Traditional values and local community in formal educational system in Senegal: A year as a high school teacher in Thies

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Inequality and Education

Proposal

University of Massachusetts, UMass, Amherst
Faculty advisor: Bjorn Nortdveit
Introduction
I conducted research traditional values in a community and its middle/high school in the region of Thies, western Senegal, where I was posted as a teacher next academic year 2017/2018. My deep familiarity with the region, as well as my work there, inform my choice of Thies. I have lived and taught there for many years. All these factors helped facilitate my research, which will draw on critical ethnographic and auto-ethnographic.
In particular, I interacted with teachers, students, parents, community elders, school administration, and educational authorities Thies. I utilized qualitative methods to collect data through the keeping of a field journal, conduct interviews, organize focus groups, as well as use participant observation, and collect relevant images and documents.
The main aim of the proposed study is to explore and describe the discourses related to traditional values and local practices within the selected community and the school environment. These discourses will also likely illustrate power dynamic, controversies, the difference in perceptions, and implications regarding these socio-cultural concepts. The study investigated the ways in which cultural elements are present in the daily life of the community and integrated into formal schools as well as the implications of integrating traditional values along with the members of local communities in formal teaching. In particular, I studied the concepts of Jom (hardwork, pride, dignity), Kersa (decency), Fule (self-respect), Mun (endurance), Teranga (hospitality), Kal (kinship), Suture (Protection), and Teranga (Hospitality). My own experience as a language teacher who has lived and studied in the United States will be used to complement this study, using a critical auto-ethnography lens.

Statement of the problem
In Senegal, the curriculum, textbooks, and educational practices are inherited from the colonial system, which systematically excludes most local knowledge, experience, communities, and practices within the formal school premises.
I believe that modern education, imported from the global West, if appropriately associated with some aspects of Senegalese traditional values and supported by stronger local community participation in different school activities can help provide a more relevant and efficient training for young Senegalese and Africans. This proposed study is relevant because few scholars have looked at the positive impacts of traditional cultural values on education in Senegal.

Research questions
My research questions will be:
• What is the community discourse of traditional values and how is it translated into formal school?
• What can be the implications and challenges of integrating local traditional values and local communities in formal teaching?
• In what ways has my educational experience both in Senegal and in the US influenced my position regarding traditional values and the local community in formal school?
These questions guided the exploration and description of the discourses related to traditional values and local practices in the selected community and the school.

Methodology
The proposed study followed a qualitative design drawing from critical ethnography and auto-ethnography methods. As I taught and resided in the community, I used critical autoethnography methods to frame my account of the story as a participant observer who actively integrated local traditional values and practices along with the local community members in formal schools in Senegal. I collected qualitative data through observations and information gathered in the selected community and at the middle/high school.

Research methods
In addition to the classes I taught, I observed five teachers in their classes all semester long. I interviewed these five teachers, the one headmaster, two supervisors, 10 parents or caregivers (five men and five women) of students, four (two men and two women) community leaders, one political authority and two educational authorities. Additionally, I collected data through two focus groups of five students each. I visited these students’ families, interviewed their parents, and collect data through observation of their houses and their daily activities. Finally, I critically reflect on my past current experiences as a student and teacher both in Senegal and in the U.S. to assess the relevance, implications, and challenges of integrating traditional values in the formal teaching practices, while in the field. I first collected information and suggestions regarding traditional local values in formal teachings. Then, I integrated some local traditional values in my teaching before I critically reflect on the issue.
To answer the questions raised in this proposed study, I will analyze the data collected mostly through the lenses of discourse analysis including discourse theory and critical discourse analysis and translation theory. I am currently transcribing, translating, and coding the data I collected.

Author

• Maguette Diame, University of Massachusetts, UMass, Amherst