“African magic” or “African science”: Issues of technology in African higher education

Abstract

African ideas, science, technology, scholarship and worldviews have been disproportionately displaced and marginalized in relevant global dialogues. In academic circles, African methods of knowing have been questioned, undervalued, mocked, misconstrued, and disregarded, causing apprehension. These negative attitudes are internalized via the educational system, stifling agency and conditioning African learners to rely on technology from outside sources, resulting in the exteriorization of innovation and creativity. African inventiveness becomes “African magic” with no real desire to interrogate, explain, or grasp its basic mechanics. This article contends that technology and creative imaginations exist in African societies. The task, however, remains the exploration and integration of African knowledge systems into higher education. The study aims to demonstrate how the interaction of two components of traditional African education—a sense of community and informal learning—could assist in the embrace, facilitation, and mainstreaming of marginalized African technologies. Although the paper may appear eclectic, it is intended to conscientiously push the paradigm that technology has been integral to African education. Regardless of Africa's technical challenges, salvation does not lie in excessive external reliance but rather in investing and building on Indigenous African knowledges/practices in order to establish an African technological identity. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic: African dependency on foreign technology. Lack of interest in African science and technology. Lack of African technological identity. Low technology penetration in African higher education. What this paper adds: The need to explore African science and technology. Mind‐set change towards African science and technology. Mainstreaming African achievements in science and technology. Implications for practice and/or policy: Indigenization of science and technology. Indigenous empowerment. Exploring alternate ways of knowing. Changing perspectives on science and technology.