Mission Schools or Christian Religious Schools in Africa

726 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does Christianity impact society

Mission Schools

INTRODUCTION:

“Mission schools” or Christian religious schools were established mainly to increase the spread of Christianity. This reason it was done in this manner was because “education was an essential vehicle for spreading Christianity” (Booyse et al. 2011:114). Christianity was increasing and the proselytes were taught basic reading and writing skills to equip themselves enough to be able to read the Bible and other Christian literature. A multitude of mission societies were introduced and they advocated the spread of Christian Gospel and the provision of education. Recipients of mission education included the Black, Colored and Slave people.

EDUCATION AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF MISSION SCHOOLS:

“Education is a universal phenomenon, which is limited to human beings” (Venter 1979:32). Education should be put into certain structures which would help individuals throughout their life. Missionary education amongst black people started in the Cape region prior 1910, specifically in King Williams Town. Missionary schools were introduced so that children who cannot go to church can learn about religion.

Mission education only started in the 18th century. Missionary schools had positive and negative effects in the history of South Africa. Teaching in a Christian manner aimed to break down many barriers between tribes and cultures. Teachers in missionary schools used the bible as a tool of justice.

Missionary schools converted many people to Christianity and these people were taught to read and write. Missionaries were encouraged to establish their mission stations on the frontier and to exert their influence on the black population in an attempt to bring peace and harmony to the region (Encyclopaedia Britannic...

... middle of paper ...

...h African education system as Nelson Mandela fought so hard to become the rainbow nation and for religious equality. Learners should not have religions they do not believe in forced upon them, but rather just the option to learn about them.

Bibliography:

Booysen, JJ. et al. 2011. A history of schooling in South Africa. Hatfield: Van Schaik Publishers.

Enosi, S. 2010. History of education, creative commons.

Ndlovu, E. 2010. Missionary schools in South Africa.

Cape of Good Hope. 1863. Report of a commission appointed in accordance with address of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly to inquire into and report upon the government educational system of the colony. (Watermeyer Comission). Appendix V No. 24. Government memorandum – education, 23 May 1839. Cape Town: Solomon

Show More
Related

  • Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, the suffering from malnutrition as well as the lack of education in rural Africa are spotlighted in both Dettwyler and Lee’s books. Both anthropologists give an insight into the true nature of the many problems faced by the people and how they confront life and death in a completely foreign manner. Even though both areas suffer from similar problems, steps are slowing being taken in the right direction to help educate people by setting up programs and making better schools. Although both the societies and their issues differ greatly, both are advancing toward similar solutions.

    Read More

  • Mis-Education Of The Negro By Carter Godwin Woodson

    2169 Words  | 5 Pages

    Even though the African-Americans were “free”, no one took responsibility for educating them formally. So naturally, they could only do one thing and that was to form their own schools, businesses, and churches. However, the only works and doctrines that were available were written by white people in the eurocentric view. Woodson (1933) claims, “The Negroes have been shoved out of the regular schools through the rear door into the obscurity of the backyard and told to imitate others whom they see from afar, or they have been permitted in some places to come into the public schools to see how others educate themselves”. This made the blacks adopt a sense of learned helplessness.

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    2 May 2014. Breidlid, Anders. " Culture, Indigenous Knowledge Systems And Sustainable Development: A Critical View Of Education In An African Context. " International Journal Of Educational Development 29.2 (2009): 140-148.

    Read More

  • American Expansionism and the Missionary Movement

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    Missionaries were a contradiction, one that is not easily sorted. The goals and objectives of the missionary themselves were often purest of heart. Missionaries’ goals were to spread of the gospel, the convert heathens to Christianity and enrich the communities they work in by providing education and medical assistance. On the contrary missionaries were also often “agents of cultural change.” (Stipe p.1) They carried with them American ideals, democracy, individual rights, free enterprise, universal education, and delayed gratification. (Clifford Putney p.7)

    Read More

  • Imperialist Stirrings in America

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reverend Josiah Strong's Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis inspired missionaries to travel to foreign nations.

    Read More

  • Religious and Spiritual Practices of Enslaved African Americans

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    Moreover, many owners later came to feel that Christianity may actually have encouraged rebellion (all those stories of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt, after all, talked about the liberation of the slaves), and so they began to discourage Christian missionaries from preaching to the slaves. African Americans have taken their own spiritual, religious journey. God was looked upon as a source of peace and encouragement. The community of enslave Africans were able to use religion and spirituality as a way of overcoming the mental anguish of slavery on a daily basis. To a slave, religion was the most important aspect of their life. Nothing could come between their relationship with god. It was their rock, the only reason why they could wake up in the morning, the only way that they endured this most turbulent time in our history.

    Read More

  • Native American Schooling

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Missionaries were sent to the tribes to spread the word of Christianity under the Civilization Act. Today the act of sending in missionaries would be viewed as a violation of the First Amendment. The amendment states that there shall be no governmental support of any religion. In that time though they were still beginning their school day with a reading from the Protestant Bible (Spring, 1997, p. 18). The Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches brought into existence the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in 1810. Their mission was worldwide and they sent missionaries abroad as well as the Native American tribes. According to Spring, the missionaries viewed the Native Americans as foreign “heathen.” A powerful example of the path to deculturalization was Reverend James Ramsey’s visit to a Choctaw school in 1846. As quoted in the Spring text, Ramsey stated, “`I showed them [on a map] that the people who speak the English language, and who occupied so small a part of ...

    Read More

  • How Directors Work with Actors

    2632 Words  | 6 Pages

    Freeman, M. 2009. Master Class notes. AFDA, AFDA Cape Town Lecture Theatre 1 on 23 February 2009, 18:00.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography: The Art Of Eastern India

    389 Words  | 1 Pages

    2. Ettore Gelpi. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "education", accessed November 17, 2015,http://www.britannica.com/topic/education.{November 17, 2015}

    Read More

  • Starting A Christian School Summary

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author, A.A. Baker, repeatedly states the importance of not starting a Christian school unless God calls one to do so. (p16) The biblical mindset needed to begin a Christian school is a fundamental aspect to its success- success as measured by its purpose: evangelizing children. (p23)

    Read More

  • South African American Education

    2388 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Education is the great engine of national development… the disparities in funding tell a story of racist education.” –Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom

    Read More

  • What Will I Take With Me

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    This has been a pretty thought-provoking last and final semester here at R.I.C.E. I am happy that the next journey has already begun and I am extremely grateful for how much I have absorbed. For this reflection I will focus on three major points or themes. I have been lucky enough to get two different perspectives on the details about mission work from two great teachers. Both perspectives have helped to shape my experience and redirect my thinking for the subject. While there are many things to reflect on the points I would like to discuss are centered on a few points. 1) A greater gratefulness for the work of missionaries, 2) the delusion around African Americans involvement in early mission work, 3) the dyer need in the active continued presence on the missionary field.

    Read More

  • The Igbo People In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    For one, the Christians brought with them teachers, erecting schools for reading and writing. Although originally intended to train indigenous people to read the Bible, these schools did help gain Africa recognition as “civilized” in a more defined sense. In chapter seventeen of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo discovers his son Nwoye’s plan to leave him for a Christian school back in Umuofia (at this moment Okonkwo and his family are living with his mother’s kinsman after being exiled for an accidental killing). “He [Nwoye] went back to the church and told Mr. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write” (Achebe 132). Nwoye sees this as a perfect opportunity to make something of himself, especially after hearing all the things an education can get a Christian

    Read More

  • Education for Girls in Africa and Its Impacts

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dei S., Schooling and Difference in Africa: Democratic Challenges in a Contemporary context. Toronto, University of Toronto Press: 2006. Print.

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis Of Hamm's Definition Of Education

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay I am going to talk about Hamm’s conception of education which is broken down into three general uses of education, the Sociological use (E1), Institutional use (E2) and the General enlightenment use (E3). I will also critically discuss the three uses of education providing a distinct and compatible argument and also bring it to the South African schooling system.

    Read More

More about Mission Schools or Christian Religious Schools in Africa

Open Document