Yoruba folktales, oral storytelling and the decolonial imperatives for children’s education in Africa

This study examines the cognitive, cultural, and decolonial significance of traditional Yorùbá folktales. It establishes Yorùbá folktales as a vital component of African oral storytelling, capable of informing the development of Afrocentric educational frameworks for children. Although academic discourse acknowledges these educational and social deficits, there remains a critical research gap regarding how traditional oral narratives can be systematically operationalised within educational policy and practice. Using a conceptual review and qualitative approach, this research highlights the decline of African oral traditions and links this phenomenon to contemporary challenges faced by African youth, including identity crises, social fragmentation, ethical erosion, and cognitive dissonance. It posits that the primary drivers of this cultural attrition are the coloniality of the African educational system, the pervasive influence of modern media, and the hegemony of written literature. The study acknowledges the utility of “Secondary Orality” and digital storytelling in fostering engagement with these traditions and uses secondary data to analyse the structural paradigms of Yorùbá folktales. Overall, the research advocates the cultural reappropriation of digital storytelling, proposing a pedagogical model in which primary oral storytelling is used alongside digital formats. It concludes that integrating oral storytelling into classroom curricula is essential to actualise Afrocentric education and dismantle the lingering effects of educational coloniality.