One is always struck by the brilliant work of George Sefa Dei but
nothing so far has demonstrated his pedagogical leadership as much as
the current project. With a sense of purpose so pure and so thoroughly
intellectual, Dei shows why he must be credited with continuing the
motivation and action for justice in education. He has produced in this
powerful volume, Teaching Africa, the same type of close reasoning that
has given him credibility in the anti-racist struggle in education.
Sustaining the case for the democratization of education and the
revising of the pedagogical method to include Indigenous knowledge are
the twin pillars of his style. A key component of this new science of
pedagogy is the crusade against any form of hegemonic education where
one group of people assumes that they are the masters of everyone else.
Whether this happens in South Africa, Canada, United States, India,
Iraq, Brazil, or China, Dei's insights suggest that this hegemony of
education in pluralistic and multi-ethnic societies is a false
construction. We live pre-eminently in a world of co-cultures, not
cultures and sub-cultures, and once we understand this difference, we
will have a better approach to education and equity in the human
condition.