Efficacy of Culture Houses and Centres in the Acquisition, Preservation, and Dissemination of Indigenous Knowledge in Zimbabwe

This chapter documents the role played by culture centres and houses in the acquisition, preservation and dissemination of indigenous knowledge (IK) in a digital era in Zimbabwe. It states the ethical issues involved when acquiring, preserving and disseminating IK in the digital era. A history of culture houses and centres was studied and a literature review of the role of culture centres was done. In Zimbabwe, it was noted that culture houses and centres do not have a web presence. However, there are challenges that are met by information specialists working in these culture houses and centres in the process of managing IK. These challenges are part of the ethical issues that should be considered in the production, access and use of IK. Recommendations have been put forward that would help culture houses and centres in their bid to manage IK in the digital era.

Indigenous Knowledge Management Practices in Indigenous Organizations in South Africa and Tanzania

Traditional communities have a highly developed knowledge system. They struggle, however, to lobby for critical issues as this knowledge is not documented. The chapter addresses this problem by seeking a suitable knowledge creation model for South African and Tanzanian indigenous organizations. It draws on fieldwork and reviews the literature and organizational websites. It applies Myer's seven C's model (2014) to determine how knowledge management may assist organizations in addressing challenges effectively. The findings demonstrate that Myers's model (2014) has been successful in part in explaining the knowledge management practices of indigenous organizations in these two countries. It is also difficult for indigenous organizations to motivate people to share knowledge because indigenous knowledge is individualized and used as a source of power, status and income in the communities. It is therefore important to promote integration of indigenous knowledge with other knowledge systems for socio-economic growth, and advocating change in institutional structures.

Educating Highly Able Students from an African Perspective

Basing on Cabral's (1973) legendary practical wisdom to return to the source, in the quest to broaden existing understanding of giftedness and improve the education of gifted students, the chapter examines indigenous conceptions of giftedness espoused in Bantu cultures of southern Africa. As informed by insights gleaned from research on Ndebele, Shona and Vhenda cultures' views of giftedness, indigenous cultures' views warrant attention as they promise to enrich the education of gifted students in amazing and intriguing ways. The chapter offers specific recommendations for educating highly able students including a Dynamic and Interactive Process Model of Talent development (DIPM) grounded in indigenous cultures of southern Africa currently generating interest in gifted education.

Embedding Indigenous Knowledge in Library and Information Science Education in Anglophone Eastern and Southern Africa

There is need to re-examine the inclusion or exclusion of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the university curriculum in sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Western scientific knowledge on which the university curriculum in SSA is mainly based has proved to be inadequate in addressing developmental challenges. Using the curriculum of library and information science (LIS) departments in Anglophone east and southern Africa (AESA) as a case study, this chapter focuses on factors that influence the inclusion of IK in higher education in SSA. IK is recognised for its potential contribution to development by organisations such as the World Bank and African Union. Its inclusive ethos and accommodation of multiple realities also accounts for its popularity. In spite of that, IK has not established a stronghold in LIS curriculum in AESA. This study investigates the factors that influence its integration into the curriculum and makes recommendations based on the findings.

Politics of Belonging

The Kalanga occupy the south-western parts of Zimbabwe, their larger concentration is in modern-day Bulilimamangwe district although some clusters of Kalanga people are distributed throughout Kezi, Gwanda and Tsholotsho districts, among other areas, west of Zimbabwe. The chapter acknowledges that Kalanga identities in pre-colonial Zimbabwean society were multiple, however, it mainly focusses on Kalanga religion (the Mwali/Ngwali Cult) and Kalanga language and demonstrates how these pre-colonial Kalanga forms of identities were later politicised and (re) interpreted and manipulated by colonialists, missionaries and Africans in an endeavour to construct Kalanga ethnic identity. The main purpose of the chapter is to present and reflect on selected Kalanga precolonial forms of identities and show how these were used to (re) construct the Kalanga ethnic identity in colonial Zimbabwe. The chapter further argues that identities are not fixed primordial phenomenon but are constructed and reconstructed over the longee durree using precolonial forms of identities such as language and religion.

Tackling the Preservation of African Tales in the Technological Era

It appears that the great story-tellers of the Ghanaian society and the traditional singers, bards and griots were the “knowledge houses” of the Ghanaian society. This tradition is slowly dying out in the technological era. This study sought to determine the extent to which the Anansesem oral tradition is still practiced among Ghanaians living outside Ghana, particularly Botswana and Ghana where the study was conducted. The study employed an exploratory qualitative approach using interviews. The findings reveal that although elders and storytellers were able to weave morals into children's activities from a very young age, Ghanaians who were not raised speaking their native tongue find it difficult to relate to the messages woven deeply into the Ananse stories. The study concludes that globalisation has reduced the importance Ghanaians attach to Ananse stories. The authors see a need for strategies to be put in place to resuscitate the oral story telling tradition of Anansesem.

Crucial Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Formal Education Systems

The chapter emphasises the important role of indigenous knowledge (IK) in formal education systems. If formal education does not take appropriate account of IK, learners will not be able to connect their learning experiences with their social and cultural environment. This impacts negatively on their ability to apply education for the construction of their life pathways. The chapter argues that in different countries, formal education has been shaped and dominated either by the majority population or by a ruling group and as a result is based on the respective groups' epistemologies and ontologies as well as their language. This has led to a separation of IK from the type of knowledge mediated through formal education. The consequences of this separation and the resulting argument for the significance of a strong integration of IK into the body of knowledge mediated through formal education as a prerequisite for relevance and usefulness of education is discussed on the level of the student and on the level of development.

Towards a Regional Policy and Legal Instrument for the Protection of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Southern Africa

This study was conceived as a result of growing frustration at the slow pace of development for a harmonised policy and legal instrument for the protection of IKS in SADC. The problems related to the protection of IKS will remain unless there is a clear policy and legal basis to address it. SADC consists of 15 countries whose main mandate is to harmonise their social, political and economic policies for the benefit of the citizens of Southern Africa. This chapter argues that the exercise of harmonisation is long overdue. Member states like South Africa have proven that if there is political will on the part of member states, the protection of IKS is possible through the development of relevant policies and legal instruments. This study was done through a desktop analysis of Treaty provisions, policy documents and country specific legislation. The main findings of the study indicated that the lack of protection of IKS is a major challenge that requires a regional approach. These findings led to the proposition for an urgent harmonised regional approach to the protection of IKS in SADC.

Return to The Source?

Every human society has a history that it takes pride in. In times of despair there could be invocation or calls to return to that history either as an informant of correct practice or as an inspiration of what current practice should be. Hence some African scholars and politicians have made calls that seek to return to that source. At least three problems pose some significant threat to the project of the return to the source. Firstly, there is a problem of interpreting what the exact nature of that traditional set up was, secondly there is a problem of working out how the traditional mode can fit into the modern, and thirdly there is the problem of the possibility that different sources existed in that pristine past. Without an adequate response to these threats, the return may not be as smooth as its advocates have thought it to be.

Old People's Homes (OPHS) and Intergenerational Cultural Transfer Discontinuity in Zimbabwe

Two claims were defended in this chapter. Firstly, the chapter argued that, whilst old people's homes (OPHs) were critical in caring for the destitute elderly in postcolonial Zimbabwe, inadvertently, they were undermining intergenerational cultural transfer. Secondly, OPHs were presented as concomitant with dysfunctional family institutions in Zimbabwe. Accordingly, this chapter interrogated the role of OPHs to establish the extent to which these institutions contribute to the discontinuity of intergenerational cultural transfer in Zimbabwe, especially among the Shona people. The interrogation was located within Gade's (2011) theoretical framework of ‘narratives of return'. On that basis, a case was made for Zimbabwean society in general and the family in particular, to seriously reconsider its traditional and fundamental role of caring for the elderly without recourse to OPHs as an exigency.