Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Julia Preece
Continuum Studies
in Educational Research
Continuum International Publishing Group
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane
11 York Road Suite 704
London, SE1 7NX New York, NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
Julia Preece has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
LC5261.P74 2009
338.4337491724--dc21
2009003133
Foreword ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1. Introduction 1
2. Postcolonial perspectives 17
3. Historical and philosophical foundations for
lifelong learning: perspectives from the South 33
4. Development and lifelong learning 50
5. Globalization implications for lifelong learning in the South 67
6. Lifelong learning in the South in the digital age 84
7. Feminist perspectives on lifelong learning 101
8. Case studies Pakistan and India 117
9. Case studies Tanzania and Lesotho 135
10. Lifelong learning and development moving forward 153
Notes 164
References 165
Index 179
This page intentionally left blank
Foreword
margins, forcing into the mainstream both critical and constructive per-
spectives that are facilitating the gradual transformation of ethos, ethics
and practices. Strong development perspectives on the relationship between
the North and the South, between mainstream science systems and the
suppressed others, and a distinct tone of defiance and impatience begins
to ring out at the default drive in contemporary practices that endorsed
indifference as its core philosophy.
In many parts of the global South, there is an emerging realization that
new directions in the philosophy and sociology of development, of science,
and of intellectual practice today are emerging, not from the academia but
from questions raised by grassroots movements, making knowledge an
intrinsic part of democratic politics. It is within these emergent perspectives
that propositions for indigenous directed partnerships, an integrative para-
digm shift, and renegotiation of human agency are being articulated (see
Odora Hoppers 2008, Fatnowna and Pickett 2002, Prakash 1995).
This cannot make it easy for an academic whose blood identity is not
from Africa or the global South. The question then becomes, how does a
human being with a different origin enter an arena of evident marginaliza-
tion and participate fully in the project of human emancipation? To me,
the answer lies in Martin Luther King Jrs assertions that change does not
roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through struggle. Human
progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step towards the goals
of justice requires sacrifice and struggle, tireless exertions and passionate
concern of dedicated individuals. It is here that we find Preeces dedicated
commitment to stand on the side of the dispossessed, the subaltern, and
from there, invest in this profound exploration around the question of life-
long learning and development at this point in time.
She of course recognizes the impact that colonization and the inherent
violence of dispossession have had on peoples identities, cultures and life
experiences. But what she does is to posit this understanding against the
complexities of institutional structures, textual representations and power
relations that are responsible for reproducing that vicarious domination,
and that works to consistently make its true cruelty appear as benevolence
under the rubric and pretensions of development. How then can indige-
nous values, ways of knowing and seeing enter into the play in a manner
that can influence the contemporary moment?
The answer to this lies in undertaking a comprehensive and multifaceted
exploration in which both the structural and the personal, the philosophi-
cal and the pragmatic can be tossed into one stage, and made naked so that
the citizen can at last begin to understand their true dimensions. It is only
Foreword xi
References
Fatnowna, S. and Pickett, H. (2002), The place of indigenous knowledge systems in
the post-postmodern integrative paradigm shift, in Odora Hoppers, C. (ed.),
Indigenous Knowledge and the Integration of Knowledge Systems: Towards a Philosophy of
Articulation. Claremont: New African Books Ltd., pp. 209236.
Odora Hoppers, C. A. (2008), Education, Culture and Society in a Globalizing World:
Implications for Comparative and International Education. Keynote address at the
British Association for International and Comparative Education annual confer-
ence on Internationalisation in Education: Culture, Context and Difference.
Kelvin Conference Centre, University of Glasgow. 46 September 2008.
Peat, D. (2008), Gentle Action: Bringing Creative Change to a Turbulent World. Pari: Pari
Publications.
Prakash, G. (1995), Introduction: after colonialism, in Prakash, G. (ed.), After
Colonialism. Imperial Histories and Post-Colonial Displacements. New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, pp. 320.
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
My motive for writing this book derives from several different sources.
In 2003 Maria Torres wrote a powerful critique of the way lifelong learning
appears to be promoted as an educational discourse for the North (those
advanced industrialized countries that are commonly characterized as
OECD countries) while the educational discourse for the South (those
formerly colonized countries that are at the bottom of World Bank develop-
ment index league tables)1 is largely confined to basic education. The sec-
ond stimulus came from my reading of a text from the Southern African
Development Communitys Technical Committee on Lifelong Education
and Training. Its definition of lifelong learning seemed to offer a distinctive
perspective that I felt was missing in documents such as the European
Memorandum on Lifelong Learning. A further stimulus came from various
literatures related to the African Renaissance and traditional lifelong learn-
ing histories of continents like Africa and South Asia. These observations
were enhanced by reading the literature that documents ongoing tensions
between a broad, social purpose concept of lifelong learning and the nar-
rower skills-for-human-capital focus, manifested throughout academic and
policy documents in the North. Finally, while some of the social trends
that have prompted the lifelong learning agenda are identified as relevant
beyond the northern hemisphere (see, for instance, Youngman 2002),
there are a number of distinctive development issues that require more
focused and context specific attention to how lifelong learning should be
developed in different regions. Lifelong learning does exist in the South
and is constantly changing informally, but it needs to take different forms
to enable people to participate more effectively in their own and wider
societies. In recent years, there have been some efforts, largely through
UNESCO, to begin to formulate ideas about a lifelong learning policy
agenda for formerly colonized countries. This debate has been further
stimulated as we approach the preparation phases for the sixth Interna-
tional Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) to be organized
by UNESCO in May 2009.
xiv Preface
Introduction
Lifelong learning (LLL) has been acknowledged as a need and a principle for
education and learning systems worldwide, and is being actively embraced by the
North for its own societies. However, LLL remains an uneasy topic for national
governments in the South and for international cooperation agencies which con-
tinue to prescribe narrow basic education ceilings for poor countries.
Torres 2003:20
South can have a voice on the world stage that contributes to both theoriz-
ing and operationalizing lifelong learning for all.
development and social learning models are more popular with adult
educators. The latter model, in particular, focuses on encouraging individ-
uals to participate in social life for the common good. This is also a feature
of policy debate for lifelong learning, often manifested as social capital2
and as a way of promoting neighbourhood renewal and social cohesion.
However, social capitals interpretation and application in relation to life-
long learning is hotly contested and used by both neo-liberals and transfor-
mationalists alike. This has implications for using the idea as a form of
social control in development terms.
Closely allied to social capital is the interest in lifelong learning for
active citizenship. Again, there are several perspectives on how active citi-
zenship should be interpreted. On the one hand a simplistic vision of civics
knowledge and understanding about voter rights might be the preferred
option of government policy; on the other hand many advocate a more
empowering, critical citizenship focus that would enhance peoples under-
standing of and ability to participate in decision making about their lives.3
All these discussions also take place in academic and policy fora in the
South, as evidenced by the Cape Town conference Lifelong Learning, Higher
Education and Active Citizenship in 2000 at the University of the Western Cape
and reported in the International Journal of Lifelong Education.
In spite of these tensions and continued academic arguments for a
broader social vision for lifelong learning, especially in relation to adult
education and learning, a scan of current policy documents in industry-
focused countries suggests that the narrower, vocationalist, skills agenda
for employability is winning the day. Concerns about unemployment and
economic downturns may even turn a government agenda quite sharply
from its traditional approaches to, and philosophies about, learning, as
is evidenced in Japan (Okamoto 2001).
The above is a simplistic rundown of some of the core debates in litera-
ture emanating mostly from the North. However, the ideas are all subject to
critique about what exactly is meant by the different users of words such as
employability, skills, learning societies, citizenship and so forth.
This book is not going to repeat these arguments and discussions since
they have already been well covered.4 The above summary serves as a back-
drop, however, to the issues that I want to focus on. These are that the domi-
nant agenda of the North appears to be premised on an assumption
that the South has nothing to contribute to the lifelong learning debate.
Furthermore it seems that largely economistic interpretations of the devel-
opment needs of the South are influencing international aid agendas for
how learning should be construed and for whom it should be provided.
6 Lifelong Learning and Development
Finally, it will be argued later in this book that the Norths philosophical
heritage and historical past is different from some of the philosophical tra-
ditions and historical experiences of continents like Africa and South Asia.
These traditions and histories may have implications for how lifelong learn-
ing is interpreted or developed in the latters countries, while recognizing
that they must also be contextualized within the contemporary world.
The mission of this book has two goals. I want to argue, first, that it is
important to influence the current uncritical assumptions about lifelong
learning that the North might bring to bear on the South. Second, the
contribution of southern contexts and debates to wider discussions has
the potential to influence a more global vision for lifelong learning that
embraces all circumstances and situations.
Indeed the debate starts with a quote from Torres (2003:34) who expands
on the four pillars of the 1996 Delors Report:
The lifelong learning development context for countries in the South has
been cited as not so different from that of the rest of the world (Youngman
1998). However, the emphasis and priorities for some of the challenges
to be addressed influence where people put their energies. Issues include
large-scale poverty especially in rural areas, unemployment, famine, conflicts,
Introduction 7
illiteracy, poor access to basic health and other services, the highest inci-
dences of HIV infections in the world, as well as concerns for democracy,
gender inequalities, environmental degradation, conflict zones, low pro-
ductivity, access to, and drop-out rates from, school.5 While these challenges
are not confined solely to the South, they represent the basis for develop-
ment aid and frame their lifelong learning needs. They dominate and
submerge more positive features of life in the South and ignore context-
specific agendas. Moreover continents like Africa and South Asia are only
conditionally in control of their own development. Their power relation-
ship with the dominant agendas of the North is contingent and subordi-
nate, particularly in terms of policy and expenditure for education. So
claims from these countries that lifelong learning existed through tradi-
tional education structures long before colonialism (see Chapter 3, for
example) are seldom recognized by external funders.
Palepu (2001) discusses how disjunctions between grass-roots concerns
(including those that connect with traditional values and knowledge sys-
tems), and donor attempts to transfer western models to the recipient
countries tend to minimize rather than enhance lifelong learning opportu-
nities. Torres (2003:144) points out that even the educational language of
international development agencies for countries in the South has the
effect of predetermining how policy agendas are formulated. The effect is
to create an educational ceiling for countries in the South:
forefront; individuals and groups are included in the target audience; finally,
people are to be connected to local and global contexts. In many ways this is
a more visionary and inclusive understanding of lifelong learning than the
one provided for Europe. It is less individualistic, less possessive and more
interested in connections than competition. In my paper titled Beyond
the learning society: the learning world? (Preece 2006) I argued that
these interpretations could also be seen to reflect the social situatedness of
Africa as standing in a different world view from countries in the North.
The philosophical world views of Africa (and indeed South Asia see
Pattanayak 1980 for instance) are more likely to have a spirituality element
(as discussed in Chapter 3) and emphasize connectedness rather than indi-
vidualism, and to include an interest in the transmission of cultural values
as part of learning society and lifelong learning. These value systems are
discussed in more detail in Chapter 3, as is the historical context for tradi-
tional approaches to lifelong learning. These observations do not mean
that there is complete resistance within Africa to global influences, indeed
there is evidence to the contrary in the behaviours and attitudes of younger
generations (Preece and Mosweunyane 2004), but they do suggest that
countries in the South would like to be a mutual player in the wider world
in a way that might complement and balance the dominant trends.
Unlike the European Memorandum this particular SADC definition was
not embedded in a political framework. It has not, for instance, signifi-
cantly influenced the South African Governments predominantly instru-
mentalist lifelong learning focus and the committee itself has now ceased to
operate because of a financial crisis. The above literature provides a starting
point for envisioning a southern vision for lifelong learning that reflects
debates emanating from a range of conferences in this part of the world.
Lifelong education, and lifelong learning, have been the subject of confer-
ence discussions in Africa and South Asia since the 1970s. Many of the con-
ferences have been organized by UNESCO and usually have an adult or
higher education focus.
The struggle to articulate a balanced vision to embrace both vocational-
ism and human development was already being articulated in 1975, in
Nairobi. This was at a UNESCO sponsored seminar on the structure of
adult education in developing countries where the final report highlighted
that lifelong education should have an overall goal of improvement in the
Introduction 11
quality of life at individual and group levels (p.6) and that it should not
be narrowly interpreted as referring only either to national or strictly eco-
nomic needs but also for individual growth (UNESCO 1975:23).
It is worth detailing here the plethora of conferences that have mush-
roomed since the 1990s. They represent a growing interest among coun-
tries in the South in a concept of lifelong learning that both recognizes
diverse value systems and attempts to place formerly colonized nations on
an equal dialogue with their colonizers.
As has been stated earlier, the 1990 World Conference on Education
for All (EFA) in Jomtien, Thailand set the scene for what was to prove
a North-South divide in terms of lifelong visions and targets. At the time
it was a milestone in international dialogue on education for development.
It was premised on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asserting
the right to education for all and was, in part, a response to the setbacks
of the 1980s where many countries in receipt of development aid had been
forced to reduce public expenditure on education as a result of imposed
structural adjustment policies. The consequence of those policies was a
massive deterioration in education provision with consequent increases in
poverty and illiteracy among other inequalities. The outcome of the 1990
conference was a World Declaration on Education for All and a Framework
for Action to meet Basic Learning Needs, with six targets to reach by the
year 2000. Article 1.4 of the declaration placed basic learning needs firmly
within a lifelong learning framework: basic education is more than an end
in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development
on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of
education and training (UNESCO 1990:34).
The Jomtien EFA targets were reaffirmed at the next EFA World Educa-
tion Forum in Dakar, 2000. Since the targets had not been met, the Jomtien
agreement was replaced by the Dakar Framework for Action and once more
the education goals were framed within a lifelong learning context, refer-
ring to the De Lors (1996) concept of learning to know, to do, to live
together and to be with a renewed EFA achievement target of 2015. The
goals themselves included early childhood care, access to free and compul-
sory primary education, meeting the learning needs of all young people
and adults with appropriate learning and life skills programmes, improving
levels of adult literacy, eliminating gender disparities and improving the
quality of education. Learning would include participation of civil society,
accountability, programmes to promote peace, understanding, tolerance,
prevention of violence and conflict, gender equality practices, action to com-
bat HIV/AIDS, harnessing new Information Communication Technologies
12 Lifelong Learning and Development
offset by growing concerns about poverty in the South. So, while in 2000 the
Commission of European Communities produced their Memorandum
for Lifelong Learning with a view to enhancing Europes economic growth,
the United Nations Millennium Summit of 2000 formulated eight interna-
tional development targets which became known as the Millennium Devel-
opment Goals (MDGs). These were signed up to by the World Bank, the
IMF, Heads of State and other international development agencies. The
MDGs deflected attention away from the broader EFA targets of countries
classified as developing. Education goals were reduced and sealed the
shift in international aid to what has been criticized as a narrow educa-
tional focus on universal primary education.
Although subsequent conferences followed in the South (such as the
2001 Beijing International Conference on Lifelong Learning: Global Perspectives in
Education and the 2002 SADC conference on Adult Basic and Literacy Educa-
tion in Peitermaritzburg, the 2002 UNESCO and MINEDAF conference in
2002 on Issues and Strategies for the Promotion of Adult Education in the Context
of Lifelong Learning, and the CONFINTEA V Mid Term Review in 2003), it
has been difficult for the participating countries to re-insert themselves into
the dominant, instrumentalist lifelong learning discourses. This may be
because the key players have been adult educators; it may be that the adult
education interest in a broader and more humanistic agenda has failed to
capture the interest of economistic discourses (framed as poverty in the
South and economic competitiveness in the North); it may be that the adult
education discourse has never been able to give itself a distinctive enough
identity for policy makers to be willing to compartmentalize its multifarious
agendas. It may be that adult education is too empowering:
Children, youth and adults must learn to survive and preserve their own
health, to work, to produce and to earn a decent living; to develop their
Introduction 15
While such an agenda could arguably be relevant to all nations its broad
purpose and perspective for lifelong learning is essential in contexts of con-
flict, exploitation, ethnic tensions, extreme poverty, poor access to basic
necessities, services and social security nets. When those same nations also
possess unexploited riches of indigenous knowledge, cultural, spiritual and
social values it is important to find ways of harnessing the best of what is
already in existence in order to build on and support positive social, as well
as economic, growth.
It is perhaps inevitable that the World Bank agenda will want to promote
neo-liberal policies and to focus on the cost of lifelong learning. But the
danger of this agenda that is also framed within a discourse of equity
and development means that other voices are silenced and delegitimized.
Governments that rely on international aid to promote their agendas for
future growth and social cohesion must tailor their plans to the dictates of
external agencies who demand an uncritical transfer of their own agendas.
This book hopes to provide a theoretical and conceptual critique of some
of the development discourses related to lifelong learning and frame those
critiques in historical and philosophical perspectives that have particular
resonance for formerly colonized countries in the South, with a view to
encouraging a relevant but contemporary vision for lifelong learning and
development.
Chapter 2 introduces postcolonialism as a critical theory for framing
lifelong learning debates. Issues of uncritical international transfer and
the importance of context in relations between the North and South will
introduce Chapter 3 which looks at philosophies and traditional values for
lifelong learning emanating from Africa and South Asia, drawing on the
ideologies of Nyerere and Gandhi, examples of indigenous knowledge
practices and expressions of lifelong learning through proverbs and folk
16 Lifelong Learning and Development
tales. Traditional structures and values, the impact of colonialism and the
postcolonial period will introduce new revivalisms such as the African Ren-
aissance, its expression through NEPAD and critiques of that. Chapter 4
critiques related discourses of development from postcolonial perspectives
while Chapter 5 explores globalization in southern contexts, looking at the
role of social capital, interpretations of social justice and the implications of
these interpretations for lifelong learning. Chapter 6 deals with current
trends for ODL and the implications of this with regard to the digital divide
with reference to some current initiatives in low-and middle income coun-
tries. Chapter 7 addresses global feminist concerns about lifelong learning,
with a particular reflection on southern feminist perspectives. Chapters 8
and 9 critically analyse case studies of lifelong learning policy and practice
from Africa and South Asia in the context of the earlier chapters on postco-
lonialism, development, globalization and gender. Finally Chapter 10 draws
some conclusions and suggests policy implications for lifelong learning that
take account of the reflections across the book.
Concluding summary
This chapter has argued that it is time for formerly colonized countries
in the South to contribute to a global vision for lifelong learning. This is
argued for two reasons. On the one hand southern perspectives may con-
tribute to strengthening the human and social development core values
for lifelong learning that are often hidden in contemporary neo-liberal
discourses. On the other hand the wide ranging socio-political democratic
challenges in many such countries require more than an economistic vision
for learning. An agenda which embraces indigenous values but also frames
lifelong learning in a context that interfaces with unequal starting points
for initial education is essential if countries in the South are to have the
opportunity to develop a level playing field with other parts of the world.
This book addresses some key issues to do with historical and philoso-
phical world views, postcolonial critiques of globalization, technology and
development and pays attention to issues of gender. Case studies from
Africa and South Asia are analysed from these frameworks with a view to
producing some policy recommendations.
Chapter 2
Postcolonial perspectives
Introduction
capitalist and market-driven rationale that is more likely to serve the inter-
ests of northern economies than the broader interests of their beneficiar-
ies. We already see evidence of this in, for example, the recent World Bank
document on lifelong learning.
So for countries in the South to challenge dominant perceptions, we
need an explanatory theoretical framework that makes sense of their par-
ticular historical context. This includes re-narrating the experience of colo-
nization, from the viewpoint of the colonized, and the implications that has
had for current development issues in relation to lifelong learning. It means
recognizing the impact that colonization had on peoples identities, cul-
tures, their claims to indigenous knowledge, their experiences of racism
and the ongoing effects of a relationship that was built on oppression and
violation of basic human dignity. This includes understanding the institu-
tional structures, textual representations and power relations that enabled
domination to operate so effectively under a banner of benevolence, mani-
fested through discourses of development. At the same time indigenous
values, traditions and practices need to be repositioned in a way that can
influence the present. This also means recognizing that the precolonial
past cannot, and should not, be recreated in any pure sense since the con-
temporary world is, to a greater or lesser extent, a hybrid of globalized rela-
tionships. Nevertheless we need to understand how to identify the structures
that created inequalities in the past in order to discover how we may poten-
tially be change agents in our future destinies.
This chapter, therefore, offers a theoretical framework that can provide a
way of critiquing dominant discursive strategies for lifelong learning, while
at the same time creating space for alternative voices. The goal is to make
visible what has previously been made invisible. It is a perspective that has
been adopted by many writers wishing to re-narrativize and challenge dom-
inant literature about formerly colonized nations and their populations.7
It is for this reason that I have chosen to use postcolonial analysis as my
main strategy to both critique dominant theoretical positions that impact
on countries in the South and provide a platform for articulating an alter-
native vision that takes account of context and different world views. I start
by providing a brief overview of some of the key concepts that are associ-
ated with the postcolonialist literature. After outlining how postcolonialism
emerged in response to criticisms of earlier theories (dependency and
Marxist) I explain the main principles behind postcolonialist theory and its
associated links to poststructuralism. This will include reference to feminist
perspectives, concepts of development and globalization all of which are
elaborated in later chapters. All theories have their critics, of course, and
Postcolonial Perspectives 19
Key concepts
of knowledge and beliefs about the world within which acts of colonization
take place (Ashcroft et al. 2000:42). Loomba (1998) elaborates by empha-
sizing that knowledge is connected to power relations and how they operate
through discourse. Ultimately the colonized may also come to believe in
this discourse because it is rationalized as truth and people learn to behave
in a way that reinforces this belief system. In Foucaults (1980) words
this becomes a form of disciplinary power. Colonial discourses, including
Orientalism, can have the effect of silencing resistance to dominant ver-
sions of truth.
Imperialism has been discussed in terms of its pre-emptive stage for colo-
nial rule and also as new imperialism in relation to current international
forms of global governance (Tikly 2004). Essentially it is a form of colonial-
ism without the physical settlement of one country into distant territory.
Loomba (1998:6) argues that direct colonial rule is not necessarily present
in imperialism because it is characterized by economic systems of penetra-
tion and control of markets that create relations of dependency. However,
Ashcroft et al. (2000) continue to emphasize the inequalities of this rela-
tionship in terms of implied notions of superiority as well as domination.
It can, therefore be interchanged with the concept of neo-colonialism.
While neo-colonialism indicates a distinction in terms of time (happen-
ing after decolonization) it also represents a range of ongoing, controlling
behaviours by former colonizing countries and other superpowers that
include monetary controls, influences over educational institutions, condi-
tional aid and the spread of global capitalist economies.
Finally, the term subaltern is most commonly associated with Gayatri
Spivak who refers to the subaltern group, whose identity is its difference
(1995:27). The subaltern is, by implication, according to Ashcroft et al.
(2000) someone of inferior rank. In postcolonialist terms it is also someone
who is a member of the former colonized peoples.
Postcolonialism
Postcolonialism has became popular since the 1990s with a number of edu-
cationists who attempt to move beyond the more economistic focus of other
critical theories in Third World politics such as dependency theory and
neo-Marxism. Dependency theory has its origins in the academic discipline
of Development Studies. As such its focus has largely addressed economic
concerns. Dependency theory will be addressed in more detail in Chapter
5 but principally it critiques the human capital, skills deficit approach of
Postcolonial Perspectives 21
Most people are so embedded in their societal belief systems that they
neither question their societys dominant values nor realize how much
they themselves are naturalized into them. So certain behaviours become
entirely predictable and unquestioned in their own social environment.
Their behaviours are normalized (Fairclough 1989, Foucault 1980). This
perspective reveals how the colonizer lived and believed in the justification
of his or her behaviour and attitudes to the colonized other. R. J. C. Young
(2003) explains, for example, how the westerner views people in the non-
western world more as a mirror of themselves and their own assumptions
than the reality of what is really there (p.2). Hickling-Hudson (2006) and
Ware (1996) also link this normalization concept to the way whiteness, for
the white westerner, comes to mean normality and superiority to blackness.
Eventually even people on the receiving end of domination can be so
controlled by these normalizing discourses that they may come to accept
or even believe in them (Hall 1996). Foucault called this disciplinary
power. This is a form of self-regulation where people monitor their own
belief systems in accordance with external expectations as if they are being
watched from an imagined, all-seeing gaze. By policing themselves in this
way, it can be argued, people are taking away their own will to resist because
they internalize domination as normative and as common sense. They
become players in the dominant ideology: Discourses define what is
normal and what is normal is then seen as in need of normalization or con-
formity to the norm (Ramazanoglu 1993:22). This kind of self-surveillance
is held in place through institutional structures, conditions and hierarchies
where discourses become rationales for maintaining the status quo: Power
is a persistent registration of truth (Foucault 1980:93). Educational institu-
tions have often been cited as primary mechanisms for reproducing the
status quo in favour of the elite. The colonial education system reinforced
such hierarchies in favour of the colonizers mission. Such an interpreta-
tion of power is one way of exploring how colonialism sustained its hold
over societies.
Peoples positions within power relationships are multiple, however. They
play different roles according to the social composition of the participants
in any interaction. The potentially unpredictable combinations of power
relations and discourse interactions (as the mechanisms for power rela-
tions) render the possibility of resistant forms of discourse and the possibil-
ity of changing power relationships.
There are times, therefore, when individuals and groups may find their
own sense of personal agency (self-determination) which enables them to
move beyond their location of oppression. Individuals and groups also
Postcolonial Perspectives 23
The post in postcolonial therefore has often been likened to the other
posts such as postmodernism and poststructuralism, in terms of going
beyond rather than superseding the earlier status of colonialism. The his-
tory of colonization and how those experiences were told by colonizers
has stimulated a desire to rewrite (re-narrativize) those histories from the
viewpoint of the colonized.
Postcolonialism has therefore emerged as a way of critiquing other domi-
nant western theories such as globalization and development. In particular
it challenges the neo-liberal capitalist dimensions of market flows and con-
trol of consumerism (Rizvi et al. 2006; Tikly 2004). The political emphasis
in postcolonialism exposes the inadequacies and neo-colonialisms of devel-
opment rationales for developing countries, challenging the assumption
that there is only one way to develop and that development means
only certain things as defined by international development indicators
formulated by the World Bank. These issues are discussed in more detail in
Chapters 4 and 5.
Critiques of postcolonialism
This postcolonial agenda has also been critiqued for a number of reasons.
First, it is argued, postcolonialism is still a theory which is heavily domi-
nated by western influences (Loomba 1998). The very language of English
means that postcolonial analysis is always an interpretation, controlled by
the language of the colonizer. In Audre Lourdes famous phrase: The mas-
ters tools will never dismantle the masters house (1983, reproduced in
2003:25). Furthermore, because of the very nature of todays globalizing
world, and the hybridity of culture and identities, the postcolonial agenda
cannot recover the past in any pure sense (Spivak 1990). The past has
already been changed and the present is already a fusion with the past.
Equally, as Loomba (1998) discusses, every colonial encounter is different,
so how can the postcolonial experience be encapsulated in a theoretical
position? Moreover, the borrowing of postcolonial analysis from a theory
which is heavily eurocentric weakens its value for some. For example, using
the concept of difference taken from poststructuralism, deflects attention
from the more embedded issues of inequality within this word.
Indeed, the very nature of academic theory that claims to speak on behalf
of, or for, the marginalized and dispossessed is a contradiction in terms.
Postcolonialism has been criticized for being an abstract language of the
26 Lifelong Learning and Development
You will of course not speak in the same way about the Third World
material, but if you make it your task not only to learn what is going on
there through language, through specific programmes of study, but also
at the same time through a historical critique of your position as the
investigating person, then you will see that you have earned the right to
criticize, and you be heard [sic]. You have to take a certain risk . . . and
you will probably be made welcome, and you can hope to be judged with
respect.
She further explains (p.108) that while one may not be able to speak as if
one were in someone elses shoes (taken from the German word vertreten)
one can attempt to speak on behalf of others as a political representation
(encapsulated in the German word darstellung).
From my position as a white westerner, I hope that I have earned the right
to be heard and contribute to the debate, albeit without the authenticity of
one who has experienced colonization firsthand.
Finally, it has been argued, postcolonialism does not exist, since the
colonial experience is ongoing for many nations around the world (Shohat
1992 in Hall 1996). Even the historical concept of post is often challenged,
since the time relationship between colonization and cessation of coloniza-
tion is not always marked by a historical moment and certainly not the same
historical moment. Many countries and peoples can claim to have been
colonized (including, for example, indigenous populations in relation to
Australia and North America and the countries of Scotland, Wales and
Ireland in relation to England).
Cultural politics
goes further to reposition, challenge and expose those discourses that are
claiming to work on behalf of populations and nations in a dependency
relationship with those with authority to know specifically in relation to
the experiences of formerly colonized nations.
But rather than adopt a binary divide between colonizer and colonized,
postcolonialism addresses the in-between spaces, the grey areas where
identities and relationships are not simply one or the other. The postcolo-
nial space is necessarily one of intersections between cultures. In the post-
colonial space discourses and identities are hybrids, words are adopted,
used, misused and reinscribed so that nothing is what it seems. As Loomba
(1998:241) states: In order to listen for subaltern voices we need to uncover
the multiplicity of narratives that were hidden by the grand narratives, but
we still need to think about how the former are woven together. So seem-
ing certainties are destabilized, in terms of knowledge, truth or geographi-
cal location.
The postcolonial may be a refugee, a migrant, a displaced or homeless
person, an academic struggling to make sense of research that is de-scribed
by the West, a government or organization that is trying to secure or negoti-
ate conditional aid to help it pursue its own goals. The postcolonial may
also be someone trying to recapture precolonial values, philosophies and
identities in order to position him or herself with dignity in an atmosphere
of disrespect, to challenge racism that is expressed as benevolence or wel-
fare or social justice. Context-specific experiences are therefore important
to postcolonial analysis, in order to avoid universalizing or essentializing
the postcolonial.
Postcolonial subjectivities
people make sense of the world around them, a way of critiquing and con-
tributing to social development. By understanding the tensions and con-
flicts that affect the postcolonial world, and giving space for self-expression,
this learning can be channelled to stimulate positive change.
So postcolonialism appropriates Foucaults concepts of discourse and dis-
ciplinary power to analyse issues that matter to the colonization experience.
It re-narrativizes history; it challenges literature written by the North and
West about the East or South; it exposes hegemonic discourses and
behaviours that reveal ongoing and unequal power relations related to pol-
icy development, conditional aid, concepts of development; it highlights
the inequalities of globalization as a process and a perspective and reveals
the hidden agendas of neo-colonial behaviour.
It also appropriates aspects of neo-marxist theory in criticizing the role of
capitalism through multinational corporations and their ongoing exploita-
tion by the North of raw materials from the South that are used to manufac-
ture and produce goods that are then resold to the South, or exploitation
of cheap labour in the South (for example, call centres) to serve the needs
of those in the North.
Postcolonialism also pays particular attention to feminism and gender,
often critiquing the way western feminisms universalize the needs and
challenges of women from formerly colonized nations without reference to
their specific colonial histories and contemporary contexts.
colonial and postcolonial eras; and the need to challenge the production
of Third World woman in western feminist texts (Mohanty 1995:259).
So, on the one hand feminist discourses speak on behalf of formerly
colonized women to question neo-colonial authoritative discourses such as
those of international aid agencies that fail to recognize indigenous knowl-
edges and cultural practices as part of the development mission; on the
other hand they identify patriarchal oppressions, such as discriminatory
laws about rape or ownership of property, that often conflict with the wider
mission to decolonize their nations and reinstate positive African value
systems.
Their third agenda is to reprioritize those concerns with which the West
is obsessed such as the wearing of the veil by Muslim women or the prac-
tice of circumcision or Sati (widow burning) in some cultures. Mohanty
points out that it is not that these issues should be ignored, but that they
need to be understood with respect to the: complexities and conflicts
which characterize the lives of women of different classes, religions, cul-
tures, races and castes in these countries (1995:260). Many feminists from
the South have written, for example, in defence of women wearing the veil,
turning this apparently oppressive concept into one of identity and also
exposing the contradictions in attempting to force its removal. R. J. C. Young
(2003) summarizes these contentions:
The nature of the western response to the veil is to demand and desire its
removal, so that strategies of liberation in the name of saving women sup-
posedly forced to wear the veil coincide uncomfortably with the colonial
violence of the veils forcible removal. (p.86)
So how does the postcolonial project contribute to a new agenda for educa-
tion and lifelong learning? From a historical perspective postcolonialism
unearths the effects of inequitable and selective education systems. It also
shows how most education systems in formerly colonized nations are still
dominated by ideologies, curricula, structures, languages, pedagogies and
policies of their former colonizers. All these practices have implications for
cultural and intellectual development and lifelong learning. While there is
a bank of literature that addresses issues surrounding indigenous knowl-
edge the range of texts that specifically apply postcolonial analysis to life-
long learning discourses is scant.
Postcolonial Perspectives 31
Concluding summary
Introduction
Chapters 1 and 2 have made a number of claims. On the one hand, I have
argued that the dominant, neo-liberal, lifelong learning agenda emanates
from the North at the expense of the needs and discourses of the South.
On the other hand, the tendency of northern donor agencies to focus on
a basic education agenda, rather than the wider notion of lifelong learning,
for the South reflects a more deeply embedded issue of colonial interfer-
ence in the affairs of formerly colonized nations. Third, there are indica-
tions that there are different philosophical outlooks in the South, for
education and lifelong learning, from dominant messages in the North.
So it is time for people in the South to have a louder voice in the lifelong
learning debate and reverse the unequal relationship between these two
hemispheres by extending the platform from which southern ideologies
emanate. The postcolonial framework provides a discursive space that
reveals how colonialist and neo-colonialist behaviours undermine other
ways of knowing which could contribute to formulating alternative visions
for lifelong learning. Postcolonial analysis gives us the tools to re-historicize
the experiences of formerly colonized peoples and re-narrativize what is
important for them.
From this position we can then interrogate contemporary discourses
for development and globalization that impact on contemporary agendas
for education and learning. Considerations of gender and information
technology issues will also be part of that interrogation. Before these
34 Lifelong Learning and Development
They highlight how western internalized ways of seeing the world come to
influence dominant agendas as if they are common-sense universals, but
nevertheless remain in tension with alternative world views.
This chapter tries to sketch out some of the perceived differences and ten-
sions as articulated by mostly African writers, substantiated by a few exam-
ples of how uncritical western transfer of knowledge systems can entangle
and alienate potential learning in different cultural environments.
It can be argued that education in many formerly colonized countries is
characterized by several stages, starting with traditional education systems
that were largely transmitted orally. Mission schools began in the 1840s but
continue to this day. The period of colonial administration from the 1850s
was followed by the process of individual countries gaining Independence
between the 1960s and up to the abandonment of apartheid in South Africa
during the early 1990s. The post-Independence era comprised develop-
ment aid policies of the 1970s followed by stringent structural adjustment
demands of the 1980s and more recent conditions for development aid in
response to globalization issues.
We look at some precolonial practices for lifelong learning. At the same
time we examine some philosophical perspectives that underpin traditional
learning systems and which still impact on contemporary world views
in Africa and South Asia. The emphasis is on trying to make sense of the
tensions between these differences and those of the northern hemisphere,
particularly in relation to concepts of knowledge, being, relationships and
the role of spirituality. This is accompanied by a brief summary of the impact
of colonialism on education systems as a preface to the challenge by post-
colonial writers for an African Renaissance and revival of indigenous knowl-
edge systems.
One of the major concerns of some African and South Asian educationists
is to challenge histories of education and lifelong learning that implicitly
assume there was no education in their countries before colonialism. For
example, Teffo (2000) shows that some scientific inventions were errone-
ously credited to European nations such as medicinal properties in herbs
and the wheel which actually emanated from Mesopotamia. Teffo also pro-
vides evidence of sophisticated iron making in Nigeria and an astronomical
observatory in Kenya which is dated at 300 bc. In similar fashion Nafukho
et al. (2005) claim that Ethiopia and the Nile valley had written forms of
36 Lifelong Learning and Development
education before Europe and that there were advanced centres of learning
in Timbuktu and Djienne in the eleventh century.
Aside from these claims all indigenous societies practised their own edu-
cation systems. Where this education is acknowledged by western writers
the tendency is to dismiss it as primitive without examination of its under-
lying value systems or purposes. The learning was usually by oral rather
than written transmission but was nonetheless organized and purposeful.
Teaching was holistic in approach; methods were interactive. For instance,
Datta (1984) describes how tribal legends and proverbs were used to pass
on cultural heritages, riddles served to test judgement and analysis, tasks
were set to encourage initiative. Indeed, as Okech (2004) argues in relation
to Uganda, this learning was already lifelong learning since adults and chil-
dren of all ages participated. It was also life-wide learning in that it took
place across society as well as according to chronological age. At the onset
of puberty there was a set range of activities for each age group and sex
to prepare them for adulthood and societal expectations for behaviour.
In many African countries these latter activities were called initiation schools
and they are still practised today alongside more formal, westernized systems.
Kaschula (2001) explains that songs and poetry were used for political
education and, referring to Shona ritual performances in Zimbabwe, the
oral nature of the learning was even an unspoken sub-text during the
colonial period to give people a sense of identity in their struggle against
cooption into the dominant western culture (p.xxi).
Pattanayak (1980) also indicates similar approaches in India: India has
a long tradition of oral transmission of knowledge: people may have been
illiterate but they were not uneducated. He cites a number of artisans, lit-
eracy geniuses, philosophers, experts in architecture, astrophysics and
astronomy who were technically illiterate (p.38).
There are some variations across the different countries and within
societies. Callaway (1975) cites how indigenous education in Nigerian
Yoruba society would vary for the offspring of a chief, compared with, say,
that of a blacksmiths son in the war camp of Ibadan. In Yoruba society it
was felt that each child was born with an innate destiny so no child would
be forced to learn a particular profession, rather they were encouraged
to follow their own interests as their natural abilities developed and there
were no initiation schools.
McWilliam and Kwamena-Poh (1975) explain how Ghanas holistic
apprenticeship system would train individuals for particular professions,
ranging from occupations like blacksmith to farmer, doctor, priest, soldier,
herbalist, drummer or weaver. Here, for instance, a goldsmith apprenticeship
Historical and Philosophical Foundations 37
Indigenous knowledge
Ubuntu
Letseka (2000:182) claims that the concept of ubuntu, or botho (roughly
translated as humanness) is fundamental to African socio-ethical thought.
It emphasizes the prioritizing of human relationships in terms of giving
respect and showing concern for others. This emphasis is predicated on
a sense that we are all connected through the spiritual world so that we
all have a mutual obligation to respect the living, the dead and those yet
to be born. These concepts are expressed through proverbs such as the
Nguni proverb umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (from the Zulu language) or
the Sotho proverb motho ke motho ka batho (from the Sesotho and Setswana
languages) roughly translated as a person is a person through other
persons, or: a person depends on others just as much as others depend on
him/her. The proverbs emphasize the communal embeddedness and con-
nectedness of a person to other persons. So the focus on relationships is
more than an external expression of greetings though these are an impor-
tant expression of ubuntu in African cultures but it is a relationship that
operates at a soul-level.
Ntuli (2002) emphasizes that this cosmic way of seeing the world bears
strong similarities to recent western notions of quantum physics and the
notion of there being an interconnectedness, a relationship between the
spiritual, natural and human world, where human beings and the phenom-
enal world can be seen as extensions of each other (p.56). Ntuli explains
ubuntu as defining the individual in terms of his or her relationship with
others . . . individuals only exist in their relationships with others so that
individual signifies a multiplicity of personalities that correspond to the
multiplicity of relationships that an individual has. So in ubuntu terms,
being an individual means being an extension of others (p.56). And oth-
ers may also include the dead and the yet to be born.
The nature of the individual in traditional African thought is paramount
to the concept of ubuntu. Teffo (2000) talks about the communal conception
of an individual in African settings, so that what happens to an individual
happens to the whole group and vice versa, expressed in the proverb cited
at the beginning of this chapter: I am because we are and since we are,
therefore I am. While individual effort is important, it is in the interests
of the wider community that it holds most value; hence, the attraction of
cooperative community farming rather than commercial farming, which
serves to profit a few.
The spiritual dimension locates the individual in the presence of a
supreme being at the centre of communal life. All activities must promote
Historical and Philosophical Foundations 41
the existence of the community and put its interests before the self. While
there is evidence that these values are changing in urban settings and
through globalization influences, the influence of ancestors, the extended
family and traditional democratic process of decision making remain pri-
mary value systems in many African contexts. These values include the duty
of everyone to teach and learn, the strong providing for the weak, harmo-
nizing individual interests with community interests.
Fordjor et al. (2003) confirm these belief systems, particularly in the con-
text of rural Ghana today. They describe how humanity and society are seen
as inseparable from religion and the community so that the individual
exists for society and society for the individual (p.190). The aims and
objectives of traditional Ghanaian adult education were to enable the indi-
vidual to understand his or her place in the family, the community and
nation as a whole. So the individual was valued for what he or she does and
not what he or she obtains in life (p.189). This has implications for a life-
long learning agenda that might be advocating self-fulfilment rather than
community relations. Fordjor et al. argue that there is little mention of
community or society in western philosophies.
On a more spiritual level Goduka describes how, in her Xhosa culture,
truths are explained by the ancestors through proverbs, myths and folk
tales which act as educative: easily remembered summaries of important
ideas and experiences that are part of the shared cultural knowledge of
indigenous communities (2000:76): All human beings are connected
not only by the ties of kinship and community but also by the bonds of reci-
procity rooted in the inherent interweaving and interdependence of all
humanity (p.71). So this concept of humanism places the community
rather than the individual at the centre, but also links the living individual
with the past and the future, thus creating a moral obligation to consider
and respect all things, living or dead.8
There is therefore more than one vision for society and lifelong learning
agendas somehow have to accommodate this.
Nyamnjoh (2002) offers a personal experience and interpretation of
his Cameroonian proverb which reinforces the Sotho and Zulu proverbs.
He offers two interpretations of the proverb a child is one persons only in
the womb. Drawing on his own upbringing which was supported by a range
of different relatives who held different kinds of responsibilities for the
various stages of his education and learning, he explains that individual
achievement is not simply credited to the individual, but also to those
who made the achievement possible, so that once the individual leaves the
mothers womb he or she also belongs to the wider community without
42 Lifelong Learning and Development
The way forward lies in recognising the creative and instersubjective ways
in which Africans merge their traditions with exogenous influences to
create modernities that are not reducible to either but superior to both.
(p.135)
Each village would have a school, a theatre, hall and water. Education would
be a cooperative relationship between student and teacher where each
46 Lifelong Learning and Development
would learn from the other. His focus was on the welfare of people, rather
than institutions or systems. It was an openly communalist view in opposi-
tion to western competitive materialism. Emphasis would be placed on
selflessness and responsibilities rather than rights; wealth would be used
for the benefit of wider society rather than individual gain. Gandhis vision
for education was a lifelong process for both children and adults. Although
it was introduced in 1937 as a scheme for educational reform, by Independ-
ence in 1966 it was no longer part of Indias five-year education plans, in the
context of a new era for development.
Gandhis vision was in response to the circumstances of the time, particu-
larly in opposition to the perceived destruction of Indian culture and dig-
nity as a result of colonialism. But many of his concepts are reflected in the
African philosophical concerns discussed earlier in this chapter. They also
bear strong resemblance to the educational philosophy of the Tanzanian
philosopher and politician Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.
Nyerere shared Gandhis commitment to education for self-reliance,
integrated with a collective system of productive work and the concept of
building autonomous, self-sufficient villages. Like Gandhi, Nyerere believed
in the worth of every individual irrespective of skin colour or other charac-
teristic. While these notions of equality nowadays do not signify anything
extraordinary, in the context of colonialism, they were revolutionary. His
vision drew on the values of ubuntu (translated to harambee in Kiswahili)
and his educational philosophy was embedded in the Kiswahili concept
of ujamaa (roughly translated as familyhood, the traditional element of
African society). Again, like Gandhi he was a fervent critic of the way colo-
nial education had cut Africans off from their own history, value system,
cultural origins and sense of identity. Ujamaa would be realized through the
construction of self-contained village communities, collectivization of agri-
culture, large-scale nationalization and a focus on rural development. His
ideas are encapsulated in the Arusha Declaration of 1967, where he advo-
cated the goals of adult education and education for self-reliance in the
context of national development. Education, he stated:
has to foster the social goals of living together and working together for
the common good. It has to prepare our young people to play a dynamic
role and constructive part in the development of a society in which all
members share fairly in the good or bad fortune of the group, and in
which progress is measured in terms of human well-being, not prestige
buildings, cars, or other such things whether privately or publicly owned.
Our education must therefore indicate a sense of commitment to the
whole community and help the pupils to accept the values appropriate to
Historical and Philosophical Foundations 47
our kind of future, not those appropriate to our colonial past. (Nyerere
1967:6)
Adult education within this context was seen as a liberation from ignorance
and dependency, raising of consciousness, inspiring a desire for change.
It was firmly embedded in the concept of lifelong learning. In Nyereres
vision education has no end (Mulenga 2001:459).
Nyerere introduced many practices that were later adopted in western
community education initiatives, such as using primary schools for adult
education classes, teacher training for adult education and the initiation of
a national literacy campaign. Adult literacy rates improved from 15 per cent
in 1967 to 91per cent by 1988 and nearly every child was in school. But his
overall project failed to capture the required widespread imagination and
enthusiasm of village communities. There are several possible reasons for
this. Mulenga (2001) suggests that Nyerere (like Gandhi) was too intent on
resurrecting lost cultural tradition in the face of the needs of a rapidly
changing world. There was therefore a contradiction in his goals to encour-
age critical thinking and the desire to conform to an idealized past. Perhaps
also, the pressures of development agendas from the International Mone-
tary Fund (IMF) and World Bank during the 1980s added contradictory
restraints to his essentially anti-capitalist agenda, so that the early gains of
his initiative ultimately deteriorated.
The difference, however, is that these nations were not allowed to grow on
their own terms. Colonialism and ongoing imperialist agendas for educa-
tional development create resistances to potential futures because they are
not owned by their own peoples. The potential for hybridity, for Africans to
merge their traditions with exogenous influences (Nyamnjoh 2002:135),
is therefore often lost.
So what can we extract from these histories, to help us develop a cultur-
ally relevant and philosophically supportive lifelong learning agenda for
countries in the South and perhaps globally? We have a number of tensions.
The global agenda is unashamedly capitalist, the southern tradition is much
more concerned with collectivization; tradition in rural areas, where the
majority still live, remains strong. Further the language of colonizers is not
the language of the colonized. It can be seen throughout this chapter that
it has been difficult to translate exact meanings for concepts and words
that provide the core of everyday life in diverse cultures. The overriding
message from African and Asian writers, however, is the need to be given
space to articulate those value systems that resonate with indigenous cul-
tural identities as a starting point for moving forward. This message must
somehow be integrated into the world context of development aid and glo-
balization. Ntuli (2002) poses a series of questions for indigenous knowl-
edges that are pertinent to a lifelong learning project for the South. Some
of them are replicated here:
To which can be added: what can we adapt and build on for lifelong learn-
ing in todays world?
Chapters 4 and 5 explore these issues within current socio-political cli-
mates before we look at some more practical and country-specific concerns
for lifelong learning in the South.
Concluding summary
This chapter has argued that education in the South did not begin with
colonialism. Evidence from African and South Asian societies indicate there
Historical and Philosophical Foundations 49
were sophisticated and organized forms of learning, for which the whole
community took responsibility. They were largely unwritten and relied on
oral transmission and memory for their continuity, but covered the whole
curriculum in an integrated way. The focus was on preparation for life
within defined cultures and communities. The philosophical foundations
for such education were embedded in a world view that saw nature and
human beings as having a cyclical relationship between the living, the dead
and yet to be born, bound by a spiritual core that sought to harmonize liv-
ing with the natural environment. Colonialism rejected these value systems
and replaced any educational input with a more Cartesian, individualistic
and disconnected approach to education under the guise of civilization.
Colonial interests primarily served the educational needs of their capitalist
administration, so that national development was partial and largely
neglected the majority rural communities. At Independence, the coloniz-
ers formal curriculum and philosophical heritage has continued to prevail
across formerly colonized nations with consequent effects on cultural iden-
tity, self-esteem and progress. The postcolonial project attempts to redress
the imbalance of these interventions by arguing for recognition of both the
histories of formerly colonized nations and integration of their aspirational
beliefs into current development agendas. The final section of this chapter
introduced some questions by Ntuli that may contribute to the develop-
ment of a lifelong learning agenda for the South and a more global and
holistic vision for learning societies.
Chapter 4
Introduction
One exception is the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO
2002) which explicitly recognizes the link between a holistic vision for
education for all ages and development in terms of human welfare as well
as economic growth (although the report is still primarily a resource for
statistical data). The document also mentions lifelong learning but does
not make a conceptual link between this and education, or conceptualize
lifelong learning at all. Similarly, where lifelong learning and development
are interlinked in policy or similar framework documents, the two terms
are usually introduced unproblematically, although we shall see that one or
two academics, such as Odora Hoppers and Shirley Walters, interrogate
their interrelationship.
I mentioned in Chapter 2 that lifelong learning contributes to helping
people make sense of the world around them, and is a way of critiquing and
contributing to social development (sometimes called active citizenship).
I also argued in Chapter 1 that the SADC definition for lifelong learning
provided a more context-specific and social focus than the one provided by
the European Commission. It is important to recognize these differences as
both a resource for critiquing the dominant policy perspective on lifelong
learning and also to avoid the uncritical international transfer of perspec-
tives from the North. Because of their colonial histories formerly colonized
peoples must recreate their sense of self on their terms and within their
own cultural context. So critical analysis is an important part of learning
because it facilitates understanding of the tensions and conflicts that affect
postcolonial situations. This kind of learning can create space for agency
(self-determination) to stimulate positive change.
I have further argued that the dominant discourses that are used for
education, globalization, lifelong learning and development on behalf of
the South need to be scrutinized for their authoritative claims. Often it
is the silences in texts (what is left out) that create distorted realities. By
revealing contemporary development requirements and possibilities that
go beyond the dominant discourses we can move nearer to identifying how
lifelong learning can contribute to alternative visions for development, as
well as be a feature of the development agenda itself.
We have also seen that lifelong learning existed in the South prior to
colonialism, as preparation for life in particular contexts but through dif-
ferent world views. Certain world views value interconnections between the
living, the dead and those yet to be born. Traditional lifelong learning in
most contexts was interrupted by colonialism rather than facilitated a situ-
ation which has continued in the postcolonial period, resulting in a devel-
opment agenda that is embedded in western/northern principles without
52 Lifelong Learning and Development
Development discourses
Rural development projects are to be found scattered liberally across the African
continent and beyond; and in nearly every case, these projects seem on inspection to
be planned, implemented, and justified in very nearly the same way as they are in
Lesotho. What is more, these projects seem to fail with almost the same astonishing
regularity that they do in Lesotho.
Ferguson 1994:8
The way development need is constructed by those with the power to name
and control development has become the focus of much attention in recent
years. Ferguson conducted a systematic analysis of international develop-
ment agendas for Lesotho, demonstrating how the language of develop-
ment texts constructed the country as a development problem by providing
images of Lesotho that would match the development agenda of the time.
The texts then became a way of controlling the development process itself.
Ferguson cites an extract from a World Bank text written in 1975 that
described Lesotho as a traditional subsistence peasant society, virtually
untouched by economic development, and implying that its migrant labour
system only started in recent years even though migration to work in South
Africa has been in existence for generations. Yet Ferguson finds an Encyclo-
paedia Britannica text of 1910 that describes Basutoland as one of the
greatest grain-growing countries of South Africa and as a thriving society
(in Ferguson 1994:26).
Ferguson points out how Lesotho is actively promoted by the World Bank
as a peasant society where:
development stopped the August flooding which covered the basin with
rich soil and which provided grazing for the Afar people. The tribe was
forced into less fertile parts of the valley which became seriously over-
grazed. When drought struck the Wollo region in 1972, 25-30% of the
Afars died.
Dependency theorists emerged during the 1970s. They did not challenge
capitalism per se (Offiong 1980 for example) but argued that western capi-
talism was blocking capital accumulation in formerly colonized nations
because industrialized countries were importing raw materials, using them
for manufacturing goods and then selling them back to the colonized
periphery at profit-making prices which simply impoverished developing
nations even more. Although countries such as Tanzania attempted to
develop alternative systems, (as outlined in Chapter 3) the numbers were
too few to impact on the modernization approach overall.
In terms of education, mass literacy campaigns were adopted in many
countries along with an expansion of formal schooling. Non-formal educa-
tion and extension work (community-based, primarily agricultural educa-
tion for farmers) served as lifelong learning components at this time. It was
provided to cater for those without places in the formal system, for those
who had already missed out in the past and also as a means of providing
extended skills instruction. But the overall, top-down development approach
remained problematic.
The oil crisis of the 1970s produced a further strain on countries with
fragile cash economies and delimited the amount of financial support on
offer by international agencies. The development aid answer in the 1980s
was to intensify the market and privatization, leading to what has become
known as the Washington Consensus, or neo-liberalism. It was argued that
government interventions and social welfare support were an impediment
to the free market, independency and economic growth. The solution
was to cut government spending on public services and allow the market to
find its own equilibrium. Poor economic performance in the South was
now the result of too much government spending, emphasis on physical
infrastructure and social support systems. World Bank and IMF lending
Development and Lifelong Learning 57
Social capital
The concept of social capital came into its own during the 1990s. Writers
such as Fukuyama (1995) identified it as a feature of successful entrepre-
neurship in Japan and Putnam (2000) saw it as an explanation for the
decline of civic virtue in America. It has become an explanatory variable for
both neo-liberalists and socialists and has as many critics as protagonists.
The World Bank, partly in response to criticism of its neo-liberal recipes for
developing countries began to identify social capital as the missing link in
development agendas, using econometrics to measure social capital per
household (see Grootaert 2001, for example).
Social capital is broadly defined as social networks, the reciprocities that
arise from them, and the value of these for achieving mutual goals (Schuller
et al. 2000:1). But any concept that deals with relationships is also con-
cerned with power and the inequalities that derive from that. Any network
of social groups can be both exclusionary as well as mutually beneficial.
Partly for this reason different types of social capital are identified. Research
suggests that different kinds of social capital serve different purposes. Field
(2005) offers the following distinctions.
Bonding social capital relates to close community and family ties
something that many African communities have in abundance though
there is evidence that urbanization, new socio-economic demands caused
by HIV/AIDS and the formal education system itself are all loosening those
ties among younger generations. A study of attitudes to active citizenship
rights and responsibilities among post-Independence young adults in
Botswana, for instance, revealed that while they still retained their extended
family links, Botswana youth would be more inclined to be selective about
their community responsibilities and would more freely question the tradi-
tional values of their elders than former generations did (Preece and
Mosweunyane 2004).
Development and Lifelong Learning 59
access to credit (p.3) are of greater interest to the Bank than relationships
of mutual support in times of crisis, peer influences on learning motivation
or civic roles and responsibilities, participation in political decision making
etc. Although some research in the South speaks positively about the link
between social capital and poverty reduction (such as Ortiz 2007 in the
context of Latin America), the variations in what is looked for mean that
initiatives to nurture or apply social capital to development tend to be
viewed economistically, rather than through a more holistic social develop-
ment approach.
It might be argued, therefore, that social capital is potentially useful to
explain how people use their social links to further their own lives. As such it
is a contributory factor to understanding how peoples social values form and
develop in relation to their personal development, including attitudes to
learning. But it remains context-specific and it is not clear how much social
capital is a contributor to, or outcome of, development or lifelong learning.
Development as freedom
Development can be seen . . . as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people
enjoy. Focusing on human freedoms contrasts with narrower views of development,
Development and Lifelong Learning 61
such as identifying development with the growth of gross national product, or with
the rise in personal incomes, or with industrialization, or with technological
advance, or with social modernization. Growth of GNP or of individual incomes
can, of course, be very important as a means to expanding the freedoms enjoyed by
the members of the society. But freedoms depend also on other determinants, such as
social and economic arrangements . . . as well as political and civil rights.
Sen 1999:3
This vision for development broadens the scope for lifelong learning in
that it reflects education as a multidimensional process. But even Sen does
not specifically recognize the need for continuous learning to achieve the
above freedoms. Moreover he expends a considerable number of words on
justifying womens education for economic purposes or for the health-
related benefits of reduced fertility. While these may be desirable outcomes
(depending on other socio-cultural factors) they do not in themselves
address social relations of power and domination which are major concerns
of postcolonial analyses and of more recent feminist arguments.
Gender
Development projects have affected women differently from their male
counterparts. One issue is the impact of urbanization and migration of men
to cash economies away from home. This means that women work longer in
and out of the home and their responsibilities have increased without being
given the skills to deal with changes. Furthermore, schools in many instances
are not girl friendly environments. Indeed women and girls education
is often neglected where there is competition for basic human needs.
Feminists have been pointing to womens invisibility in development dis-
courses since the 1970s. In recent years international development agencies
have adopted the economic rationale for womens education also recogniz-
ing that womens earnings are more likely to be used to support the family.
This approach fails to recognize the complexity of patriarchal relations and
does not address the wider lifelong learning issues already articulated in
this book.
For instance Parthasarathy et al. (2007) explain how international aid
agencies have adopted micro-credit as a magic bullet development strat-
egy to solve all the problems of women. Micro-credit is a form of commu-
nity-managed bank where small sums of money are collected and shared
out as loans on a rotational basis to help women start up small businesses.
But the authors point out that this is now offered at the expense of literacy
and any awareness raising of the root causes of their poverty, and also
without the necessary discussions that enable women to see how the micro-
credit arrangement itself can trap women into further dependency
arrangements since the basic structures that prevent them from accessing
credit in the normal way, or the market, remain in place.
Gender concerns for development and education were given a major
boost in 1995 after the World Conference on Women in Beijing. This con-
ference highlighted the growth of women maintained households and the
Development and Lifelong Learning 63
anomaly that while women in most countries of the South constitute a sub-
stantial number of agriculture workers, it is usually the men who receive
agriculture training. It was also argued that gender concerns with educa-
tion stretch beyond participation rates. They include issues to do with atti-
tudes, curriculum and gender-sensitive learning environments.
The different dimensions of gender-based development theories are dis-
cussed by Visvanathan (1997). They follow the above development trends
and are also critiqued for emanating largely from the North. So the con-
cept of Women in Development (WID) is closely related to modernization
theory which unproblematically depicts traditional societies as male domi-
nated and modern ones as democratic and egalitarian. The WID answer to
gender development issues is to introduce legal and administrative changes
that integrate women into economic systems.
The Woman and Development approach (WAD) follows the dependency
theory arguments about capitalism failing to recognize womens productive
as well as reproductive role in society. This argument claims that the intro-
duction of capitalism reinforced the subordination of womens status in
agrarian societies because property was controlled by men.
Gender and Development (GAD) developed during the 1980s, with an
interest in how women are oppressed in all sectors of society and a focus on
womens rights and power relations between men and women. Chapter 7
will address southern critiques of feminist movements in more detail, but
suffice to say for now that during the 1980s voices of women from the South
emerged through a number of organizations. One of the most prominent
was Developing Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). This
organization critiques the impact of development from the perspectives
of women living in the South. The focus shifts to concerns with political
consciousness raising, basic rights, equal share of caring for children, grass-
roots mobilization and transformation of institutions, structures and
relations that perpetuate injustice (Visvanathan 1997:1732).
The latter approach to gender and development is concerned with inter-
secting issues to do with class, race, ethnicity and religion and political
organization of women, but in a way that encourages men to recognize
their shared experiences of domination. So for women, development issues
are as much to do with political participation and legal rights as they are to
do with maternal, child nutrition or credit issues. Adult and lifelong educa-
tion, it is argued, stretches beyond adult literacy programmes and must
enable women to employ strategies that are helpful to them in their daily
lives (International Labour Organization (ILO) 1996:318). This includes
education and training for sustainable use of resources and protecting the
64 Lifelong Learning and Development
In recent years international aid agencies such as DFID and the World Bank
have begun to introduce the concept of lifelong learning into their devel-
opment agendas, but their representation of the relationship between life-
long learning, knowledge and understanding of wider issues is inconsistent.
Where there is a link they relentlessly pursue an economistic agenda. The
World Banks 2007 document surprisingly recognizes indigenous knowl-
edge and quality of life in the context of social development, but without
one reference to lifelong learning. Its 1998 document actively promotes
lifelong learning in relation to knowledge, but primarily for its effects on
economic productivity: It is lack of knowledge that causes markets to col-
lapse (1998:7). It also identifies a deficit model of knowledge for develop-
ing countries: Knowledge about attributes . . . such as quality of a product,
diligence of a worker . . . informational problems . . . are fewer and weaker
in developing countries (ibid). This denies the existence of alternative
knowledge systems and creates a false reality of knowledge construction in
the South.
Jolly supports this observation by referring to the World Banks establish-
ment of a Global Development Network in the late 1990s which ignored
the fact that the third World research associations had already been in
existence and operating with great professionalism for some 25 years (Jolly
2007:11). Similarly Odora Hoppers (2001) observes how the Bank fails to
look at higher education in the South as a knowledge producer, (and there-
fore its potential to develop a lifelong learning society), instead preferring
to focus on how higher education can cut its costs.
A few writers have begun to envision a postdevelopment era. Their argu-
ments follow similar tendencies. Escobar (1995) talks of privileging local
cultures and knowledges, promoting localized grassroots movements, mov-
ing away from western modes of knowing, encouraging hybrid cultures,
looking for other ways of building economies, finding ways of meeting
needs that are not strictly for profit and the market (p.189). Robinson-Pant
(2001) also talks about bottom up grassroots social movements and looking
Development and Lifelong Learning 65
for ways of forming new knowledge from such movements. This emphasis
moves away from universalist approaches, and towards localized, context-
specific solutions to local problems, encouraging reflexivity and critical
awareness. It supports initiatives such as REFLECT which adopt a critical
literacy approach to development and where literacy is secondary to aware-
ness raising. The approach encourages communities to develop local litera-
cies through shared exploration of concerns which are meaningful to them.
Odora Hoppers (2001) calls her vision a post-victimology perspective,
asking for a new vision of education and its link with development by con-
ceptualizing: a future that acknowledges plurality and diversity, a life-giving
and life maintaining future (p.33). She, like Escobar, asks that education
should go beyond serving the interests of capital and questions the basic
premise of the development discourse: Are rural people living off local
resources really backward vis--vis urban people in the North who are con-
suming global energy and natural resources at unsustainable levels? (p.35).
Her 2006 paper Lifelong Learning and Sustainable Development articu-
lates the need to find a way of retaining the best of modernity (gender
equality, technology, democratic ideas) while avoiding its defects (secular-
ism, intolerances, injustices, unsustainability). She repeats some of the
above arguments, within a lifelong learning framework that engages with
reflexive praxis and an expanded citizenship. By this she means reflection
and action for human rights, rather than passive responses to external
agendas. She cites the following community-based examples of non-formal
education which encourage this approach.
In Sri Lanka a rural development project uses adult-educator facilitation
techniques to work with indigenous knowledge as the starting point for
mutual discussion for change. In India an NGO called Nirantar only intro-
duces literacy with women once they have identified their learning needs
subsequent to discussions about wider social and power issues in their lives.
In the Philippines a fishing community is given deeper understanding
about how to address the consequences of deforestation due to commercial
logging and its effects on their depleted fish stocks: The adult education
project set out to assist the local people to understand and comprehend
what is really going on . . . it took on a multi- and pluri-disciplinary form
ranging from health, to social, environmental, and macro-economic aware-
ness (p.13).
Such approaches, it might be noted, bear strong similarities to traditional
lifelong learning of precolonial times, with the added factor of critical
awareness in relation to wider global issues and contexts. For Odora Hoppers
lifelong learning requires a combined critical literacy approach which
66 Lifelong Learning and Development
Concluding summary
This chapter has argued that internationally led development projects bear
contradictions and discontinuities that serve neo-liberal agendas of domi-
nation and control, primarily from Europe and North America. The effect
of external development has meant that the recipient populations do not
own their own development process. This results in implementation fail-
ures and resistances to change as well as a failure by the developers to
recognize indigenous knowledge, skills and understanding that could be
the missing link between aid agendas and development achievements.
While social capital may be a potential resource for enhancing develop-
ment, its relationship with lifelong learning needs further examination.
Lifelong learning, as a means of making continuous connections with an
ever-changing world and developing the critical capacities to effect change
from within, is undervalued in development discourses. The challenge is
to use continuous learning to integrate locally applicable development
with wider and more global relationships. There is also the risk that new
approaches to sustainability and development may not serve current capi-
talist agendas. Chapter 5 discusses how globalization contributes to the
development project as a hindrance to and a potential resource for life-
long learning in the South.
Chapter 5
Introduction
Africa is not only concerned about its marginalization and thereby uncrit-
ical assimilation into the existing global order. She is also concerned with
injustice IN that global order, and thus her own moral trajectory as she
seeks to participate in it. The continents struggle clearly articulated in
the charters of the African Union is to consolidate and affirm its pres-
ence, but also its identity in a world order that has, for centuries worked
to compromise it.
On the one hand Africa is not perceived by the rest of the world as having
anything to contribute to wider global agendas. On the other hand most
Africans do not want to become a carbon copy of westernization because,
as other chapters have indicated, westernization is perceived as robbing
Africans (and countries and populations in similar situations of marginali-
zation) of their identity. Chapter 3 identified indigenous philosophical
world views of humanness and connectedness. In different guises these are
increasingly becoming aspirations in western discourses that are concerned
with the sustainability of the planet and scarce natural resources. The
ubuntu spiritual obligation to the living, the dead and those yet to be born,
and sense of collective responsibility to share what one has with those who
have not, provide antidotes to the consequences of environmental degrada-
tion and poverty construction by profiteering multinational companies.
The literature on globalization talks of another world from the one
mentioned above. It is premised on a notion of constricted time and space
brought about by new technologies, fast-moving capital and rapid change,
and where events in one region can have significant consequences on
distant regions of the globe. An ever increasing, deepening and widening
reach of networks of social activity and power creates the possibility of
action at a distance at ever-increasing speed (Held et al. 1999:14). Changing
modes of production and new forms of labour create the need for different
and continuous learning strategies, articulated through the discourse of
lifelong learning. This is a world of competitiveness, constant expansion
and market-driven consumerism. While it is described primarily as an eco-
nomic phenomenon it also impinges on politics and cultures. The sover-
eignty and power of nation states is seen to be diminishing relative to the
power and control of multinational businesses and international agencies
of policy and legislation. Consumerism and media technologies affect cul-
tures and identities and disseminate dominant patterns of behaviour across
Globalization 69
Definitions
Held et al. (1999) provide a widely used synopsis of the varying positions on
globalization under three schools of thought articulated as hyperglobal-
ists, sceptics and transformationalists.
70 Lifelong Learning and Development
Economic influences
Jarvis (2007) lists a number of driving forces for globalization from the
point of view of advanced capitalist countries. These include the liberaliza-
tion of trade, development of information technology, economic competi-
tion from Japan and also the fall of the Berlin wall. The resultant economic
discourse makes it seem that there is no alternative to global capitalism.
The connection between a policy focus on lifelong learning for competi-
tiveness and globalization is attributed to the way industry has changed
from a Fordist to post-Fordist mode of production. This change was stimu-
lated partly by the effort to find less energy dependent forms of production
in response to the 1970s oil crisis. The microchip became the new raw
material. Advances in technology have changed the speed and nature of
production and innovation. Fordist models were based on an assembly line
of mass production and standardization of goods in order to keep costs
down. Large numbers of workers worked in the same location and each
took responsibility for a small piece of the production line. They took orders
from the same hierarchical management structure and required minimal
retraining.
Post-Fordist modes of production are said to be motivated by increased
competition for profit margins, combined with technological advancement,
so that some jobs are now accomplished through the microchip, new jobs
have been created that relate to the microchip industry and new means of
communication have created the possibility of compiling and disseminat-
ing information in such a way that information has become an industry in
itself. The desire for cheap labour in order to maintain profit margins and
the technological possibility of outsourcing this labour across the world has
resulted in a fragmentation of workforces. Lifelong learning is directly
related to the need for constant retraining to keep up with rapid changes
in production and more dissipated management styles. Workers themselves
should now think for themselves, work in teams, be flexible to change and
innovation, and have the capacity to learn quickly. These are now the
imperatives of a learning society. Yet the outsourcing of labour to countries
that are not in a position to reciprocate indicates that the rationale for this
is a discourse based on profit, not the need for more creative workers. What
is most useful to multinational companies is fragmented workforces that
cannot easily unionize themselves or develop organized resistance to chal-
lenge their working conditions.
Associated with these scenarios Morrow and Torres (2000), among others,
point out how education itself now works on the same principle of mobility.
Globalization 73
Distance education (the subject of Chapter 6), for instance, has become
a marketable product. As a result electronic literacy itself is a skill that has
to be acquired in order to learn further. Chinnammai (2005) expresses
concerns about the impact of technological learning systems on the ability
of Third World countries to both acquire and create knowledge, when
they first have to rely on the West to even teach them the new mechanisms
for learning in the first place. Indeed, since the 1980s the World Bank
reduced its support for higher education in the South, even though, as
Hickling-Hudson (2006) states, higher education is widely acknowledged
to be an essential feature of lifelong learning. The globalization of educa-
tion, therefore, is unidirectional, with consequences for control, policy
making, curriculum and transmission of culture.
Cultural influences
Jarvis (2007) describes culture as:
all the knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs, values and emotions that we, as
human beings, have added to our biological base. It is a social phenome-
non; it is what we as a society or a people, share and which enables us to
live as a society. In order for humanity to survive, it is necessary that we
should learn our culture. (p.24)
Political influences
On a political level global structures such as the United Nations and IMF
create international laws and pressures on nation states to sign interna-
tional agreements, so that the nation state is no longer a sovereign agent
but an arbiter attempting to balance a range of internal and external pres-
sures and constraints (Burbules and Torres 2000:10). Again, the fact that
the majority of countries in the South have always been in this position is
sometimes forgotten. The MDGs are a prime example of both pressure to
conform and global homogenization of what counts as development.
Globalization 75
82 per cent of the expanding export trade while the bottom 20 per cent
benefit from barely more than 1 per cent (in Khor 2001:33). In particular
southern materials and resources, including their traditional knowledge
systems, are exploited by the North in terms of patenting or extracting raw
material for profit.
Odora Hoppers (2006a), while acknowledging the potential of greater
international connectivity, lists a string of negative consequences as a
result of unfettered progress. It has in some cases resulted in heightened
nationalism, re-imposition of borders, uneven transformation of finance,
currency, trade, employment and social systems, marginalising the poor
recasting their deprived condition as a natural collateral damage expected
along the path of progress (p.13). Globalization has heightened illicit trade
in children, women, weapons, drugs and laundered money. Furthermore
although the global language is English, less than 10 per cent speak it in the
world. This homogenization process ignores indigenous knowledge, even
to the extent of patenting sterile hybrid seeds to replace indigenous seeds.
Such actions deliberately instil dependency on multinational companies to
provide more of the same: transformation of global economies to knowl-
edge economies therefore does not guarantee economic growth with
equity or respect for diversity either within or between nations (p.18).
Other inequalities relate to gender, race and ethnicity, particularly for
migrants and refugees.
Steans (2000) and Manicom and Walters (1997) address issues to do with
the division of labour for women in the South. The majority of women in
the South work in the informal economy. Globalization has further frag-
mented the labour force with part-time and home-based work. While this
kind of work favours women, it continues to mean their work load is unreg-
ulated and often not recognized in the formal economy. Furthermore, the
lack of access to finance and credit reduces womens capitalist ventures to
micro-credit systems, further marginalizing them from global flows and
denying them opportunity to influence such markets.
In terms of race the cultural imperialism of globalized outsourcing of
labour can be seen as another form of racism in that it represents a form of
subordinated inclusion with potential to inferiorize those that it includes.
This is reflective of an extension of colonial practices. Tikly (2007) observes
that other forms of new racism include western interpretations of cultural
conflicts in distant lands that have come to replace biological notions of
racial superiority.
The importance of lifelong learning for the marginalized in order to raise
their consciousness and empower communities to challenge such destruc-
tive tendencies is highlighted by most educationists. Yet the dominant
78 Lifelong Learning and Development
lifelong learning model for the South on offer by the World Bank is one
that simply advocates learning according to western visions of economic
growth. The current emphasis is on minimum basic education which inevi-
tably fails to provide the extensive range of learning skills to operate in the
globalized world described above, whether for economic growth or some-
thing more. The counter-proposals in the education literature vary in their
approach to capitalism but all share a concern that education systems for
countries in the South must be lifelong and wide ranging not narrowly
confined to a basic literacy scenario if such countries are to become par-
ticipants in the network society.
Computer literacy in particular has now become an essential resource
along with the necessary infrastructure to provide the means for global
exchanges. But, as my introductory paragraphs highlighted, the nature of
such articulated global involvement is far from global in reality. Policy agen-
das for lifelong learning need to incorporate opportunities to critically
appraise this plethora of influences in order to enhance international toler-
ance and understanding on all fronts and work towards an ethical and
socially just world.
Civil society
Tiklys answer is to build a more effective civil society that will facilitate
critical perspectives and self-empowerment. In the African context he sug-
gests we should explore successes within the continent for comparative
study. Chapters 8 and 9 will look at some lifelong learning initiatives in this
respect. Merriam et al. (2006) focus once more on community empower-
ment, using adult education principles of creating space to listen to learn-
ers, encourage awareness raising of inequities, taking a critical stance and
fostering collective learning and action.
From a gender perspective Manicom and Walters (1997) and Moghadam
(2000) cite transnational networks as a means of creating the possibility for
women to gain global perspectives on their local experiences, and advance
the status of women legally, personally and economically. Feminist popular
education is an example of community-based learning that draws attention
to critiquing globalization from a feminist perspective, exploring the
gendered nature of poverty and how feminized forms of labour have con-
tributed to economic globalization. This feature of problematizing and
addressing the root causes of poverty, discrimination or marginalization is
one that resonates across radical adult education movements but has rarely
been taken up within a lifelong learning framework. This is discussed in
more detail in Chapter 7.
Enterprise
Mayoux (2004) and King and McGrath (2002) emphasise the promotion
of pro-poor growth. In Mayouxs case this means addressing underlying
inequalities in power and resources which distort the market for poor entre-
preneurs. Amutabi et al. (1997), too, argue for training that addresses the
needs of the informal sector, where most people work and live. They also ask
for more focus on the interrelatedness of society and human values, rather
than human capital a war cry that resonates across many continents.
For King and McGrath (2002) new lifelong learning practices entail start-
ing with the reality that few African countries work in a post-Fordist mode
80 Lifelong Learning and Development
Africanization
Odora Hoppers (2006a) is less specific about how lifelong learning should
develop in relation to globalization, but is clear on what the learning should
embrace. She points out that the existing flood of information in the glo-
balized world must also be relevant for Africa (and by implication for other
Globalization 81
And, critically, of ensuring a policy link between the local and the national
or international:
The clues to the future cannot be found in the failures and successes of
individual village programmes per se . . . it is the degree to which the ini-
tiatives feed back into the national vision that can make the difference in
terms of their chances of going to scale. (p.27)
It seems that technology has the potential to make this feedback loop to
record critical awareness and provide counter-arguments to dominant
development messages. Writers are already in agreement that new educa-
tional strategies are needed to counter globalization from above. This
entails new literacies and ways of recording information; building on the
local but using technology to promote that knowledge and understanding
in international forums and using an approach to literacy that connects
critical thinking to politics, economics and wider social relations. The
danger is that a mass technology literacy campaign could become a techni-
cal exercise rather than an awareness raising exercise. The way in which
Africa and other marginalized countries or societies record, interpret and
transmit information will affect their ability to participate in opportunities
that globalization brings about or to mitigate the negative effects of globa-
lization. All the evidence of previous successful literacy campaigns has
indicated that literacy must be linked with a broader, critically aware, devel-
opment goal so that its relevance is immediately apparent.
In terms of entrepreneurship, rather than emulate dominant practices
in the West or North, societies in the South should exploit alternative ways
of using capitalism for example stimulating the development of coopera-
tives rather than private businesses. Cooperatives are a feature of many
community development projects, but they have often been created with-
out the necessary educational input for business management or critical
appraisal of markets or other factors that might impinge on maximizing
82 Lifelong Learning and Development
Concluding summary
Introduction
While ICTs are synonymous with the notion of computers and the internet,
they encompass a wide range of resources. Telephones, radio, TV, video,
tape recordings and fax machines are all forms of technology. Their digital
versions emerged more recently.
In its simplest form, the digital divide is conceptualized as the gap between
the information rich and the information poor, brought about by inequali-
ties in access, distribution, and use of information and communication
technologies between two or more populations (Wilson 2004:300). This
definition can be expanded. Ashcroft and Watts (2005) describe the divide
in terms of social (human and physical resources within countries), global
(between countries) and democratic phenomena (where people are denied
opportunities to participate in public life that is transmitted through ICT).
Shade (2002) refers to more complex issues of access where the social infra-
structures of societies affects their ability to produce as well as consume
information. This reflects on the socio-demographic features of popula-
tions such as their economic status, educational background, age, gender,
ethnicity, language and location. It also represents the absence of social
networks or community groups with whom to interact technologically.
Furthermore access includes the availability and affordability of technical
infrastructures that encompass electricity, telephone and internet service
provider connectivity, satellite facilities, the physical devices of computers
and telephone terminals, and software tools of browsers, email systems,
and search engines. Shade adds that governance also impacts on the digital
86 Lifelong Learning and Development
divide since decisions about ICT availability and operation are political as
well as economic.
Wilson (2004:300303) adopts a strategic restructuring model to explore
ICT dynamics further. In doing so he distinguishes between the different
divides in terms of physical, financial, cognitive, design, content, production,
institutional and political access. Physical access relates to geographical
proximity and number of landlines per population. Finances are concerned
with the ability to pay for services. Cognitive access refers to ICT skills;
design includes the relationship between user need and ability of the hard-
ware and software to meet those needs (such as facilities for people with
disabilities); while content relates to the actual material contents relevance
and suitability for users (such as language, usefulness of information in
relation to context). Wilson considers production in terms of who produces
the content. The information superhighway is almost exclusively unidirec-
tional from North to South. Polikanov and Abramova (2003) cited later
in this chapter make the same point. Institutional access is closely related to
this issue and is described by Wilson as the variety of organizational forms
and regulations that have emerged around the world as contending groups
struggle to structure access to digital content in particular ways (ibid) for
example, particular kinds of schools, cyber cafes and other bodies.
Finally in addition to political leadership, political access means that
the consumer has access to the institutions where the rules of the game are
written, rules that govern the subsequent allocation of scarce ICT resources
(ibid. 303). Wilson makes an interesting distinction between information
technology and other applications like mobile phones, distance education
or internet telephony. While these are seen as benign, ICT is much more
of a political football:
ICT is like land or capital, which has differential impacts when diffused
differentially across nations and social groups . . . [M]anagers and benefi-
ciaries of large, state-owned ICT monopolies who understand that liberal-
ized ICT diffusion will threaten their social status and power seek to block
the liberal diffusion of these new resources and to maintain control of
ICT distribution through their own reliable channels. (Ibid. 4)
The list goes on. Wilson (2004) describes how industrialized countries
hold 97 per cent of the worlds patents. Tanzania, as an example of Sub-
Saharan Africas debt crisis, spends four times more on repaying debts
than on education.
A primary additional learning issue for this population is that of informa-
tion literacy. Candy (2002) describes this as being able to recognise when
information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effec-
tively the needed information (p.6). The necessary higher order thinking
skills in addition to practical know-how of the technology itself include criti-
cal thinking plus capability of distinguishing useful from useless resources,
reliable from unreliable sources and sensible from silly knowledge claims
(p.7). These are literacy skills that reach far beyond basic education. Since
the technology is changing all the time, knowing how to use a computer is
in itself a lifelong occupation.
Some studies specifically address gender issues in relation to technology
and learning opportunities in developing country contexts, though the
lack of research is also highlighted. There are two main issues reflected in
existing studies. First, in many countries only 30 per cent of girls complete
primary education compared with 60 per cent of boys. Second, boys out-
number girls in using computers. This trend relates to the gendered nature
of classroom behaviour generally. For if access is not controlled in school
settings then boys will push to the front and take possession of limited
resources. A recent DFID (2004) study also revealed that girls and boys
use computers for different motives. Where girls choose to use computers
more functionally to achieve certain goals, and to work together, boys are
more competitive and enjoy playing with computers as a technology for
its own sake. Girls often look for information on reproductive health and
sexuality. Since their lives are often more restricted they view the computer
as a communication point with the outside world, while boys prefer to
download music or pictures.
At adult and higher-education level women constitute only 23 per cent
of university enrolments. They are more likely to take up computers for
open and distance learning, though men use telecentres more than women.
A number of writers maintain that this discrepancy in usage reflects
womens workloads and multiple roles which limit their ability to access
such centres, including the fact that women are less likely to have disposa-
ble income to pay for the facilities. These experiences reflect once more
the problematic model of profit-motivated services over ones that focus on
social justice motivations.
Gulati (2008) takes a more critical look at the way gender issues are inad-
equately addressed by externally funded technologies. She cites an example
Lifelong Learning in the South in the Digital Age 89
It has been argued by a number of writers that education for all is a pre-
requisite for developing the necessary discerning skills to be able to travel
effectively in cyberspace. Less complicated technologies such as mobile
phones, radio, cassettes and TV are more reliable, do not require electricity
and can usually be accessed in remote regions. For such populations, open
and distance learning which uses accessible, and portable resources is more
realistic. It will be seen, however, that distance learning itself is a technical
and technological skill which suffers similar constraints of quality and
ownership.
is kept down in order to contain the costs of the second (Siaciwena and
Lubinda 2008:118).
Perraton notes, however, two issues which offset these economic arguments.
First, the introduction of computer technologies significantly increases cost,
especially where there is no basic infrastructure already in place. Second,
ODL courses often have high student drop-out or failure rates, thus reducing
the economies of scale argument. And, as Lephoto (2007), among others,
points out, increasingly, providers are recognizing the need for dedicated
learner support mechanisms and at least some face-to-face contact. If ODL
is to achieve its full potential, with or without computer technology, it has
to address a number of pedagogical challenges.
Where ODL programmes are certificated, Perraton (2000) and others high-
light low completion rates and poor exam performance outcome indicators
that suggest the need to address quality assurance, pedagogical and curric-
ulum issues within ODL programmes.
On the one hand pre-prepared printed texts may be the only source of
learning material that learners use. Most mainstream educators lack the
training and expertise to produce well-designed material that has to play
the role of facilitator/teacher as well as content dissemination. Programmed
instruction, for instance, may provide information but not necessarily social
skills or challenge the learner to question. The lack of social interaction to
encourage critical analysis or sharing of experiences can delimit higher
order capacities such as critical thinking and problem solving. The limited
range of media in most ODL programmes also delimits the opportunity to
address a range of learning styles. In this respect Yang (2008) suggests
that ODL should promote collaborative learning, guided reading, and
self-paced learning activities. While the influx of material from overseas
may address some technical aspects of online teaching material, however,
they usually suffer from what Braimoh and Osiki (2008) identify as neo-
imperialist, cultural dilution from institutions that are more interested
in profit than development or the socio-cultural context of the learners
themselves.
On the other hand, in terms of using digital media to compensate for
lack of face-to-face interaction, learners and teachers have to acquire a new
set of skills before they get as far as content matter. As Johnson (2007:458)
says, Learning to participate in, and learn from, electronic discussion is
Lifelong Learning in the South in the Digital Age 97
a challenge in itself, and this can become particularly difficult when cul-
tures and attitudes to learning may place particular emphasis on the role of
teacher as expert.
There are some (for example Lelliot et al. 2000) who suggest that, for eco-
nomically poor countries, leapfrogging into the digital age is an inappro-
priate use of scarce resources. In the face of extreme poverty, hunger,
corruption, disease, minimal educational achievements, inadequate citizen
participation and other disadvantages this is a defensible position. But tech-
nologies have proved themselves to be important resources to combat these
very concerns. The issue is not whether technology is a good thing or not
it is whether technology can be harnessed on a sufficient scale to make a
significant, positive difference to those countries most in need of its bene-
fits. And how to do this in a way that enhances indigenous identities and
ownership rather than exposes vulnerable mass populations in the South
to more control and exploitation by those who currently have power and
influence, whether from elite pockets of individuals in the South or from
dominant systems in the North?
As Polikanov and Abramova (2003:51) state:
Concluding summary
This chapter has explored some arguments for and against introducing
ICTs as a component of lifelong learning into countries in the South. While
the infrastructure constraints that impact on the digital divide are enor-
mous, there are indications that politics, power relations and profiteering
emanating from elites in the South as well as traditional concerns with
competitiveness in the North contribute in a significant way to maintaining
100 Lifelong Learning and Development
the divide. But this topic also continues the arguments of earlier chapters.
That is, a more communal approach to solving problems of resources, a more
culturally sensitive and context-driven approach to curriculum development,
greater recognition of the potential for home-grown solutions, and a greater
social justice perspective from the international community will all contrib-
ute to enabling capacity to grow from within. Market-driven agendas divert
attention from seeking alternative solutions and fail to address the com-
plexity of how inequalities are created in the first place.
The position of women has been a concern for most of the topics dis-
cussed so far. The next chapter will address some of those concerns more
fully in relation to lifelong learning discourses on a global scale. The subse-
quent chapters will look in-depth at two case scenarios taken from South
Asia and the African continent, with a view to analysing the extent to which
southern models of lifelong learning are evolving.
Chapter 7
raising consciousness and effecting social change (hooks 1994). Such teach-
ing explicitly rejects the notion that emotions interfere with applying logic
or gaining an accurate understanding. Indeed recognition of emotions and
their impact enables us to highlight contradictions in seemingly objective
knowledge. This can be done partly by recognizing our positionality in
terms of class, race, disability or other social category both as teacher and
learner. We can then work with these different positions through a shared
critique of our experiences and understandings. Through this degree of
openness we enable the marginalized to have an equal voice and demon-
strate their authority in producing legitimate knowledge.
McEwan (2001:94) adds the anti-colonial stance that we should, in
particular:
This implies that indigenous philosophies, for example the concept of ubuntu,
rather than cultural practice, should be the starting point for repositioning
gender power relations. Similar arguments could be made for Asian cultures
and philosophies.
African feminism is defined by Mekgwe (2003:7) as a discourse that:
[T]akes care to delineate those concerns that are peculiar to the African
situation. It also questions features of traditional African cultures without
Feminist Perspectives on Lifelong Learning 107
Feminist positions are often defended through the use of proverbs and
folk tales. Dube (1999) refers to a Setswana myth, about a hen scratching
the ground for a lost needle, as a way of highlighting the complexities, dan-
gers and possibilities of defining feminist endeavours in postcolonial Africa.
Yaa Asantewaa Reed (2001:169) draws on the well-known African proverb
it takes a village to raise a child as demonstration that men and women
together come from a communal past where responsibilities are collective.
Mohanty (1991:10) summarizes these arguments as follows:
Third world feminists have argued for the rewriting of history based on
the specific locations and histories of struggle of people of colour and
postcolonial peoples, and on the day-to-day strategies of survival utilised
by such peoples.
pencils and asked to keep records. Of course when they visit they dont
find anything in their book. That is why they say we are not interested.
(p.78)
Dyer (2001) also shows in Lesotho that where women are employed outside
the home, it is in low-paid, exploitative conditions where male-dominated
union support for improving womens working conditions, career advance-
ment or training is weak.
Feminism is not a fixed position. While its central theme is womens
experiences of gender power relations, there are many ways of addressing
this issue. Indeed there is a tendency for many women in the South to talk
about gender rather than feminism.
Gender
Gender is a concept that deals with the roles and relationships between
women and men. These roles and relationships are determined by socio-
cultural, religious, political and economic factors, not by biology. In other
Feminist Perspectives on Lifelong Learning 109
Gender refers to the interaction between men and women and draws our
attention to those issues that have brought about unequal relations. Thus
the concept of gender helps to focus on lifelong learning that encourages
attention to issues of curriculum how stereotypes, language and images
perpetuate power differentials.
Gender analysis enables us to see the specificity of context as a tool for
both understanding the local context and promoting gender equality
(ibid: 10). Learning contexts that encourage critical awareness raising can
use gender analysis to reveal how relations between men and women impact
on who has access to and control over resources, how learning programmes
differentially affect men and women (such as the timing and location of
courses as well as content or classroom behaviour). It is also a tool for iden-
tifying socio-cultural opportunities and constraints for improvement.
Gender is the focus of analysis in Thetelas (2002) description of sex dis-
courses and gender constructions in her study of police interviews with
rape victims conducted through the language of southern Sotho. Her dis-
cussion is concerned with the way that gendered use of language constrains
the womans ability to accurately describe her experience of rape. Women
and men in some societies are expected to use different vocabulary in rela-
tion to sex. This expectation reinforces gender power imbalances and
impacts on the way the legal system deals with rape cases:
I use evidence from this study to suggest that one of the key issues in
examining language and the law in southern Africa is that of the relation-
ship between language, culture and the police interview rooms and court-
rooms since these institutions are not only legal domains but also domains
where cultural power relations are contested. (Thetela 2002:180)
Thetela identifies the southern Sotho words that women are expected to
use to describe sexual intercourse compared with the ones that men use.
For women the language of sexual behaviour is less explicit, and as result
conveys the impression that sexual behaviour is always a benign, accepting
activity for the woman. Consequently she is not empowered to use the
vocabulary that more accurately describes the process of rape. Words that
women are expected to use include ho arolelana dikobo, meaning to share
blankets; ho bapala, meaning to play; ditaba tsa motabo, meaning activities
110 Lifelong Learning and Development
Look here young woman, you are the complainant, and not your mother,
or was she present when the two of you were having sex? An allegation of
rape is a very serious matter and not a joke. Tell us in his own words as
he said them. (p.183)
Thetela (2002) explains that the police officers access to different vocabu-
lary enables him to overlay the victims reluctance to use embarrassing
words in describing the rape by:
use of the swear word kota [meaning sex] . . . , by means of which he holds
both the victim and the alleged rapist equally responsible. This allegation
does not only embarrass the victim, but also discursively reproduces rape
as a non-criminal activity. (p.184)
The process of assessing the implications for women and men of any
planned action, including legislation, policies and programmes, in any
area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experi-
ences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, imple-
mentation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all
political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit
equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. (ECOSOC 1997, in ILO 2002)
Feminist Perspectives on Lifelong Learning 111
The definition is founded on the principle that men and women have dif-
ferent needs which should be recognized in all walks of life but recognition
requires concrete actions and appropriate policy behaviour.
There are now several international womens organizations that have
taken advantage of globalizations technologies to organize themselves to
promote gender mainstreaming and address gender learning justice issues
across the world.
social, economic and gender justice through national, regional and global
organizations. It aims to influence public policy on gender and education
issues, promote womens leadership, citizenship and empowerment, and
influence social and economic policies at government level. GEO and
REPEM worked together at the CONFINTEA conference in 1997 to increase
the visibility of womens issues for lifelong learning. They also formed
a womens caucus at the Beijing conference in 1995 and again at the World
Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Geneva in 2000 to high-
light a broader, lifelong learning vision for womens education.
The Asian South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education (ASPBAE) also
concentrates on advocacy work and womens empowerment, with a focus
on poverty eradication, gender justice and sustainable development. One
of their concerns is to highlight the need for quality education that chal-
lenges inequalities for women:
[W]omen have to be everywhere. Some of us must work at the local level and others
at the global level. The challenge is to create linkages between these two levels; that
is to say, to improve our capacity for articulation.
Eccher 2003:40
Feminist Perspectives on Lifelong Learning 113
The women slowly gained in confidence and were able to handle con-
flict-ridden situations. They stood up to the contractors and middlemen
and asserted their rights. They went to the banks and deposited money,
they went to the government offices to get their permit slips, and they
took decisions about how their money could be spent. (p.123)
Concluding summary
This chapter has reviewed the theoretical position on lifelong learning for
women in the South from a mainly postcolonialist perspective. This posi-
tion highlights the need to understand southern womens issues in context,
in order to avoid misrepresenting those issues. Much work has been done
during the last ten to fifteen years to raise awareness in public fora of the
need to address womens educational concerns in a holistic lifelong learn-
ing context. While international development targets do highlight the rela-
tionship between basic education and improved development indicators
for women, there is less emphasis on gender justice and human rights issues
or on the notion of lifelong learning as a gender-specific project. Selective
examples of good practice and analysis of policy indicates some progress is
being made but women need to be constantly vigilant in making womens
issues visible among decision makers. Again the argument for a holistic
approach to lifelong learning is emphasized.
Chapter 8
While the majority of content in this book has referred to African writers,
philosophies and concerns, some references have also been made to South
Asia. This chapter takes a case study approach towards two separate scenar-
ios where lifelong learning is specifically identified as a primary aim of
either practice or policy or both. In the first instance I look at an NGO,
called Bunyad in Pakistan. In the second instance I focus on the State of
Kerala in India. Their contexts and policies are outlined. I analyse in turn
to what extent the two case studies appear to address the lifelong learning
issues related to philosophy, development, gender, globalization and tech-
nology described in earlier chapters.
The sources of information for these case studies are mainly policy docu-
ments and reports, including the latest, state-of-the-art CONFINTEA VI
country reports. During a brief personal visit to Bunyad I additionally
obtained research reports, the organizations own extensive literature on its
philosophy and practice including annual reports. For Kerala, although
I did also briefly visit the State recently, I have drawn primarily on policy
documents, national and state reports together with a recent, substantive
and detailed review of Keralas literacy and lifelong learning approach
(Clayton 2006).
Pakistan
west to irrigated plains and deserts across the East including the provinces
of Punjab and Sindh. Urdu their main language is spoken by 75 per cent
and the rest speak local languages. English and Urdu are the countrys offi-
cial languages. The vast majority (96.3 per cent) follow Islamic religions.
Pakistan operates a federal structure of four provinces plus some federally
administered tribal areas and units of districts. Education policy is formu-
lated at federal government level with implementation at provincial educa-
tion department level.
Pakistan is placed on the Human Development Index in the position of
138 out of 177 countries. Literacy rate is now officially estimated at 55 per
cent, of which the female percentage is 42 per cent, reducing to as low as
14 per cent in rural areas. While the numbers living below the official
poverty line has decreased in recent years to one quarter of its population
and population growth has slowed to 1.9 per cent by 2005, the overall popu-
lation of 159,061 million (Saleem 2008) translates into a significant number
of 40 million living below the poverty line and 56 million adults who are
illiterate.
Just over 65 per cent live in rural areas and the life expectancy of males
and females is 64 and 66 respectively. Labour force participation is quoted
at 30.2 per cent, indicating that the majority of inhabitants live through
subsistence farming. The education system is three tier starting at primary
(divided into two age levels 510 and 1013), secondary school (ages 1315)
and higher secondary (ages 1517). Adult literacy officially starts at age
15 and higher education from age 18. There are also vocational schools at
higher education level. The medium of instruction at primary level is Urdu
or in the local language. Participation at primary level is officially universal,
though child labour is rampant, particularly among industries such as
carpet weaving, soccer ball and surgical instrument making. Participation is
estimated as 66 per cent (of which 82 per cent are male). By secondary level
gross enrolment is only cited as 40 per cent and a mere 4 per cent of the
total population participate in higher education.
There are large gender disparities at all levels of participation. Womens
economic activity is largely unrecognized even though women take respon-
sibility for the family farm which includes activities such as livestock tend-
ing, weeding, planting and threshing rice, alongside other household
chores and maintenance of large families (Attiq-ur-Rahman 2006). Gender
violence and abuse is also rife, particularly among poor families.
Although adult literacy was highlighted as early as 1970 in Government
education policies it was not until 1990, International Literacy Year, that
substantial funding was provided. In December 1992 the national education
Case Studies Pakistan and India 119
policy pledged to achieve a literacy target of 50 per cent by 1995 and 70 per
cent by 2002 (Saleem 2008). The current Draft National Education Policy
2008 (cited in Saleem 2008) supports the expansion of education at elemen-
tary and adult literacy levels, with plans to launch a large-scale non-formal
education basic education programme and develop minimum quality
standards and equivalence scheme between formal and non-formal curric-
ula. However, there is no separate budget for adult literacy and Bunyads
literature points out that less than 10 per cent of the whole education
budget is set aside for adult and community education.
The Punjab is the third most densely populated province containing
56 per cent of the population across 35 districts. The CONFINTEA report
cites the literacy rate of the Punjab as 73 per cent, though Bunyad docu-
mentation suggests this figure is lower.
The Punjab has a literacy and non-formal education department, headed
by the Secretary of the Government, and the head of each district is the
Executive District Officer Literacy (EDO literacy). Literacy centres and
non-formal basic education schools in the Punjab are run by NGOs under
the supervision of the EDO Literacy. The CONFINTEA report states that
NGOs hire the services of literacy and non-formal basic education (NFBE)
teachers and receive some funding from the literacy department for
monitoring.
The Bunyad literature frames its activities within a lifelong learning ethos
with the aim of building self-reliance, using literacy as the starting point.
Bunyad
There are a number of evolving definitions for literacy in the Pakistan pol-
icy documents. Bunyad provides its own three definitional levels for literacy
as follows:
Basic level: learners learn how to read and write their name, alphabets,
and how to count
Middle level: learners display basic reading and writing skills and com-
pute simple mathematical problems
Self-learning level: learners read and write at their levels and apply their
literacy to everyday life (Bunyad 2006:13).
120 Lifelong Learning and Development
. . . who from a small group went on to construct their own schools, super-
vised 250 centers of . . . [basic education] program, disburses loans to
marginalized neo literate women, physical disabled physiotherapy to
local children, construction of latrines in 30 family houses, on a revolving
loan basis, has a small library. Teacher trainings collecting information,
giving awareness raising issues to their loaning centres are all part of the
work of this BERTI who from oblivion has become an independen[t]
NGO serving its community. (p.39)
The ultimate aim is for all CLCs and BERTIs to become self-sustainable.
Thus the Bunyad vision is for a ripple effect of ever widening circles
of self-reliant and sustainable communities, generated through basic and
post-literacy, then continuing education leading to self-directed lifelong
learning for individual and community development including financial
sustainability from the products of local enterprises:
Lifelong learning not only depends on literacy skills. It also rests on the
provision of resources and opportunities for further and continuing
learning. The richer the learning environment, the greater will be the
opportunity for conscious commitment of lifelong learning and being
willing to take full advantage of the learning opportunities and choices of
society which requires that people be autonomous learners depending
on their own strength. (Attiq-ur-Rahman 1998:18)
An impact study by Noor and Tarrar (2002) indicated, too, that there were
many resistances from political groups and men wishing to maintain the
status quo and who were against the idea of female education, even in the
Education Department itself which looked with disdain on non-formal
education as a methodology and were initially suspicious and unhelpful
(Executive summary).
How do Bunyads philosophy and activities compare with the vision for a
southern concept of lifelong learning as articulated in this book?
with the collective as well as the individual. The concept of village self-
sufficiency and interdependence with neighbouring villages is also reminis-
cent of Gandhis philosophy, as is his focus on education for self-reliance.
As with Gandhi, Bunyad is aiming at a bottom-up approach to indepen-
dence. The extent to which villages are capable of managing their own
affairs perhaps depends on wider political and socio-cultural forces, but the
BERTIs and CLCs are envisioned as providing the practical and informa-
tion resources to facilitate social harmony and elimination of the causes
of poverty.
Bunyad, however, is also aware of its context in an ever-changing world.
So development takes on gender awareness and technological change as
clear targets. Programmes target women and girls because they are margin-
alized, but also because they are the preservers of culture and transmitters
of values for the next generation. It is commonly accepted that if you edu-
cate a mother, then you educate the family. Practical literacy and skills are
combined with awareness raising of gender issues to both the female learn-
ers and the wider community. Indeed, in recognition that womens needs
will not be addressed without first sensitizing the male community and fam-
ily leaders, an ongoing process of dialogue and persuasion is an integral
feature of all learning initiatives. Community preparation for the ensuing
learning opportunities is a carefully crafted process which can take many
months. Skills activities are not add-on extras but embedded in the literacy
and other learning activities, all of which are negotiated and provided on
the basis of perceived need for livelihood improvement. At the same time
communities are constantly motivated to progress, so as not to be satisfied
with minimum achievements. So information technology and the opportu-
nities that provides for global, as well as local, networking is built into the
overall consciousness raising of the Punjabs connection to a globalized
world. The website information in Urdu and English makes Bunyads pres-
ence also visible to that wider global world.
The size and scale of Bunyads operation, and the work of a few core
individuals, has meant that there are measurable achievements in peoples
lives, such that some have progressed into activities that stretch beyond
their immediate villages.
As a model for lifelong learning and development-as-empowerment,
which addresses the reality of poverty and illiteracy, while at the same time
creating possibilities for continuous progression, Bunyad scores highly.
It is making a difference in adverse circumstances. Its focus on human wel-
fare and quality of life stretches beyond instrumental notions of literacy
or lifelong learning. It interprets development according to Sens (1999)
Case Studies Pakistan and India 125
India
The document lays the foundations for post-literacy and continuing educa-
tion, including skills upgrading but also framed by conscientisation and
critical awareness (GOI 2008:7). These are words rarely associated with
government policy for learning. Policy implementation is devolved to indi-
vidual states supported by a combination of national and state budgets.
Adult literacy is defined under the National Literacy Mission as func-
tional literacy with the following all encompassing characteristics that
include awareness of national and global issues, action for change as well as
skills for work and life:
Kerala State
Kerala, a fertile and densely populated state in the far south-west of India,
has a population of 31,841,374. Its terrain includes coastal waters and
Case Studies Pakistan and India 127
a network of rivers and backwaters. The majority (60 per cent) are Hindu,
with 20 per cent Muslim and 20 per cent Christian religions. A predomi-
nance of cash crops include coconut, rubber, pepper, cardamom, nuts, cof-
fee, tea, spices, rice and tapioca and there is a growing tourist industry.
Kerala ranks top among Indias 15 biggest states with literacy figures esti-
mated to be around 90 per cent in rural and 93 per cent in urban areas,
although womens literacy is reduced to 86.8 per cent in rural areas, where
the majority still live. Life expectancy is higher than Indias average, at 67.2
for men and 72.4 for women. Attendance at primary school is 97 per cent
with drop-out rates at only 1 per cent till grade 8. While in India the majority
only receive four years of education, the norm in Kerala is between seven
and ten years. It is described by Clayton (2006:76) as a social welfare state,
providing free schooling, health care, financial support for the unemployed
and working poor. While 13 per cent still live below the World Banks pov-
erty line of less than $1 a day, it has the highest literacy rate across all the
Indian states and high levels of civic participation.
Although some tribal villages and coastal areas are still extremely poor,
with low education levels, and child labour still exists, Clayton (2006) sum-
marizes the main ingredients for Keralas relatively high literacy rate as ben-
efiting from a combination of positive popular support for education in
principle, supported by a left-wing government, substantive land reforms
(land redistributed from large landowners to landless labourers) and large
state investments in the education system. Clayton (2006:20) cites from
Raman (2005) the significance of landownership for motivation to literacy:
When every family owns a piece of land, no matter how small, they have
a sense of belonging . . . They can plan for the future, and education of
their children becomes a part of that planning . . . If you live by the road-
side, what tomorrow do you have to think about?
Concluding summary
These two case studies have revealed holistic, needs led approaches to life-
long learning in the context of development agendas that start with literacy
as the basis for individual and community empowerment. Grassroots lead-
ership is an essential component for motivating learners. But this must be
supported by seamless progression of opportunities and continuous oppor-
tunities to use a range of literacies that have perceived, relevant and tangi-
ble outcomes for quality of life improvement. Economic development is an
integral corollary to other social and political activities which retain a strong
link with community values. Once trust is established then communities can
be encouraged to broaden their horizons and make connections between
what they already know and what they would like to know for personal and
134 Lifelong Learning and Development
social betterment. But the Kerala example indicates that to make a differ-
ence on a grand scale, political will and wealth redistribution are also
essential ingredients. These cases do not represent perfect worlds. But they
do indicate that human ownership of development that focuses on felt
needs is an important ingredient which takes precedence over economic
competitiveness.
Chapter 9 will look at current lifelong learning policy and practice in
Tanzania, the homeland of Nyerere, and the endeavours of a small, low-
income country, Lesotho.
Chapter 9
This chapter returns to Africa to look at how effectively two highly indebted
low-income countries are managing to employ a concept of lifelong learn-
ing that embraces their context-specific development needs, cultural and
philosophical heritage. The focus in both countries is on their national
policy agendas, though I also take a closer look at some examples of good
practice. I chose the United Republic of Tanzania for the first case study
since this was the homeland of Africas most famous proponent of adult
and lifelong learning, Julius Nyerere.
The sources of information for both case studies include the state-of-the-
art reports for CONFINTEA VI written in 2008, journal articles, national
vision and education sector strategic plans, and policy documents for pov-
erty reduction, ICT and gender.
Tanzania
tea, cloves, sisal, cashew nuts, sugar and seeds. Although the same party,
Chama Cha Mapinduzi, has controlled Tanzania since Independence there
have been a number of different presidents.
Bhalalusesa (2004) reports that at Independence only 15 per cent of the
population knew how to read and write and only a quarter of the school-
age population was enrolled in school. Meredith (2005) adds that during
the prime of Nyereres Arusha Declaration and ujamaa (familyhood) regime
between 1967 and 1974, socialist nation building policies increased partici-
pation in basic schooling to 95 per cent and literacy increased to 75 per cent.
Four out of every ten villages had access to clean tap water, three out of
every ten had clinics. During the next eight years, however, the average
standard of living fell by 50 per cent.
Opinions differ as to why Nyereres policies ultimately failed to sustain
these early benefits. Meredith (2005) claims that Nyereres efforts to main-
tain a socialist agenda in the face of increasingly global capitalism were
unsustainable and not supported by the majority of the Tanzanian popula-
tion. Yule (2001) suggests that partly as a result of droughts, increasing oil
prices and involvement in the war of neighbouring Uganda, the countrys
early successes gradually faded so much that by the mid-1980s in the face of
decreasing literacy, school attendance levels and a declining economy, the
Tanzanian government succumbed to structural adjustment pressures from
the IMF and World Bank. Whatever the combination of reasons, the impact
of structural adjustment restrictions on government spending resulted in
an even more rapid decline into poverty, retrenchment of government paid
workers, decreasing standards of health and education and rapid rise in the
cost of living. By 1993 only 48 per cent of 613-year-olds were in school
(Yule 2001:664).
Currently (UNDP 2007/2008) Tanzania ranks 159th out of 177 countries
on the Human Development Index with an adult literacy rate of 69.4 per
cent. While primary school enrolments stand at 96.1 per cent, secondary
school enrolments are only 13.1 per cent (MoEVT 2007). Few schools
have computers or internet access, most schools have no electricity. Of the
population 32.5 per cent are classified as poor, and life expectancy is only
51 years for men and 54 years for women. The UNDP (2007/8) estimates
that only 63.8 per cent of the population have a probability of living beyond
the age of 40.
The year 1995 marked the beginning of a new Education and Training
Policy for Tanzania, a change in direction from centralized to decentralized
governance and the unravelling of many of Nyereres socialist principles
for nationalization of the economy and communal ownership of land.
Case Studies Tanzania and Lesotho 137
Vision 2025
We are standing at the threshold of the 21st Century, a Century that will be charac-
terised by competition, . . . advanced technological capacity, high productivity,
modern and efficient transport and communication infrastructure . . . we must, as
a Nation . . . withstand the expected intensive economic competition ahead of us.
(United Republic of Tanzania (URT) 2000: Foreword)
Post-literacy and continuing education are core components of the plan with
the intention that these are delivered through institutions ranging from
tertiary (Institute of Adult Education and Tanzania Institute of Education
2004) to more localized providers (folk development colleges), and includ-
ing vocational training centres. Management of this provision is on similar
lines to Keralas structure. That is, district-level officers train and monitor
provision that is provided through wards and villages, which use locally
available buildings such as primary schools as centres for adult and continu-
ing education. Committees at village, district and national levels work
with grass-roots organizations to capacity build and monitor programmes.
Village committees have responsibility for sensitizing communities to avail
themselves of the education provision and oversee the day-to-day function-
ing of adult and non-formal education. The aim is to foster a sense of
ownership, empowerment and commitment to sustainability of the learn-
ing process under the principle of lifelong learning. Tertiary institutions
provide research, learning materials and training at certificate and diploma
levels in adult education, as well as law, health, and management including
the use of open and distance learning modes. A recent Information and
Communication Technology Policy (MoEVT 2007) has been initiated with
a view to bridging the digital divide and enabling Tanzanians to participate
in the knowledge economy effectively (p.1). A staged implementation
approach across the whole education sector includes libraries, adult, non-
formal and vocational education centres, again framed within the goal to
improve teaching and lifelong learning. There is a strong government rela-
tionship with civil society with increasing understanding of what methodol-
ogies work towards enhancing lifelong learning. Tanzanias concept of
literacy embraces this wider concept. It is defined holistically as:
The acquisition and use of reading, writing and numeracy skills in the
development of active citizenship, improved health and livelihoods and
gender equality. (MoEVT Tanzania and Zanzibar 2008:48)
Literacy levels have fluctuated over the years. According to Yule (2001)
a succession of post-literacy initiatives during the 1980s managed to revive
literacy levels to 90 per cent by 1990. They fell again to 70 per cent by 1995
but were reported by the MoEVT Tanzania and Zanzibar (2008) to have
140 Lifelong Learning and Development
risen to 84 per cent in 1997. Some of the reasons for the failure of these
literacy programmes are attributed to too much centralization, lack of suffi-
cient attention to context-specific curricula, poorly trained teachers and
insufficient integration of literacy programmes with other development
initiatives. By 1994 Yule described a new, community development, model
for literacy, based on principles of community participation, building on
indigenous knowledge and development of local resources within a lifelong
learning framework.
Civil society is a recognized contributor to provision. Two initiatives that
were piloted in the voluntary sector have been adopted by the Ministry in
recognition of their contribution to the countrys determined efforts to
achieve its universal education and literacy targets. Their common denomi-
nator and similarity to the case studies of South Asia is a participatory,
community-led approach to learning and development. The first initiative
is called Integrated Community Based Adult Education (ICBAE).
ICBAE
A fundamental criticism of top-down development initiatives, particularly
in relation to education is that they fail to engage with the expressed needs
of communities. Tanzanias government policy recognizes the need for
context and participation driven learning opportunities. Former functional
literacy programmes that were restricted to improving vocational skills and
failed to motivate learners have now been replaced with a learner-centred,
community-based approach. Bhalalusesa (2004) describes how the govern-
ments ICBAE initiative was piloted in 1995, using the Freirian REFLECT
model of learning circles and discussion forums, targeted specifically at
women and girls. ICBAEs goal was to enable youth and adults to obtain
literacy, vocational and life skills, drawing from specially designed teaching
manuals on agriculture, micro-economics, health, simple bookkeeping and
socio-political studies. Income generation was the necessary entry point for
learning literacy. Levira and Gange (2007) report that literacy levels in the
pilot areas increased from 75 per cent to 88 per cent over a period of three
years.
The learning circles or discussion forums were usually facilitated by
a local primary-school teacher; they would discuss village problems, share
how to resolve practical issues and literacy would be acquired through the
practical implementation of local solutions. Some examples range from
the construction of a new road that created an access route for sale and
transport of crops to production of bricks for sale and construction of
Case Studies Tanzania and Lesotho 141
COBET
Alongside the ICBAE approach for adults UNICEF funded an initiative
for complementary basic education for out-of-school children and youth.
Levira and Gange (2007) highlight that this form of non-formal education
opens doors to other forms of education such as distance learning, voca-
tional training and a return back to mainstream secondary education. By
2007 COBET had accommodated 466,018 learners, of whom 53 per cent
were girls (ibid:262).
The aims of COBET are cited by UNICEF (2006) as delivering an acceler-
ated school curriculum that includes life and survival skills, flexible time-
tabling to accommodate the lifestyles of out-of-school children and youth,
and to sensitize communities and parents to be receptive and appreciative
of educational and other rights of all children (p.1). Like ICBAE and
REFLECT the emphasis is on participatory curriculum development and
encouraging people to become agents of their own social change (p.2).
It is also based on the 1990 national education Task Force Reports stipu-
lated desire to enable every child to understand and appreciate his or her
human person, to acquire values, respect and enrich our common cultural
background and moral values, social customs and traditions as well as
national unity, identity, ethic and pride (UNICEF 2006:6). Preparation for
142 Lifelong Learning and Development
The COBET curriculum which is not only learner centred but also
interactive and participative allows learners to be critical, to think scien-
tifically and to participate and make decisions on public affairs and social
demands. (p.79)
Discussion
The concept of lifelong learning for citizenship, life skills and income gen-
eration is a core feature of Tanzanian policy. It is interpreted within the
Case Studies Tanzania and Lesotho 143
Lesotho
South Africa and South Africas own political history. According to Lephoto
et al. (1996) the Christian missionaries in 1833 introduced the first weekly
newspapers to promote literacy for the purpose of disseminating religious
and development news. Churches even today play a large part in the educa-
tion provision of the country and control the majority of schools, though
the Government pays teacher salaries.
Lesotho suffered a generation of political discord and upheavals before
reverting to a parliamentary democracy in 1998. Although its population is
only 2 million, at least as many Basotho (Lesotho citizens) live outside the
country and a large minority of male wage earners (35 per cent) still com-
mute to South Africa for work, though this number has decreased sharply
since the late 1990s. UNICEFs (2008) country statistics indicate that the
population is almost entirely homogeneous with almost everyone speaking
the national language of Sesotho, though a few communities to the East have
Khosa or Zulu as their first language. Only 0.03 per cent are non-Sotho in
origin. The main religion is Christian (80 per cent) with some 20 per cent
practising indigenous beliefs.
Of the economy 86 per cent is subsistence agriculture and 14 per cent
industrial. Agricultural production consists of corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum,
barley and livestock, while industries include food beverages, textiles, hand-
icrafts, tourism, apparel assembly and construction. Traditional, labour
intensive farming practices prevail and this includes shared crop farming,
whereby communities assist each other at harvest and ploughing times
to maximize production. Arable land is decreasing due to soil erosion and
climate change. Natural resources are primarily water, sand, clay and stone,
with some diamonds. Unemployment officially stands at 46 per cent, with
35 per cent identified as living on less than $1 a day. Lesotho suffers from
one of the highest HIV prevalancies in the world with official figures identi-
fying the prevalence rate as 23.2 per cent and a consequent life expectancy
of only 34.5 years (UNICEF 2008). Less than 8 per cent had access to elec-
tricity and only 8 per cent had telephone lines in 2005 (GOL 2005a). While
road networks are improving it is not yet possible to drive all the way through
the mountainous regions on tarred road.
While Lephoto et al. (2000) report that in 1976 literacy levels were only
28 per cent for females and 48 per cent for males, adult literacy rates
are now high, compared with Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, at an overall
figure of between 82 and 85 per cent. Unusually, and due to cultural prac-
tices of herding animals in the remote regions for boys and young men,
female school attendance and literacy rates are higher than those for males.
While primary education has been free since 2000, secondary education is
Case Studies Tanzania and Lesotho 145
fee paying. The impact of this is evident in the net enrolment rates for
primary (82 per cent male, 88 per cent female) as compared to those for
secondary level (16 per cent male and 27 per cent female). Tertiary educa-
tion accommodates approximately 2 per cent of primary school entrants
(GOL 2004). The Kingdoms Poverty Reduction Strategy (GOL 2004) high-
lights the need for at least a decade of schooling and a curriculum that
includes entrepreneurial and life skills. However, the country has insuffi-
cient secondary schools to cater for the majority of school leavers and the
standard Cambridge syllabus at secondary level remains academic.
The 2006 UNDP human development index ranked Lesotho as 149 out
of 177 countries, though the 2007/8 report raised the countrys ranking
to 138.
Policy documents
Although, like Tanzania, Lesotho is classified as a least developed poor
country its more fragile history of political Independence, its sovereignty
and more homogenous ethnic composition have perhaps influenced
Basothos concern for national unity and resistance to attempts to redefine
their future. So, for instance, the Poverty Reduction Strategy emphasizes
that preservation and promotion of culture is an integral part of the battle
against poverty and conflict (p.79) and the monarchy is regarded as a uni-
fying, apolitical feature for the country. Indeed the Governments Vision
2020 document (GOL 2001) offers a very different tone to its ambitions,
compared with its Tanzanian counterpart:
Total reliance on the private sector for such services would result in sub-
optimal service delivery. GOL recognises that there will be cases where it
is necessary to engage directly in the economy, providing non-commercial
services which confer social benefits. (p.xi)
Besides, the draft policy called for a full-fledged NFE department within
the Ministry and for the Department to play a significant role in the coor-
dination and provision of NFE services. The Ministry was cautioned not
to take over services that are already being provided by NGOs and other
private sector providers. (p.13)
Yet the NFE document itself emphasized wide consultation and high
priority for NFE reinforced by the Education Sector Strategic Plan which
dedicated a whole chapter to NFE. It may be, therefore, that World Bank
priorities deflected attention away from the broader NFE vision thus ensur-
ing a reduced role for the Ministry with subsequent consequences for how
NFE (and by implication lifelong learning) would be implemented.
Government responsibility for LLL and NFE in the Sector Plan (GOL 2005)
was reduced to a coordination role primarily for literacy whereas the NFE
policy document advocated for an NFE department and a wider lifelong
148 Lifelong Learning and Development
learning remit. This tension between NFE, lifelong learning and literacy
perspectives is evident throughout the Education sector Strategic Plan, and
in particular its chapter 9.
For instance chapter 9 is titled Lifelong Learning and Non-formal
Education. The chapter repeats the draft policy aims for NFE to foster
good and meaningful life to all citizens by developing an informed and
skilled citizenry (p.88). NFE is seen as a catalyst of development and with
the aim of achieving the stimulation of a lifelong learning society (ibid).
Budget headings under lifelong learning include new lifelong learning
centres, literacy and numeracy surveys, health materials and courses.
Lifelong learning absorbs a 15 per cent share of sub-programmes in the
special programmes recurrent costs budget.
In spite of this promising rhetoric, however, lifelong learning and its life
skills sub-programme which is an integral part of NFE is framed as focus-
ing on adult literacy (ibid).
Literacy is defined in the CONFINTEA 2008 report (UNESCOM 2008) as:
A person is literate who can with understanding both read and write a
short simple statement on his everyday life. A person is functionally liter-
ate who can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required
for effective functioning of his/her group and community and also for
enabling him/her to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for
his/her own and the communitys development (cited in UNESCO 2004).
(UNESCOM 2008:26)
to address primary health care and HIV/AIDS. The wider remit of environ-
mental awareness, citizenship, ICT and gender sensitivity are not specific
targets, though the government has produced gender and ICT policies,
along with a draft Open and Distance Learning Policy as follows.
Recent legislation in 2006 and 2008 has addressed legal anomalies
whereby Basotho women were always socially constructed as minors, irre-
spective of age, occupation or marital status, particularly in relation to land
acquisition or access to credit. The Gender and Development Policy (GOL
2003) framed its agenda with reference to the Beijing Platform for Action.
It aims to conserve positive, but mitigate negative, aspects of Basotho cul-
ture, and infuse gender and economic empowerment issues into the cur-
ricula of all educational programmes (p.13).
Lesothos ICT policy (GOL 2005a) refers to the leapfrog concept for
adopting technology as a resource for equal opportunities, environmental
awareness, food security, good governance, tourism, health, commerce,
and enhanced living standards. Lifelong learning is mentioned in the
policy document and ICT literacy is seen as part of core curricula. In this
respect ICT once more follows the Governments attempt to develop
a broad and holistic image of learning for the nation.
Similarly the draft Open and Distance Learning Policy (2008:6) refers to
NFE in terms of civic education, consumer education, rural development,
population and family life education, health, nutrition, sanitation educa-
tion including HIV and AIDS, professional and managerial skills develop-
ment clearly embracing lifelong learning and emphasizing that ODL
programmes must support the promotion of functional literacy, but broad-
ening access to the population at large, including teacher upgrading.
So how does Lesotho manage its lifelong learning and non-formal activi-
ties in practice? Three examples are cited here.
Discussion
among the age group that would normally be the foundation for
sustainability.
Lifelong learning in the form of literacy and progression to basic educa-
tion qualifications is well-embedded. A further lifelong learning progres-
sion path is available via IEMS and other tertiary ODL programmes, but not
always matched by infrastructure support.
What Lesotho does not appear to have as is suggested in the literature
(Lephoto et al. 1996, UNESCOM 2008) is a broad overall lifelong learn-
ing vision or strategic coordination of its separate policies particularly
with a view to integrating lifelong learning with development. This results in
fragmented progression opportunities, and uncoordinated approaches to
seeking funding. The more holistically articulated goals in the NFE draft
policy are not clearly implemented and it seems that external donor
agendas, such as those articulated by the World Bank earlier in this chapter,
may have contributed to steering attention away from a government-led
approach.
Concluding summary
Introduction
As I prepared to write this chapter, two major events were capturing the
worlds attention. The first was the most severe global economic crisis in liv-
ing memory. Giants of the business world were crumbling or being bought
out, with substantial state interventions by leading economic nations to
nationalize or part nationalize their financial institutions. Hundreds of
billions of dollars were being injected into companies to try and stabilize a
free market that was now in free-fall (News.bbc.co.uk 2008). The result in
November 2008 was a financial summit that for the first time involved
emerging market countries such as China, India, Argentina, Brazil and oth-
ers in an effort to reform financial structures, including institutions such
as the World Bank and the IMF, and reform country financial regulations.
For the first time in history the management of the global economy was
no longer in the hands of the elite few and the free market was no longer
benefiting the leading industrialized nations.
This event, in terms of lifelong learning, challenges those no alternative
to global capitalism discourses discussed in Chapter 5. The philosophy of
the very institutions that have dictated their capitalist agendas for less-
advanced industrialized nations are proving to be inadequate. Equally the
enormity of funds that were made available to shore up this financial catas-
trophe stands in stark contrast to the paucity of aid commitments to coun-
tries whose populations are starving and struggling, at least partially, from
unfair trade regulations and other exploitative labour initiatives that were
engineered by the worlds leading economies. The need for a lifelong learn-
ing agenda that looks beyond profit could not be more apparent.
The second major event that attracted the world was the American
presidential election. On 5 November 2008 an African-American became
the president elect for the United States of America. Although there is no
154 Lifelong Learning and Development
However, there are two considerations that make it imperative that the
South speaks for itself on this subject. On the one hand, it is not appropri-
ate for the North to speak on behalf of the South, irrespective of the extent
to which north-south arguments overlap. This simply reinforces the age-old
imperialist divide. The South therefore needs its own platform within the
lifelong learning literature. This both strengthens those arguments articu-
lated by northern writers but also creates space for the second considera-
tion that the South has something distinctive to contribute to the debate,
both in terms of philosophical value systems and as a reinforcement of the
Lifelong Learning and Development Moving Forward 155
In chapter 1 I outlined the growing concern that the MDGs and their nar-
row focus on primary education for countries in the South has deflected
funding and policy attention away from a broader vision for lifelong learn-
ing. This is in spite of the Souths historical interest in the relationship
between lifelong learning, adult education and development which was
articulated in the 1970s. Where lifelong learning is advocated in current
discourses, there is a tendency for country-level policies to be manipulated
by international aid agendas that define lifelong learning narrowly in terms
of skills for economic, human capital purposes. Since many formerly colo-
nized countries in the South are dependent on international aid for the
promotion of their education plans, such externally imposed discourses
impact on the political will and practical implementation of a lifelong learn-
ing concept that could respond to immediate societal and cultural needs
for positive identities as well as enable societies to act positively for change
within wider global contexts.
I have used a postcolonial analytical framework to both expose the dis-
continuities of normative development discourses and provide space for
the articulation of alternative perspectives that privilege those knowledge
and value systems that are often suppressed by ongoing colonial inter-
ference. This includes understanding the institutional structures, textual
representations and power relations that enable domination to operate so
effectively through the discursive label of development.
Postcolonial analysis shows how education systems in formerly colonized
countries are still dominated by ideologies, curricula, structures, languages,
pedagogies and policies of their former colonizers. An understanding of
the tensions and conflicts that affect the postcolonial world ensures that a
more culturally and socially relevant lifelong learning agenda can develop,
one which privileges the experiences of the South and informs the Norths
agenda for a more socially sensitive lifelong learning discourse. This
approach recognizes that the contemporary world is, to a greater or lesser
extent, a hybrid of globalized relationships. Therefore we should not
attempt to re-create a precolonial past, rather we should build on the value
156 Lifelong Learning and Development
systems that gave societies their identities in order to facilitate their role as
change agents for their own futures.
I have drawn on examples of indigenous lifelong learning to demonstrate
that this concept is rooted in social value systems. I have also argued that
philosophical perspectives that embrace concepts of connectedness, com-
munalism, interdependency and subjectivity are potential resources for
emphasizing a more holistic interpretation of lifelong learning than the
dominant, instrumental focus on skills enhancement. This more holistic
interpretation would embrace the notion of communal embeddedness and
connectivity of a person to other persons rather than the western concept
of the individual self existing separately or independently from others.
While these positions are not geographically or socially fixed, they indicate
tendencies towards philosophical differences that are more common in
African and Asian societies. They have a potentially profound influence on
how and why we learn. Although previous efforts to promote this philoso-
phy, such as through Nyereres Ujamaa concept in Tanzania, ultimately
failed, this, it is argued, is at least in part, because they were in constant
tension with international aid conditionalities that promoted a different
philosophical world view and also failed to interrelate sufficiently with the
inevitable processes of change.
It is apparent, however, that current, externally imposed development
agendas are also not working. Lifelong learning has to somehow capture
a more hybrid view of development that embraces more context-specific
world views. The growing literature offers more nuanced perspectives for
development. For example Amartya Sen (1999) articulates development
in terms of participatory and capability freedoms. Escobar talks about a
post-development era which encourages hybridities that derive from local
cultures and knowledges and seek economic development that does not
necessarily focus on profit and the market. All these arguments move away
from universalist approaches and towards localized, context-specific solu-
tions to local problems, using a facilitative educational approach that
encourages learning through reflexivity and critical awareness. Indeed the
concept of social enterprise (a system of community-based enterprises
where profit is ploughed back into community needs) as a new model for
poverty reduction and employment generation (title page) in disadvan-
taged areas is now being advocated by the UNDP (2008).
The challenge for a development approach to lifelong learning, however,
is to use continuous learning to integrate local initiatives with wider and
more global relationships. While local approaches to sustainability may not
always wish to embrace current (or future) capitalist agendas, they need to
avoid isolation from the global world.
Lifelong Learning and Development Moving Forward 157
A further challenge in this respect is the fact that the dominant world
players do not perceive continents like Africa as having anything to contrib-
ute to wider global agendas (though the current global economic crisis
may be shifting this perception for some countries). Similarly populations
from Africa, Asia and Arab States, for example, do not want to become a
carbon copy of Westernization since the West (or North) is perceived as
robbing such marginalized populations of their identity.
Although globalization impinges on all aspects of society, including cul-
ture and politics, it is largely associated with international capital and new
forms of production, resulting in a policy focus on lifelong learning and
constant skills retraining. Yet the unevenness of technological advancement
and spread of multinational companies contributes to the fragmented
nature of globalization. International laws and agreements have been cre-
ated by a small minority of advanced industrialized nations. One example
of the impact of these agreements on formerly colonized nations is the
MDGs. These goals signify both pressure to conform to, and a cultural
homogenization of, what counts as development. Learning according to
the MDGs for developing countries is reduced to universal primary educa-
tion and basic literacy. The wider vision of learning as lifelong and relevant
for all ages and levels is thereby silenced for developing countries.
The flip side of development that is nurtured by the global North is that
the Norths development impacts on delicate ecosystems and resources in
the very countries at whom the MDGs are targeted. For example, African
countries are more prone to drought as a result of global warming caused
by emissions in far-off lands. The absence of a lifelong learning focus on
environmental awareness and sustainable development means that those in
the South are unable to articulate an informed position on the subject and
therefore its impact on their lives, and those in the North are not suffi-
ciently challenged to engage reflexively on the impact of their actions on
vulnerable societies.
Promoters of alternative visions for lifelong learning in the South often
emphasize community-based learning that fosters collective learning and
action, the role of civil society and popular education, facilitation of net-
works and confronting discrimination and inequalities. Others advocate
a sustainable livelihoods approach that interacts more directly with entre-
preneurialism and exploration of how globalization works. Mbigi (2005),
in the context of Africa, argues for an African entrepreneurship leadership
that engages with national identity: It is not by accident that the most enter-
prising groups, such as the Jews, Indians, Japanese and Chinese, have deep
cultural roots and a distinct cultural identity (p.4). He asks for people in
leadership positions to root their strategies in African cultural belief systems
158 Lifelong Learning and Development
The international NGO Asia South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education
(ASPBAE) highlights the vast disparities of access to even the most basic
provision for many countries in the South. The ASPBAE briefing paper
Lifelong Learning and Development Moving Forward 159
(2008) cites the 2008 Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO 2007) statistics
which reveal that there are still 101 countries that are far from achieving
universal literacy and that South and West Asias literacy rates are languish-
ing at a mere 59 per cent of their population. Associated with these low
literacy rates are poor figures for mortality, nutrition and reproductive
health, poverty and gender inequalities. Nevertheless the paper argues that
literacy must be seen within a framework for lifelong learning, particularly
since literacy lapses into illiteracy if opportunities for continuing education
and the creation of literate environments are not sustained. Similarly the
paper argues for adult education that promotes critical thinking, under-
standing of human rights, tolerance, social awareness, civic consciousness
and responsibilities (pages unnumbered) and a commitment to ongoing
learning throughout life.
The African regional synthesis of national CONFINTEA reports (Aitchison
and Alidou 2008) reiterates concerns about the relatively low political and
financial status given to adult education and lifelong learning. The authors
state that few African countries have ratified adult-education policies
though many may have existed for years as unratified draft policies. The
tendency is for any legislation to focus narrowly on literacy or basic educa-
tion, though national qualifications frameworks are also emerging as an
application of lifelong learning. The report emphasizes once more that
literacy alone is inadequate in addressing the scale of the problem and lit-
eracy programmes should in any case be holistically linked to life skills or
community development initiatives as well as post-literacy activities.
The equivalent Latin American and Caribbean final regional report
(UNESCO ILL 2008) once more emphasizes that literacy is the necessary but
not sufficient point of departure which allows each and every person, in the
twenty-first century, to continue and supplement their learning throughout
life and thus exercise their rights as citizens (p.2). This report also reiterates
the need to address the North-South divide for lifelong learning discourses.
The African Civil Society Report (African Platform for Adult Education
2008) first refers us back to the 1976 Nairobi conference where adult edu-
cation was once more framed in the context of lifelong education and
then moves forward to the African development process of 2001 via the
New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD). Here they express
concern that adult education and lifelong learning are narrowly confined
by NEPAD to specific teacher education projects for maths, science and
technology education. This report poses a number of policy challenges:
How to develop policies that are framed within a lifelong and lifewide
learning perspective that is embedded in development frameworks;
160 Lifelong Learning and Development
This begs the question what can the South contribute to the debate on
lifelong learning? At one level writers are seeking to find a way in which
lifelong learning can interface with the traditions and needs of different
cultural contexts.
Walters (2007), for instance, in the context of South Africa, explores
whether there are generic ingredients that can apply across societies in
Lifelong Learning and Development Moving Forward 161
social justice, human rights and human dignity. A global lifelong learning
approach must be sensitive to context, enhancing local ownership of targets,
means and processes. It must respond at a level of international conscious-
ness. The current global downturn suggests that individualism and compet-
itiveness without ethically informed sustainability and social conscience
will not produce cohesion, equality and peace. A new lifelong learning dis-
course does not entail total rejection of existing discourses, but it facilitates
hybridization and provides opportunities to contemplate that anything is
possible in our dream for a better world.
Notes
1
The UNDP officially classifies the following countries as developing: Sub Saharan
Africa, Arab States, Asia and Pacific, Latin America, Caribbean, Cyprus and Turkey
(Torres 2003:37).
2
Social capital has been defined as consisting of social networks, the reciprocities
that arise from them, and the value of these for achieving mutual goals drawing
attention to the importance of social relationships and values such as trust in
shaping broader attitudes and behaviour (Schuller et al. 2000:1).
3
See for example, Enslin et al. (2001), Welton (2005) and Maruatona (2006).
4
See for example, Holford et al. (1998), Field and Leicester (2000), Field (2002,
2005), Edwards et al. (2002) and Jarvis (2004).
5
A number of writers highlight these issues, such as Torres (2003), Walters (1999),
Archer (2005), Atchoarena and Hite (2001), Palepu (2001) and Oduaran
(2000).
6
REFLECT stands for Regenerated Frierian Literacy through Empowering Commu-
nity Techniques. The REFLECT approach was developed by the Non-Governmental
Organization ACTIONAID using a combination of the theory of Paulo Freire
and the group methods of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to combine the lit-
eracy process and the empowering process through people-centred grass roots
development.
7
Relevant texts include: Spivak (1995), Bhabha (1995), Said (1995), Hickling-Hudson
(2006), Chilisa (2005) wa Thiongo (1995) for example.
8
Buruma and Margalit (2005:7) show similar sentiments for South Asia: To a
devout Muslim, politics, economics, science and religion cannot be split into sepa-
rate categories. The Wests world views in these contexts can represent the rootless,
greedy city, lack of respect for faith and the antithesis of the self sacrificing hero
(p.11).
References
Edwards, R., Miller, N., Small, N. and Tait, A. (2002), (eds), Supporting Lifelong
Learning Volume 3: Making Policy Work. London: Routledge Falmer and the Open
University.
English, L. M., Fenwick, T. J. and Parsons, J. (2003), Spirituality of Adult Education and
Training. Malabar, Florida: Krieger.
Enslin, P., Pendlebury, S. and Tjattas, M. (2001), Political inclusion, democratic
empowerment and lifelong learning, in D. Aspin, J. Chapman, M. Hatton, and
Y. Sawano (eds), International Handbook of Lifelong Learning. Dordrecht: Kluwer
Academic Publishers, pp. 6178.
Escobar, A. (1995), Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third
World. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Fairclough, N. (1989), Language and Power. London: Longman.
Faur, E., Herrera, F., Kaddoura, A. R., Lopes, H., Petrovsky, A. V., Rahnema, M. and
Ward, F. C. (1972), Learning to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow.
Paris: UNESCO.
Featherstone, M. (1995), Undoing Culture: Globalization, Postmodernism and Identity.
London: Sage.
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (2006), National Adult Education Strategy.
Addis Ababa: Federal Ministry of Education.
Ferguson, J. (1994), The Anti-politics Machine: Development, Depoliticization and
Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho. Minneapolis: University of Minesota Press.
Field, J. (2002), (ed.), Promoting European Dimensions in Lifelong Learning. Leicester:
NIACE.
(2005), Social Capital and Lifelong Learning. Bristol: The Policy Press.
Field, J. and Leicester, M. (2000), (eds), Lifelong Learning: Education across the
Lifespan. London: Routledge/Falmer.
Flor, A. G. (2001), ICT and poverty: the indisputable link. Paper for Third Asia
Development Forum on Regional Economic Cooperation in Asia and the Pacific,
Bankok, 1114 June.
Forde, T. J. L. (1975), Indigenous education in Sierra Leone, in G. Brown and
M. Hiskett (eds), Conflict and Harmony in Education in Tropical Africa. London:
George Allen and Unwin Ltd., pp. 6575.
Fordjor, P. K., Kotoh, A. M., Kpeli, K. K., Kwamefio, A., Mensa, Q. B., Owusu, E. and
Mullins, B. K. (2003), A review of traditional Ghanaian and Western philosophies
of adult education, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 22, (2), 182199.
Foucault, M. (1980), Power-Knowledge. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Fukuyama, F. (1995), Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. London:
Hamish Hamilton.
GEO, ICAE, REPEM, DAWN, FEMNET (2003), Another education is possible,
in C. Medel-Aonuevo (ed.), Women Moving CONFINTEA V: Mid Term Review.
Hamburg: UNESCO Institute of Education, p. 33.
Giroux, H. A. (1992), Border Crossings: Cultural Workers and the Politics of Education.
London: Routledge.
Goduka, I. (2000), African/Indigenous Philosophies: legitimizing spiritually
centred wisdoms within the academy, in P. Higgs, N. C. G. Vakalisa, T. V. Mda,
and N. T. Assie-Lumumba (eds), African Voices in Education. Lansdowne: Juta and
Co Ltd., pp. 6383.
References 169
Government of India (GOI) (1998), National Policy on Education 1986 (as modified
in 1992). New Delhi: Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India.
GOI (2008), National Report for CONFINTEA VI. National Literacy Mission, Depart-
ment of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource
Development: GOI.
Government of Kerala (GOK) (2007), Information Technology Policy: Towards an Inclu-
sive Knowledge Society. Department of Information Technology, GOK.
Government of Lesotho (GOL) (2001), Lesotho Vision 2020. Maseru: GOL.
GOL (2003), Gender and Development Policy. Maseru: GOL.
GOL (2004), Kingdom of Lesotho Poverty Reduction Strategy 2004/5 2006/7. Maseru:
GOL.
GOL (2005), Kingdom of Lesotho Education Sector Strategic Plan 20052015. Maseru:
Ministry of Education and Training, GOL.
GOL (2005a), ICT policy for Lesotho. GOL.
GOL (2008), Open and Distance Learning Policy (First draft). Maseru: Ministry of
Education and Training, GOL.
Grace, A. (2004), Bridging the digital divide: one keystroke at a time. http://www.
netcorps-cyberjeunes.org/artciles/anitagrace_en.aspx. Accessed 17 June 2008.
Griffin, C. (2002), Lifelong learning and welfare reform, in R. Edwards, N. Miller,
N. Small and A. Tait (eds), Supporting Lifelong Learning Volume 3: Making Policy
Work. London: Routledge-Falmer.
(2006), Research and policy in lifelong learning, International Journal of Lifelong
Education, 25, (6), 561574.
Grootaert, C. (2001), Does social capital help the poor? Working Paper no 10.
Social Development Family Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Develop-
ment Network, Washington DC: World Bank.
Gulati, S. (2008), Technology-enhanced learning in developing nations: a review,
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9, (1), 116.
Hall, S. (1996), When was the post-colonial? Thinking at the limit, in I. Chambers
and L. Curti (eds), The Postcolonial Question. London: Routledge, pp. 242260.
Harber, C. (2004), Schooling as Violence. London: Routledge.
Hawkins, R. J. (2002), Ten lessons for ICT and education in the developing world,
World Links for Development Program. World Bank Institute, http://ksg.harvard.
edu/cid/cr/pdf/gitrr2002_ch04.pdf. Accessed 17 June 2008.
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. (1999), Global Transformations:
Politics, Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Held, D. and McGrew, A. (2000), (eds), The Global Transformations Reader. Cambridge:
Polity.
Hickling-Hudson, A. (2006), Cultural complexity, post-colonialism and educational
change: challenges for comparative educators, Review of Education, 52, 201218.
Hill Collins, P. (1990), Black Feminist Thought. London: Routledge.
Hlupekile Longwe, S. (2003), Towards strategies of adult education for social trans-
formation, in C. Medel-Aonuevo (ed.), Women Moving Confintea V: Mid Term
Review. Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for Education, pp. 1124.
Holford, J., Jarvis, P. and Griffin, C. (eds) (1998), International Perspectives on Lifelong
Learning. London: Kogan Page.
170 References
Pillai, K. S. (2003), KANFED and the adult education scene in Kerala, Adult Educa-
tion and Development, 60, 145157.
Polikanov, D. and Abramova, I. (2003), Africa and ICT: a chance for a break-
through? Information, Communication and Society, 6, (1), 4256.
Preece, J. (2003), Education for transformative leadership in Southern Africa,
Journal of Transformative Education, 1, (3), 245263.
(2006), Beyond the learning society: the learning world? International Journal of
Lifelong Education, 25, (3), 307320.
Preece, J. and Mosweunyane, D. (2004), Perceptions of Citizenship Responsibility amongst
Botswana Youth. Gaborone: Lentswe La Lesedi.
Preece, J., Lekhetho, M., Rantekoa, M. and Ramakau, M .(2009), Non-formal Educa-
tion and Vocational Skills: Two Case Studies in Lesotho. Research Report, Maseru:
National University of Lesotho.
Putnam, R. D. (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
New York: Simon and Schuster.
Raman, N. (2005), How almost everyone in Kerala learned to read, The Christian
Science Monitor, www.csmonitor.com/2005/0517/p12s01-legn.htm
Ramazanoglu, C. (1993), Up Against Foucault. London: Routledge.
Republic of Tanzania (ROT) (1997), Tanzania Development Vision 2025. Dar Es
Salaam: Planning Commission, Republic of Tanzania.
ROT (2000), Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Dar Es Salaam: Republic of
Tanzania.
Rizvi, F. (2000), International education and the production of global imagina-
tion, in N. C. Burbules and C. A. Torres (eds), Globalisation and Education: Critical
Perspectives. London: Routledge, pp. 205225.
Rizvi, F., Lingard, B. and Lavia, J. (2006), Postcolonialism and education: negotiat-
ing a contested terrain, pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14, (3), 249262.
Robinson-Pant, A. (2001), Development as discourse: what relevance to education?
Compare, 31, (3), 311328.
Said, E. (1995), Orientalism. London: Penguin.
Saleem, M. (2008), The Development and State of the Art of Adult Learning and Educa-
tion. National Report of Pakistan, for CONFINTEA VI. Projects Wing, Islamabad:
Ministry of Education.
Schuller, T., Baron, S. and Field, J. (2000), Social capital: a review and critique, in
S. Baron, J. Field and T. Schuller (eds), Social Capital: Critical Perspectives. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, pp. 138.
Seepe, S. (2000), Africanisation of knowledge: exploring mathematical and scientific
knowledge embedded in African cultural practices, in P. Higgs, N. C. G. Vakalisa,
T. V. Mda and N. T. Assie-Lumumba (eds), African Voices in Education. Lansdowne:
Juta and Co Ltd, pp. 118138.
Sen, A. (1999), Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shaba, C. (2008), Future manifestations of the old: exploring the potential of radio
learning in building social capital in Malawi, PASCAL Hot Topic No 21, http://
www.obs-pascal.com/node/774. Accessed 19 January 2008.
Shade, L. R. (2002), The digital divide: from definitional stances to policy initia-
tives. Paper prepared for Department of Canadian Heritage: Policy and Program
Forum, Ottawa, 16 April.
176 References
Siaciwena, R. and Lubinda, F. (2008), The role of open and distance learning in
the implementation of the right to education in Zambia, International Review of
Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9, (1), 112.
Singh, M. (2002), (ed.), Institutionalising Lifelong Learning: Creating Conducive Envi-
ronments for Adult Learning in the Asian Context. Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for
Education.
Spivak, G. C. (1990), The Post-colonial Critic: Interviews, Strategies, Dialogues (edited by
S. Harasym). London: Routledge.
(1995), Can the subaltern speak? in B. Ashcroft, G. Griffiths and H. Tiffin (eds),
The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge, pp. 2428.
Sreemathy, T. K. (2002), Ancient thoughts on lifelong learning for social develop-
ment, in Lifelong Learning for Social Development: A Review of Global Perspectives.
Papers presented at the international conference on lifelong learning for social
development, Kerala, India 1315 August, pp. 214217.
Steans, J. (2000), The gender dimension, in D. Held and A. McGrew (eds), The
Global Transformations Reader. Cambridge: Polity, pp. 366373.
Teffo, L. J. (2000), Africanist thinking: an invitation to authenticity, in P. Higgs,
N. C. G. Vakalisa, T. V. Mda and N. T. Assie-Lumumba (eds), African Voices in
Education. Lansdowne: Juta and Co Ltd., pp. 103117.
Thetela, P. H. (2002), Sex discourses and gender constructions in Southern Sotho:
a case study of police interviews of rape/sexual assault victims. Southern African
Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 20, 177189.
Tikly, L. (2004), Education and the new imperialism, Comparative Education,
40, (2), 173198.
(2007), Globalisation and education in the postcolonial world: towards a concep-
tual framework, Comparative Education, 37, (2), 151171.
Torres, M. (2003), Lifelong Learning: a new momentum and a new opportunity for
adult basic learning and education (ABLE) in the South, Adult Education and
Development Supplement, 60, 1240.
UNDP (2001), Making New Technologies Work for Human Development. Human Develop-
ment Report. New York: UNDP.
(2007/2008), Human Development Report. http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/.
Accessed 23 July 2008.
(2008), Social Enterprise: A New Model for Poverty Reduction and Employment Genera-
tion. UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
States: http://europeandcis.undp.org/. Accessed 12 December 2008.
UNESCO (1975), Final Report. Paper for Seminar on structures of adult education
in developing countries with special reference to Africa. African Adult Education
Association in cooperation with UNESCO, Nairobi: UNESCO.
(1990), World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic
Learning Needs. Paris: UNESCO.
(1997), The Hamburg Declaration and Framework for Action. Hamburg: UNESCO UIE.
(1998), The Mumbai Statement on Lifelong Learning, Active Citizenship and the Reform
of Higher Education. http://www.iiz-dvv.de/englisch/Publikationen/EWB_ausga-
ben/55_2001/eng_Mumbai.html. Accessed 2 March 2008.
(1998a), The Durban Statement of Commitment. Seventh Conference of Ministries of
Education of African Member States MINEDAF VII, Durban, South Africa 2024
References 177