1st Edition
Ancient and Indigenous Wisdom Traditions in African and Euro-Asian Contexts Towards More Balanced Curricular Representations and Classroom Practices
This book brings attention to the understudied and often overlooked question of how curricula and classroom practices might inadvertently reproduce exclusionary discourses and narratives that omit or negate particular cultures, histories, and wisdom traditions.
With a focus on representations and classroom practices related especially to ancient and Indigenous wisdom traditions and cultures, it includes unique contributions from scholars studying these questions in various contexts. The book offers a range of important studies from key African and Euro-Asian contexts, including Afghanistan, Albania, Greece, Iran, South Africa, Sweden, Türkiye, and Zimbabwe. The various chapter contributions address and discuss nuances of each of the contexts under study. The contributions also help highlight some key commonalities across these contexts, including how dominant discourses and various forces have historically shaped—and continue to shape and reproduce—such omissions, misrepresentations, and marginalization. In addition to seeking to reconcile with some of these ancient and Indigenous wisdom traditions and cultures, the book charts a path forward towards more holistic analytical frameworks as well as more inclusive and balanced representations and classroom practices in these aforementioned geographic contexts and beyond.
It will appeal to scholars, researchers, undergraduate, and graduate students with interests in Indigenous education, curriculum studies, citizenship education, history of education, religion, and educational policy.
Foreword
George Sefa Dei
Introduction – Historical and Living Indigenous Wisdom Traditions in Contention: Why This Edited Volume?
Ehaab D. Abdou and Theodore G. Zervas
1. Exploring Historical Roots of the Chasm and Its Modern Manifestations and (Re)Productions
Ehaab D. Abdou
2. Representing Ancient Belief Systems to Fit National Constructs: Albanian and Greek School Curricula and Textbooks in Transition
Konstantinos Giakoumis
3. Reconciling with the Ancient Greeks: Ancient Greek Religion and Greek Identity in the Early Greek School Textbook
Theodore G. Zervas and Konstantinos Giakoumis
4. What Has Been Lost?: Tracing the Religious Diversity of Anatolia over Discourses in Contemporary Secondary Education Curriculum of Türkiye
Özge Karakus-Ozdemirci and İlbey C. N. Ozdemirci
5. An Analysis of Afghanistan's 1–12 Education Curricula and its Treatment of Non-Abrahamic Belief Systems
Safia Amiry, Narjes Hashemi, and Mustafa Ramazan
6. Irreconcilable Narratives? Textual Representations of Zoroastrians in Iranian Textbooks and Their Experiences in Iran
Khodadad (Khodi) Kaviani
7. Keeping the Balance: Reflections on Religion Education in Upper Secondary School in Sweden
Linda Jonsson and Niclas Månsson
8. Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Within Mathematics and Technology Education: Teachers’ Beliefs and Experiences of How Culturally-Based Activities Shaped Their Spirituality, Identities, Worldviews and Attitudes
Jayaluxmi Naidoo and Asheena Singh-Pillay
9. Moral Regeneration, Multi-Faith Perspectives, and Intercultural Exchange Representations in Zimbabwe’s Religious Education Curricula and Textbooks
Gift Masengwe, Francis Machingura, and David Bishau
10. Conclusion – Proposing a Typology to Deconstruct Representations of Historical and Living Wisdom Traditions, and Ways to Foster Dialogue and Reconciliation Efforts
Ehaab D. Abdou and Theodore G. Zervas
Biography
Ehaab D. Abdou is Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.
Theodore G. Zervas is Professor in the School of Education at North Park University, USA.
“The cultural heritage of African and Middle Eastern nations has experienced numerous colonizations throughout their extensive histories, culminating in European invasions. The lack of critical thinking, rooted in historical facts, facilitated the development of negative implicit biases against ancient and medieval Indigenous Peoples and religions by the colonizers. Therefore, the significance of this volume lies in elucidating how education emerged as a potent tool for shaping or distorting the cultural identity of each nation. The meticulous editorial efforts of Ehaab D. Abdou and Theodore G. Zervas, alongside their contributing authors, have successfully illuminated the role of Education, employing postcolonial and postmodernist perspectives, in ushering in a new era of knowledge production that advocates tolerance and respect for diversity. The volume is poised to receive acclaim from various disciplines, including Postcolonial and Cultural Studies, Comparative Religious Studies, Comparative Education, and Post-Eurocentric Studies.”- Dr. Hany Rashwan, United Arab Emirates University, UAE, & University of Birmingham, UK.
“In this rich and well researched book, Ehaab Abdou and Theodore Zervas make a compelling case for both the need for, and benefit of, highlighting long-neglected marginalized religious identities in different national communities. Each chapter contributes to the book's premise in its own unique way, providing readers with an engaging variety of methodologies, cultures, data, and analyses. I would particularly recommend it for graduate students (as well as undergraduate students in specialized, upper-level seminars) in diverse disciplines and fields ranging from anthropology, history, Indigenous studies, religious studies, social studies content and methods courses, as well as any other courses addressing diversity and inclusion issues.”- Dr. Jeremy Jiménez, State University of New York (SUNY), Cortland, USA
“Ehaab D. Abdou and Theodore G. Zervas have produced a cutting edge, invaluable resource for those committed to the task of decolonizing education. Ancient and Indigenous Wisdom Traditions in African and Euro-Asian Contexts calls for educational and religious institutions to ethically engage both living and extinct wisdom traditions in a way that displaces simplistic binaries serving dominant religions and that exposes dangerous generalizations enabling hegemonies. This important book envisions a pluriversalism in service of the common good that delineates prosocial and inclusive interpretations of the religions for the flourishing of all creation. This incredible resource deserves a wide reading.”- Dr. Allen Jorgenson, Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, Canada
“These volumes provide important and useful contributions to Dr. Pinar’s curriculum theorizing series. Curriculum work is both global in reach and local in its implementation and context. Herein lie some challenges to the field, which can be both too broad and myopic. The two volumes stand together well, with a strong conceptualization, and that demonstrate excellent scholarship.” - Theodore Christou, Ontario Tech University, Canada
“The collection of essays found in these volumes arrives at a time when faith in the old social, political, and economic orders are vanishing, yet there seems to be no consensus around where new directions might be found. The strength of these volumes lies in the ecumenical way they respond to our current historical moment. Readers will find deep and considered engagements around what a range of wisdom traditions, including those rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems and pre-Abrahamic traditions, might bring to questions of curriculum and pedagogy. These volumes will be of interest to anyone looking for inspiration around how the project of education might work in service of new ways of storying our place in the world, and our relations with one another and the ecological systems that give us life.” - David Scott, University of Calgary, Canada
