“It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia

IntroductionIndigenous education has recently gained prominence in international debates for its role in addressing the social, economic, and political issues faced by African states. Ethiopia, like other African countries, had its education system based primarily on the transmission of socio-profes...

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Main Authors: Yonas Baheretibeb, Cynthia Whitehead
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1348377/full
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author Yonas Baheretibeb
Cynthia Whitehead
author_facet Yonas Baheretibeb
Cynthia Whitehead
author_sort Yonas Baheretibeb
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description IntroductionIndigenous education has recently gained prominence in international debates for its role in addressing the social, economic, and political issues faced by African states. Ethiopia, like other African countries, had its education system based primarily on the transmission of socio-professional aptitudes, religious values, skills, and intergenerational knowledge as a way to preserve the social, cultural, and religious values of the Ethiopian community. In the early 20th century, Ethiopia wholeheartedly adopted a Western higher education system in a tabula rasa approach that sought to obliterate deeply rooted cultural norms and rapidly transition the country’s traditional religious system to a secular one.MethodsThis qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of Ethiopian university teachers about the benefits and limitations of traditional education and the potential to integrate traditional and modern education in Ethiopian universities.ResultsStudy findings show that, despite agreement that “traditional” education is distinct from other educational systems, there are varying notions of what constitutes “indigenous” education. Participants also suggested that the dominant rationale for the tabula rasa approach in Ethiopian modern education was to modernise the country and embrace a global perspective on education that incorporates ideas and advances from other cultures while still being firmly entrenched in local values and educational systems.DiscussionInsights have implications for education systems in African and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in terms of developing strategies for the pluralistic approach to knowledge systems.
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spelling doaj.art-728277b2d06c4609a8b21e7dd4cbebee2024-02-28T04:40:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2024-02-01910.3389/feduc.2024.13483771348377“It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in EthiopiaYonas Baheretibeb0Cynthia Whitehead1College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaFaculty of Medicine, University Health Network and Temerty, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaIntroductionIndigenous education has recently gained prominence in international debates for its role in addressing the social, economic, and political issues faced by African states. Ethiopia, like other African countries, had its education system based primarily on the transmission of socio-professional aptitudes, religious values, skills, and intergenerational knowledge as a way to preserve the social, cultural, and religious values of the Ethiopian community. In the early 20th century, Ethiopia wholeheartedly adopted a Western higher education system in a tabula rasa approach that sought to obliterate deeply rooted cultural norms and rapidly transition the country’s traditional religious system to a secular one.MethodsThis qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of Ethiopian university teachers about the benefits and limitations of traditional education and the potential to integrate traditional and modern education in Ethiopian universities.ResultsStudy findings show that, despite agreement that “traditional” education is distinct from other educational systems, there are varying notions of what constitutes “indigenous” education. Participants also suggested that the dominant rationale for the tabula rasa approach in Ethiopian modern education was to modernise the country and embrace a global perspective on education that incorporates ideas and advances from other cultures while still being firmly entrenched in local values and educational systems.DiscussionInsights have implications for education systems in African and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in terms of developing strategies for the pluralistic approach to knowledge systems.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1348377/fullindigenous educationmodern educationintegrationhigher educationEthiopia
spellingShingle Yonas Baheretibeb
Cynthia Whitehead
“It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia
Frontiers in Education
indigenous education
modern education
integration
higher education
Ethiopia
title “It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia
title_full “It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia
title_fullStr “It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed “It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia
title_short “It takes a village to raise a child,” university teachers’ views on traditional education, modern education, and future I integration in Ethiopia
title_sort it takes a village to raise a child university teachers views on traditional education modern education and future i integration in ethiopia
topic indigenous education
modern education
integration
higher education
Ethiopia
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1348377/full
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