This paper will include three substantive areas of discussion: (i) a contribution to a long established debate around the question of whether there is such a thing as a distinctively African Philosophy with particular reference to philosophical sources in Ethiopia; (ii) an enquiry into the indigenous sources (historical and contemporary) in Ethiopia for a philosophy of education; (iii) an enquiry into the place of these sources in contemporary educational policy, training and development. In the first part, the authors will distinguish between some different notions of 'African philosophy' including: " philosophy as an international scholarly practice defined essentially by the Greco-Roman tradition " philosophy as a distinctive and indigenous African scholarly literary tradition " philosophy as a set of underpinning beliefs - an oral tradition -- discoverable by outsiders through eg ethno-philosophical enquiry. The paper will suggest that there is a case for recognizing all three of these versions of 'African philosophy' in Ethiopia, but question the extent to which these can be seen as part of a consistent and in any sense uniform 'African' tradition shared eg with southern or western parts of Africa.. The second part of the paper will focus more narrowly on philosophy of education and explore the ways in which philosophical thinking informs eg education in the traditional (Coptic) church in Ethiopia; contemporary educational policy and current teacher training programmes. Finally, the paper will consider the relationship between contemporary attempts at educational development and the rich cultural (including philosophical) history of the country. It will observe the apparent ignorance of Ethiopia's history and culture among those (especially those coming from outside the country) engaged in educational development. Ethiopians too came to see the 'modern' ideas from outside (actually many of them already discredited in the countries which were their source) as having exclusive claim as a source for educational development. Perhaps they are right, but if westerners are being seen as the source of validation of what is good and what is bad in educational policy and practice, and if they bring with them the power of their banks and aid behind that validation, surely they have some obligation to understand something about the country in which they are exercising this influence and its own traditions and values and philosophy. They should be at least open to the possibility that in this country there might be traditions and practices that are well adapted to its circumstances and springing from a systems of belief which themselves invite honour and attention. This principle is increasingly well recognized in health care, pharmaceuticals and in agriculture why not in education? It is in this spirit - as well as out of purely personal curiosity - that this enquiry is conducted.