Social Education and Ethics Programme: Its Main Sources and Their Justifications in Post-colonial Kenya

Abstract

The study focuses on the four main sources of moral standards in post-colonial Kenya, namely, the traditional African context, Christianity, Islam and Secular humanism. Thus, while the study examines a programme which bears the heading, "Social Education and Ethics" (SEE), its focus is on the moral education component of this programme. Chapter one presents an Introduction to the study. In Chapter two, the study examines the history of moral education in Kenyan Schools, from the introduction of the Western type of formal education into the country up to the present. The Chapter points out that this history teaches us that moral education ought never to be considered to begin and end in classroom learning. This is because this kind of learning lacks ample opportunities for practical experience in what is being learnt. This situation gives rise to the need for the whole community to take part in the task of educating the young morally. In Chapter three, the study examines the rationale for SEE as exemplified by the present SEE syllabus for Kenya's secondary school cycle. The chapter holds that this version of the rationale for SEE is mainly commendable for its emphasis on the need to utilise insights drawn from contemporary educational theory. In Chapter four, the study holds that traditional African values mainly highlight the need to cultivate the sense of collective responsibility in all the members of postcolonial Kenyan society. In Chapter five, the study urges that Christian and Islamic ethics point to the need for moral ideals in the individual's moral development. Moreover, these two religious ethics make a useful contribution towards meeting this need. In Chapter six, the study holds that the various secular humanistic views on ethics point to the need to acknowledge and make use of man's abilities to improve his overall condition. In the concluding Chapter, namely Chapter seven, the study attempts to offer a synthesis of the various useful insights that investigations in the previous five chapters have yielded. The chapter arrives at the conclusion that Kenya's ethical plurality need not be a set-back to the development of a moral education programme whose basis or foundation is rational and applicable to the needs of the post-colonial Kenyan society.