A stand-alone, blended or restructured indigenisation approach to curriculum? A critical perspective

Abstract

Attempts to come up with a relevant curriculum that responds to the African context, in general, and to Ethiopia, in particular, have been unsuccessful. The indigenisation approach has been applied in curriculum development and studies as a strategy for rehabilitating the knowledge base and perspectives of the neglected peoples in order to make their curricula relevant. Originally, the indigenisation approach involved a process of modifying a transplanted Western model to make it relevant to the importing country's political and socio-cultural context. Now, it has transformed into an authentication or cultural validation approach that seeks authentic roots in the local system to construct a domestic model in the light of the social, cultural, political and economic characteristics and needs of a particular country. The problem addressed in this article is the lack of curriculum relevance to the Ethiopian socio-cultural and structural context which is hampering the country's...