On Objects and Voices: Material Culture and Oral History in the Case of Shule Ya Kujitambua

Values of the Shule

Shule Ya Kujtiambua, as is common for Independent Black Institutions, persistantly ascribed to incredibly strong values. These values are often referred to as the Nguzo Saba or The Seven Principles. These values are cooperation, self sufficiency, self reliance, contributing to the community, and a positive attitude towards Black history and culture. The teachers at the Shule would incorporate these seven principles into each day. This curriculum was more than lesson planning, it was created throughout everyday life. Independent Black Institutions maintain that all experiences which surround a person are part of their daily curriculum.  Quoted from “Planning an Independent Black Educational Institution” the authors explain that “the community is the curriculum and the curriculum is the community”. By instilling the Nguzo Saba in the minds of these students, they will take these values with them into their lives.

Among the values that are stressed in the curriculum are:

Nation building - “to develop, service, own and control our lives and our communities… for the ultimate survival of African People”;
Communalism - “a set of human relationships based upon cooperation and concern for African people transcending self and completely disavows competitive individualism”
Humanism - stressing “human rather than material concern”
African Personality - in which African People develop “attitudes, values, knowledge and behaviors necessary for the development, maintenance, and perpetuation of the African World”
Decolonization - a reestablishing of the “political, economic, social and educational institutions” which stand in the way of ultimate freedom.
Harmony between man and his environment - a stress towards “functional congruencey between man and his natural surroundings”

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