TEACHER EDUCATION Final Paper School of Humanities Minor Field Studies History Section The Colonial Era in the Gambian Secondary School History Teaching Supervisor: Magnus Persson Josefine Pedersen Examiner: Peter Aronsson Gox code: GOX 189 Term: Autumn 2007 Abstract Author: Josefine Pedersen Title: The Colonial era in the Gambian secondary school history teaching Bachelor thesis, Teacher Education, 61-90 p The aim of this thesis is to study and analyse how the manifestation of the British colonial era is presented and interpreted in Gambian secondary school history teaching. The sources used in this study are the history syllabus, history textbooks and a few teachers. The research questions are: To what extent is the colonial era projected in the history teaching, if so, why is so much emphasis focused on the colonial times? What attitudes do the people have regarding the colonial era and the British; what is positive and what is negative with the strong focus on the colonial times? The reason why I have chosen to study the colonial era and its magnitude and impact in the history teaching in the Gambia, is that this is an unexplored subject and I found it interesting to focus on this subject and put it in relation to such a small country as the Gambia. The reasons mentioned above is what it makes it interesting to study how the colonial era is viewed in the history teaching in the Gambia and how teachers handle this subject. How do they handle this period of history in a former colony? In this study I have used the qualitative method. My empirical material has been collected through history schoolbook analysis, interviews with three teachers and participated classroom observations in the history subject. My theoretical framework includes concepts like learning procedure, learning dilemmas and attitudes about colonialism, which are described and discussed. The colonial era is frequently emphasised in the history teaching in the Gambia, almost all the history teaching consist of this subject area. Furthermore, the attitude towards this era and the British colonisers varies among interviewed teachers. One conclusion is that it is important to convey both a positive and a negative view about this matter. Keywords: Colonialism, the Gambia, history teaching, senior secondary school ii Table of contents 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................1 1.1 Aim, scope and research questions .................................................................................. 2 1.1.1 Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1.2 Disposition ............................................................................................................................................ 4 2 Frame of references..........................................................................................5 2.1 The process of learning .................................................................................................... 5 2.2 The transformation of the school system in the Gambia................................................. 8 2.3 Perspectives on colonialism........................................................................................... 14 3 Material and method......................................................................................19 3.1 Methodological approach .............................................................................................. 19 4 Empirical results.............................................................................................22 4.1 School book investigations............................................................................................. 22 4.1.1 History of the Gambia made simple ................................................................................................... 23 4.1.2 Africa at a Glance ............................................................................................................................... 28 4.2 Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 33 4.2.1 The teaching situation ........................................................................................................................ 34 4.2.2 Perspectives of the British .................................................................................................................. 35 4.3 Classroom observations ................................................................................................. 39 4.3.1 Daddy Jobe Comprehensive School ................................................................................................... 39 4.3.2 Kotu Senior Secondary School ........................................................................................................... 44 5. Analysis...........................................................................................................46 6. Final words.....................................................................................................49 References ..........................................................................................................51 Literature.............................................................................................................................. 51 Sources ................................................................................................................................. 51 Websites ...................................................................................................................................................... 52 Personal Archival................................................................................................................. 52 Interviews .................................................................................................................................................... 52 Discussions.................................................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix A, Interview guide ................................................................................................ 53 iii 1 Introduction In this chapter, I introduce the reader to the colonial era with its impacts. The chapter begins with a small background which will lead the reader to the research questions and then the purpose of the entire thesis. It is the combination of Government and People, working together in union and harmony, that will lead us to achieve the progress that we all desire. We must stand together as one people with one goal and move forward as one nation. For if we insist on pursuing our personal goals without keeping our collective objectives and responsibilities in mind then indeed we shall be divided and divided we shall fall. (National Pledge in the Gambia) The Gambians are proud of their country, they are united and they fight together, exactly as the quotation says above “We must stand together as one people with one goal…” This national pledge was written down in one of my Gambian sister’s schoolbooks. 1 This phrase is repeated in chorus every morning in school. For me as an outsider, cultural differences are clearly noticeable in the Gambian schools I visited. A common phrase is: “In Europe we have watches, in Africa we have time”. Usually, the teachers do not arrive on time to their classes. Another reflection is that the teachers and other citizens are very eager to give a positive impression of their country and the Gambian people. This struggle for one unit as one people is probably a remnant from the colonial era when the Gambians belonged to the British Empire. The Gambians want to be liked and they want visitors to like their country. Certainly, the colonial era is a period of history which has left legacies in the world of today. For instance, the English language is spread all over the world. The official language in the Gambia is English. Nevertheless, seven different tribal languages are still used in the country. All the teaching is, however, in English. “Speak English always”, a sign in one of the classrooms said. The Berlin West African Conference, 1884-1885, is a significant part of colonialism. Hence, Africa was divided and colonialism was formalised. Each part of Africa has a beginning and an end of colonialism, with a distinction between the different parts of 1 Everyone living in your compound in the Gambia, is a member of your family 1 Africa. 2 In Sweden, colonialism is a modestly explored subject area. According to self- obtained experiences during my own school period, this period in history is not given a large amount of time in the Swedish teaching of history. In relation to the above, it would be interesting to explore this historical event and put it into my major subject field, the school system. The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a small country located on Africa’s west coast. A total of 1.6 million people live in the country. Between the years of 1888 and 1965, the Gambia belonged to the British Empire, and on 18 February 1965, the Gambia became independent. This historical event may have left legacies in the Gambia, as well as in all other colonised countries, such as a different social order, a different language, and most importantly for my focus, a different school system.