Deconstructing Eurocentric Frames: An African-Centered Analysis of Ghanaian Immigrant Family Literacies

• In Event: Examining the Role of Race and Culture in Schools and Communities

Abstract

This study explores how Ghanaian immigrant parents of Akan heritage, raising children aged 0–5, actively support their children’s bilingual development. Using a humanizing research approach grounded in African epistemology, I draw on Osei Tutu’s African Traditional Oral Storytelling (AOTS) as both framework and method. Centering Akan concepts such as Nkae (remembrance), Ebusua (family), and Nyansa (wisdom), I propose an analytical model inspired by the weaving logic of Kweku Ananse, the master storyteller and craftsman. Through the Anansesem Nnwine approach, this study offers a culturally rooted narrative method that honors oral tradition as a form of knowledge-making. It provides a model for researchers and invites educators and policymakers to see immigrant families as holders of heritage knowledge and cultural wealth.

Author

• Sandra Boateng, Michigan State University