The academy of pedagogy: From a teacher training college to a vibrant university

Abstract

Based mainly on archival documents gathered from Bahir Dar University (BDU) record office and the UNESCO Head Office in Paris, this qualitative study chronicles and analyzes the history of the Academy of Pedagogy from its inception until it transformed itself into Bahir Dar University. The establishment of the Academy of Pedagogy was the result of a meticulous but ambitious feasibility study conducted by two education experts from the University of London employed by UNESCO as consultants. The consultants recommended the establishment of a college specializing in training teacher educators in a four-year program in Bahir Dar. The study also recommended the construction of a primary school and a teacher training institute to enable teacher trainers to undertake teaching practice, curriculum revision, and action research. Other recommendations included the installation of an educational broadcasting service and the commencement of in-service training for primary school teachers. The study was so ambitious that it suggested the establishment of a Child Development Research Unit, an Ethiopian Arts Center, a Textbook and Journal Publishing Unit, a Comparative African Studies Institute, a Rural Sociology Research Unit, a Health Education Unit, an Evaluation and Archives Unit, and a Model Community. However, the outbreak of the Ethiopian revolution in 1974, forced the academy to follow a different path. Since then, a lot of changes including curriculum revision took place. In 1980, the Academy was renamed Bahir Dar Teachers College (BDTC). Finally, in 2000, BDTC joined the Polytechnic Institute to form Bahir Dar University.