Clicky
  • home Home
  • keyboard_arrow_right LIFESTYLE
  • keyboard_arrow_right Posts
  • keyboard_arrow_rightWhat connects Shaka Zulu, decolonisation and mathematical models

What connects Shaka Zulu, decolonisation and mathematical models

Anné H. Verhoef, North-West University and Hennie A Kruger, North-West University

Is it possible to decolonise mathematical sciences?

Some researchers argue that it’s not. They cite numerous reasons why. Two include the fact that decolonisation is extremely difficult for the “pure sciences” such as mathematics. And that the concept of decolonising is “poorly defined and contentious, in this domain”.

But our research shows that it is possible to achieve the goal of decolonising teaching material for mathematics. This process refers to getting rid of teaching and learning methods and research that reflects a colonial mindset. It’s the transformation of the curriculum to one that’s inclusive and non-discriminatory.

We argue that by rediscovering and recovering African examples in the teaching of maths, it’s possible to “deconstruct” an exclusive Western body of knowledge.

We focused on the operational research curriculum as an example of a mathematical science. Classical operational research is mainly concerned with the use of mathematical techniques and models used to make decisions. Both quantitative modelling – for example, mathematical and computational techniques – and qualitative modelling (problem structuring methods) are used to analyse complex problems.

The discipline was developed in European universities in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was further developed during World War II, when mathematical techniques were used in warfare.

But this is a very narrow version of the history of operational research. It excludes similar practices elsewhere in the world. For example, there are a number of examples from African history that are similar to Western problem situations. These also typically solved complex problems by using operational research models and techniques.

Operational research is an important subject and taught at most South African universities at undergraduate and a postgraduate levels. It’s often taught under different names. These include: quantitative management, management science, decision science, business analytics and industrial engineering.

But no attempt has been made to investigate the decolonisation of operational research in South Africa. This would require, among other things, an inclusive curriculum by replacing existing material with examples from Africa.

Examples from Africa

We identified a range of examples in agriculture and warfare from the continent that could be used in teaching operational research.

Agriculture: We identified three historical agricultural examples. These were market days, maize production and integration between grazing livestock, crops and wildlife.

In pre-colonial Africa market days were organised and rotated between different villages. Finding the right village for a market day was comparable to an operational research problem involving a host of criteria and a great deal of decision-making. The criteria would include factors such as availability, cost considerations, population (clients), facilities and fair rotating of locations.

The maize production example reflects the fact that farming the crop had to be integrated into the forest zones of West Africa. Farmers had to create complex fallow systems by resting sections of land between crops to restore the land’s fertility or to manage surplus production. This too required a typical operational research approach.

These are typical examples of problem situations in an African context, where operational research models functioned in their own unique way.

War strategies: There are remarkable similarities between operational research applications developed in World War II and African warfare. To illustrate these similarities, we analysed the war strategies of King Shaka Zulu.

King Shaka Zulu is one of the best-known leaders in African war history. His life and work are widely recognised in various disciplines as having had a profound influence on South African history.

Here, we also found possible links with operational research techniques and models. For example, an operational research assignment model is aimed at determining the most efficient assignment of people to projects. This is so that the total cost or time to perform a task is minimised.

Shaka Zulu divided his soldiers into regiments – a typical assignment problem where soldiers are assigned based on criteria such as age, skill and physical capabilities.

The problem may also be viewed as a labour planning problem, where staffing needs (number of soldiers) over specific time periods or for specific purposes (battles) are required.

We also identified an operational research application in selection models. Here, people (soldiers) are selected on the basis of strengths and weaknesses of warriors in the context of the expected battle.

Going forward

Including examples like this in the curriculum would benefit students who have been marginalised by the exclusive use of Western examples in academia. It would also legitimise knowledge that’s embedded in their own histories. And it would show how operational research is fundamentally linked to Africa, its people and its history.

Including African examples would also show how knowledge systems are intertwined and create a new frame of reference.

A few practical pointers could include:

  • Identifying examples from African history that are similar to Western problem situations that are typically solved using mathematical models.
  • Ensuring the focus is on decentering Western knowledge, not simply replacing the Western ownership of mathematical sciences with an African discipline.
  • An acknowledgement that using African examples is just the starting point. The curriculum then needs to be expanded.

The decolonisation of mathematical sciences should be treated as a continuous process. It involves dreaming but also laborious research and development.The Conversation

Anné H. Verhoef, Professor in Philosophy, North-West University and Hennie A Kruger, Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems, North-West University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Written by: Zuko



UpComing Shows

DownLoad Our Mobile App

Privacy Policy

THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT FORMS PART OF KAYA 959’S TERMS OF USE POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY TERM OF THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT, YOU MUST CEASE YOUR ACCESS OF THIS WEBSITE IMMEDIATELY. 

POPIA ActTo promote the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies; to introduce certain conditions so as to establish minimum requirements for the processing of personal information; to provide for the establishment of an Information Regulator to exercise certain powers and to perform certain duties and functions in terms of this Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000; to provide for the issuing of codes of conduct; to provide for the rights of persons regarding unsolicited electronic communications and automated decision making; to regulate the flow of personal information across the borders of the Republic; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

RECOGNISING THAT—

  • section 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that everyone has the right to privacy;
  • the right to privacy includes a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information;
  • the State must respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights;

AND BEARING IN MIND THAT—

  • consonant with the constitutional values of democracy and openness, the need for economic and social progress, within the framework of the information society, requires the removal of unnecessary impediments to the free flow of information, including personal information;

AND IN ORDER TO—

  • regulate, in harmony with international standards, the processing of personal information by public and private bodies in a manner that gives effect to the right to privacy subject to justifiable limitations that are aimed at protecting other rights and important interests,
  1. Definitions and Interpretation

1.1.“Personal Information” means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person and where it is applicable, identifiable, existing juristic person, including all information as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. 

1.2  Parliament assented to POPIA on 19 November 2013. The commencement date of section 1Part A of Chapter 5section 112 and section 113 was 11 April 2014. The commencement date of the other sections was 1 July 2020 (with the exception of section 110 and 114(4). The President of South Africa has proclaimed the POPI commencement date to be 1 July 2020.

 
1.3. “Processing” means the creation, generation, communication, storage, destruction of personal information as more fully defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.  

1.4. “You” or the “user” means any person who accesses and browses this website for any purpose. 

1.4. “Website” means the website of the KAYA 959 at URL www.kaya959.co.za or such other URL as KAYA 959 may choose from time to time.   

  1. Status and Amendments

2.1. KAYA 959 respects your privacy. This privacy policy statement sets out KAYA 959’s information gathering and dissemination practices in respect of the Website. 

2.2. This Privacy Policy governs the processing of personal information provided to KAYA 959 through your use of the Website. 

2.3. Please note that, due to legal and other developments, KAYA 959 may amend these terms and conditions from time to time.  

  1. Processing of Personal Information

3.1. By providing your personal information to KAYA 959 you acknowledge that it has been collected directly from you and consent to its processing by KAYA 959. 

3.2. Where you submit Personal Information (such as name, address, telephone number and email address) via the website (e.g. through completing any online form) the following principles are observed in the processing of that information: 

3.2.1. KAYA 959 will only collect personal information for a purpose consistent with the purpose for which it is required. The specific purpose for which information is 
collected will be apparent from the context in which it is requested. 

3.2.2. KAYA 959 will only process personal information in a manner that is adequate, relevant and not excessive in the context of the purpose for which it is processed. 

3.2.3. Personal information will only be processed for a purpose compatible with that for which it was collected, unless you have agreed to an alternative purpose in writing or KAYA 959 is permitted in terms of national legislation of general application dealing primarily with the protection of personal information. 

3.2.4. KAYA 959 will keep records of all personal Information collected and the specific purpose for which it was collected for a period of 1 (one) year from the date on which it was last used. 

3.2.5. KAYA 959 will not disclose any personal information relating to you to any third party unless your prior written agreement is obtained or KAYA 959 is required to do so by law. 

3.2.6. If personal information is released with your consent KAYA 959 will retain a record of the information released, the third party to which it was released, the reason for the release and the date of release, for a period of 1 (one) year from the date on which it was last used. 

3.2.7. KAYA 959 will destroy or delete any personal information that is no longer needed by KAYA 959 for the purpose it was initially collected, or subsequently processed. 

3.3. Note that, as permitted by the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, KAYA 959 may use personal information collected to compile profiles for statistical purposes. No information contained in the profiles or statistics will be able to be linked to any specific user.    

  1. Collection of anonymous data

4.1. KAYA 959 may use standard technology to collect information about the use of this website. This technology is not able to identify individual users but simply allows KAYA 959 to collect statistics. 

4.2. KAYA 959 may utilise temporary or session cookies to keep track of users’ browsing habits. A cookie is a small file that is placed on your hard drive in order to keep a record of your interaction with this website and facilitate user convenience. 

4.2.1. Cookies by themselves will not be used to identify users personally but may be used to compile identified statistics relating to use of services offered or to provide KAYA 959 with feedback on the performance of this website. 

4.2.2. The following classes of information may be collected in respect of users who have enabled cookies: 

4.2.2.1. The browser software used; 

4.2.2.2. IP address; 

4.2.2.3. Date and time of activities while visiting the website; 

4.2.2.4. URLs of internal pages visited; and 

4.2.2.5. referrers. 

4.3. If you do not wish cookies to be employed to customize your interaction with this website it is possible to alter the manner in which your browser handles cookies. Please note that, if this is done, certain services on this website may not be available. 

  1. Security

5.1. KAYA 959 takes reasonable measures to ensure the security and integrity of information submitted to or collected by this website, but cannot under any circumstances be held liable for any loss or other damage sustained by you as a result of unlawful access to or dissemination of any personal information by a third party. 

  1. Links to other websites

6.1. KAYA 959 has no control over and accepts no responsibility for the privacy practices of any third party websites to which hyperlinks may have been provided and KAYA 959 strongly recommends that you review the privacy policy of any website you visit before using it further. 

  1. Queries

7.1. If you have any queries about this privacy policy please contact us by emailing [email protected]