Africentric Perception of Intelligent Behaviours and the Use of Folklore to Facilitate Moral and Interpersonal Skills in Children

Abstract

Purpose: One of the current interests in developmental psychology is the impact of culture on cognitive development. This paper is built on a study whose purpose was to investigate how Nso people of the North West Region of Cameroon perceive intelligent behaviours in children and the cultural strategies for facilitating these behaviours. The study highlighted how folklore influences the Nso child’s ability to make moral judgements and develop interpersonal skills as forms of intelligent behaviours. Methodology: A concurrent nested mixed research design was used for the study which called for both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, through the use of a questionnaire and interview guide. The sample was composed of 33 children and 35 parents in three villages in Nkum subdivision in Bui division. The qualitative data were analysed using content and narrative analysis. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data. Data was presented using tables, charts and conceptual maps. Findings: The following findings showed that by interpreting proverbs and folktales children are encouraged to practice virtues such as respect, honesty and compassion and discouraged from societal vices and equally learned various aspects of interpersonal skills such as Conflict resolution. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study was underpinned by Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory of Cognitive Development (1978), Nsamenang’s Social Ontogenetic Theory (1992), Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983, 1999) and Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (1985). It is recommended that educational programmes should inculcate the teaching and evaluation of native proverbs and folktales. Novels that embody these proverbs and folktales should be taught in schools as a means of preserving ethical values and development of other cognitive skills in child.