Ondjango's pedagogy: a didactic perspective in the teaching of orality to primary school children in Cuito

Abstract

This article proposes a discussion on teaching Portuguese orality in primary education, based on the concept of ondjango, present in the cultural tradition of Angola. It questions the traditional classroom configuration—called the Pedagogy of the Nape—where children sit one behind the other, breaking the possibility of necessary interaction. The article suggests the potential for the ondjango ideology to transform the school space into a community meeting environment, where school knowledge is practiced in a socio-interactive manner, through the dialogic exploration offered by ondjango pedagogy. The proposal aims to value local cultural identity and promote the teaching of orality, an indispensable skill in societies where the spoken word is vital. Through bibliographic and auto-ethnographic research, the cultural aspects of ondjango are addressed in an interface with pedagogical practices that value dialogue, interaction, and the active participation of the student through their own spoken word. The intention is to present the practice of ondjango, as a place of conversation, as a learning space, exploring the active role of the student, the freedom of acceptance of their voice by the community and by the ondjango elder who does not stand on the podium, as in traditional classrooms, but opens and closes the ondjanguian circle. An analogy is made between this practice and the classroom space, proposing to value the student’s voice and their active role in sharing their knowledge, clearly enabling the construction of knowledge mediated by the interactionist teacher and not informed by the priest-teacher.