known as “Penkye Otu” . • Subsequent appeal to the god to the use of a deer. Slide 7 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Aboakyir Festival (Contd.) • Today, the festival begins with a hunt for a live deer between two groups to test the bravery , power and strength of the groups. • Once the animal has been caught, jubilation follows, and it is sacrificed to the gods. • There is a procession of chiefs and sub-chiefs in the traditional area. • There is also singing, dancing and storytelling that go with the event. Slide 8 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Hogbetsotso Festival • Hogbetsotso Festival means Festival of Exodus • Hogbetsosto festival is celebrated among the Anlos in the Volta region of Ghana to mark their journey from Togo to their present settlement in Ghana. • Before coming to Ghana, they lived under a wicked King Agorkoli, in Notsie. • A brave warrior known as the Red Hunter helped them to escape from the King. Slide 9 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Hogbetsotso Festival (Contd.) • The festival’s celebration marks a time for peace, unity, settlement of disputes for the people to live in harmony with each other. • There is cleaning exercise that involves all for a clean community. • The belief is that these activities will insulate them from evil attacks. • It is climaxed by a grand durbar of chiefs and elders. • Dignitaries all of status dance to Agbadza dance which is full of merrymaking and fun. Slide 10 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Homowo Festival • Homowo is a harvest festival celebrated by the Ga people of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. • It is celebrated at different times by different quarters of the Ga tribe. • Ga Mashie tribe celebrates their Homowo a little earlier than the La tribe. • It begins with the sowing of millet by the Ga traditional priests in May before the rains start. • A thirty day ban on noise making is imposed. Slide 11 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Homowo Festival (Contd.) • Homowo means hoot at hunger and this is celebrated in remembrance of the famine that faced the Ga people on their migration to Ghana. • The harsh situation they faced inspired them to embark on a massive food production exercise that ended in a bumper harvest, hence, hooting at hunger. • Activities include the procession- singing and drumming, sprinkling of kpokpoi on the principal streets of Accra, where kpanlogo dance is performed. • During the celebration, there is a great display of Ga heritage and culture. • This serves as an attraction to people from all walks of life to join in the celebrations. Slide 12 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Celebration of Homowo Festival Slide 13 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
African Philosophies of Adult Education • Philosophy simply means love of wisdom . • African philosophies are from two main sources- written or unwritten . • The unwritten philosophy resides in the memory of older generations that pass it on to the younger generation as they interact with them. • There is a great loss and cost if an elder does not get the chance to transmit the worldview before he/she dies with it. • Two great late African nationalist-ideological philosophers – Prez. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana & Prez. ‘Mwalimu’ Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanzania will be considered. • The purpose, content, and methodology of adult education is similar to nationalist-ideological and ethnophilosophers views. Slide 14 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah & African Philosophy • Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, a political visionary together with other African leaders, affirmed communalism as the key ethical principle in African culture. • Dr. Nkrumah stirred the consciousness of the common people to liberate them from political discontent. Slide 15 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Julius Nyerere & African Philosophy • To Nafukho et al. (2005) the recorded form of African philosophies can be traced in the works of African phi-losophers such as Kwasi Wiredu , Paulin Hountondji , Odera Oruka and Julius Nyerere and Peter Bodounrin. • The late President Nyerere of Tanzania was not only a philosopher, but a renowned adult educator as well. • He adopted ‘ujamma’, socialism and self-reliance strategies, to promote education and overall development of Tanzania. • To Nyerere, adult education should be directed to helping people help themselves. Slide 16 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
African Philosophies • The African philosophers were endowed with philosophical mate-rial which is embedded in: proverbs, myths and folktales, folksongs, rituals, paintings symbols such as Adinkra, and beliefs systems, customs, and traditions of the people. • Four trends in contemporary African philosophy based on communal har-mony exist (Oruka cited in Nafukho, et al., 2005). • These are ethno-philosophy, nationalistic-ideological philosophy, profes-sional philosophy and Philosophic sagacity. • Ethno-philosophy is about the basic principles of African behaviour, beliefs and cus-toms that focus on the views expressed in written texts and oral litera-ture. Slide 17 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
Nationalist-Ideological Philosophy • Nationalist-ideological philosophy emerged as socio- political force that reflected the vital norms in the culture of traditional Africans. • It was used as ideologies for political independence from colonial regimes. • Some of the African leaders who adopted this philosophy in their leadership drive include Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, William Abraham, Kenneth Kaunda, and Leopold Senghor. • Oginga Odinga, Abdel Nasser & Amilcar Cabral were other African leaders that adopted the nationalist- ideological philosophy in their leadership drive. Slide 18 Dr. Isaac Kofi Biney, SCDE
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