What do we want children to learn about Africa?

By Margy Burns Knight

Recently I saw a new colorful poster and map of Africa. Prepared by National Geographic, copies had been distributed to elementary and middle schools across the country. I was distressed to see, with all the information available, how the continent was depicted. There were a total of nine facts presented about Africa. One of the nine facts was the statement, “people of many African cultures eat bugs.” The question here is not to ask whether or not bugs are eaten anywhere in Africa, but why, if there are nine facts presented about the continent of Africa, why include bugs at all?

This map is not the exception. Bug eating is also featured in the award winning book, For You are a Kenyan Child (2006). There are many other ways that people’s relationship with nature in Africa can be presented without focusing on what will seem strange or exotic to children in the United States. For example, why not tell children that Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maatthai and the Greenbelt Movement have planted million of trees?

To illustrate my point in workshops with teachers, I created the following lists.

List A

1. The world’s fastest land animals, cheetahs run nearly 70 mph (113km).
2. Chameleons live on Madagascar and so do other species that exist nowhere else on earth.
3. People of many African cultures eat bugs.
4. Bananas are a staple food grown throughout Africa.
5. Coffee, a plant native to Africa, grows best in moderate sun and rain.

List B

1. Kenyan Wangari Maatthai was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for her environmental work in 2004.
2. African is the only continent with land in all four hemispheres and it is as long as it is wide.
3. South Africa will host the World Cup in 2010
4. Great Zimbabwe is one of the 46 World Heritage sites on the African continent.
5. The colors of Ethiopia’s flag are red, green and yellow. Because Ethiopia was the only country on the African continent that was not colonized these colors were chosen by many other countries for their flags when they began to declare independence in the late 1950s.

I read each list aloud and ask the teachers in my workshops to think about the difference between the two. Their comments reflect the range of my concerns.

• list A is more like a text book, just facts about science type stuff
• list B seems to be more about people
• list A was written in the 50’s
• list B is more interesting and respectful.
• list A seems to be only about geography and animals
• list B is about humanity

Then I reveal the sources. List A is from a 2006 National Geographic map. (My Wonderful World.org) and list B reflects the type of information from my book and others that allows children to make connections to their own lives and develop a respectful understanding of the African continent.

Teachers reflect on the messages their students currently receive about Africa – which overwhelming reflect list A more than list B. This exercise opens the door for a deeper discussion of the selection of literature and curriculum on the African continent.

As we teach children about the big wide world we must be mindful about the knowledge and information we share with them. The images and stories children see and hear form their base of reality. The pictures and words in books, movies, games and on maps help or hinder children in building a foundation of appreciation and respect for humanity in all its diversity.

Margy Burns Knight is the author of Africa is Not a Country and other books for children, www.margyburnsknight.com