Curriculum and cultural nationalism: The case of Yorubaland, 1861 – 1931

Abstract

This thesis draws from the fields of education and postcolonial studies, focusing on curriculum development in colonial Yorubaland from 1861 to 1931. Colonial Yorubaland was administered as both a Colony and a Protectorate. This research aims to understand how this political arrangement influenced curriculum development and cultural nationalism in primary and secondary schools. The study is situated within the Critical Theory paradigm, examining how ideological forces shape educational institutions. An archival methodology was employed, involving the analysis of 1,617 pages of documents sourced from archives in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Critical discourse analysis was utilised to interpret these archival texts. The findings reveal the following: (1) The 1882 Education Ordinance was instrumental in shaping the curriculum, aiming to accommodate the diverse ethnicities within the British West African colonies. (2) The curriculum’s inclusion of Yoruba language, history, and geography was closely tied to the pupils’ cultural context, fostering a sense of cultural identity, and belonging. (3) Educational institutions in the Lagos Colony received significantly more support from the British colonial government compared to those in other provinces of the Protectorate. The implications of this study are significant for understanding social reproduction and knowledge production in curriculum development. The research illustrates how cultural capital functioned as a ‘hidden curriculum’, reinforcing a hierarchical social structure. The British colonial administration perpetuated social inequities by importing clerks and teachers from other British West African colonies, thereby shaping the content and structure of the curriculum in ways that undermined indigenous cultural values. This practice contributed to the perpetuation of inequality in curriculum development. The findings suggest that curriculum planning needs to be scrutinised to understand the workings of power and reveal how social injustice, inequity, and exclusion are perpetuated through educational discourse.