ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and discusses some of the common characteristics and assumptions shared by much traditional education in Africa, while at the same time noting differences and variations that were related to socio-cultural and geographic contexts. An important aspect of traditional education in the African context, therefore, has been a concern with teaching children the oral tradition of their community, as well as helping them to learn to use language creatively and effectively. In essence, such learning has been a central feature of the intellectual training of the African child. Children are raised to believe strongly that proverbial sayings have been laid down and their validity tested by their forefathers. Proverbs feature prominently in virtually all traditional African cultures and play important communicative and educational roles. The use of proverbs in educating children, as well as in indirect social communication in general is, by its very nature, context-specific.
