The Pedagogical Roles of Arsi Oromo Proverbs in Socializing Children: Implications for Aligning Indigenous Knowledge with Modern Education

Abstract

The major purpose of the present study is to examine the pedagogic functions of Arsi Oromo proverbs in socializing children. In so doing, an ethnographic design was employed to guide the study. Data were collected from a sample of 37 discussants of four FGD sessions, where both the samples and the research site (Digeluna Tijo district of East Arsi Zone) were selected purposively. Moreover, the metaphoric analysis technique was employed to examine the philosophical and daily applications of Arsi Oromo proverbs related to child upbringing. The current study revealed several important findings. First, Arsi proverbs provide a rich context in preserving and transmitting the cultural norms, values and beliefs of Arsi society. Second, most of the Arsi Oromo proverbs told about children have pedagogic functions especially in socializing (disciplining, warning, training, shaping, advising, directing, and educating) children to have a better understanding of the cultural values, beliefs, norms and practices of the society. Third, some of the Arsi Oromo proverbs told about children do not reflect the existing situations and have negative repercussions on the developing child (e.g., indoctrinate sex-segregated roles; show preferences for baby boys to baby girls; promote harmful traditional practices like gender inequality; and limit child-parent interaction).The results of this study, generally, have implications for developing the school curriculum for elementary school children (teaching materials) that aligns modern education with the indigenous knowledge of the community and in designing manual for parental education