Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book emphasises an important gap in the literature of development education: the study of values and of associated attitudes. It performs a service in unravelling some of the most significant themes in this conflict. The book also shows that great caution is necessary in attributing differing values to opponents. It examines some of the assumptions that arise from the comparative study of literature in Africa today. The book discusses whether Islamic education can be considered as sufficiently established over a long time in Africa as to be regarded as traditional. Finally, traditional education usually sees the teacher as ‘giving’ and the pupil as ‘receiving’ (although perhaps an exception to this ought to be made in the case of certain traditional, preliterate African systems).