Non-formal education as a tool for social change in the Nadowli district of Ghana: options of an endogenous model
Abstract
Non-formal education (NFE) became one of the strategic windows for developing human resources for social participation and better livelihood. However, after many years of implementation through varied NFE programmes, the challenges for which they were initiated have largely remained. The main question is: What has been the conceptual and programming disjuncture in the formulation of NFE as a community empowerment tool in Ghana? The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the NFE philosophy and the worldview of Nadowli Dagaaba of Ghana. The study used qualitative design based on both secondary and primary data. The study revealed that, despite the high aspirations of NFE, it has been plagued by numerous challenges regarding its efficacy in bringing about social and cultural change. The values and principles of the NFE and the worldview of the people of Nadowli District have both consistencies and contradictions. The study concludes that the NFE process could be relevant if the training programmes were harmonious with the participants ' everyday life that is, in accordance with their goals, culture and values. An endogenous social change model was, thus, recommended as suitable for NFE programmes in Ghana and, for that matter, Nadowli District.References
Adams, B. N., Sydie, R. A., & Sydie, R. A. (2002). Classical sociological theory.
London: Sage Publications.
Agyeman, D. K. (1986). Sociology of education for African students. Accra: Black
Mask Limited.
Aryeetey, E., & Kwakye, E. (2005).National Functional Literacy Programme (NFLP
II) in Ghana. Policy case study: Functional literacy. Paper presented at
the conference on addressing inequalities: Policies for inclusive
development (Addis Ababa, 11-12 July).
Antwi, M. K. (1992). Education, society, and development in Ghana. Ghana:Unimax Macmillan.
Bils, M., & Klenow, P. (2000). Does schooling cause growth? American Economic
Review; Vol. 90, pp. 1160-1183.
Boas, F. 1974. .A Franz Boas reader: The shaping of American anthropology, 1883-
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Boozaaijer C.&Apusigah. A. A. (2008). Reasons for supporting endogenous
development in Africa: Towards a systematisation of experiences (pp.8-22).
University for Development Studies: Compas.
Busia, K. A. (1964). Purposeful education for Africa (Vol. 4). London: Mouton.
Creswell, J. W. 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches.USA: Sage.
Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and class conflict in industrial society. Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
Denzin, N. K. &Lincoln, Y.S. (2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research. London:
Sage Publication, Inc.
Dewey, J. (2012). The public and its problems: An essay in political inquiry.
Pennsylvania: Penn State Press.
Dewey, J. (1997). How we think. Mineola, New York: Courier Dover Publications.
Durkheim, E. (1984). The division of labour in society. New York: Simon and
Schuster.
Freire, P. (1997). Mentoring the mentor: a critical dialogue with Paulo Freire. New
York: P. Lang.
Freire, P. (1985). The politics of education: Culture, power, and liberation. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Gimmler, A. (2010). The discourse ethics of Jürgen Habermas (Carnegie Mellon
University, Habermas, J. (1999).Bestiality and humanity: a war on the
border between legality and morality. Constellations; Vol. 6(3), pp.
-272.
Hagan, G. P. (1993). Nkrumah ' s cultural policy.In:Kwame Arhin (ed.), The Life and
Work of Kwame Nkrumah(pp. 3-26). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Hayward, C., Simpson, L., &Wood, L. (2004). Still left out in the cold:
problematizing participatory research and development. Sociologia
Ruralis;Vol. 44 (1), pp. 95-108.
Hoppers, W. (2000). Non-formal education, distance education and the restructuring
of schooling: Challenges for a new basic education policy. International
Review of Education; Vol. 46 (1-2), pp. 5-30.
Kuenzi, M. (2006). Non-formal education and community development in
Senegal. Community Development Journal; Vol. 41(2), pp.
-222.
Lerro, A., & Schiuma, G. (2011). Editorial: Knowledge-based dynamics for local
development-a position paper. International Journal of KnowledgeBased
Development; Vol. 2 (1), pp. 1-15.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1975). Collected works; Vol. 10, Marx and Engels: 1849-
Lawrence & Wishart
Marx, K. (1932).Manifesto of the Communist Party. New York: International
Publisher.
Merton, R. (1957). On sociological theories of the middle range. New York: Simon
and Schuster.
Millar, D. (1999). Traditional African Worldviews from a Cosmovision Perspective.
In: Haverkort,B. and Hiemstra, W., Eds., Food for Thought: Ancient Visions
and New Experiments of Rural People, Zed Books, London.
Millar, D. (2004). Interfacing two knowledge systems: Local knowledge and science
in Africa [online].Paper for the Compas Panel in the Conference:
Bridging Scales and Epistemologies: Linking Local Knowledge with
Global Science in Multi-Scale Assessments. Alexandria. Retrieved on
/04/13 Available:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu.proxy2.lib.uwo.ca/viewdoc/download?do
i=10.1.1.119.21and re p=rep1andtype=pdf.
Mitzen, J. (2005). Reading Habermas in anarchy: Multilateral diplomacy and global
public spheres. American Political Science Review; Vol. 99. 3, pp. 401-
Ntseane, G. (2007). African indigenous knowledge: The case of Botswana.In: S. B.
Merriam and Y.S. Kim. (eds.), Non-Western perspectives on
learning and knowing (pp. 113-136). Malabar: Krieger.
O ' Connor, H. and Gibson, N. (2003). A step-by-step guide to qualitative data
analysis. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Indigenous and Aboriginal Community
Health; Vol. 1 (1), pp. 63-90.
Parsons, T. (1973). A functional theory of change.In: E. Etzioni-Halevy (ed.), Social
change. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Preece, J. (2006). Widening participation for social justice: Poverty and access to
education. Widening Access to Education as Social Justice, pp.113-
Ritzer, G. (2007). Contemporary sociological theory and its classical roots: The
basics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rogers, A. (2005). Non-formal education: Flexible schooling or participatory
education? (Vol.15). New York: Springer.
Jung, H. S. and Thorbecke, E. (2003).The impact of public education expenditure on
human capital, growth, and poverty in Tanzania and Zambia: a general
equilibrium approach. Journal of Policy Modeling; Vol. 25 (8), pp. 701-
Shank, P. (2002).Learning anew: An exploratory study about new online learners'
perceptions of People interaction and learning to learn in an online course.
In P. Barker and S. Rebelsky (Eds.). Proceedings of educational multimedia,
hypermedia and telecommunications (edmedia) (pp. 2167-
.Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing
in Education (AACE).
Shucksmith, M. (2000). Endogenous development, social capital and social
inclusion: perspectives from LEADER in the UK. Sociologia Ruralis;Vol.
(2), pp. 208-
Stoecker, R. (2003). Understanding the development €organizing dialectic.Journal of
Urban Affairs; Vol. 25 (4), pp. 493-512.
Spohr, C. A. (2002). Supporting rural education for poverty reduction: Issues and
approaches. In Birch, I. et al (Eds). Education for Rural
Development in Asia: Experiences and policy lessons (pp. 76-101).
FAO/UNESCO Seminar, Bangkok, UNESCO IIEP, Paris.
Tonnies, F. (1957).Community and society: Geminschaft and Gesellschaft. (Charles
P. Loomis, Ed.). New York: Harper and Row.
