Culturally Centered Education
The numbers in the Kiswahili language form a decimal (base 10) number system. That is, all of the numbers are formed from the base of 10 numbers: moja ~ 1 mbili ~ 2 tatu ~ 3 nne ~ 4 tano ~ 5 sita ~ 6 saba ~ 7 nane ~ 8 tisa ~ 9 kumi …
A key principle in African philosophy is that what is first is sacred; and that by imitating what is sacred, we too become sacred. In African geometry, we mimic nature in order to know the deepest truths of our universe. Take for instance the spiral. Spirals are found throughout nature. In geometry, the sacred (golden) …
Is your child LAZY? Lacking discipline Academically apathetic Zoned out Your spoiled ‘lil baby If your child exhibits these symptoms then ask your doctor about LiveinthevillageTM. Liveinthevillage is an all-natural supplement that works to cure LAZY by immersing your child in a village environment. Side effects include: going to fetch water, cooking their own meals …
The main programming factors for strength athletes are intensity (weight), volume (sets x reps), frequency, and recovery. If the athlete wants to increase his strength optimally, he must follow a program with a specific arrangement of these factors. The volume of a particular exercise includes both effective reps and junk reps. A junk rep is …
African mathematics is metaphorical! It is a technical metaphor for the moral and spiritual principles that guide our lives. Each week this semester in our mathematics and science courses we pose an African philosophical challenge to our students. We give them an African proverb and challenge them to find the connection between our topic for …
The African Origin of Mathematics – Wohu no sɛn? Read More »
Ọgbọ́n ju ágbára Wisdom is greater than strength. I’ve been reading Ìjàpá stories lately. Ìjàpá is the trickster tortoise among the Yorùbá who is always using his cunning intellect to outsmart the people and achieve his (usually greed-based) goals. Ọgbọ́n ju ágbára is most definitely Ìjàpá’s motto. Although this is generally a noble adage, for …
It is a little known fact that the tree in the NKALA logo was inspired by one of our venerable elders (now amongst the ancestors) Baba Medahochi Kofi Ọmọwálé Zannu. Baba Medahochi was one of the early pioneers in the movement of Diaspora Africans’ reclamation of their traditional culture and spirituality. Baba Medahochi used to …
One frequent question that I get from students is some form of “when will this ever be useful to me?” or “what is the real-life application of this?” These questions are typically asked with relation to mathematics problems. As an educator, the correct answer that I am supposed to give (according to the rules of …
The “when will I ever use this?” question and the most important skill Read More »
The mark of the true master is that he sees his art in everything and is able to arrive at a masterpiece regardless of the path that he starts on. The same is true for Afrikan mathematics, in that we are able to start with the wrong answer in order to arrive at the correct answer.
Students know that they can often check their answers for correctness by substituting their answer back into the original problem or equation. Most will choose not to do this, however, since it is time consuming. But