EMANCIPATORY PEDAGOGY AND THE RASTAFARIAN MOVEMENT - A CASE STUDY OF THE JAMAICAN RASTAFARIAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL IN ETHIOPIA

Oct 15, 2026

This study explores the Jamaican Rastafarian Development Community (JRDC) School in rural Ethiopia, focusing on how Rastafarian culture and spirituality are integrated into K-8 pedagogical practices. It examines community and stakeholder perceptions, addressing how effectively JRDC realized the Rastafari movement’s shared goal for education in Shashamane. Using a Freire-based conceptual framework and an Afrocentric paradigm, the findings identify themes of Afrocentric and spiritual pedagogy alongside tensions linked to rural dependency culture and prevailing post-colonial Western instructional styles. Implications guide curriculum planning for identity development of students of African descent.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Rastafari Beliefs

The School and the Community: JRDC

EMANCIPATORY PEDAGOGY AND THE RASTAFARIAN MOVEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE JAMAICAN ASTAFARIAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL IN ETHIOPIA LADAN RAHNEMA East Carolina University, U.S.A. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the Jamaican Rastafarian Development Community (JRDC) School in rural Ethiopia. The author explored the school’s integration of Rastafarian culture and spirituality on pedagogical practices. Analysis of the perceptions of the school by members of the surrounding community and other stakeholders at the school, including students, parents, teachers, and school leaders, aided in addressing the major research question: How well did the JRDC manifest the vision or shared goal of the Rastafari movement in the form of the K-8 school in the town of Shashamane? Using a conceptual framework based on the work of Freire (1970), this study’s author highlighted the process of emancipatory pedagogy within the workings ofthe school and its influence in the community. An Afrocentric paradigm combined with the theories of West (1993) served as the basis for framing the research process. The author found evidence of the existence of themes developed by the conceptual framework such as Afrocentric and spiritual pedagogy; however, there were opposing factors present at JRDC. These factors were present as a result of the culture of dependency in rural Ethiopia and the post-colonial Western instructional styles predominant in the school. Implications from this study address curriculum planning to support the identity development of students of African descent in developing countries as well as among Diasporic populations. INTRODUCTION Oppressed populations resist and challenge their situation within society in varied and complex ways. Resistance to oppression within educational institutions is particularly critical for marginalized populations because education is the realm in which cultural values are reproduced and young people are socialized. Western values continue to dominate education throughout much of the world despite waves of resistance and discourse that have attempted to create a location where oppressed peoples’ voices can be affirmed. Creating an educational space, developed by the members of historically oppressed and operated independently of the dominant ideology has proven difficult. In response to the Western dominance, African leaders have actively resisted and attempted to develop a position that reinforces racial pride, self-determination, and educational liberation. Black scholars (Asante in Dei & Kempf, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 1990) have reacted to the hegemonic influence of the Western and post-colonial model in education by creating a discourse that questions pedagogical practices and curriculum that, at best, lacks resonance with Black students and, at worst, promotes an identity of inferiority (West, 1993) . Cornel West and Molefi Asante developed theories of oppression and resistance that address the experiences of the African Diaspora. These theories combined with the emancipatory pedagogy of Paulo Freire (1970) address themes of mental subjugation of the oppressed, agency of the oppressed, the spiritual or mystical nature of liberation from subjugation, and the importance of resistance independent of the dominant cultural system. This case study explored how a community, and a school run by its members, exemplified the convergence of the stated theories of resistance in action or “praxis”(Freire, 1970, p.87) . The Educational Planning | Fall 2023 67 Vol. 30, No. 4 community, the Jamaican Rastafarian Development Community (JRDC), and its K-8 school were established by members of the Rastafari faith in rural Ethiopia. They founded the JRDC School to educate and empower their children and the local Ethiopian children who lacked adequate schooling. Rastafari Beliefs The Rastafari movement is one of resistance with a belief in redemption from the effects of slavery throug

FAQs

What research question does the study focus on?

The study asks how well the JRDC manifested the Rastafari movement’s shared vision in the form of a K-8 school in Shashamane.

Which frameworks guide the study’s analysis?

The study uses a conceptual framework based on Freire’s (1970) work and an Afrocentric paradigm supported by theories from West (1993).

What factors influence the school’s emancipatory pedagogy?

Evidence shows Afrocentric and spiritual pedagogy, but opposing factors arise from rural Ethiopia’s dependency culture and post-colonial Western instructional styles dominating the school.

Oct 15, 2026

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