Changes and continuities in Ethiopian secondary school history education curriculum

Abstract

Ethiopia is a home of nations and nationalities. In countries with diverse nations and nationalities, such as Ethiopia, history education plays an important role in promoting national consensus, unity, and peaceful coexistence. The main aim of this study is to investigate how the history of all Ethiopian peoples has been incorporated into the secondary school historical education curriculum. To address the intended objectives, the researchers conducted interviews with key informants who are familiar with the contents of Ethiopian history education materials, as well as document analysis of books, articles, journals, theses, history syllabi, history teaching materials, and other relevant historical sources were also examined. The findings gathered through interviews, and document analyses were cross-checked with existing literature and qualitatively analyzed. The study's findings reveal that the secondary school history education curricula has been revised from time to time to organize history education based on Ethiopian realities. The study findings indicate that the secondary school history curriculum did not accurately reflect the country's history. Ethiopia is a country in the Horn of Africa with over 80 ethnocultural and linguistic groups. The study also reveals that secondary school history teaching materials still today lack comprehensiveness and do not accurately depict the history of Ethiopia's nations, nationalities, and peoples. The study emphasizes that Ethiopian history teaching materials contents have been dominated by political history, certain regions and foreign history rather than the history of the diverse Ethiopian populations. There are still complaints concerning the content of Ethiopia's history education curriculum. So, it is recommended that historians, educators, curriculum designers, and stakeholders at the local, regional, and national levels work together to incorporate the Social, political and economic history of all Ethiopian peoples into the national history curriculum in a balanced manner.