This study investigated the structural equivalence of the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ) in relation to Kenyan high school students. A total of 1,990 students from two same-sex boarding schools participated. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the overall model fit the data well. However, an examination of the individual factors revealed…

Following the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, there has been a strong drive towards democratising education at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary. The present paper examines some of the key ideas in the debate around transformation in higher education in South Africa, namely the notions of an African essence, culture…

This work contributes to the philosophical debate on the normative dimension of postcolonial education in Zimbabwe. The work is a reaction to revelations made by the Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training of 1999 and its concomitant recommendations. Among its many observations, the Commission noted that there was a worrisome development…

Research Findings: Teaching thinking skills is an important goal of formal primary and secondary education. Storybook reading is a well-established routine in the first few school years. Thinking skills can easily be fostered during these potentially language-rich interactions, making storybook reading a powerful tool for preparing young children…

This book calls for critical adaptations when theories of bilingual education, based on practices in the North, are applied to the countries of the global South. For example, it challenges the assumption that transitional models necessarily lead to language shift and cultural assimilation. Taking an ethnographically-based narrative on the purpose…

This paper explores the notion of African music as a way forward to negotiate a "space" in contemporary society. The word "space" is used as a metaphor to explore and experiment with the dynamics of culture and hybridity. The authors view themselves as "agents of change" and knowledgeable professionals in the teaching…

In this article we provide a theoretical reconstruction of sub-Saharan ethics that we argue is a strong competitor to typical Western approaches to morality. According to our African moral theory, actions are right roughly insofar as they are a matter of living harmoniously with others or honouring communal relationships. After spelling out this…

The international community looks towards Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to address global problems such as environmental degradation, poverty and ill-health. This article focuses on the integration of ESD into science lessons. It reports Junior Secondary School (JSS) science Teachers' perceptions of the ESD concept; its integration…

The diversity of African Pentecostalism, its early colonial and missionary history and its current characteristics are described and analysed. Reference is made to methods of training and forms of leadership, and suggestions are made about the reasons for its growth and persistence. (Contains 19 notes.)

In the nearly two decades since the 1990 Music Educators National Conference (MENC) preconference symposium on Multicultural Approaches to Music Education in Washington, D.C., music educators have come to recognize the need to include a variety of world musics in music curricula at all levels, from elementary classrooms to advanced performing…

The theme behind this paper is to review the language policy and language planning in the Sudan, after the institutionalization of peace; by exploring the recent policy of political factions in the North and the South towards languages in post-war Sudan. This effort aims at encouraging non-Arabic speaking-ethnic-groups to accept the Arabic…

In this study, cross-cultural differences in cognitive test scores are hypothesized to depend on a test's cultural complexity (Cultural Complexity Hypothesis: CCH), here conceptualized as its content familiarity, rather than on its cognitive complexity (Spearman's Hypothesis: SH). The content familiarity of tests assessing short-term memory,…

In this article, the author shares how difficult it is to describe what life is like for a child growing up in Africa. Africa is not a nation but a continent that is made up of more than 50 individual nations and at least 800 distinct cultures. Here, she takes a look at some of the recently published picture books about Africa. Each one describes…

Multicultural education and a multicultural curriculum are vital components of contemporary education. While most educators recognize the value of multicultural education in attempting to create a more just world, some lament that they do not have time to incorporate multiculturalism into their classrooms in light of all the content that must be…

Zimbabwe's Education Ministry recommended the teaching of African Traditional Religion in recognition of its multi-religious society. This study sought to establish the extent to which African Traditional Religion is taught in primary schools, the challenges faced by teachers, and opportunities for promoting its teaching. A descriptive survey…