Effect of Western Education: A Postcolonial Analysis of Ghana's Educational System and Cultural Identity

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 35
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Teacher Efficacy and Politicized Curriculums in Belize, Africa, and the Caribbean

Abstract

Before the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, the people of Gold Coast (now Ghana) educated themselves. Traditional or informal education existed in Ghana with the goal of introducing young people into the society. However, when the British colonized the Gold Coast in 1874, they used schooling to impose their knowledge, language, and culture. The education system was to create new breeds of indigenous elites who aligned themselves with the world view of the colonizer. This paper examines the growth and development of European formal education on the Gold Coast and its effect on the Ghanaian educational system and cultural identity. Although Ghana is 60 years old, it’s educational system is based on Western structure, perspectives, goals, and values.

Authors

• Ransford Pinto, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Dena Lane-Bonds, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Rocky Philip Christensen, University of Missouri - Columbia