Modern Africa
I decided to teach about modern Africa as an alternative historical narrative through a literature-based unit on Central and East African cultural roots and modern voices. At Bookman High School, African history, particularly Central and East African history, is largely ignored in the World History curriculum. Like most high schools across the country, World History at Bookman, is very Euro-centric. My classroom mentor reported that she does not teach African history because the African-American History teacher begins her course with the West African origins of the slave trade. Even the 1100-page World History textbook hardly addresses Central and East African history. Not only does the Euro-centricity of high school World History defy the title of the course, it sends students the message that other histories do not matter – and neither do their people, institutions, cultures, struggles, and triumphs. This message is damaging for all students because it hinders their ability to grow into informed, just, and civically engaged citizens of the world. In my racially and ethnically diverse classroom, it is especially important to combat this message so students can to learn to appreciate and celebrate their own and each other’s histories and cultures.
African current events and contemporary literature are featured prominently in this unit, in part because of my students’ reported interest in modern Africa according to a survey I gave preceding the unit, and in part because of the significance of storytelling narratives to Africa’s cultural roots. Moreover, the storytelling pedagogical approach to social studies teaching has well-established support in the field of educational research. In their 1990 publication, “Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry,” F. Michael Connolly and D. Jean Clandinin first and foremost frame human beings as natural storytellers and natural story-listeners. Fundamentally, they claim that the art of history consists of the construction and reconstruction of stories, to fit contemporary understandings and sensibilities. Connolly and Clandinin therefore propose, “the study of narrative…is the study of ways humans experience the world” (Connolly & Clandinin, 1990, p.2). Through their reading and analysis of contemporary literature in this Africa unit, students tapped into their natural story-listening abilities and experienced glimpses of the modern African world through literary works.
On this page you will find class materials, student work, and analyses related to my experiments in a literary narrative approach to teaching about modern Africa. You will also find lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and class materials belonging to my spring unit plan. Use the following links or the menu bar to navigate the Modern Africa page:
Interest Survey (part of inquiry)
The Efe People (spring unit plan - not part of inquiry)
Contemporary Congolese Literature (spring unit plan - part of inquiry)
From Aksum to Ethiopia (spring unit plan - not part of inquiry)
Sudan (spring unit plan - part of inquiry)
Contemporary Sudanese Literature (spring unit plan - part of inquiry)
Central and Eastern Africa Writing Exercise (spring unit plan - not part of inquiry)
African current events and contemporary literature are featured prominently in this unit, in part because of my students’ reported interest in modern Africa according to a survey I gave preceding the unit, and in part because of the significance of storytelling narratives to Africa’s cultural roots. Moreover, the storytelling pedagogical approach to social studies teaching has well-established support in the field of educational research. In their 1990 publication, “Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry,” F. Michael Connolly and D. Jean Clandinin first and foremost frame human beings as natural storytellers and natural story-listeners. Fundamentally, they claim that the art of history consists of the construction and reconstruction of stories, to fit contemporary understandings and sensibilities. Connolly and Clandinin therefore propose, “the study of narrative…is the study of ways humans experience the world” (Connolly & Clandinin, 1990, p.2). Through their reading and analysis of contemporary literature in this Africa unit, students tapped into their natural story-listening abilities and experienced glimpses of the modern African world through literary works.
On this page you will find class materials, student work, and analyses related to my experiments in a literary narrative approach to teaching about modern Africa. You will also find lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and class materials belonging to my spring unit plan. Use the following links or the menu bar to navigate the Modern Africa page:
Interest Survey (part of inquiry)
The Efe People (spring unit plan - not part of inquiry)
Contemporary Congolese Literature (spring unit plan - part of inquiry)
From Aksum to Ethiopia (spring unit plan - not part of inquiry)
Sudan (spring unit plan - part of inquiry)
Contemporary Sudanese Literature (spring unit plan - part of inquiry)
Central and Eastern Africa Writing Exercise (spring unit plan - not part of inquiry)