Content area
Abstract
During the 1994-1995 academic year, this ethnographic research study, conducted in four culturally and linguistically diverse settings in the eastern African country of Eritrea, studied how the indigenous competencies of fine arts, language, spatial and logical reasoning, and interpersonal relationships are developed in the home and society environs. The data collected indicated an indigenous education framework consisting of cultural activities, methods of transmission, transmitters, and values that constituted the basic components in learners' acquisition of proficiency in each competency area. The fundamental objective of the indigenous education--community building--remained consistent among the dissimilar ethnic units.
Implications drawn from this study of how people learn in their indigenous society facilitate the harmonization of the roles of teacher and learner in a more formal learning environment, and help in the transfer of practical (indigenous) knowledge to a more formal academic environment. The utilization of indigenous-competency-specific critical thinking skills, teaching methods, and learning activities constructs "links" between the disparate home and work environments.
