Teachers in Politics in Ex-Colonial Countries

In: The journal of Commonwealth and comparative politics, Band 17, Heft 2, S. 176-191

Abstract

A search of the available literature provides evidence that school teachers' participation in the politics of nationalism in excolonial countries during the independence era was widespread. The reasons for this participation were many, but crucial to success within the new political culture & evolving representative styles of government was the ability of political figures to win popular support. Teachers' marginal social position & command of skills useful in a period of change, especially in rural areas, gave them the opportunity to become leading figures in emerging mass political parties. Access to Western schooling became a necessary condition for upward social mobility. It is hypothesized that the phenomenon of teacher-politicians was linked closely with particular political circumstances & a particular stage in the evolution of school systems, & is unlikely to recur. The consolidation of existing elites militates against the rise of low-status individuals to leadership positions; & the bureaucratization & professionalization of the teaching force in national school systems are incompatible with the participation of individual teachers at the center of political life today. AA.