TORTOISE AND ALIYA: BEYOND NOSTALGIA FOR THE TRADITIONAL MORAL EDUCATION METHOD OF THE IGBO PEOPLE OF NIGERIA.

Abstract

The traditional Igbo moral education is a system of education that occurs in the context of the family and community, and taught to the child, at a very early age, through taboos, myths, riddles, jokes, proverbs, and through stories that often feature animals and birds. The traditional Igbo moral education emphasizes character formation, communal values -solidarity, relationships, and relational autonomy. Since the advent of the Western system of education, there has been a rush to adopt the Western method of moral education, thus, abandoning the traditional Igbo method. This repudiation along with other factors has resulted in the growing apathy to moral education and moral laxity in Igbo-land and in Nigeria in general. There is a need to recover and incorporate some sound aspects of our traditional moral values and moral education methods into the modem system of education in Igbo-land. This integration will aid in immensely ameliorating the current situation of moral decadence, and enrich the current quality of moral education.