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| Title: | Edward W. Blyden and the West African University: race, mission, and education |
| Author: | Hanciles, Jehu J. |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Periodical: | Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research (ISSN 1013-3445) |
| Volume: | 10 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Period: | November |
| Pages: | 235-249 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic terms: | West Africa Africa |
| Subjects: | educational history universities biographies (form) education educational systems race relations Missionaries nationalism Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912 biography |
| About person: | Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) |
| Abstract: | Throughout the 19th century, and well into the 20th, education at all levels in sub-Saharan Africa was controlled by European missionaries and was essentially a tool of Christian expansion. As early as the 19th century, incipient African nationalism inspired opposition to what was perceived as the inimical effects of an educational structure imbued with Western European ethnocentrism. Foremost among the champions of a system of education adapted to the needs of Africa and geared towards building African 'selfhood' was Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912), a West Indian of direct African descent, who migrated to Liberia in 1850. Blyden was an ardent champion of black nationalism and became one of the fathers of pan-Africanism. His vision of a West African University never attained fruition, but in Fourah Bay College (Freetown, Sierra Leone), some aspects of his dream were incubated. This article reviews and evaluates Blyden's thinking on education in the African continent, notably West Africa, and the lasting impact of his ideas. Bibliogr., notes. |