Traditional Education is the type of education which
its method of teaching is based on practical for initiation into the society
and preparation of one for adulthood. It is also an Education that emphases on
human development where children and adolescents were made to observe, imitate
and ask questions on the actions of their elders, parents and siblings. They
attend religious ceremonies, traditional weddings, funeral, coronations of
kings and annual yam festival. Educational activities include practical farming,
fishing, knitting, blacksmithing, cooking, wearing, carving etc. Intellectual training
includes the study of local history, legends, riddles, folktale, proverbs,
local geography (hills, valleys, rivers and plants).
They know when there are
to expect rain and drought. They know the right time to plant, hunt fish and
harvest. Recreational subjects inched
wrestling, drumming dancing and racing.
It is a system that aimed at acquisition of skills
appreciation of the dignity of labour, solving some of the country’s problem of
unemployment. It is more economical to handle.
Thus, through traditional education one may learn about
the existing taboos, the rules and the ethics of the society. Its also has no
fixed place, no breaking up of knowledge into subjects and no designated
teachers as we have in western education. Traditional education is both
individualized and child-centered. It is individualized because it focuses on a
particular child at a time. It is child-centered because it emphasis is mainly
on the child.
In the traditional education, each social
institution has a role to play in providing both moral value and practical
teaching which would enable the young ones to take their rightful place in the
community.
Some
of characteristics of traditional education include collective aims for social
life, there must be gradual and progressive achievement, it is channel towards
the development of physical mental, spiritual aspect of human being.
MERITS OF TRADITIONAL EDUCATION
v It helps in the development of children and
adolescents sense of belonging and encouragement of active participation in
family and community affairs,
v It helps to understand and as well lead to appreciating
and promoting of cultural heritage of the community,
v It helps in the inculcation of respect for elders and those
in authority.
v It helps in promoting high sense of moral value.
v It encourages one to acquire specific vocational
training and development of healthy attitude towards honest labour.
v It trains people to be effective leaders and good
followers.
v It helps in development of child’s latent physical
skill.
v It encourages creativity and spirit of tolerance.
v It offers wide range of opportunities where everyone
must have something doing.
LIMITATION OF TRADITIONAL EDUCATION
Traditional education is limited to informal education
which led some authors to regard it as primitive and barbaric. It is also
centered on one’s culture without interference. Knowledge is revolve around a particular
culture of a community
It
discourages modernization. It does not encouraged the use of some learning
styles (reading and writing, or listening and jotting) since its method of
teaching is based on ‘practical’.
Further more, it limits innovation to some extent
because of superstitious beliefs of the people which may limit their socialization.
It is both conservation and confirmative (Odo, et al. 1996).