Re-orienting Ethiopia’s educational policy in the classical humanist perspectives of renaissance utopias     

Meskerem L. Debele 《Compare》2018,48(1):75-91

Ethiopia has launched a grand scheme of renaissance to realise fast-paced economic growth. The two Growth and Transformation Plans spanning five years each (2010/11– 2015/16 and 2016/17 – 2020/21) outlined major targets towards which the country intends to mobilise all its resources. In the education sector, this vision is understood as producing a workforce that can realise massive industrialisation. However, what is conceived as ‘renaissance’ in Ethiopia and what kind of education is viewed as capable of bringing it is very mechanical, reductive and utilitarian compared to the Renaissance movements of the late-medieval Europe, which were holistic endeavours to culturally uplift and humanise individuals and societies. The purpose of this paper is to compare the educational views of Christian humanists – the European renaissance thinkers who wrote the early-modern renaissance utopias – with what is conceived today as ‘renaissance’ education in Ethiopia as embedded in major educational policy documents.  相似文献   

Conditions for Successful Use of Technology in Social Studies Classrooms     

Meskerem Debele  Linda Plevyak 《学校用计算机》2013,30(3):285-299

The purpose of the authors in this review is to examine how teacher-related, context-related, and project-related conditions interact in successful cases of technology integration projects in social studies classrooms. A close examination of different dimensions of these conditions in the implementation of 33 successful cases of technology-assisted projects showed the importance of strong pedagogy-technology alignment. This is in line with the emphasis given to the centrality of technological pedagogical content knowledge by the practitioner in the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework. Other conditions found to be important for the success of the projects were focus and clarity of targeted learning outcomes and the supportive role of teacher educators when collaborating with teachers in designing and implementing the projects. The implication of these findings for school research and practice and teacher education is discussed.  相似文献