Reflect: What does it mean for Africa to be socially constructed? In which ways can knowledge about the social construction of Africa help us towards a just framing of Africa in the classroom? In which ways can it be dangerous?
Well done, Aurora! I agree that centering the diverse people and cultures of the continent is an important way to correct the false narratives about Africa and its people.
At its root, the idea that Africa is socially constructed means that the groupings of people, place and practice aren’t groups by their nature, but rather because enough people have grouped those people/places/practices together that the social definition of that people/place/practice, and the questions one can ask about them, are “understood.” This basic idea of constructivism is unavoidable; if humans didn’t rely on some level of grouping and definition, we would quickly go insane. It’s along the same lines of how we’re able to identify a friend or family member from day to day despite the fact that in a real, physical sense, our physical presence is in a constant state of change.
Upon realizing that constructing schemas is unavoidable, the key is to be aware of and interrogate these constructed schemas as much as possible to mitigate the misunderstandings or harm that could arise from them.
This is something I think about a lot when talking with my students. As much as possible, I try and encourage my students to try to be as specific as possible about the people, places, and practices we're discussing. At the same time, one of the trickiest parts about teaching "world history" from around 1500 to the present is choosing what people/practices/places get to be included in the limited time we have together in class. For right now, the best way I've come up with to avoid over-generalizing as I construct a narrative of the history of the world for the kids is to describe things as case studies and explicitly explain why we're talking about, say, the Kingdom of Kongo and not the Songhai Empire or another place within the context of what we're learning about. I'd love to hear how others approach this!
Well said Aurora! I agree with you that For Africa to be socially constructed means that others did not understand what was the reality of Africa until the Europeans defined it. Unfortunately, it was constructed from a European point of view leaving no space for understanding what Africa’s real culture and people had to share with the world! This knowledge about the social construction of Africa can help us towards framing Africa in the classroom because it can help us ensure that we center our lessons from factual facts of African history. Helping students understand that there are multiple points of views and different perspectives. It is dangerous because if we don’t focus on teaching the reality of African history, it leads students to believe African narratives that are not accurate. Therefore, the cycle of European’s ideal social construction of Africa will continue.