Ponty’s education reforms extended Roume’s mission civilisatrice with a positive definition of purpose

Evidence

Panty was convinced that more could be done in this domain, and done better. He therefore took several steps designed to clarify the content and pedagogical methods of education and to increase the number of schools available to Africans. Under his administration, French became the official language of the federation; the first comprehensive course plan applicable to the entire federation was drawn up, and the first manuals began to be published. These reforms in no way challenged the principles Roume had first articulated: although instruction under Panty would continue to be adapted to the African environment, it would also be in French, open to all, and simultaneously practical and educational. And in one important conceptual way, Panty’s liberalism went considerably beyond that of his predecessor. In working out the specific content of adapted education, his administration came up with a more positive definition than Roume’s of the ultimate purpose of schooling-and France’s mission civilisatrice generally-for Africans. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 455

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the evolution of ‘adapted education’ from Roume to Ponty within the mission civilisatrice framework.