As usual in this column, I like to dig into the wisdom of our ancestors so that you and I can find food for thought and to guide our life experience. Today my memory goes to the indigenous education in which my parents and grandparents were raised.
A fraction of that indigenous education has been part of my experience and through my rigorous research into that kind of education in this country and in other parts of this continent, I have come to a deeper knowledge and a keener appreciation of it.
When you reflect deeply into indigenous education, there you will find two main ingredients that I have named: An education for a living and an education for life. Our ancestors did not see it as having two aspects, because their way of thinking did not compartmentalise life experience: They visualised life as ONE experience, as one whole, undivided, interrelated, interdependent and interconnected.
So, what is an education for a living and an education for life? Our ancestors raised their children so that they would be economically empowered. I grew up on a farm in which we cultivated cash crops and food crops. By the time I was fifteen or so, just before I joined secondary school, I had all needed information for economic independence in later life. In our village, all boys and girls inherited this kind of knowledge and know-how. I call this an education that informs the mind.
At the same time, we were raised up in the wisdom of our ancestors through storytelling, proverbs, riddles, song and dance and ritual. Our ancestors considered this aspect of early education a fundamental part of holistic education.
This is what I call an education that transforms the heart.
In our time, it seems to me that the greatest emphasis of our educational system is to inform the mind, to impart as much knowledge and facts as possible.
Our system of education should think of transforming the heart of the student. For me this is the greatest weakness in modern day education. We need to wake up and realise that without the transformation of the hearts of our graduates, we shall continue witnessing selfish and self-serving graduates. In short, we need to give serious attention to the ethical formation of our children and of course on the ethical formation of everyone. It is not enough to have knowledgeable and skilled graduates. We must strive to have graduates who are economically prepared and ethically grounded.
