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- Abraham, Getahun Yacob, 1958-
(author)
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African Higher Education: Focus on local context.
- 2022
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In: The 14th SANORD International Conference..
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Africa have about 1225 officially registered higher education institutions(https://www.4icu.org/Africa/). Some of them are founded by formal colonizers and whileothers through national and local initiatives. The majority of these institutions are Euro-Centric in their approach. This text will investigate briefly what is expected of African highereducation to transform societies to the better.The study is based on analysis of secondary data searched and found from Google Scholar,ERIC, and Primo database. Terms such as Higher education in Africa, African highereducation, possibilities and limitations of African higher education are used for the search.15 articles relevant to the purpose of the study are identified and used.The result of the study shows that African universities need local epistemologies andknowledge production systems to identify, research and propose solutions to localproblems. Teaching and research should take in to consideration social experiences andknowledge of the local communities. Local languages should be considered to undertakeresearch, to distribute knowledge and to secure communities’ engagement.Teachings and research need to address the political unrest, social injustice, economicunderdevelopment and technological backwardness most countries are facing. Focus on thelocal realities and transformation should be prioritized instead of international competitionand commodification of higher education. For transforming higher education to focus onlocal context, there is a need that the management, administration and academic staffstudents as well as the society at large should stand together.
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- Abraham, Getahun Yacob
(author)
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Compulsory School Curricula of South Africa (RNCS, 2002) and Sweden (Lpo94).
- 2008
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In: Compulsory School Curricula of South Africa (RNCS, 2002) and Sweden (Lpo94)..
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Compulsory School Curricula of South Africa (RNCS1, 2002) and Sweden (Lpo 294).AbstractThe aim of this paper is to analyse the compulsory school curricula of South Africa and Sweden. It focuses on contexts for their introduction, main actors in the process, democratic values they contain and their similarities and differences. Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used for analysis. The curricula and references to other literatures show similarities and differences. Contextual similarities are that both countries were once under oppression and their masses were isolated from the education process and more resources were invested on their elites. At present the curricula of both countries strives for democratic education. A major difference is equal opportunities for the students to attend a school of their choice are higher in Sweden than in South Africa. The Swedish curriculum is more concrete on issues related to students, teachers and other school staff’s rights and responsibilities, and on relations between school, home and society.Key words: South Africa, Sweden, Curricula, and Democratic values
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- Abraham, Getahun Yacob
(author)
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Democratic Values in the Comprehensive Schools Curricula of the Nordic Countries.
- 2013
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Democratic values in the comprehensive schools curricula of the Nordic countries. The major focus of this paper is to find out which aspects of democratic values are emphasised in the comprehensive schools curricula of the five Nordic countries. It is also an intention of the paper to find out similarities and differences in emphasis and if available data allows to further investigate the reasons for differences and similarities.Major sources for the work were curricula of comprehensive schools from the different Nordic countries. Each countries current curriculum was closely read to understand their contents and to undertake comparative analysis. Text analysis was used as a major tool to look closely at the text and context. For further knowledge journals on curriculum studies and other relevant materials were consulted.A preliminary review of the general section of comprehensive schools curricula of these countries show:In the Danish curriculum participation, responsibility and understanding rights and duties are emphasised.The Finnish curriculum raises issues on human rights, equality, natural diversity, preservation of environment and multiculturalism. Responsibility, a sense of community and respect for the right and freedom of the individual are emphasised. General diversity and gender equality are given significant attention.In the Icelandic curriculum the major focus is human rights, collective responsibility, participation, influencing, and respect. Concern for people, animal and the environment are included in the curriculum. Critical thinking and reflection, active cooperation & collective responsibility are also emphasised.The Norwegian curriculum mentions understanding, cooperation, independence, individual freedom and tolerance as important issues.Swedish curriculum raises issues on respect for human rights, respect for persons and the environment. It considers inviolability of human life, individual freedom and integrity, equality between women and men, solidarity with the weak and vulnerable as crucial points. Sense of justice, generosity of spirit, tolerance and responsibility, well-being and development of the individual, no discrimination and personal responsibility were among the areas the curriculum lifted up.The curricula in these five countries give room for democratic values. There are some variations on emphasises on specific issues. But all the curricula include issues of rights and responsibilities.Keywords: curricula, democratic values, Nordic countries
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- Abraham, Getahun Yacob, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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Freire’s concepts and theories as a strategy to reduce poverty
- 2019
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract: Freire’s concepts and theories as a strategy to reduce poverty Getahun Yacob Abraham, Senior Lecturer in Education, Karlstad University, Sweden Ane Bergersen, Associate Professor Sociology, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences The UN Sustainable Development Goals puts as its first goal, “End Extreme Poverty In All Forms By 2030” (UNDP, 2016). This shows poverty is one of the gravest problem in our planet. Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are reported as countries with low development index and extreme poverty (UNDP 2018, FAO 2017 & World Bank 2017). This paper will use Paulo Freire´s (1970) concepts “generative themes”, dialogue and transformation to be able to discuss how themes can be raised, discussed and possible actions for change will be proposed. Some preliminary review of literature shows the relevance of universities considering themselves as public goods, including in their policies, their commitment to the development of their societies, giving sufficient attention to local and regional problems and devotion to educating a generation of students with critical thinking and devotion to transform their society. This paper will explore how universities in Southern/Africa could include Freire’s concepts and theories in their research agenda in their search of causes of poverty and possible ways of reducing/eradicating it in their local and regional contexts.
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- Abraham, Getahun Yacob, 1958-
(author)
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International practicum for what and on whose terms?
- 2018
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- International practicum for what and on whose terms? Getahun Yacob Abraham Senior Lecturer Karlstad University The aim of this paper is to investigate about the aims of international practicum and who is benefiting from it. If it is found that one side, the North or the South, is benefiting, to look at the possibilities to reconsider the practicum in order to benefit both. Review of literature in the field and my own experiences as a Swedish university lecturer involved in the teacher students practicum in the South will be the base for this paper. Some preliminary results of my literature review show that practicum in the South mainly focuses on giving the teacher students from the North the possibility of intercultural understanding with specific focus of dealing with change taking place at home, the diversity of students in classrooms (Abraham & von Brömssen, 2018; Bosire & Brigham, 2009; Marx & Moss, 2011; Wiken & Klein, 2017). Long time experiences show that in the movement of students from the North to the South, the economically and politically dominant countries can dictate the terms (Bosire & Brigham, 2009; Yang, 2002). In addition to that the countries in the center gain more advantages than the countries in the periphery (Barnet & Reggie, 1995). Keywords: Internationalization, International practicum, teacher students, North, South. References Abraham, G.Y. & von Brömssen, K. (2018). Internationalisation in teacher education: Student teachers reflections on experiences from a field study in South Africa. Education Inquiry. https://www-tandfonline-com.bibproxy.kau.se/doi/full/10.1080/20004508.2018.1428035 Barnet, G.A. & Yingli Wu, R. (1995). The international student exchange network. 1970&1980, Higher Education, 30, 353-368. Bosire, M.M. & Brigham, S. (2009). Preparing North American preserivice teachers for global perspectives: An international teaching practicum experiences in Africa, The Alberta Journal of Education Research, 55 (3), 415-428. Marx, H. & Moss, D.M. (2011). Please mind the culture gap: Intercultural development during a teacher education study abroad program, Journal of Teacher Education, 62 (1), 35-37. Wikan, G. & Klein, J. (2017). Can international practicum foster intercultural competence among teacher students? Journal of the European Teacher Education Network, 12, 95-104. Yang, R. (2002). University internationalization: Its meaning, rationales and implications, Intercultural Education, 13 (1), 81-95.
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- Abraham, Getahun Yacob, 1958-
(author)
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Internationalisation and Intercultural Competence in Higher Education.
- 2022
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 07. Social Justice and Intercultural EducationPaperInternationalisation and Intercultural Competence in Higher Education.Getahun Yacob AbrahamUniversity of Borås, SwedenPresenting Author: Abraham, Getahun YacobThe aim of this study is to find out how concepts and practices of internationalisation and interculturality in higher education are understood. The study will also investigate the relation between the two concepts, what they have in common and how they could be used to facilitate internationalisation and interculturality in higher education. Uzhegova & Baik (2020) use in their work Knight´s definition of internationalisation as ‘the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education’ (2003, 2) (Uzhegova & Baik, 2020, 2).Internationalisation involves actors, context and different factors that facilitate or hinder its implementation. The actors include students from institutions, international students and staff from host institutions (Trahar & Hyland, 2011). On the other hand, internationalisation could be undertaken locally, by including students with varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds within the institution or within the country (Sanderson 2011). Internationalisation of the curriculum is thought to benefit the internationalisation process. It is supposed to empower students to gain global citizenship skills to take employment in most countries and undertake the work expected for the position (Kirik et al, 2018). The level of internationalisation in a higher education institution is influenced by different factors. Development of higher education in a country, the languages used in the education system, the economic development of a country as well as the attractiveness of the location of the higher education institution are supposed to influence the internationalisation of the specific institution (Uzhegova & Baik, 2020). Intercultural communication skill is one of the prior conditions to develop intercultural competence. Intercultural competence makes it possible to lay the ground for intercultural understanding and creating common learning platforms for students of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Henneby & Fordyce, 2018). One of the important aspects of intercultural communication is language. Language could enhance or hinder intercultural communication and in extension intercultural competence (Dunworth et al, 2021). To develop intercultural communication competence (ICC), Munezane (2021) considers some factors from Byram´s model (1997, 2008). The factors are, “knowledge of self and other, of interaction; relativising self, valuing other; skills of interpreting and relating; skills of discovering and/or interacting; and political education, critical cultural awareness” (Munezane, 2021, 1666).While understanding others in relation to self is important, authors also emphasis for developing intercultural competence there is need for openness to others experiences, curiosity and interdependence (Munezane, 2021). According to Yarosha et tal (2018), knowledge, awareness, skills and attitudes are the building blocks for intercultural competence, and contribute to creating cooperative learning environment for participants (Hennebry & Fordyce, 2018). Spencer-Oatey & Dauber (2019) strengthens these points on developing intercultural competence by emphasising the importance of “(a) positive attitudes (e.g. openness and curiosity) towards diversity and motivation to learn about/engage with it and (b) experiences of difference that take people out of their comfort zones and stimulate new thinking and behaviour”. (pp.1049-1050). Bilingualism is considered as one of the main challenges for intercultural communication (Tucker King et al, 2021). In many countries English is used as lingua franca in higher education institutions. However, how English is used by native speakers in higher education institutions, is perceived often by international students as creating hindrance to written and spoken communication (Holliday, 2017). In addition to language barrier, there are also challenges of ethnocentrism (Munezane, 2021; Harrison, 2011) and fear of threat from outside to one´s own language and cultural identity (Kirk et al, 2018). Less willingness to communicate with people other than one’s own group (Munezane, 2021) is also considered as an obstacle to intercultural communication and competence. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedMethod/methodology.This study is based on a brief literature review. There are several databases with the possibility of searching articles with different themes, for this study I limited myself to one database, Web of Science. In Web of Science, I searched for articles using the terms “internationalisation + higher education”, then “interculturality + higher education” and finally “internationalisation and interculturality in higher education”. These searches gave quit a large number of articles. By limiting my search to peer reviewed journal articles and articles written after 2010, I could reduce the number of articles. By reading the titles and abstracts of 54 articles, I could identify the purpose, research questions, theoretical perspective, methods used, results, discussions and conclusions. These helped me to choose 14 of the 54 articles with the focus on internationalisation in higher education, intercultural competence in higher education and articles dealing with both themes. For the purpose of this conference abstract, I am limiting myself to the 14 articles. When I develop the abstract into a full-fledged paper, I am planning to search and include more relevant literature, articles, scientific reports and books.To be able to understand the result of the different studies, content analysis is used as methodology. With the help of content analysis, the aims of the studies, methods of studies, theoretical perspectives, findings and discussions are critically scrutinized. The study focused on relevant findings in relation to internationalisation and intercultural competences. But this does not mean all findings from the literature review are included in this short text. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsConclusionInternationalisation could be steered by top-down directive or bottom-up initiative and there are also possibilities that it is a combination of both (Kirik et al, 2018). There could be motives for internationalisation to increase quality of education, exchange knowledge and experiences. It is also possible that some higher education institutions are motivated mainly for attracting fee paying students, improve the position of their institution in the national, regional or international ranking systems (Kirik et al, 2018) or impose what they consider as their “best practice” on others. The possibility of developing intercultural communication and gaining intercultural competence could contribute to creating cooperative learning environment (Hennebry &Fordyce, 2018). In this process participating individuals´ agency helps to achieve the goals of intercultural communication and competence (Sanderson, 2011; Tucker King et al, 2021). When unwillingness and lack of curiosity dominate it can hinder developing intercultural competence. In conclusion successful internationalisation obviously need intercultural communication skills and competence (Spencer-Oatey & Dauber, 2019). Suitable intercultural environment can lead to development of three stages of interactivity, reciprocity and unity (Kudo et al, 2018). While it is difficult to separate the concepts of internationalisation and intercultural competence (Collins, 2018), it is possible to consider the interplay between them. Intercultural competence can pave the way for internationalisation. Openness, curiosity, and willingness to share life experience with others could be commonly used for achieving intercultural competence and internationalisation in higher education.ReferencesCollins, H. (2018). Interculturality from above and below: navigatinguneven discourses in a neoliberal university system. Language and Intercultural Communication, 18 (2), 167-183.https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2017.1354867Dunworth, K., Grimshaw, T., Iwaniec, J. & McKinley, J. (2021). Language and the development of intercultural competence in an ‘internationalised’ university: staff and student perspectives. Teaching in Higher Education, 26 (6), 790-805.https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2019.1686698Harrison, N. (2012). Investigating the impact of personality and early life experiences on intercultural interaction in internationalised universities. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 36, 224– 237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.007Hennebry, M. L. & Fordyce, K. (2018). Cooperative learningon an international masters. Higher Education Research & Development, 37 (2), 270-284. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1359150Holliday, A. (2017). PhD students, interculturality, reflexivity, community and internationalisation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38 (3), 206-218.https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1134554 Kirk, S. H., Newstead, C., Gann, R & Rounsaville, C. (2018). Empowerment and ownership in effective internationalisation of the higher education curriculum. Higer Education, 76, 989-1005.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0246-1 Kudo, K., Volet, S. & Whitsed, C. (2018). Development of intercultural relationships at university: a three-stage ecological and person-in-context conceptual framework. Higher Education, 77, 473-489.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0283-9Munezane, Y. (2021). A new model of intercultural communicative competence: bridging language classrooms and intercultural communicative contexts. Studies in Higher Education, 46 (8), 1664-1681.https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.169853
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