Desta, Samuel Zinabu
3 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFThe inclusion of indigenous knowledge into adult education programs: Implications for sustainable development
By Moges, Bekalu Tadesse
In this age of information exchange, where nations’ multiculturalism is prominent, developing a positive attitude towards local people’s knowledge and wisdom regardless of gender, faith, age, and other social class is prominent. This is because countries need to have a diverse population that embraces diverse indigenous knowledge systems and practices to be successful in their overall development activities. Indigenous knowledge is the basis of any form of education in which beautiful social connections and communication, as well as manifestation of everyday life, are established. It is known that indigenous knowledge needs to be developed. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate how indigenous knowledge systems and practices are integrated into adult education programs to bring about sustainable social development. It has been found that several indigenous knowledge systems and practices have made a great contribution to establishing indigenous education, which in turn supports area development. Therefore, it can be concluded that the inclusion of indigenous knowledge into adult education programs, has to grow for it to become a developmental policy agenda and intervention. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.§
The Implementation of Andragogy in the Adult Education Program in Ethiopia
By Desta, Samuel Zinabu
Although there are multiple studies about the application of andragogy in multiple disciplines, studies on the implementation of andragogy in basic adult education/literacy programs are too limited in the Ethiopian context. The overarching purpose of this study was to scrutinize the implementation of andragogy in the Integrated Functional Adult Education [IFAE] program in Ethiopia. A qualitative case study design was employed to guide this research. Through in-depth interviews and observations, the data were collected from purposively selected five facilitators and five learners. The findings of this research revealed that andragogy was not implemented satisfactorily as expected. The facilitators did not communicate the objectives of the session before each session and their effort in making adults self-directed learners is limited. The adult learners' experience is not considered as a resource in the facilitation process. The learning content is determined by curriculum developers, and the facilitators teach the learners as it appears in the textbook without contextualizing it with the adult learners' lives. The extrinsic motivational strategies are mostly employed to sustain adult learners in the IFAE program. The results of this study also revealed that the needs assessment of adult learners has never been done so far. The adult learners did not participate in the facilitation process. In general, the facilitation process seems dominated by prescriptions and pedagogy dependent, which is incongruent with andragogy.
Investigating the quality of the integrated functional adult education program in Ethiopia
By Abate, Samuel Getnet
Using a qualitative case study research design, this study examines the quality of the integrated functional adult education (IFAE) program in Ethiopia. Data were collected in Amhara Regional State from purposively selected nine adult education experts/officers and twelve adult educators (facilitators) through in-depth interviews. Document review was also employed as a data collection instrument to supplement the interview data. The results revealed that the provision of integrated functional adult education programs lacks quality. The major factors determining the quality of the program are related to contextual factors, lack of a policy, inadequate resources, lack of relevant curriculum contents, inappropriate teaching/facilitation process, lack of clear responsibility and accountability system, absence of functional monitoring and evaluation scheme, and lack of professional development opportunities for facilitators. The study also indicated that the synergy between policy initiatives and actual practices is minimal. Thus, to meet and maintain the quality of the IFAE program, we suggest a greater synergy between policy initiatives and practices should be in place.
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