Books by Rutgers Faculty
Trading rituals for self-expression
Archived article from Feb 20, 2006
Cathy K. Donovan
Whether culture can be taught in the classroom is a complex topic in Ghana, where anthropologist Cati Coe traveled to conduct research for her recently published book, “Dilemmas of Culture in African Schools: Youth, Nationalism and the Transformation of Knowledge” (University of Chicago Press, 2005).
The book focuses on Ghana’s experience in teaching cultural traditions – drumming, dancing, poetry and proverbs – in schools. The Ghanaian government developed the special school program to create a more unified national culture that could help ease the country’s ethnic tensions while building a stronger nation.
Coe, an assistant professor of anthropology in Camden, spent a year and a half observing Ghanaian teachers in six schools, ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade. She largely finds that the cultural lessons taught in the classroom no longer resemble the culture once learned through everyday life.
She observed, for instance, how traditional rituals, such as naming ceremonies and pouring libation – sacred rites once enacted – were now more like history lessons.
“In a lesson on libation, poured to honor the ancestors and gods, students learned about what’s needed to pour libation, the places it traditionally takes place and what’s said during the rite. But the students never poured libation themselves or even witnessed the teacher doing so. Instead, they took notes that they could memorize for exam time,” Coe says.
Yet new ways of learning have emerged in the Ghanaian schools. During rehearsals for cultural competitions, Coe witnessed students becoming their own authorities on dance and song, where young people in traditional Ghanaian culture ordinarily wouldn’t have this opportunity to be creative.
While Coe is not Ghanaian, she holds close ties to the West African nation. The Rutgers-Camden scholar lived in Ghana for three years as a child. Six months before her family would return to the United States, Ghana experienced its fourth coup since its independence in 1957. “I was never interested in politics as a kid. But when you’re 10 years old and tanks are patrolling your street at night, you suddenly realize that you should pay attention to politics,” she says.
Coe is fluent in Twi, the most widely spoken language in Ghana. For her next book, she is documenting issues related to transnational migration in a globalized world economy.
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