Excavating Knowledge: Transformative Critical Heritage Pedagogies and Participatory Democracy at Christiansborg Castle (Ghana)

Abstract

Conversations about heritage and democracy point to the significance and role of archaeology in education. Drawing on critical education pedagogies, together with politically engaged archaeological work, this chapter examines Excavating Knowledge, a community engaged heritage and education project that is part of ongoing archaeological work at Christiansborg Castle in Osu, Accra, Ghana. A United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, Christiansborg Castle is a former Danish slave trading fortification, seat of British colonial government administration, and Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana. Excavating Knowledge employs transformative, critical heritage pedagogies through experiential teaching and learning, to improve the reach and quality of the Ghanaian public education system, particularly among underserved urban communities, currently challenged by scarce resources. It creates and fosters critical inquiry, thinking, analysis, discussion, and debate in order to encourage individuals and communities to engage in the study, interpretation, management, conservation and preservation of heritage. It also promotes the application of these transferable skills to become politically active citizens in a participatory democracy in order to achieve national development, in the present and in the future in postcolonial Ghana.