Relación entre el IDE y las NBI

According to Ukaonu (1982), before the introduction of school education by Christian missionaries in Nigeria especially Igboland, there was a form of education which existed in traditional societies. The education was the normal process of day to day living. It was an informal education that took place in the home and community at large. Igbo traditional education provided the needs of individual members of the community in traditional setting and is still relevant in promoting Igbo cultural values and in maintaining peace and order in the society, albeit, the socio-religious changes

experienced in modern Igbo society have the capacity to push the traditional education aside. According to Ndubuokwu (1995) Igbo traditional education still exist in contemporary Igbo society though not in its pristine form. Many socio-cultural changes have taken place as a result of the advent of missionaries, British colonial rule, imperialism, globalization and advent of modern communication systems.

Therefore, there is need for a thorough investigation into the nature of traditional education in contemporary Igbo society.

(i) The homestead and community are no longer the contexts of Igbo traditional education in contemporary society

Igbo traditional education in modern Igbo society is no longer a way of life. This is because the teachers of Igbo traditional education have carefully transferred their duties to modern day teachers of Igbo language in schools and colleges. O. Nwankwo (Personal communication, October 2nd, 2015) maintained that the study of Igbo language in schools is gradually replacing Igbo traditional education and parents rely mainly on teachers of Igbo language in schools for socio-cultural development of their children.

(ii) Changes in Methodology

On the other hand, some of the methodologies for Igbo traditional education are considered outdated and unfit for modern Igbo youths who depend more on television, radio stations, video games, mobile phones and computer for learning. On the part of moral education, there is decline in use of folk tales and taboos to impact morals and good behaviours in young ones. According to Okpara (2016) Igbo traditional songs are no longer as important as they were in upbringing of children.

Parents are too busy to train their children using Igbo educative songs. In fact, the cartoon is the modern folklore in the twenty-first century. M. Okoroafor (personal

communication, October 2nd, 2015) maintains that some of the methodologies for Igbo traditional education such as sitting around the fire to listen to ancient stories narrated by family heads is no longer relevant in training children in contemporary society because it may not aid the youths to meet up with the demands of modern society where issues are becoming global rather than national and where communication dimension of globalization is effective in bringing the diverse nations of the world into a global village. No wonder Maduagwu (1999) states that through the communication aspect of globalization, any occurrence in the remotest parts of the world could simultaneously and potentially be shared in virtually all homes throughout the world.

(iii)Changes in Collective Nature of Traditional Education

The collective nature of Igbo traditional education is at stake. Training of children is no longer an extended family and community affairs. The individualistic spirit of the west has made many people in contemporary Igbo society to withdraw from cultural ceremonies, age grade and community projects that served as agents of traditional education. Funteh (2015) noted that there is decline in Community orientation which entails the ability to preserve the cultural heritage and the legacy of extended family by participating actively in family and community affairs.

Udechukwu (2012) confirmed that most Igbo women had left their motherly obligation of proper training of children and had taken up the service of working mothers thereby living their children at the mercy of nannies. She added that the traditional Igbo educational opportunity of such children such as dressing pattern, meal choice, has been diluted as a result of poor parental up bringing.

(iv) Changes in Education for Character Formation

There are changes in education for character formation which is acquired by learning how to greet and respect elders in traditional way, engaging children and young persons in domestic chores such as sweeping the compound, fetching water, washing plates and helping the incapacitated members of the community.

The moral values of traditional society are no longer the basis for moral education in modern Igbo society. Many of the socio-moral values advocated by Igbo traditional education is quite different from what is seen in contemporary Igbo society.

(v) Decline in Intellectual Aspect

The intellectual aspect of Igbo traditional education that makes the use of local history, legends, riddles and proverbs that helps an Igbo man to recall things easily and to fit into such professional groups as rainmakers, herbalists and hunters is gradually going down. The children and young adults can hardly narrate their family and community histories. According to O. Ezekwe (personal communication October, 7th 2015) the phasing out of history as a course in secondary school helps to complicate the problems of intellectual aspect of Igbo traditional education in contemporary society since many teachers of Igbo traditional education such as parents and elders in the family have neglected their duties.

(vi) Negligence of Traditional Occupation

The traditional occupation such as farming, mat making, blacksmithing, clothe weaving have been modernized if not neglected. According to Mkpa (2005) in terms of psychomotor skills, today’s children and young adults can hardly demonstrate any craft or technology skills. This is because white collar job has popularly become a lucrative substitute for skills of basket making, production of mats, palm oil and so

on. In fact, the changes experienced in modern Igbo society have brain washed many Igbo to push white collar jobs at the expense of traditional vocational education thereby increasing the number of graduates who cannot be gainfully employed in modern society.

(vii) Decline in Sacredness of Life and Community

The sacredness of life and community that were promoted in traditional society through traditional education are gradually going down. This is because the series of taboos and traditional religion which were platforms through which human life was preserved in traditional society have been neglected and considered irrelevant in modern society. No wonder Madu (2003) elucidates that “modernity with its secular spirit has pushed God and religion out of the way and what we have now is religion-less society, a society in which man holds his own destiny in his hands and therefore does as he likes”(p.22).

No doubt the nature of Igbo traditional education in contemporary Igbo society points out that the socio-religious changes experienced in modern society have drastically reduced the strength of Igbo traditional education in providing the needs of the society. The socio-religious changes contributed to the conundrums of Igbo traditional education in contemporary society. Therefore, Durkheim is right by contending that traditional societies had stronger collective conscience that is more shared values, understandings, norms, beliefs than modern societies However, a comparative study of Igbo traditional education in traditional and contemporary Igbo societies will aid the investigation into the socio-religious discourse of condudrums the Igbo impose on their traditional education.

4.7 Comparison between Traditional Education in Traditional and Twenty-first