Dear Editor,
I recently realised why certain Humanities courses, particularly philosophy, are important to the development of young scholars.
It took me six whole philosophy courses at the University of the West Indies, but finally the importance has dawned on me with great clarity.
You see, philosophy enables us to know ourselves and our brothers. It facilitates an understanding of our identity, and assists with critically charting a path ahead -- a future.
In primary and high schools, and to a lesser extent college, we learn about plantation slavery and its horrendous realities. We learn about the slave triangle, the revolts, we learn about the histories of places like Port Royal and Spanish Town, etc. But very little attention, in my estimation, is placed on teaching students how plantation slavery and its ideologies continue to subdue our African identity. Very little attention is paid to how it affects us as a people, how it affects our thinking, our learning in today's society. My recent philosophy course does this.
During plantation slavery, African identity, its culture (which is deeply embedded in the arts) was very much subdued, to the point of extinction in certain regards. The Europeans taught slaves that their methods of reason was barbaric, savage, and uncivilised. Slave-owners dehumanised their slaves' way of thinking and practices, and replaced it with that of Europe, which was seen as more rational, pristine and scientific. Fifty years after slavery, this is still the case in Jamaica.
We continue to shun our African beliefs and practices in favour of European thinking, not realising that there is a disconnect. We cannot function solely by European/Western ideology, laws, policies and beliefs, simply because we are not solely Europeans. We are a hybrid, a mixture of both African and European paradigms, we are Afro-Caribbeans. In too many aspects of our lives, the African components of our identity are negated, and in far too many instances they are left out of our problem-solving efforts. I dare say that this is at the base of our run-away crime problem, our ailing economy, and our below-par education system.
Take education, for example. Art is a vital tool of education for traditional Africans peoples. Art was important in almost every sphere of life for early Africans -- in their dressing, beliefs, family relations, etc. This importance of art in education was subdued during plantation slavery, and it continues to be subdued in classrooms today. Students are not learning because classroom lessons are too 'black and white', they are too 'textbook'. Teaching needs to be more artistic, more artsy. This is the only way teachers will be able to reach children, most of whom are of African heritage.
We need to replace the chalkboard with nature, replace the black and white texts with colourful drawings, diagrams, etc. We need to transform that overly-eloquent English teacher into an effective code-switcher, capable of delivering her lesson with equal efficiency in patois. And on the matter of patois, language is also an art. How can we question whether or not it should be accepted in academic sphere when art is by nature part of our learning process as Afro-Caribbean people? The English say victual, Afro-Caribbean people say 'bikkle'. Pronounce the former to my grandmother she would ask "why you don't talk what you mean?" It is as plain as that. If we are ever going to improve our education system, we need to start embracing our identity, and our identity lies in our art and history.
We need to start incorporating more art into our teaching methods. This is what the great Louise Bennett, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, Lois Shirley and a slew of others, including academicians like Paget Henry and Dr Lawrence Bamikole have been clamouring for. If we don't we will forever battle to improve out education system.
Promisingly, however, a few students at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) have seen the light. On April 11 they will host the annual CARIMAC/Aggrey Brown Distinguished Lecture, themed: "Media and the Arts: tools for Communication Education and Development." The lecture will begin at 6:00 pm and will be delivered by veteran journalist Barbara Gloudon.
Hopefully these youngsters, via their event, will be able to open a few more minds, especially those of the policy makers, to the importance of including more art in education.
'Artful' Jamaican
Kingston
Put more art into education
-->