Tide~ talk ... Thinking through Africa conference report

A Tide~ global learning conference held on 1st March 2007 at Millennium Point in Birmingham. The conference was organised in partnership with the Development Studies Association (DSA), a primarily academic and research-focussed network (see www.devstud.org.uk for more information). The partnership was founded around the recognition that there is a current disconnect between the work of academics and practitioners in the development studies community and that of teachers and practitioners in the development education community. Tide~ global learning and the DSA share the conviction that bridging this disconnect and supporting the communication and sharing of ideas would be of strong mutual benefit to both communities.

A fresh look Africa…time to think it through
In 2001, Tony Blair famously referred to the state of Africa as a "scar on the conscience of the world". In January 2005, he launched the report of Commission for Africa and kick-started what was promised to be a momentous year for Africa; a year to change the face of the continent; to begin erasing that scar. Writing now in March 2007, there is no doubt that some positive steps were taken, in pledges and rhetoric, if not always in reality. But how significant they were, or will prove to be, remains unclear.

By mid 2006 one thing was clear - that educationally at least, things had not moved very far. Africa was still being discussed as a single place – its complexity and diversity ignored. Its treatment in much (not all) of the mainstream media still conformed to stereotypes of war, disaster, corruption and misery, or of exotic cultures and wildlife. And discussion of Africa was still too often polarised around the dichotomies of donor/recipient, rich/poor, modern/traditional, us and them!

It was in this context that Tide~ recognised the need to look afresh at Africa and to think through the educational challenges of teaching and learning not just about Africa, but about ourselves and our relationships with Africa and Africans. The conference Thinking through Africa … understanding the complexity was conceived as part of this process. It provided an opportunity, in partnership with DSA, to bring teachers together with academics, practitioners and NGO staff interested in Africa as an educational challenge.

Beginning to think…
Rob Bowden from Tide~ global learning opened the conference by sharing the rhetoric behind why it had come about. He suggested there remained a basic need to learn about Africa; to understand it as a diverse and complex place. He cautioned that this was not simply a need for new lesson plans on Africa or fresh case studies (though these would in many cases be welcomed). Rather, it was about challenging our own thinking on Africa and considering approaches to learning that might help to support others (staff teams, school partnerships, students) to think through Africa for themselves. In recognition of the varied interests in, and engagements with, Africa, Rob encouraged participants to openly share their thinking and add to the confusion; a confusion necessary to stimulating fresh thought and beginning to make sense of things.

Five key speakers offered an initial stimulus to our thinking. The speakers were:

Mike Wooldridge, BBC World Affairs Correspondent

Matt Smith, Northumbria University

Theo Sowa, independent Ghanaian consultant

Sally Wood, Tide~ Gambia projects group

Rosie Wilson, Tide~ Uganda projects group

Mike Wooldridge showed us a short piece of film that he made during 2005 to explore the status of Africa and its place in the world at that time. The film was made to provide a broader perspective than that often portrayed in news footage of the continent. Mike then went on to explore the role of the media as messenger [Mike’s full speech]. In recognising that the media (and particularly television) is the primary medium through which young people receive their information about Africa (and global issues more widely), Mike accepted the responsibility that he and others in the media have, but he qualified this with some useful points for us to consider:

Does the negative about Africa overshadow the positive? Yes, I think it often does. But that's not unique to Africa. And the answer surely is not to substitute good news for bad. It's about reporting the reality... the reality of all the challenges and the reality of the changes taking place.

Mike Wooldridge, BBC World Affairs Correspondent

~	as a news journalist in the news media there are certain responsibilities to report the news (and that this could often be bad news), but that there was room to consider further how that was done;
~	the use of what some might consider stereotypical images (famine victims, people living in poverty etc) is sometimes needed (so it is argued) in order to make an emotional connection to the situation; in order to get things across;
~	that dire poverty in Africa and a host of other problems are very real! Whilst recognising there is a need to report on the positive, we must be careful not to simply replace ‘bad news’ with ‘good news’. It is vital that we report on the reality, that young people understand the reality.

Is Africa any more complex than anywhere else?

Matt Smith, Northumbria University

Matt Smith challenged the notion of Africa as complex. Not that it isn’t complex, nor that there is a need to better understand that complexity, but that it is no more complex than anywhere else. Isn’t our own place complex, aren’t we ourselves complex. Our identities, how they are formed, and how they in turn inform our views on the world around us. This is all complex and Africa is just part of that complexity. Matt continued to explore this idea further and raised many interesting challenges for us all:

~	learning about Africa (and development generally) is about relationships and not about something out there, alien from our own lives. We need to consider the idea of our relationships with Africa and Africans;
~	we also need to think about our relationships to thinking and learning. Our relationship as a teacher/learner to what is being taught/learnt – now that is really complex;
~	we need to realise that we don’t need to go there to ‘do development’ [the idea of the Palm Tree effect whereby it is only real development if there are palm trees!], but that what we are doing here [in this conference] is the stuff of development.

The view that "I can help solve Africa’s problems" is itself a problem. We need to build, not undermine…

Theo Sowa, independent Ghanaian consultant

Theo Sowa used several stories from her wide-ranging experience of working in Africa to help illustrate some personal perspectives on our understanding of Africa today. She spoke in particular of how too much well-meaning interest/work in Africa was done in the spirit of working for Africans rather than with Africans. Theo was concerned that this approach to Africa was in itself a problem and undermined the development of both people and places. She shared the impact of such a mentality through the story of a young boy in Zambia who was asked to speak about the engagement of NGOs in his own community. When asked what it was he really wanted to say to the gathered assembly of UN and NGO staff he reflected that of all the NGO and agency encounters he had had "every interaction had been about teaching people how to beg". Theo left us with various thoughts for taking our own thinking forwards:

~	it is more important to think about ‘how’ we encounter Africa than necessarily ‘what’ we encounter. Need to move towards the idea of working with Africa and Africans and not for them;
~	the information that children receive about Africa tends to come from the same sources – this is an issue and something we can work on.

Sally Wood shared her experiences of being both a group member and co-leader on The Gambia study visit course run by Tide~. She spoke of the daunting personal and professional challenges this entailed and of being pushed outside of her comfort zone. Once accustomed to this feeling however, Sally reflected on how it actually aided her thinking and learning about both Africa (or The Gambia at least) and herself. Finally, Sally spoke of the difficulties of bringing this experience back into her work in the UK and how to begin communicating and sharing her own learning journey. You can gain a fuller sense of the journey Sally has been taking through her full article.

When I was first asked about the impact of the study visit I thought ‘where do I begin?’, however, once I’d begun to piece everything together it was more a case of ‘where do I stop?’

Sally Wood, Tide~ Gambia project

Rosie Wilson was a member of the 2005 Tide~ Uganda study visit course and offered the conference a very personal insight into what she saw as a complex and at times bewildering experience. Rosie recalled how her expectation for answers became challenged by the unexpected and in time subsumed by an enthusiasm for questioning. Rosie explored how she has brought this questioning back with her to the UK and is now comfortable, even addicted to this style of learning. She also shared something of how she looks to use this in her own teaching and how she is taking it further still through her present role co-leading a Tide~ study visit course to Kerala in southern India. You can benefit more fully from Rosie’s insightful reflections in her article.

My ideas about what it is to be "well-meaning" or indeed a good citizen, were turned on their head, challenged, but also reinforced, all at the same time.

Rosie Wilson, Tide~ Uganda project

Space to think and learn

Following the initial stimuli, participants at the conference split off into workshops convened by partners and members of the Tide~ network to provide spaces for thinking and learning. The workshops ranged from further addressing the idea of complex thinking to looking at the role of literature, images and the arts in creative approaches to learning. The role of the African diaspora, the value of school partnerships, and the importance of an historical context formed themes for other workshops. A full list of the workshops and their facilitators can be found here.

The workshops led to some vibrant and challenging discussions that were continued throughout the lunch break and into the final plenary session. Where provided, an overview by the workshop facilitators has been included under the relevant workshop information.

Sharing ideas…
The first part of the closing session provided an opportunity, chaired by the director of Tide~, Scott Sinclair, to share some of the key ideas emerging from the day. Participants had earlier been given a specific statement and questions to help frame their ideas. The statement and some of the responses to the questions are shared here:

Imagine the young people you are working with…when they are 40.

How do we want young people to be thinking about Africa 20 years from now?

~	That it is a diverse and complex place, like our own;
~	To have a basic geographical knowledge of the continent;
~	To appreciate its positives!;
~	In the same way as they do about Europe;
~	That Africa is going to be helped by ‘good will’ and white bracelets;
~	That it is not the exotic somewhere else;
~	The way that Africans want to be thought about…?;
~	Somewhere we can learn from;
~	As I was thinking about Asia 20 years ago – as a place to invest in, as a continent of opportunities;
~	As a collection of places, people, landscapes and communities rather than a set of problems;
~	To understand that we are all wrapped up in the complexities of Africa.

What can we be doing now to help that happen? How can we support them on their journey?

~	By providing a safe space to express their views and prejudices, to take risks in challenging ideas;
~	Develop greater global awareness amongst our teachers as part of their professional identity;
~	Querying information, seeking more;
~	Developing critical enquiry skills;
~	Turning our history teaching on its head and recognising that Africans as part of the Roman armies were part of the development of Europe and the UK;
~	Giving teachers and young people a chance to experience countries in Africa;
~	By providing different perspectives, supporting them to explore what they hear and see and not just take it at face value;
~	By emphasising that African people share many of the same dreams and aspirations that all people have;
~	Through challenging and building relationships, recognising ‘us’ rather than ‘them and us’;
~	By posing questions that make you think, showing images that can be critically evaluated;
~	Encouraging process not product through critical thinking skills;
~	Through storytelling – open their eyes to everyday stories.

In addition the floor was open to general comments and responses emerging from the initial contributions and the creative workshops. The following captures some of the points raised for further thought:

We perhaps need to better politicise ourselves to see what we are part of in relation to other agendas, such as those of school partnerships and aid.
Scott Sinclair, Tide~ global learning

Questions have a bad name, sometimes seen that to question is to be against. However questions can be used in different ways. Some questions are enabling.
Scott Sinclair, Tide~ global learning

It seems we jump the gun in trying all the time to deliver on outcomes instead of looking at how we communicate; how we learn together and how we learn from each other.
Gill Albutt, Red Cross

How do we want teachers to be thinking about how they teach about Africa now? A fundamental issue is to look at what we are doing in initial teacher training.
Unknown

Children need time and freedom to understand who they are and their interdependence at a global level.
David, Islington

I am interested in how development education creates a development encounter and how it’s packaged, identified and communicated. What’s interesting from a teachers’ perspective is how is that internalised? We don’t have to go to India or the Gambia to get these encounters, we can get them here.
Darryl Humble, Northumbria University

It is good to listen to what the problem is before you shout out with an answer, otherwise you are going to shout out an irrelevant answer, maybe to a question that was not asked.
Dan, Ugandan student, University of Birmingham

I have been meeting with a wide range of people in business and other spheres and one of the things to emerge is that they are saying "It’s climate change! We are no longer interested in Africa and…I’m not sure what this means"
Onyekachi Wambu, AFFORD

Anybody who says we don’t talk about Africa we talk about climate change – that’s not a sentence that makes sense!
Crispin Chatterton (People and Planet)

We need to be asking young people what they want to be thinking 20 years from now. We need to think not just about preparing them to live when they are adults, but thinking about their lives as children and how they develop as young people.
Rosie Wilson, Tide~ network

Opening thoughts
Far from closing the day, the conference was designed to be a starting point for dialogue on Africa. To remind participants of this and to lay down some challenges to take away, Colm Regan from 80:20 in Ireland was invited to share his own reflections and ideas for thinking through Africa. The following attempts to capture the core elements of this thinking:

We don’t do aid work, despite the fact that’s where the money and the glory is. Trying to do development education is much less glamorous and much less exciting and not nearly as well recognised.

We need to better document, better research and better highlight the work going on in these islands – we need to get better at showing what we do, particularly in schools, colleges, universities etc.

The two Tide~ teacher inputs – that kind of thinking, that kind of nervous engagement, that fresh, honest openness is something that needs to captured and shared. There is too much stayed, conservative, practiced, nuanced and rehearsed stuff. [see full inputs from Rosie and Sally]

Ideas for sharing

Are we mentally imprisoned? – for example by language such as the use of the phrase ‘Third World’. People will dismiss this rather than engage with the intellectual debate behind its construction and meaning (they have not heard of Franz Fanon!). We need to deal with our own mental imprisonments before we can engage properly.

Africa is not out there – "did I have to come this far to find myself?". We don’t have to go to Africa. Yes, it adds great value. Looking at stuff back here, from out there, just as looking at stuff out there from back here is always illuminating and helpful because of the different terms of reference; the words; the ideas etc.

I am waiting to go into the world – an interesting idea and phrase (from Mike Wooldridge film). We often tell young people "you are the future" as if somehow they weren’t the present, but of course they are – we are all part of the equation.

My conceptions of Africa are rooted in my conceptions of myself – a crucial issue. The idea of our own biographies influencing the way we look at an issue. Where do our biographies come from – looking at them can be interesting; we need to scratch at the surface of our own biographies.

So much of Africa is mediated by race – stop playing games with this. We are in this together. I didn’t choose what I was born into (white, male, Irish, middle class etc) – the question I have is what do I do with that? One of the key elements of development education is reference to self.

Palm Tree effect – not much to add, but like the idea that we only go to do development out there.

It’s better to do something than to do nothing – I disagree! Our whole framework of reference is to resort to charity when we don’t know what else to do. It’s like giving children an essay to write when you can’t think of any other creative way of engaging. It’s not good enough to say it’s better to do something than to do nothing. That is not a realistic, honest question – you can do a lot of damage by messing around with this agenda, especially if you have got school kids or teachers going to Africa and not engaging effectively or not being assisted and supported in the process. You can do damage to "them" and to our students and teachers.

Development Encounters – like the idea, potential for exploring how this could be used…

It’s in small steps that progress can be measured – the Human Development Report can be a useful resource for this. Helps us show that there is not an unrelenting agenda of misery, there has been very significant progress, albeit in small steps. We should remember that we take small steps in our own teaching and learning too!

The importance of history – this is a fundamental part of the issue. It is important, but histories can be different. My history from Ireland is different to yours.

Even with our handicaps – we should be teaching and learning about Africa ‘warts and all’. There is an assumption that we can balance negativity with positivity (the "Africa also smiles" campaign in Ireland used as example) and that if you balance these up then fine, but you will not get a balance and you wont get a real analysis and engagement with the issues.

Casting an anti-spell (Ben Okri) – Africa has cast its spell over us all! Something to think about!

Emerging themes

The theme of 80:20 itself – We should be thinking and talking about a relationship, not a place. We can talk about places but it’s about our relationship to those places.

Personal biography – we are all engaged in this agenda, as people of faith, as people of politics, as people of culture, as people of learning – we need to pay attention to that personal biography.

Half the lies are true, half the truth is a lie – useful in looking at stereotypes and images of Africa. If we can’t engage with stereotypes then we are not going to get very far. Stereotypes can be a good thing - they can be very useful, very helpful in out thinking.

Relationships are crucial – we need linkages and relationships.

Creativity and diversity – looking at music, art and other creative ways to engage in these debates and ideas.

Constraints – institutional, personal – we all have those. You are responsible only for what you are responsible for. Don’t take on everything and turn yourself into a maniac – that is not very helpful. Constraints are there, work within them, but don’t be shackled by them.

Personal insights

Honesty – I don’t think we are honest about the Africa agenda. Too many cards being played - feminist, gender politics, race, environmental and so on. We keep playing with it and we find the evidence we want to suit the particular arguments we have. Tony Blair does it, Bush does it, our government does it, the Catholic Church does it. We need to be honest. In many respects Africa, and certainly sub-Saharan Africa (with some notable exceptions) is in a mess. The vast bulk of the least developed countries in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa.

With/For – we need to stop doing stuff for them. We need to do things with them and with ourselves. One of the biggest curses in Ireland in this area of work is that when people panic and are faced with questions and worries and they are not clear what the answer is, they immediately have a charity event – that is the out!
There are so-called education programmes (run by agencies in Ireland), but you scratch the surface and after 5 minutes you are fundraising and you are not quite sure how it happened! This reinforces the idea that aid is the answer. We can use aid or charity as a tool, as a platform, but when it becomes the end in itself we have failed as educators.

Research and preparation – one of the problems is that we are travelling with old ideas and data. We can help to keep teachers reasonably up to date and in touch with things. More collaboration between researchers, NGOs and teachers can help with this

Alarmingly complex and disarmingly simple – everything is complex, but Africa no more than anywhere. We deal with complexity all the time. But it can also be simple – it is not rocket science! Young people are very good at pulling us up on making things too complex.

Daring to be a teacher (not an unpaid guilt collector) – if we do our job as teachers then Africa will be OK. When you touch people about Africa it will stay with them.

Some key ideas
The following are some of the key ideas emerging from the day that could be used to stimulate a discussion with your own colleagues or students. They offer views and opinions and invite you to think it through for yourself…

I am not suggesting that the stereotypes of Africa go unchallenged. Far from it! They do contain some inescapable truths, but not the whole truth. Africa is a complex and diverse continent. That is the story we try to tell. We often need to do it better and I certainly include myself in that. Inevitably we play a part - a big part - in creating the environment in which children gain their understanding of Africa.
Mike Wooldridge

Thinking through Africa is caught up with identity - who we are, where we are, how we define ourselves
~ What is comfortable for us to think?
~ What is unsettling?
~ What fits our normal frame of understandings?
~ What implications are there for our identities if we start to challenge understandings?
Matt Smith

We [teachers] are part of the processes of change that are so important [in thinking through Africa]. This dialogue is not just about education it is about development. It is part of the complexity we are interested in - we cannot step outside the complexity. If we treat this aspect of learning and engagement as separate from development then it risks being marginalized, when I think it should be centrally important.
Matt Smith

We often tell young people "you are the future" as if somehow they weren’t the present, but of course they are – we are all part of the equation.
Colm Regan

Web Links:
The following are just two of the websites that we have found useful in thinking through Africa. If you find good websites that you feel are especially useful to teachers and or students then please let us know and we can add them to this section.

www.commissionforafrica.org

www.imaging-famine.org

Back