A decolonial study of indigenous teaching and learning methods of knowledge transfer in Gabon’s rural commu

Abstract

Gabon is a country with an important ancestral cultural heritage that constitutes a set of epistemological and ontological systems that can be traced back to the 15th century. Europeans, with their colonising mission, wrongly presumed that African indigenous people were ignorant and uneducated. Thus, Gabon remains one of the sub-Saharan countries where access to education and forms of knowledge is exclusively established on the Western hegemonic knowledge system. This study demonstrates how indigenous knowledge contributes to education in Gabon via the implementation of indigenous teaching and learning methods of knowledge transfer. The theoretical framework underpinning the present study is based on decolonial theory as conceptualised for research in the humanities, social sciences, and education. Qualitative methodological approaches were used to determine the effectiveness of indigenous teaching and learning methods in the process of transferring knowledge within Gabon’s rural communities. Research instruments for data collection were observation, interviews, and focus-group discussions. Fifteen villagers (indigenous trainers and trainees) from the village of Kery were involved as main participants in the study. Data collection took place in Kery, but data comparison and verification took place in the village of Inguendja with occasional participants. A descriptive-interpretative approach was used to analyse the data. Findings mainly elicit information on how rural people transfer knowledge and the impact of indigenous knowledge on education in rural communities.