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A Genealogy of Disability and Special Education in Nigeria: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the Present

Senu-Oke, Helen
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322584482

Abstract Details

2011, Doctor of Education, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
This study discusses the history of education in Nigeria with emphasis on the need for a comprehensive special education program that will provide basic education for all individuals with disabilities in Nigeria. In Nigeria, as in many other underdeveloped countries, individuals that are defined as disabled are generally deprived of equal access to basic public education and other fundamental services that are guaranteed to their “non-disabled” counterpart. Due to cultural beliefs and social attitudes, an individual that is defined as “disabled” is treated as a social taboo associated with evil omens or bad luck. Consequently, individuals that are defined as disabled are excluded from upwardly mobile social and economic opportunities including access to educational pursuits with the consequence that, they face an uncertain future, a life of absolute poverty, deprivation and abuse. Cultural beliefs pertaining to individuals that are defined as disabled are further compounded by British colonial policy that failed to consider the education of individuals that are defined as disabled as a policy priority in the education of native people in Nigeria. Therefore, this study will apply Foucault’s genealogical approach to history, and critical disability theory in education to analyze the impact of Nigerian cultural practices, the influence of Christianity and Islamic religion, and also British colonial policy on educational policy priorities in post-independence Nigeria. This study will show that the Nigerian educational system does not provide equal educational opportunity for individuals that are defined as “disabled”, resulting from the outcome of cultural practices, colonial and post-colonial policies that define individuals on the basis of whether they are “disabled” (unable) or “non-disabled” (able). In conclusion, this study will make recommendations about the way forward for Nigerian policy makers in order to encourage the need for the establishment of a non-discriminatory educational system as a matter of policy priority, and also as a means to guarantee fundamental human rights for all individuals with disabilities as a matter of social justice.
Dennis Carlson, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
108 p.
Binary theory; Comparative education; Cultural beliefs; Disability rights; Foucauldian theory; Genealogy of disability; Hegemony; Inclusive education; Marginalization; Normal-Abnormal; Otherness; Social Justice; Special Education; Subjugation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Senu-Oke, H. (2011). A Genealogy of Disability and Special Education in Nigeria: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the Present [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322584482

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Senu-Oke, Helen. A Genealogy of Disability and Special Education in Nigeria: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the Present. 2011. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322584482.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Senu-Oke, Helen. "A Genealogy of Disability and Special Education in Nigeria: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the Present." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322584482

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1322584482
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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.