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Liberated Mindsets, Literate minds: Reflections on Christianity and Development in Africa
Abstract
After significant efforts to promote literacy in the 1960s and 1970s, major international donors turned their attention to formal education as the most effective strategy. But for adult literacy motivation is the most critical issue. Clinton D.W. Robinson notes that religion is one of the strongest motivations for literacy, and since the Reformation the Christian tradition has insisted that its scriptures should and must be available to everyone. In sub‐Saharan Africa, broader dimensions of the Christian worldview contrast with traditional African religio‐cultural tendencies. Both literacy and faith convey levels of liberation and empowerment that fundamentally reorder one's standing in life.
... Individuals operate differently when it comes to cognition and behavior (Crozier and Friedberg 1977). The brain functions in a way that what individuals do or how they think is often resulting from religious beliefs (Walter and Anderson 2010), cultural background, context, and what the society promotes in terms of virtues and expectations. Therefore, for a personal growth, a positive and optimistic mindset is necessary regarding what is achievable. ...
Capacity building has been considered as a cornerstone of African development for the last six decades. Therefore, the international institutions for development and the governments of Africa have provided a huge amount of financial resources for capacity building during that period of time. Unfortunately, the results of such approach of development have been disappointing to some extent. While one should acknowledge that an economic transformation has been in progress in Africa, many African countries are still struggling with poverty. Some experts of international development have been persistently pointing now the issue of mindset as a serious impediment to the success of capacity building programs in Africa and as such as a major obstacle for a sustainable development of the continent. One has to admit that the issue of mindset has not been taken into consideration in the programs of capacity building implemented in Africa for the last few decades. Yet the mindset is a key determinant in the success or failure of any human initiative. In many African countries, the issue of mindset can explain to a significant extent the weakness of institutions, the political instability, and the uncertainty of the environment. The purpose of this paper is to draw the attention of international institutions for development and policymakers on the importance of mindset in the poor performance of capacity building programs in Africa and most importantly to explore strategies of mindset transformation in order to facilitate more effective capacity building programs and a sustainable development in African countries. Therefore, in its first part, this chapter will point out some critical facts that reflect the imperative necessity of mindset transformation in Africa. In its second part, this chapter will use some theories of mindset to explain some current development issues related to mindset in Africa but also to enlighten the reflection about the mindset transformation in Africa. The third part of the chapter will propose some strategies for mindset transformation in Africa, while the fourth part will be a discussion.
Incl. bibl., bibliographical notes and references, index, abstract
Reading, Writing, and Salvation: The Impact of Christian Missionaries on Literacy
- R Venetzky
Venetzky, R. " Reading, Writing, and Salvation: The Impact of Christian Missionaries on Literacy. " In Literacy: An International Handbook, ed. Daniel Wagner, Richard Venezky, and Brian Street, 119–24. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
Languages and Scripts in Contact " ; Kapitzke Literacy and Religion " ; and Venetzky Reading, Writing, and Salvation
- See Bernard
See Bernard, " Languages and Scripts in Contact " ; Kapitzke, " Literacy and Religion " ; and Venetzky, " Reading, Writing, and Salvation. "
What We Know about the Acquisition of Adult Literacy: Is There Hope? World Bank Discussion Papers No. 245 Languages and Scripts in Contact: Historical Perspectives Literacy and Religion: The Word, the Holy Word, and the World As an Atheist The Times
- Ibid
- H Abadzi
- H R Bernard
Ibid. References Abadzi, H. " What We Know about the Acquisition of Adult Literacy: Is There Hope? " World Bank Discussion Papers No. 245. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1994. Bernard, H.R. " Languages and Scripts in Contact: Historical Perspectives. " In Literacy: An International Handbook, ed. Daniel Wagner, Richard Venezky, and Brian Street, 22–8. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999. Kapitzke, C. " Literacy and Religion: The Word, the Holy Word, and the World. " In Literacy: An International Handbook, ed. Daniel Wagner, Richard Venezky, and Brian Street, 113–18. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999. Parris, Matthew. " As an Atheist, I Truly Believe Africa needs God. " The Times, December 27, 2008.