CHAPTER 7: Developing Citizenship Education Curriculum Cross-Culturally: A Democratic Approach With South African and Kenyan Educators

School curricula in democracies of sub-Saharan Africa have been more heavily influenced by Western educational reforms rather than by the knowledge of educators in African contexts or the direction they consider appropriate for formal democratic instruction in their respective countries. This situation is the result of historical conditions such as colonialism, contemporary influences such as globalization, and even international “collaboration” whereby Western (read: United States) democracy and culture are imparted to educators in other nations through “civic” education projects. The term democracy itself has become a slogan, and U.S. civic educators who seek to spread democracy globally have considered an American model of democracy as appropriate. In general, therefore, there is a need to examine American funded projects for the kinds of assumptions about democracy that underlie such projects, as well as the procedures American educators have used with international participants as they engage in democratic education efforts. Democratic citizenship education constitutes not only an important area of study for the field of comparative education, but also provides an opportunity for comparative educators to emphasize the role that culture plays in shaping democracy in different contexts. Moreover, attention should be given to using democratic-oriented research methodologies in the conduct of citizenship education projects.