“EDUCATION AS THE PRACTICE OF FREEDOM” TO ADDRESS EDUCATIONAL POVERTY IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA

Authors

  • Léocadie Lushombo Boston College

Keywords:

Catholic Social Teaching, Cognitive Capability, Educations as the Practice of Freedom, Feminine Genius, Religious Women, Theological Studies, Women’s Education

Abstract

Educational Poverty refers to significant differences in cognitive style or development, past school history, or social/emotional development that significantly impede a person’s ability to function in regular learning environments without supports or accommodations. 1 A significant number of both religious and lay women in Sub-Saharan African countries are affected by such a poverty, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of the influential factors of such poverty is the oppressive traditional gender norms which guide behaviour in both Church and society. This paper explains the ways such norms obstruct women’s education. In dialogue with Catholic social teaching and Martha Nussbaum’s cognitive capability, it develops a critical theological reflection based on Paulo Freire’s insights on Education as the Practice of Freedom that it proposes as a way out.

Author Biography

Léocadie Lushombo, Boston College

Léocadie Lushombo is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is doing her PhD in Theological Ethics at Boston College. Prior to her current studies, she completed her Master in Theological Ethics at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and in Sustainable Development at the Universidad Pontificio Comillas in Madrid. She has worked as a Consultant-Trainer in Organizational Development and Institutional Management Renforcement regarding issues of degradation of environment, gender, and political rights of women in the perspective of Governance, Gender, and affordable housing programs in the DRC, Cameroon, and Peru. In 2015 and 2016, she published four articles. Email: lushombo@bc.edu.

References

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Published

2018-03-31

How to Cite

Lushombo, L. (2018). “EDUCATION AS THE PRACTICE OF FREEDOM” TO ADDRESS EDUCATIONAL POVERTY IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA. Asian Horizons, 12(01), 52–65. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2146