The Adaptation Concept in British Colonial Education.

The article examines the failure of the attempts in British colonial education to adapt western education concepts to Black African conditions. The attempts were based on the suggestions of Jesse Jones as a result of the Phelps-Stokes commission in the United States. Key reasons for the failure of these concepts include: the fact that the primary school teachers were overtaxed by the exacting requirements of the adaptation strategy; the fact that the teachers were neither trained nor provided support by other community institutions; and the fact that the work-oriented and environment-oriented reformed curricula required a degree of creativity, flexibility and adaptability which made the teachers feel insecure.