
Disciplined Development
Teachers and Reform in Ghana
Laura J. Dull(Author)
Lexington Books (Publisher)
Published on 11. May 2006
Book
Hardback
118 pages
978-0-7391-1050-8 (ISBN)
Description
Drawing on Foucault's analysis of disciplinary power and Gramsci's theories on hegemony, Laura J. 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 de-colonialization and independence.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 165 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
304 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7391-1050-8 (9780739110508)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Laura J. Dull is assistant professor and coordinator of the Social Studies Program in the department of Secondary Education at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
Content
1 Nihil sine Labore 2 Moonlight Orgies and Other Forms of Sensuous Excesses 3 A Heavily Indebted Poor Country 4 Friendly Africans, Deceptive White Men