Education in Africa: Traditional, Islamic, & "Western" Education

By Nazma M. Ali and Yuusuf Caruso

Traditional African & Islamic Education

  • African Traditional Education. (2018)
    • In this Nigerian newspaper article, the author describes the history of African indigenous, Islamic and Christian education in Nigeria from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries CE. But indigenous education persists even today, showing no sign of disappearance from the scene of education.

  • The Child and His Environment in Black Africa: An Essay on Traditional Education. (1981)
    • An English translation and adaptation of French anthropologist Pierre Emy's "L'enfant et son milieu en Afrique noire" (1972) by G.J. Wanjohi.


  • Education in Traditional Africa: Aspects of African Culture. (2006)
    • To understand the history of education in Africa, adequate knowledge of the traditional or indigenous educational systems which existed before and in coexistence with Islam and Christianity is needed.


  • Gathering Under the Mango Tree: Values in Traditional Culture in Africa. (1996)
    • Zimbabwean education historian and philosopher Dickson A. Mungazi discusses how values have shaped the character of society and influenced the lives of Africans. The study addresses the topics of family structure, medicine, religion, government, jurisprudence, art forms, and socio-economic systems. The book also raises the issue of how Africans are caught between past and present values and concludes that Africa is at a cultural crossroad.

"Western" Education in Africa