Preparing Good Citizenship through Active Stakeholder Participation: Some Ethiopian Schools in Focus

Abstract

The preparation of informed, effective, and responsible citizens is a formidable task that requires the active participation and passionate commitment of many individuals and institutions. Hence, understanding and describing the participation of Civic and Ethical Education stakeholders, in Ethiopia, in the process of good citizenship was the purpose of this study. To achieve this purpose, a descriptive survey design, using both quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. Through different sampling techniques, 30 civic and ethical education teachers, 300 students, 100 non-Civic and Ethical Education teachers, and 22 school leaders were selected from 10 schools found in two woredas of East Gojjam administrative zone. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data pertinent to the study. Based on the data gathered and analyzed, the study revealed that stakeholders of citizenship education, in Ethiopia, did not satisfactorily discharge their responsibilities for good citizenship. Finally, some recommendations that could possibly mitigate the problem (e.g., awareness creation on the responsibility of good citizenship) are included.

Keywords: Citizenship Education, Ethiopia, Good Citizen, In-school stakeholders, Out- school stakeholders, Traditional institutions