Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools
Critical Approaches to Global Justice Education. Edited By Barbara O’Toole, Ebun Joseph, David Nyaluke
This book takes the format of 10 chapters that challenge educational discourse in relation to teaching about Africa in primary schools in Ireland, although it is relevant at all levels of the education system.
It provides an interrogation of the negative imagery of and messages about African people and African countries in the Global North and the impact of this on the attitudes and perceptions of children and young people. The book examines how predominantly negative stereotyping can be challenged in classrooms through an educational approach grounded in principles of solidarity, interdependence, and social justice.
“The book is an invaluable resource for educators as it offers a counter-epistemological perspective on the politics of knowledge and pedagogies in White societies about Africa, and people of African descent. It is not only of value to those who do ‘Global Justice Education’, however, it is a tool box for exploring the privileging of discourses, ways of thinking and ways of living that are contingent on violating peoples and the natural world in the name of modernisation, growth, and progress. It demonstrates how the practice of development-as-charity is contingent on the perpetuation of one’s own privileges, reinforcing the colonial matrix of power.” Kathleen Lynch, Professor and Chair of Equality Studies 2003–2018, University College Dublin
Listen in to this podcast to hear Barbara, David and Ebun discuss the book with Sean Delaney
