Paper short abstract:

This paper expects to bring some in-depth analysis on the Ethiopian philosophy of learning from which the modern educational system in Ethiopia should glean and adapt for use.

Paper long abstract:

My career as a young instructor in Axum University started with immediate amazement about my students' rather inadequate level of articulation. I teach them logic and hence I require that they construct sound arguments, criticize others' statements on form and content bases. Yet, unsatisfied with their progress, I started trying to locate the source of their passivity and silence. I have now felt the intensity of my old professors' comments on the 'deteriorating quality of education in Ethiopia'.

My wonder grew even higher when I go to the market place and other social gatherings to observe people termed as "uneducated' and 'illiterate' peasants. I noted the high eloquence and advanced communication skills these people exhibit; being on the lookout to articulacy. I found their use of language and their clarity in expression so excellent. Thy mostly interweave their points with proverbs, anecdotes, brief couplets, and whatnots taken from the oral literary traditions.

I realized the different pedagogical traditions involved in making the divide: African oral systems and the modern educational institutions.

I am now determined to delve deep into the pattern of the indigenous oral traditions, their structures, their underpinning philosophies in order for the modern Ethiopian educational system to glean and adapt for use. I hypothesize that life-centered indigenous Ethiopian philosophy of learning plays a fundamental role in the modern Ethiopian educational system in fulfilling the purpose of education making men and women think intensively and critically and be efficient in achieving goals of their lives.