Group Members: McKenzie, Hannah, and Sarah
Written By: McKenzie
The reading Post-colonial Critical Theories by Selmon talks about the a various of different aspects that come into play after colonial powers leaves the country they once occupied.
Picking up on the topic of education we briefly talked about in class in talked about it in relation to our own experiences.
Hannah and I expanded on, and went in some detail for Sahara, about the education system in Kenya that we became familiar while on the KSP Fall 2016 and while living with our homestay. In Kenya, there is a test during what we in America would call 8th grade and this one test determine an individual’s whole life. The result on this test would determine what high school the person went to, and therefore indirectly what sort of university or college they would attend.
Sarah in turn talked about her experience while participating on the France FYS Spring 2016 She explained that high schools are themed therefore a student doesn’t just go to a high school but picks specific career path high school, such as: medicine, science, journalism and so on and so forth.
The presence of colonialism in more deeply ingrained than just in the education and governmental systems that are present in countries such as Kenya or Senegal. In Kenya English is one of the main languages of the country, however it’s only common for English to be spoken often in Nairobi because it is considered to be the “proper” way to speak, while one of the most common spoken languages across the country itself is Kikuyu. In Senegal, French is the national language but most everyone speaks their own ethnic languages.
One of the most easily identifiable influences from the British colonial influences is the presence and use milk in tea. The amount of milk that is used in a cup of tea, the more milk used in a cup is a symbol of being richer or having more money because of the expense that is related to milk. Common practice is tea is being served with guests more milk is put in the guests tea than the host’s to show hospitality and respect for the guest.
Post colonialism and postcolonial is just as it sounds the colonials are away, but their presence is still there and still extremely influential. One of the significant ways this can be seen in a lack of variety in scholarly work. On pages 105 and 106, Selmon talks about how no one from the country writes or contributes to scholarly work in any way. This is because of the lack of opportunity and colonial influences of Europeans writers have the knowledge to write.