ABSTRACT
One of the main purposes of education is enculturation, the socialisation of individuals into the norms, characteristics and ways of a cultural group. African traditional education has an inbuilt practice of folklore, age-based rites and the celebration of festivals as methods of educating the young in the culture of their people. The young learn the ways of their people through participation in the activities that characterise the people. With time, external cultural forces have gradually and steadily affected this traditional method of passing on the elements of culture to the young. Modern (Western) education that is widely practised in Africa has almost eroded traces of indigenous procedures and principles that characterise teaching and learning. This article focusses on the significance of incorporating indigenous songs into the elementary school system as the vehicle for transmitting cultural values to the young generation. This is to be achieved through oral history, epic poems, African belief systems and philosophy, with emphasis on Nigeria’s communities’ worldview. This move allows for children to be instructed, entertained and enlightened about the peculiar attributes of African cultures, a move that will preserve the culture while also contributing to world cultures on a global platform.
