International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue XI, November 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Bestern Kaani (PhD)*, Nisbert Machila (MA.History)
University of Zambia, School of Education, Department of Educational Psychology, Sociology, and Special Education, Lusaka, Zambia
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: This paper sought to describe the basic tenets of the concept of intelligence among Tonga parents of rural Zambia. Most researchers presume that what western schooling teaches and measured by intelligence tests is universal and fostered by all cultures around, therefore, failure to succeed in both constitutes non-intelligent behavior. Others argue that, although the concept of intelligence is universal, what each culture considers intelligent behavior is unique to the prevailing socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Using the realist ethnography method, eight parents were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to provide narratives of both their lived childhood experiences and expectations of their children during and after school. The study revealed that Tonga parents make a clear distinction between being intelligent (kuba amaanu) and being unintelligent (kubula maanu). Being intelligent (kuba amaanu) is however, framed based on four core concepts – kumvwa (to follow instructions), kutumika (to be responsible), kusyomeka (to be trustworthy), and kucenjela (to be clever) – framed based on concepts of maanu (which may also be defined as cognition) and busongo (wisdom) constitute intelligent behavior.
Keywords: Clever, Intelligent Behavior, Responsibility, Tonga, Trustworthiness.
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the introduction of western education, concepts that constitutes intelligent behavior among African children are evaluated based on Eurocentric cultural lenses, yet the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors of western culture is at variance with African indigenous cultures. The failure to understand and incorporate indigenous concepts of intelligence usually manifests itself in low intelligence quotient (hereafter IQ) scores among, not only in Zambians, but also among most children of non-western ancestry (Serpell, 1993; Sternberg, 2005) because most tests used lack ecological validity. While, European culture stresses that intelligent behavior is exceptional performance on intelligence tests based on compartmentalized and discrete disciplines, Nsamenang (2006, p. 294), argues that “In indigenous African education, all strands of knowledge are interwoven into a common tapestry, which is learned in a participatory curriculum.”
Indigenous African societies perceive intelligent behavior based on collective responsibility rather than individual preference, a trait forcibly reinforced by western education