Essay CMY4804 – Define the concepts of Afrocentricity – Community Assignment Help

Assignment Task

When research collects information from human participants, the participants’ world view, history and cultural context will influence the outcome of the study. There is increased recognition that for research to be meaningful in an African context, an Afrocentric paradigm should be followed in which indigenous knowledge and methodologies are used.
 

Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to do an in-depth literature of Afrocentric research methodology, and a working definition of concepts such as Afrocentricity, Afro-sensed research and indigenous knowledge will be extracted from the literature review. Molefi Kete Asante’s (1980) philosophies on what contributes as characteristics of Afrocentric research methods will form part of the study to give a reader a clear understanding of the study.

Define the concepts of Afrocentricity, afro – sensed research and indigenous knowledge
Afrocentricity-. Afrocentricity is a frame of reference wherein phenomena are viewed from the perspective of the African person. The Afrocentric approach seeks in every situation the appropriate centrality of the African person (Asante, 1987). In education, this means that teachers provide students the opportunity to study the world and its people, concepts, and history from an African worldview.
Afrocentrism is, to some theorists, “what makes black studies ‘Black” (Azibo, 1992: 66).It involves keeping the African and African Diasporan peoples at the center of any question. Asante purportedly created the term. He explains that: The crystallization of this critical perspective named Afrocentricity, which means, literally, placing African ideals at the center of any analysis that involves African culture and behavior (Asante, 1987, p. 6).
According to Asante (1990:6),the Afrocentrism seeks to uncover and use codes, paradigms, symbols, motifs, myths, and circles of discussion that reinforce the centrality of African ideals and values as a valid frame of reference for acquiring and examining data.
Steward (1992:36) believes that Afrocentricity was defined, partly, in contrast to Eurocentrism. According to Stewart (1992), some Afro centrists who acknowledge plural centrism’s generally also argumentatively attempt to distinguish Afrocentrism from Eurocentrism. Advocates of this view argue that Eurocentrism is flooded by an inherent predisposition toward control and domination that produces attempts to create hierarchical rather than cooperative relationships with other peoples. It is argued that this predisposition is absent in other centrism (Stewart, 1992,.p. 36).
Afro sensed research is a unique to the social structure and cultural values of African indigenous communities. Afro-sensed research promotes the concept that relevant research output could be achieved when it satisfies not only material needs of people, but also their intellectual, spiritual and cultural needs (Mkabela, 2005). Mkabela (2005) is of the opinion that this kind of research seeks to undertake an African analysis and to produce indigenous African knowledge that recognises the African voice; that tells another story. In the words of Mkabela (2005), we learn that Afro-sensed research is the nucleus of Afrocentric paradigm, which is yet to be realised in South Africa, with the following aims:
To ensure development of an African- centred perspective
To ensure that ethics are culturally defined, and have an indeginous African code
To create guidelines and ensure genuine incorporation of indigenous Africa views in such documents and lastly
To ensure research methods and styles that are culturally acceptableIndigenous knowledge-It is a research done where indigenous communities are involved as participants, subjects, or are junior members of the research team. The indigenous communities are approached as negotiated partnerships and allowed to define and identify themselves to a degree to which they have control of the research (Mkabela, 2005). The indigenous communities have an active involvement in research and may form cultivated and informed expectations of what constitutes research as they are informed of the purpose of the research, the outputs and the expected outcomes (Cunningham and Durie, 1998). This approach allows the professional to learn with, by and from indigenous communities thus creating a working relationship in which people’s priorities and values become more fully expressed in research. It is also called a participatory approach in a sense that it allows researchers to establish rapport, convene, catalyse, facilitate, adapt, watch, listen, learn and respect (Mkabela, 2005).

Discuss characteristics of Afrocentric research methods

Explain the framework for indigenous research

Analyse the core considerations to research methodologies in the Africa context