Towards an Original Postcolonial Classical Pedagogy for African Universities

Classical pedagogy as practised in African universities has largely replicated European models developed without consideration of the distinctive intellectual, cultural, and social contexts of African students and societies. An original postcolonial classical pedagogy, one that retains the intellectual rigour of classical scholarship while making classical material radically accessible and culturally relevant for African learners, constitutes a significant scholarly and practical contribution. This study develops an original postcolonial classical pedagogy theory for African universities, drawing on pedagogical theory, postcolonial education studies, and evidence from Classical Studies teaching practice in Nigerian universities. A grounded theory methodology was adopted, conducting forty-two semi-structured interviews with Classical Studies educators at Nigerian universities, 120 structured questionnaires administered to students across four Nigerian Classical Studies programmes, and systematic classroom observation of 30 Classical Studies teaching sessions across three universities. The grounded theory generated from these data is theorised through Freire's critical pedagogy, Andreotti's postcolonial pedagogical theory, and classical didactic theory. The Postcolonial Classical Pedagogy Framework (PCPF) proposed comprises five principles: cultural brokerage (building explicit bridges between classical and African cultural knowledge), critical inheritance (teaching classical material as an analysable colonial legacy), comparative dialogue (structuring learning around genuine dialogue between classical and African traditions), student epistemic authority (validating African interpretive frameworks alongside classical ones), and generative application (directing classical learning toward African social and creative challenges). Each principle is operationalised in detailed teaching practice guidance. The PCPF constitutes an original theoretical and practical contribution to classical education.

Keywords: postcolonial pedagogy, classical education, African universities, pedagogical theory, original framework