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[PANEL] 0403 MODERN EDUCATION IN ETHIOPIA: CHALLENGES FOR TEACHERS AND LEARNERS
Organizers:
Helen PAPWORTH, Researcher, UK
Paper presenters:
Helen PAPWORTH; FEYERA Beyessa; Jan ŠIŠKA; YIRGASHEWA Bekele Abdi; MAMO Shigute; TAMIRU Abera;
Aija Katriina AHLBERG
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CAN LOCAL LANGUAGE LEARNING MATERIALS BE DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE THE LITERACY SKILLS OF YOUNG LEARNERS FOR LIFE SKILLS AND PREPARE THEM FOR PROGRESSION TO SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION WHERE ENGLISH LANGUAGE REMAINS THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION? [Abstract ID: 0403-06]
Primary schools across Ethiopia are now teaching through local languages, but do the materials used adequately support the teaching literacy and enable children to become fluent in their own languages and, ultimately, in English? To address this problem, different measures are being implemented across the regions to improve literacy skills in local languages and the English language from primary through to higher education. Learning materials are also being developed to support the teaching of literacy. This paper will look at evidence from Ethiopia and other parts of Africa where the medium of study at secondary and higher education is in English. It will identify strategies for teaching basic literacy and will focus on some of the learning materials available or being developed to support the teaching of reading.
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CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES IN ETHIOPIA: THE CASE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER EDUCATION IN OROMIA REGIONAL STATE &PROTOTYPING LEARNER-CENTERED CURRICULUM FOR GRADE THREE MATHEMATICS IN ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0403-02]
This project is aimed at prototyping a mathematics curriculum for grade 3 students by analyzing the scope, alignment, mathematical technology, integration, learner-centeredness and higher order thinking of the existing curriculum. To address the aim of this project a developmental research approach (Freudenthal, 1991) was chosen as the most suitable approach to investigate the development of a prototypical product. The data were gathered from secondary sources and analyzed by using both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The methods used in analyzing the data are both descriptive and inferential statistics. The finding of the project depicts that grade three mathematics content includes long and overloaded topics to be covered, and the educational expectations of the Education and Training policy (ETP), Curriculum Framework (CF) and Mathematics Goals (MG) reflect Higher Order Thinking (HOT) that helps students to be better problem solvers in the mathematics subject. The result also shows that the alignment of the educational expectations of ETP, CF and MG with assessments is fragmented and poorly in agreement. Yet, the expectations of mathematics objectives and assessments are fairly aligned with the Lower Order Thinking (LOT) level that marginalizes students from HOT such as critical thinking, problem solving, decision making and creative thinking that show the level of the quality of mathematics curriculum. The integration of the mathematics teaching and learning across other curricula in promoting children’s mathematical understanding is found to be minimal (12%) with no mathematical technology. Moreover, 80.7% of teaching and learning activities were categorized under the LOT level, which inhibit learners from constructing their own meaning (learner-centeredness) so as to solve real-world problems or explore questions with multiple possible outcomes. Thus, based on the findings, the newly developed student-centered mathematics curriculum for grade three was developed and suggested as an alternative prototype form.
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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND THE ROLE OF RECOURSE CENTRES IN THE ETHIOPIAN CONTEXT [Abstract ID: 0403-07]
Inclusive education is an overarching trend globally. However, the majority of children with disabilities are likely not to attend schools in developing countries including Ethiopia. Access to education for learners with disabilities requires, amongst other things, awareness of the right to education for all, respect of diversity in a broader sense, and technical support provided to teachers and learners the same as to the wider school community. This paper will focus on the role of Inclusive Education Recourse Centers in Ethiopia in making mainstream education in three Ethiopian regions accessible for children with disabilities and special educational needs. Sixteen IERCs were contacted, since these institutions were the primary targets, and six satellite schools linked to IERCs. A mixed assessment method was applied to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were employed as data collection methods. The participants from the IERCs were school administrators, itinerant teachers, special needs education teachers, regular classroom teachers, counselors, laboratory technicians, and students with special needs. A total of 316 participants from IERCs and satellite schools contributed as data sources. It was identified that large numbers of students and teachers in the evaluated IERCs and satellite schools benefited from the support provided. Changes in awareness about inclusive education and attitudes towards children with special needs are recognized. The schools are equipped with relevant materials that support inclusive pedagogy in the classroom and these are properly utilized in all the IERCs. The awareness of parents and communities is gradually changing, except in some unreached communities. As a result, the number of students with special needs is increasing across the target schools. Although the nature of inclusive education is a process that improves over time, there are some barriers observed that in one way or another constrain the extent of the success of IERCs - such as overburdened itinerant teachers and the assignment of itinerant teachers to large numbers of satellite schools. Overall, the finding reveals that there are various encouraging activities that are underway in the IERCs and the satellite schools which support the improvement of the provision of inclusive education, where the marginalized groups of children with special needs are benefiting.
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TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING INSTRUCTIONS IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE CLASSROOM: THE CASE OF ASSOSA UNIVERSITY, ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0403-01]
The aim of this study is to investigate teachers’ perceptions and practice in using a collaborative learning approach when teaching mathematics and science. It assesses the extent to which instructors’ perceptions influence their practice and identifies factors affecting the implementation of collaborative learning in the classroom. The study took place at the College of Natural and Computational Science at Assosa University. To conduct the study, a descriptive survey design was used. All the instructors (n=76) were purposively selected and participated in the study and 70 of them completed the questionnaires. This was complemented by a qualitative approach using observation checklists and interviews for data gathering. Seven lessons were observed while the instructors were actually teaching. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven instructors. In the selection of the sample population, purposive sampling was used. The data were analyzed using percentages and mean. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents’ view of collaborative learning is positive. However, in spite of their positive perceptions, their practice of collaborative learning methods is low. Among the major factors affecting the implementation of collaborative learning were instructors’ tendency toward the traditional/lecture method, lack of student interest, shortage of time, lack of instructional material and large class size. Finally, the study recommended that in-depth training on the content and implementation of collaborative learning methods should be provided by the university. Moreover, classroom conditions and instructional materials that may help to implement collaborative learning approaches should be provided.
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THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN SCRIPT AND PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSFER LITERACY TEACHING METHODOLOGY [Abstract ID: 0403-03]
As different types of script have different mappings between sound units and graphemes, reading in different scripts requires mastering sound-grapheme correspondences on different levels. Consequently, transferring from one script to another stretches the learners’ phonological awareness. Since 1993 the Ethiopian language policy has given a chance to language communities to choose between the Ethiopic and Latin scripts for their language. As a result, both scripts are used for Ethiopian languages, with some having orthographies on both – Ethiopic used before the new language policy came into effect, and Latin after that. Pros and cons of the bi-script policy divide opinions, yet the presence of two scripts side by side has created a special opportunity for comparative studies about the effects of an alpha-syllabic (Ethiopic) script and of an alphabetic (Latin) script to phonological awareness. Such studies are of high demand globally, both for their theoretical value and for their application to develop transfer literacy teaching methods from one script to another. The Konso language community is undergoing a change from Ethiopic script to Latin script, and a transfer literacy program has been launched for readers of Konso in Ethiopic script to learn the new orthography using Latin script. Drawing from results of Konso transfer literacy learners’ phonological awareness tests, this paper examines the interplay between script and phonological awareness, and its consequences for transfer literacy learning from alpha-syllabic to alphabetic script. The results indicate a close link between the grapheme-sound correspondences of Ethiopic script and the learners’ phonological awareness, resulting in specific error types in reading and spelling tasks using the new orthography. This points to the importance of basing transfer literacy teaching on the learners’ existing phonological awareness skills and building them up to match the sound-grapheme relationships of the new script.