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Integrating Indigenous Knowledge In Education And Healthcare In Northern Malawi: Pregnancy Through Toddlerhood, Elisabeth Hangartner-Everts

College of Education and Human Services Student Publications

Africa encompasses a vast geographical area with considerable variation in climate and vegetation. The resulting differences in ways of living bring about variations in social structure and culture. In this immense area a myriad of languages are spoken and a wealth of customs flourish.

The reviewed literature corroborates that child-rearing and child care practices in continental Africa have been assiduously researched in the context of biological, historical, cultural, and social evolution. The latter results from the interaction of the individual and social needs and demands (Burgess, 1916). In this evolutionary, interactive process the child receives his/her socialization.