Roles And Rituals Of Riddles In Early Childhood Development And Education The Case Of Kereyu Oromo

The aim of this thesis is to analyze and describe the roles and rituals/formal procedures ofrnriddle in the early childhood development and education with reference to Kereyu Oromo,rnFantalle District. To conduct the research ethnographic design was employed by thernresearcher. The populations of the research were elders of Kereyu Oromo of Fantallerndistrict, teachers and children of Preprimary ‘O Class’ and Grade one and Grade two.rnPurposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select sample population. Torncollect data from selected informants, the researcher used interview, observation and focusrngroup discussion. From qualitatively analyzed and interpreted data, the researcher came uprnwith some major findings. Kereyu Oromo riddle and its rituals/procedures were found to playrna great role in the early childhood development and education in the locality. At home, whenrnthey play riddle, children identify the names of different things (identify their surrounding),rnidentify numbers, develop reasoning skills, and know the values and cultures of theirrncommunity. In addition, riddle has a great role in pedagogical aspect. The informantsrncharacterized that riddle play promotes children’s language skills especially listening andrnspeaking; it promotes children’s vocabulary knowledge such as identifying words that havernsimilar meaning and opposite meaning (synonyms and antonyms). Riddle also promotesrnchildren’s grammar knowledge. Furthermore, riddle sharpens children’s mind. Throughrnriddle, children generate new ideas. Similarly, from the entire rituals (formal procedures),rnchildren develop sense of tolerance or patience and develop skill of positive competition.rnRiddles teach children how to respect rules (rules in-group, in family, in schools, of arncountry). Even though riddle has these much roles in the development and education ofrnchildren, currently, it was found that, most parents are not in a position to give focus inrnhelping their children to play riddle at home during nighttime. This is because children arernoften tied to listening and watching television instead of playing riddle. However, oralrnliteratures like riddle should have been the base for such media technology. Therefore, tornsustain and to pass to the next generation this valuable oral literature genre, all concernedrnbodies should play their role. Communities should teach their children; offices of Educationrnand Culture and Tourism at all levels should give focus on collecting, analyzingrnand using this golden and important cultural resource. Oromia Education Bureau shouldrnalso adequately incorporate this oral literature genre in curriculum designing especially at prrneprimary and primary education levels.

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