(Please use YouTube's auto-translate feature to watch the recording with English captions.)

At the request of the African Continental Project (ACP) of DVV International, Dr. Vincent Houessou—linguist-communicator, specialist in language and culture didactics, and expert in alternative adult education—wrote, in June 2025, an article titled “Traditional Approaches to Adult Learning and Education in Africa: The Case of Benin.” On August 21, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM UTC, DVV International's MOJA Platform hosted a webinar on this very topic.

The forty-eight participants in this online meeting, from all regions of Africa, attended a brilliant presentation by Dr. Vincent Houessou, which focused on four key areas:

• The theoretical and methodological framework of the article;

• The existing traditions in Adult Education and Learning (ALE) in Benin;

• The analysis of identified ALE traditions;

• The type of ALE tradition that is advisable.

Seven members of the ACP/MOJA project team took part in the webinar as facilitators. These included: David Harrington, Project Leader; Lindia Trout, Communications Officer at the ACP office in Cape Town, South Africa; Lauricha Erasmus, Project Officer at the ACP Coordination Office in Cape Town, South Africa; Abdoulaye Konota, Oumayma Kefi, Joseph Mosanda, and Dyson Mthawanji, all Regional Communications Officers for West Africa, North Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa respectively.

After the welcome and general participant introductions led by Oumaima Kefi, ACP Project Director, David Harrington explained the rationale for the webinar and the importance of the topic. To contextualize the event, he stated:

"By examining our origins, we can better understand our future, and the article on traditional approaches to adult learning and education responds to this challenge. It explores the historical influences on ALE in Benin and raises the question: Where is ALE heading?"

In conclusion, he expressed hope that the article would enrich the debate on ALE in Africa and contribute to showcasing the value of its history, traditions (and future), and thanked the author for sharing his insights and ideas with ALE professionals across Africa during this webinar.

Opening his presentation, Dr. Vincent Houessou explained that adult education in Africa—particularly in Benin—is shaped by centuries-old history marked by oral traditions and indigenous knowledge. Benin, as a space of coexistence for various civilizations and religious beliefs, is a particularly revealing example of this educational diversity. History shows a succession, and sometimes a coexistence, of educational traditions that deserve to be better understood. Doing so will help to enhance indigenous practices and envision possible synergies with modern technologies for a more suitable learning model that meets the real needs of adult populations.

This presentation was devoted to a cross-disciplinary, critical, and constructive examination of these approaches.

Diving into more specific matters, the author presented to participants the article’s theoretical and methodological framework, placing particular emphasis on defining and clarifying key concepts such as “Traditions” and “Indigenous Knowledge.” He then described the methodological approach, including data collection and analysis, and the analytical framework based on Yves Chevallard’s didactic triangle (Knowledge–Teacher–Learner).

Continuing his presentation, Dr. Houessou detailed the existing ALE traditions in Benin, namely:

• Pre-colonial community education,

• Adult education under colonial influence,

• Post-independence adult education,

• And an emerging tradition: ICT-based adult education.

For each of these traditions, he explained how it emerged, its target groups, its purposes and transmission mechanisms, associated curricula, and their respective successes and limitations.

Analyzing these ALE traditions, Dr. Houessou categorized them based on three criteria:

1. Prevalence in practice,

2. Degree of institutionalization,

3. Compatibility with national priorities.

From this analysis, it emerged that pre-colonial ALE traditions are most prevalent in practice, while post-independence ALE is the most institutionalized and highly compatible with national priorities. Based on this categorization, post-independence ALE appears, in his view, as the dominant tradition, while pre-colonial ALE is considered recessive.

When evaluating which ALE tradition is most advisable, the author argued that each tradition identified has valuable elements to retain. He therefore suggested a hybrid approach, combining the strengths of the identified traditions to create a modern, high-quality adult education model rooted in indigenous knowledge.

Discussion and Interaction:

The discussion was rich, lively, and highly interactive, with many questions and comments from participants, shared both orally and via the chat. Here are some contributions raised by attendees:

• In what ways did the colonial educational approach affect traditional education in Benin?

• You mentioned the need to be cautious about Eurocentrism and the “BTP” model of education – could you explain these concepts?

• How do traditional approaches to adult education in Africa adapt to current trends, especially through ICT and the promotion of national languages?

• You mentioned the evolution of functional literacy in the post-independence phase. Yet today, classical literacy is more commonly used. How do you evaluate this situation? How can we achieve more functional literacy?

• I'm also wondering where you place the concept of andragogy over time. Which phase was the most “andragogical”? I feel the community-based approaches matched best with how adults learn effectively. What’s your take?

• Thank you, Doctor, for your presentation. I'd like to ask a question about the alternative approach you propose, which draws on the best practices of the three approaches. My question: how can we borrow from approaches that no longer exist, like the colonial and pre-colonial traditional ones that are outdated?

• How can we draw on the richness of our traditions to enhance learning and adult education today?

• Illiterate individuals may not know how to read, write, or do math, but the elderly, in particular, are holders of a rich oral culture and invaluable intangible heritage. Don’t you think the encounter between illiterate learners and literacy facilitators is an opportunity to preserve and document this heritage?

The presenter responded to all these questions and noted all contributions, to the full satisfaction of the participants—many of whom requested a copy of his presentation.

The interaction between Dr. Vincent Houessou and the participants continued through the discussion of three experience-sharing questions posed by the author:

Based on similar experiences in many African countries, especially during colonialism and the transition to independence:

• Do the different traditions mentioned resonate with you?

• Do you recognize them?

• I’d like to learn more about ALE in other countries.

Wrapping up this day rich in learning and mutual exchange, ACP/MOJA Project Leader David Harrington warmly thanked Dr. Vincent Houessou for the quality of his presentation and the participants for their valuable contributions and above all, their commitment to promoting Adult Education in Africa. He informed the participants that exchanges between ALE professionals and practitioners should not stop with this webinar but should continue via the Moja digital platform for adult education in Africa.

He invited all participants to download the full article titled “Traditional Approaches to Adult Learning and Education in Africa: The Case of Benin” by clicking the following link:

To download the booklet: https://mojaafrica.net/en/resource/traditions-of-adult-learning-and-education-benin-2