Abstract:

The current lack of scholarship on the ways in which indigenous peoples in third world countries reconcile and make sense of global aspirations in terms of their traditional local heritages and values forms a significant gap in the literature on global learning, teaching and leading (Lokkesmoe, 2011; Moran, Harris & Moran, 2007; Abdulai, 2009; Walumbwa & Ndege, 2009). This lack of scholarship from developing countries deeply impacts the shaping of definitions of development, and the defining of development strategies, enacted by the multitude of non-governmental agencies that attempt to support global development within such nations. While some scholars argue that the greatest impediment to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, resides in a lack of effective indigenous leadership (Walumbwa & Ndege, 2009; Moran, Harris & Moran, 2007), few if any have undertaken long-term research into how indigenous peoples, from learners in primary school through adults in leadership positions, understand and reconcile the forces that shape their value systems and thus their acting understandings of what it now means to learn, teach, and lead in a third world setting. Further, many argue that the only way out of poverty for postcolonial Sub-Saharan African countries is through education and leadership that holds the potential "to establish a democratic order; . . . an independent central bank; an independent judiciary; an independent free press and media; an independent electoral commission; a neutral and professional armed or security force; and an efficient civil service" (Ayittey, 2002).

This paper has its genesis in eight years of participatory action research (Bhavnani,1993; Borkman & Schubert, 1994; McIntyre & Lykes, 2004; McTaggart, 1991; Wadsworth, 1998; Whyte,1991) in collaboration with learners, teachers and leaders in the rural southern region of Malawi, where people struggle to survive among social and political turmoil from a devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic, recurring famines and failure of the country as of yet to attain “food sovereignty” (the ability to provide food where and when it is needed, as opposed to purchasing food, fertilizers or pesticides from the outside), recent implementation (since 1994) of a universal public education initiative, and an ongoing struggle for democratic goverment. Across time our mutually-determined objectives have included a focus on education and health initiatives (Kamwendo, 2002; Matiki, 2003); and the socio-cultural negotiation involved in indigenous change agent leadership (Matua & Swadener, 2004).

Selected References:

Etzioni, A. (2004). From empire to community: A new approach to international relations. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lokkesmoe, K. (2011). Transforming global leadership: Applying the lessons learned from Brazil, India, and Nigeria toward the development of an integrated modal of global leadership. In Barbour, J. & Hickman, G. (Eds.), Leadership for transformation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Pp. 197-225.

Moran, R., Harris, P. & Moran, S. (2007). Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for the 21st century. New York: Elsevier.

Walumbwa, F. & Ndege, G. (2009). Cultural mythology and global leadership in Kenya. In Kessler, E. & Wong-MingJi, D. (Eds.), Cultural mythology and global leadership. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 225-241.

Keywords:

Indigenous conceptions of learning, teaching & leading Development in Sub-Saharan Africa.