Of gateways and gatekeepers: Language, education and mobility in francophone Africa

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Abstract

Over the past 15 years, a range of alternative education programs have been launched in Burkina Faso. The programs have been developed primarily by international or national NGOs, within a supportive policy space provided by the national government. They aim to respond to the widely recognized inadequacy of the French-language écoles classiques to provide a meaningful primary education experience for most Burkinabè children.

One of the values which these programs all espouse is support for the lived realities of Burkinabè communities, particularly the communities that are least well served by the traditional school system. This value is reflected in, among other things, the use of the learner's mother tongue as a gateway to effective learning. However the influence of the French-dominated educational system is evident in the curriculum choices made in these programs; clearly, success in that system is a crucial step in navigating one's way past the social and economic gatekeepers of success in Burkina Faso. Thus language is seen as both gateway and gatekeeper, depending on its role in facilitating academic success or inhibiting social mobility.

This paradoxical allegiance to both local realities and the colonially established education system has led to the development of bilingual education models which are at variance with the models promoted by theorists in the North. This paper examines several of these programs in the context of larger issues of mobility, literacy, language and culture in francophone Africa.

Highlights

► The paper examines seven mother-tongue educational alternative programs in Burkina Faso. ► The goals of these programs have largely to do with success in the French-language education system. ► The use of the mother tongue in achieving those goals is seen as a means or “gateway”. ► The strong orientation towards French-system success is limiting the effectiveness of the programs.

Section snippets

Education as a gateway

Current beliefs in Africa about the benefits of education are directly related to the historical purposes of formal schooling, as well as to the formation of the educated elite as a sociopolitical class (Trudell, 2010). Established in the 19th and 20th centuries by European colonial authorities, formal education was intended to build a class of local African citizens who would carry out the colonial government's agenda – using the colonial language – and provide a measure of leadership within

Language of instruction: gateway or gatekeeper

Of all the various components of the classroom environment, language of instruction is arguably the most fundamental for learning. Studies abound showing the effects of language choice on learner performance, demonstrating that the most effective learning takes place in a language the learner understands (UNESCO, 2008, Alidou et al., 2006). For observers of African classrooms, the research only confirms what is easily visible. Diarra (2003, pp. 340–431), one such observer, notes that

No in-depth

Educational alternatives in Burkina Faso

The West African nation of Burkina Faso has a population of approximately 15 million people; 42% of them are under the age of 15, and 80% of them are located in rural areas.3 Data describing primary schooling in the country are found given in Table 1.

The alternative educational programs offered in Burkina Faso are meant to provide an alternative to

The programs studied

The seven programs, which were the focus of this study are listed and compared in Table 2. Data were gathered by two researchers, by means of interview, direct observation and document analysis, over a period of four weeks in early 2009.

In distinguishing between “formal” and “nonformal” programs above, formal programs are characterized by the participants in this study as being part of the government school system; their curriculum and governance systems are the same as the French-medium écoles

Language of instruction: a gateway to success?

As mentioned above, the use of the learners’ mother tongue is the primary feature that distinguishes these programs from the école classique curriculum. However using the mother tongue is seen as a means, not an end in itself. Using the child's language is seen to facilitate academic success, and that is why it is included in the curricula. The relatively rapid transition to French as the medium of instruction (after four months of mother tongue instruction in the centres á passerelle, and

More relevant knowledge, or formal schooling?

The curricula used in the five nonformal programs studied reflect the belief that education should, and can, be profoundly relevant and responsive to local community ways and concerns. These programs operate on the assumption that the knowledge gained in school should be the knowledge that the community uses and values on a daily basis – and should be conveyed in the language that is daily used by that community. The school should thus be a gateway to more productive, successful engagement with

Widening the gateway

This study suggests that the strategy used by these education alternative programs in Burkina Faso, using the mother tongue as medium of instruction in a child's initial school experience, results in better achievement in the formal education system than does the exclusive use of French in the primary classroom. Children who participate in these alternative programs learn enough to be placed into the école classique more successfully, at higher grade levels, than would be expected from the

A gateway to where?

A more disturbing question also presents itself, growing out of the assumption that broadening the gateway to the classical school system is a good idea. There seems to be agreement that the French-language, formal education system in Burkina Faso is “ill-suited to the economic, social and cultural reality of the country” (ADEA, 2003, p. 12). Yet if the current standard curriculum used in Burkina Faso is so inadequate, why is the Burkinabè population working so hard to succeed in it?

Clearly,

Conclusion

These complex questions of curriculum and power certainly need to be addressed, but any in-depth examination remains outside the scope of this particular study. What does seem clear is that the use of Burkinabè languages of instruction is good for the learners. These languages truly serve as a gateway to learning, whether in the classical curriculum or in a more community-responsive curriculum. This gateway to learning is, however, being narrowed by the relatively limited use of the mother

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