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dc.contributor.authorWeigele, Annika
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-07T23:45:59Z
dc.date.available2019-10-07T23:45:59Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.identifier.citationWeigele, Annika. “Beware of Politics and Fire!” Teaching under the Control of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. A Qualitative Study of Government Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.. Master thesis, University of Oslo, 2019
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10852/70641
dc.description.abstractThe role of education and teachers in conflict transformation has gained increased attention from both international organisations and scholars. When providing education in (post-)conflict societies, teachers face various challenges. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of teachers’ complex role in conflict-affected countries by exploring how authoritarian regimes control the education sector and how teachers cope with this control. For this purpose, qualitative research with 77 educational stakeholders in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa was carried out in autumn 2018. The new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has embarked on a democratic transition after decades of authoritarian rule under Ethiopia’s current government, the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Revolutionary Front’s (EPRDF). The thesis shows that EPRDF controls the education sector both through efficient surveillance networks to identify potential government opponents and coercive crackdown of political dissent. Teachers who are supposedly in opposition are imprisoned, suspended from schools, and threatened and attacked by educational administrators. The government expects teachers to indoctrinate students with its ideology while reproaching and attacking them if they refuse to do so. Teaching topics such as comprehensive history, civic and ethical education and economics became a political minefield as the government strategically prohibits critical dialogue and manipulates curricula. Teachers thus operate under immense pressure of their government. The fear and suspicion that the ruling party’s control creates in the education sector lead teachers to isolate themselves, to avoid dialogue with their peers and students, to refrain from political discussions and to obey to instructions of their superiors. This thesis argues that the control structures which authoritarian regimes install in education deserve deliberate attention as they can become the doom to successful educational reforms and educational interventions. If teachers’ actions are guided by fear and avoidance, they are unlikely to contribute to democracy and peacebuilding.eng
dc.language.isoeng
dc.subjectauthoritarianism
dc.subjecteducation
dc.subjectautocracy
dc.subjectAddis Ababa
dc.subjectstudents
dc.subjectpolitical oppression
dc.subjectdemocracy
dc.subjecttransition
dc.subjectstate pressure
dc.subjectpeacebuilding
dc.subjectAbiy Ahmed
dc.subjectteachers
dc.subjectpolitical violence
dc.subjectEPRDF
dc.subjectEthiopia
dc.subjectconflict
dc.title“Beware of Politics and Fire!” Teaching under the Control of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. A Qualitative Study of Government Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.eng
dc.typeMaster thesis
dc.date.updated2019-10-07T23:45:59Z
dc.creator.authorWeigele, Annika
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-73782
dc.type.documentMasteroppgave
dc.identifier.fulltextFulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/70641/1/Weigele_Thesis_GLOBED.pdf


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