Education in Pre-colonial Traditional Somalia
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Education in Pre-colonial Traditional Somalia
As elsewhere in most of Africa, pre-colonial traditional Somalia was not familiar with ‘modern’ national systems of learning. This was for the most part due to the prevalent socio-political and economic arrangements that were in place. The Somali nation, as it is known today, is essentially a 20th century phenomenon, and pre-dating it were a group of several major clan families residing in the area that is now called Somalia. Peculiar to this notion, though, is the possibility that Somalis may have always partially fulfilled the general academic definition of nation. In this sense, a nation is a ‘social group that shares a common ideology, common institutions and customs, and a sense of homogeneity’ (Connor, 1994, p. 92).
In a setting like this, one may expect the existence of a similar, if not systematic, regime of education that is formulated and implemented, albeit informally, across tribal lines. But that has not been the case as arrangements in this regard were limited to a specific clan in a given area. This last point may make more sense when we include the definition of nation as also involving ‘a feeling of oneness, of sameness, of belonging, or of consciousness of kind’ (Connor, 1994, p. 93). With the incorporation of this last point into the core characteristics of nationhood, it may be difficult to rely upon the general homogeneity of the Somalis as a particular asset that would have protected them from the debilitating ethnic/tribal conflict that is currently ravaging many parts of Africa’s post-bipolar political landscape.
Despite the resemblance of their physical appearance, shared cultural beliefs and norms, common language, and sometimes the claim of common ancestry (Lewis, 1967; Cassanelli, 1982; Laitin & Samatar, 1987; Samatar, 1991b), the important psychological bonding among the several major clans may not have been there. The first informal systems of learning in traditional Somalia may be likened then to what Keto (1990), discussing the South African situation, describes as the training of the young by the elderly in history, manners, methods of exploiting the environment, responsibilities and military and fighting skills. Again this should have been clan specific, but because of cultural and language homogeneity, the general characteristics may have been the same. Later, non-sedentary nomadic schools were introduced with religious men teaching children how to read, write and memorize the Koran, the Muslim Holy Book. According to Lewis (1967), the pupils in that setting were learning by rote from wooden tablets, enabling some to acquire some familiarity with the Arabic language.
In terms of how traditional Somalia designed and dispensed education was conducive to the relative socio-economic and political ‘development’ of its recipients, one should realize that these systems were positively impacting on the life chances of those who were receiving them and graduating from them. That does not necessarily mean that the systems were perfect. What this should indicate, though, is that since these were not imposed from outside, their formulation and implementation were both responding to needs identified locally, and through time and experience, recognized as responsive and responsible to those needs. In the larger African context, Rodney (1974) refers to these advantages:
The following features of indigenous African education can be considered outstanding: its close links with social life, both in a material and spiritual sense; its collective nature; its many-sidedness, and its progressive development in conformity with the successive stages of physical, emotional and mental development of the child. There was no separation of the education and the productive activity. Altogether, through mainly informal means, pre-colonial African education matched the realities of pre-colonial African society and produced well-rounded personalities to fit into that society. (p. 239)
In terms of the qualitative or quantitative differences in the provision of traditional and Islamic education, we could say that it was essentially of male-oriented dispensation. Later, girls were also admitted to these Koranic schools (Lewis, 1967). The preferential treatment for boys was basically continuing the gender-biased decision-making process where only adult men had a say in community affairs (Touval, 1963). Moreover, as the sheikhs (religious scholars) were self-employed in this manner and were living on fees (in the form of ration, sheep, cattle, camels, etc.) collected from the pupils, the economic situation of subsistent pastoralists may not have allowed them to send all sons and all daughters to these schools. Obviously then, the sons would have had the educational priority in the patriarchal Somali society.
The dominant gender-biased socio-political arrangements had apparently led to the creation of, albeit selectively, ‘democratic norms and the rejection of all claims to domination which may have been conducive to a tradition of anarchy, not in its current connotations of disorder and lawlessness, but in lacking any institutionalized roles’ (Laitin & Samatar, 1987, p. 43). Lewis, in his seminal work, A Pastoral Democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the northern Somali of the Horn of Africa (1967), looks at this issue:
In settling social, political and economic matters, all adult men are classified as elders with the right to speak at the councils. As a trait of [the larger] human organization, though, the political equality of all men does not guarantee a level playing field for opinions: status may have depended on wealth, inherited prestige, skills in public oratory and poetry, political acumen, age wisdom and religious knowledge. (p. 196)
Traditional systems of education, especially when the religious element is de-emphasized, were based on value systems that were communal. In that sense, they were designed and implemented for the limited and temporally relevant forms of social administration and other matters of communal arrangements. Moreover, these systems of learning were symmetrical with the development needs and the relational patterns of a society that was socio-economically advancing at a pace that was resourcefully and ecologically congruent with its needs and expectations. At a more critical level of analysis, one may even extrapolate the implications of Freire’s (1991) Conscientization to that situation. In Freire’s terms, when people see themselves in their education, they question their surroundings, analytically view the world, and acquire the potential to develop.
In a setting like this, one may expect the existence of a similar, if not systematic, regime of education that is formulated and implemented, albeit informally, across tribal lines. But that has not been the case as arrangements in this regard were limited to a specific clan in a given area. This last point may make more sense when we include the definition of nation as also involving ‘a feeling of oneness, of sameness, of belonging, or of consciousness of kind’ (Connor, 1994, p. 93). With the incorporation of this last point into the core characteristics of nationhood, it may be difficult to rely upon the general homogeneity of the Somalis as a particular asset that would have protected them from the debilitating ethnic/tribal conflict that is currently ravaging many parts of Africa’s post-bipolar political landscape.
Despite the resemblance of their physical appearance, shared cultural beliefs and norms, common language, and sometimes the claim of common ancestry (Lewis, 1967; Cassanelli, 1982; Laitin & Samatar, 1987; Samatar, 1991b), the important psychological bonding among the several major clans may not have been there. The first informal systems of learning in traditional Somalia may be likened then to what Keto (1990), discussing the South African situation, describes as the training of the young by the elderly in history, manners, methods of exploiting the environment, responsibilities and military and fighting skills. Again this should have been clan specific, but because of cultural and language homogeneity, the general characteristics may have been the same. Later, non-sedentary nomadic schools were introduced with religious men teaching children how to read, write and memorize the Koran, the Muslim Holy Book. According to Lewis (1967), the pupils in that setting were learning by rote from wooden tablets, enabling some to acquire some familiarity with the Arabic language.
In terms of how traditional Somalia designed and dispensed education was conducive to the relative socio-economic and political ‘development’ of its recipients, one should realize that these systems were positively impacting on the life chances of those who were receiving them and graduating from them. That does not necessarily mean that the systems were perfect. What this should indicate, though, is that since these were not imposed from outside, their formulation and implementation were both responding to needs identified locally, and through time and experience, recognized as responsive and responsible to those needs. In the larger African context, Rodney (1974) refers to these advantages:
The following features of indigenous African education can be considered outstanding: its close links with social life, both in a material and spiritual sense; its collective nature; its many-sidedness, and its progressive development in conformity with the successive stages of physical, emotional and mental development of the child. There was no separation of the education and the productive activity. Altogether, through mainly informal means, pre-colonial African education matched the realities of pre-colonial African society and produced well-rounded personalities to fit into that society. (p. 239)
In terms of the qualitative or quantitative differences in the provision of traditional and Islamic education, we could say that it was essentially of male-oriented dispensation. Later, girls were also admitted to these Koranic schools (Lewis, 1967). The preferential treatment for boys was basically continuing the gender-biased decision-making process where only adult men had a say in community affairs (Touval, 1963). Moreover, as the sheikhs (religious scholars) were self-employed in this manner and were living on fees (in the form of ration, sheep, cattle, camels, etc.) collected from the pupils, the economic situation of subsistent pastoralists may not have allowed them to send all sons and all daughters to these schools. Obviously then, the sons would have had the educational priority in the patriarchal Somali society.
The dominant gender-biased socio-political arrangements had apparently led to the creation of, albeit selectively, ‘democratic norms and the rejection of all claims to domination which may have been conducive to a tradition of anarchy, not in its current connotations of disorder and lawlessness, but in lacking any institutionalized roles’ (Laitin & Samatar, 1987, p. 43). Lewis, in his seminal work, A Pastoral Democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the northern Somali of the Horn of Africa (1967), looks at this issue:
In settling social, political and economic matters, all adult men are classified as elders with the right to speak at the councils. As a trait of [the larger] human organization, though, the political equality of all men does not guarantee a level playing field for opinions: status may have depended on wealth, inherited prestige, skills in public oratory and poetry, political acumen, age wisdom and religious knowledge. (p. 196)
Traditional systems of education, especially when the religious element is de-emphasized, were based on value systems that were communal. In that sense, they were designed and implemented for the limited and temporally relevant forms of social administration and other matters of communal arrangements. Moreover, these systems of learning were symmetrical with the development needs and the relational patterns of a society that was socio-economically advancing at a pace that was resourcefully and ecologically congruent with its needs and expectations. At a more critical level of analysis, one may even extrapolate the implications of Freire’s (1991) Conscientization to that situation. In Freire’s terms, when people see themselves in their education, they question their surroundings, analytically view the world, and acquire the potential to develop.