NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED491307
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Apr
Pages: 110
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: ISBN-0-7391-1050-0
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Disciplined Development: Teachers and Reform in Ghana
Dull, Laura J.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Drawing on Foucault's analysis of disciplinary power and Gramsci's theories on hegemony, Laura Dull argues in this insightful volume that Ghanian teachers' diverse roles--as moral disciplinarians, ambivalent partners with global donors and lenders, romantic racialists of Africans--illustrate the ways in which educators deploy history and nationalism as strategies of power in support of, but also in opposition to, dominant systems. On the one hand, by enforcing strict morality, "modern" attitudes and hard work in schools, teachers appear to consent to the hegemonic terms for development that their leaders have adopted: neo-liberal economics and liberal democracy, Christian morals and work ethics, and scientific rationalism. In the discourse of the World Bank and United States Agency for International Development, teachers become their "partners" when they teach children to avoid acts of national "indiscipline," as Ghanians would say, such as ethnic prejudice or corruption. On the other hand, however, teachers warn children to be skeptical of immoral and deceptive "white men" who underdeveloped Africa and continue to undermine Ghana's autonomy. Discipline therefore becomes necessary and important because it provides the means by which the country will finally achieve decolonialization and independence. This book contains the following sections: (1) Nihil sine Labore; (2) Moonlight Orgies and Other Forms of Sensuous Excesses; (3) A Heavily Indebted Poor Country; and (4) Friendly Africans, Deceptive White Men.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706. Tel: 301-459-3366; Fax: 301-429-5748.
Publication Type: Books; Opinion Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Africa; Ghana; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A