It's a history class (Final Exam (Take Home), 30%) Essay

It's a history class (Final Exam (Take Home), 30%) - Essay Example In his book, he claimed that Africa had no future of its own yet, but only that of Europeans in the continent (Trevor-Roper et al 72). After much research into the past of the African people before colonization, it has been found that the views of these two men were to say the least, misplaced, deceitful and unfounded. A critique of Hegel’s and Hugh’s comments Before the coming of the white man, the continent of Africa was home to the native Africans who possessed their customs, politics and economies. Through the passage of time, these factors remained of their own making. Their history was marked with events of peace, strife, ceremonies and rituals, and as barbarous or primitive as it seemed, it was their own history with no external influences (Nnoromele 43). When the Europeans arrived to Africa, they denied it a place in world history. Georg Hegel, Hugh Trevor Roper and other Western philosophers called it a land without norms that needed to be cultured. In other wo rds, they viewed Africa as a wild beast that possessed no knowledge of right and wrong or his identity and his interests. According to them, he was occupied with nothing else but the instinct of daily survival from factors like hunger and other beasts. For this reason, he needed some taming with religion and domestication with civilization, both of which, they believed he lacked (Rodney 43). To the whites, Africans had no religion and thus no idea of God. To them, their belief was fetish that is the belief in inanimate objects. For this reason, African religious objects were stashed as myths and artifacts in boxes then ferried away to the Western museums as a nagging reminder that they might never learn. Prior to the Europeans, Africans were engaged in various traditional religions. The generalization of these religions is difficult due to the diversity of Africa’s pre-colonial cultures, but they had some similar characteristics. These similarities included the belief in a su preme being, spirits and other various divinities, the use of magic, the veneration of ancestors, the use of traditional medicine and an oral basing rather than a scriptural one. Another major generalization was the belief that humanity existed to harmonize the physical world with the supernatural one. These religions were passed down from one generation to the other through art, festivals, rituals, word of mouth, songs and dances, names of people, proverbs, myths, beliefs and customs. Upon entry of the Europeans, Africans did not just sit back and allow the dissolution of their religious institutions. In southern Nigeria, for example, opposition from highly organized traditional religious institutions met the Christian missionaries. Religious societies like the Okigwe and the Obgunorie clashed with the missionaries in several occasions. Another resistance to religious colonization was the maji maji (sacred water) revolt of 1905-1907, which took place in Tanzania. The movementâ€⠄¢s leader, Kinjeketile, convinced his fighters that he possessed some sacred water, which, upon drinking, would make one invulnerable to bullets from the Europeans. However, just as many other African revolts, they lost the battle and had to adhere to the white man’s demands. To end the strife and come to a standpoint, the missionaries in many African lands sat with the indigenous leaders to come up with the African

Dissertation in Science Education Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

In Science Education - Dissertation Example Example of the nature of the structuring that makes it possible for in-depth science research knowledge to be impacted includes the intensiveness of the program. For instance some teachers are brought up close with Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) laboratories, which are facilitated by specialized laboratory managers, faculty and former students for as long as six weeks without a break (Cook et al, 2000). Normally, such mathematics and science teachers do not get the opportunity of having dedicated times with laboratory experiences with the standard of the CCMR Shared Experimental Facilities. Another relevant component of the RET program that is set to make it very easy for shared experiences to impact deep into teachers attending the program is the fact that the programs are structured such that participants work together as team. In effect, basic concepts that could prove difficult in their understanding are easily shared among team members for practical resolution. Ind eed, for the fact that the structure of the program is intense and focused on problem solving skills, set out by trained and skilled facility managers Sadler et al (2009) have noted that it has always been possible and easier for teachers attending the RET programs to have the kind of experiences that the programs require them to have. But it is important to note that the essence and idea behind the RET programs does not end with the mere acquisition of knowledge on research experiments for teachers. Rather, the major target of the program is the student, meaning that after teachers gain the experiences from the program, they should be in a position to passing these on to their students (Polloway, Patton and Serna, 2008). As teachers, it has always been expected that there will be the use of learner-centered and other creative approaches to teaching that make absorption of concepts taught easier for learners. However, some key factors have often inhibited this noble vision. Subseque ntly, students, who are the target products of the RET programs have not benefited fully from the programs (Rao, 2009). 1.3 Purpose of the Study Based on the background given and the problem identified earlier, the researcher seeks to use this proposal to clearly identify and spell out the factors that aid in the successful implementation of science and engineering practices into the regular classroom experience of teachers. Furthermore, ways by which teachers can be supported in their classroom after completion of any RET program to make implementation of experiences and subsequently improvement of student learning possible, shall also be outlined. 2.0 Background Literature 2.1 Measuring success of RET programs in Learners Several researchers in the area of science and mathematics education have studied the need to making the learner the end product of teachers’ success with the RET program. In this, a number of debates and arguments have come up was to why the focus on the systematic structure of the