perspectives on Ethiopian/United States educational experiences.

438 Pages·2016·2.08 MB·English

by  Bruce Whearty 1952-

University of Louisville
ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
8-2013
Running among thorns : perspectives on
Ethiopian/United States educational experiences.
Bruce Whearty 1952-
University of Louisville
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd
Recommended Citation
Whearty, Bruce 1952-, "Running among thorns : perspectives on Ethiopian/United States educational experiences." (2013).Electronic
Theses and Dissertations.Paper 1553.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1553
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RUNNING AMONG THORNS:
PERSPECTIVES ON ETHIOPIAN/UNITED STATES
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

By

Bruce Whearty
B.A., Montana State University, Billings, 1986
M.A., Montana State University, Billings, 1992

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Faculty of the
College of Education and Human Development of the University of Louisville
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Middle & Secondary Education
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

August 2013
Copyright 2013 by Bruce Whearty
All rights reserved

RUNNING AMONG THORNS: PERSPECTIVES ON ETHIOPIAN/UNITED STATES
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

By

Bruce Whearty
B.A., Montana State University, Billings, 1986
M.A., Montana State University, Billings, 1992

A Dissertation Approved on

July 11, 2013

by the following Dissertation Committee:

________________________________________
Dissertation Director: Dr. Thomas Tretter

________________________________________
Committee member: Dr. Melissa Evans-Andris

________________________________________
Committee member: Dr. Maggie McGatha

________________________________________
Committee member: Dr. Ann Larson

_______________________________________
Committee member: Dr. Samuel Stringfield
ii
DEDICATION

With gratitude
for her resilience and joy when running among thorns,
I dedicate this work to my wife,
Lora Lee Whearty.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“Books are best written in community” (Foster, 1978, p. iv), and the community
that has supported me in this endeavor has literally reached around the world. I am
grateful to my dissertation committee at the University of Louisville: Dr. Melissa Andris-
Evans, Dr. Ann Larson, Dr. Maggie McGatha, and Dr. Sam Stringfield, for their
unending patience; to my dissertation director, Dr. Thomas Tretter, for his guidance and
inspiration, and to the faculty of the University of Louisville, for their dedication to
teaching.
I am also grateful to all those who have accompanied me informally on this very
long journey: my parents for their steadfast hope and love, my son and daughters--all
teachers--for their passionate engagement in long discussions about education, and the
countless teachers and administrators who have helped shape my understanding and
practice over the years, in Montana and Kentucky, in the South Pacific, and in Ethiopia.
Finally, I am grateful to those immigrants who shared their time, their insights,
and their life stories in this collection of interviews, as well as to the larger community of
immigrants whom they represent. Echoing Margaret Mead when writing of her
informants in Samoa, I am grateful that “Their kindness, hospitality, and courtesy made
my sojourn among them a happy one; their cooperation and interest made it possible for
me to pursue my investigation with peace and profit” (Mead, 2001, p. x).

iv
ABSTRACT

RUNNING AMONG THORNS:
PERSPECTIVES ON ETHIOPIAN/UNITED STATES
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

Bruce Whearty
July 11, 2013
This dissertation is a qualitative exploration of the perspectives of Ethiopian
immigrants to the United States who have educational experience in both cultures. By
interviewing five respondents and asking them to reflect on the role that their education
played in their acculturation to the United States, a series of case histories was developed.
The case histories were analyzed using the Differentiated Multi-Dimensional Model of
Acculturation to determine if they upheld the two predictions made by this model: 1)
acculturation for any particular individual proceeds independently at different rates across
three different dimensions: language, behavior, and cultural identity; and 2) acculturation
rates and patterns between individuals across these three dimensions differ.
Chapter One summarizes the purpose, significance, and structure of the
dissertation, introduces the research questions, and defines significant terms.
Chapter Two, the literature review, consists of three parts. First, there is an
extensive review of Ethiopian educational history. This section explores in some depth
the six strands that comprise that history, their interaction with each other, and their
impacts upon three ‘troubling topics’: the role of women, ethnic identity, and slavery.
Second, for comparison purposes, there is a much briefer summary of U.S. educational
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history. Finally, there is an introduction to acculturation, including the theoretical model
used in this study.
Chapter Three presents the research design of the dissertation, including a brief
introduction to its theoretical roots in the case study approach. The chapter also outlines
the two-step plan for data analysis.
Chapter Four records the case study reports from the five respondents and
analyzes each report, viewed individually. The first prediction of the model was upheld.
Chapter Five provides a summary of suggestions for educational practice and
discusses findings of the cross-analysis of the case studies, viewed collectively. The
theoretical model’s second prediction was called into question. This paper posed four
theoretical questions to focus further study.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………….……………………………….iv
ABSTRACT………………………………………………...…………………………..…v
LIST OF FIGURES…...……………………………….…………………………....….....x

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………..……..……….…1
Purposes of the Study………………………………………………………...………..1
Significance of the Study………………………………………………...……………3
Research Questions…………………………………………………………..………10
Other Introductory Considerations……………………………………….………….11
Organization of the Study…………………………………………..…………….….16
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………….….17
Overview of Ethiopia……………………………………………………..………….21
History of Education in Ethiopia……………………………………………..……...25
First Strand: Tribal Traditions……………………....…………………………...28
Education in Tribal Traditions………………………………………..……...31
Troubling Topics…………………………………………………………..…32
Second Strand: The Orthodox Church………………………...…………………37
Education in the Orthodox Church………………………………..…………43
Troubling Topics………...…………………………………………….……..51
Third Strand: Islam………………………………………………………………53
Muslim Education…………………………………………………..……..…63
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