School science in West Africa: An assessment of the pedagogic impact of Third World investment

As a result of the economic recession, most African countries have adopted a policy to design and produce their own science textbooks. Questions of what view of school science is presented in West Africa and how school science is presented and implemented in the junior and senior secondary school levels are raised.

In most African countries, science dominates the school curriculum as a ‘true’ subject comprising certain facts and reliable information. The textbooks in use at the secondary levels are examined and a considerable reorganization of science education in African countries is suggested. First, science should start from the practices of teachers and students in classrooms rather than an idealized notion of the scientific method; science should be taught as a major human activity which explores the realm of human experience. Second, school science textbooks should focus attention on the lives of the learners and should help create pupil's awareness of the extent to which concepts, principles and generalizations are related to everyday life. Third, traditional African cultures should be properly explored and interpreted so that they can be of value to the African society.