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Education in a Luba Secret Society
Author(s) -
Studstill John D.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
anthropology and education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1548-1492
pISSN - 0161-7761
DOI - 10.1525/aeq.1979.10.2.05x1230h
Subject(s) - elite , sociology , power (physics) , inequality , social science , pedagogy , political science , politics , law , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Analysis of the educational role of a sodality in a nonliterate horticultural society helps point up that an overly reified paradigm of traditional education has developed among many social scientists. In the Bumbudye association of the Luba of Zaire, the formal instruction, the initiations, and a unique educational device which could be termed a book of history and symbols were studied. The specialized educational functions of the Bumbudye served to help create and maintain an educated power elite. This evidence should help correct simplistic or idealized views of education in nonindustrial cultures, point up the modern traits in traditional African cultures with respect to education, and remind educational theorists and planners of the tenacity of structures of inequality maintained by schooling. It should also remind us all of the potential for creative reform in education and in voluntary associations.