Asrat Dagnaw Kelkay

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Perceptions of practicum actors in the primary teacher education practicum program

By Seid Beshir

This study looked at the perceptions of the three practicum actors (prospective teachers, placement school teachers (mentors), and teacher educators (tutors) of the primary teacher education practicum program of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. To that end, a mixed methods approach with a concurrent design was utilized. The quantitative data were collected from randomly selected 799 participants (290 prospective teachers, 252 placement school teachers, and 257 teacher educators) using a survey questionnaire; while the qualitative data were garnered using interviews and focus group discussions from 60 practicum actors. The data were analyzed quantitatively using mean, standard deviation, one sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA and qualitatively using descriptions and narrations. The findings revealed that although teaching practicum is supposed to be an imperative aspect of teacher learning that is instrumental to putting theories into practice, the overall perception of the three practicum actors was lower than the expected level. By far, student teachers’ and placement school teachers’ level of understanding of the basic assumptions of practicum in line with the reflective practitioner model of teacher education was minimal. Knowledge is still considered as transferring from the teacher to students, learning as receiving, and teaching as a process of transferring knowledge. Hence, continuous awareness creation on the basic assumptions of the reflective practitioner model of practicum and its core values is required. Besides, there should be a structure formed carefully of experts in teacher education to lead the program through strong school-college link and collaborative work of the hosting schools and teacher education colleges. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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Educational practices of indigenous qene bet schools and its implications to the modern educational practices

By Molla Bekalu Mulualem

This study explored indigenous educational practices of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Qene Bet education and its implications to the modern educational practices. The study employed a qualitative approach with an ethnographic design. Three Qene Gubae Bets, one in Bahir Dar City administration and the other two in West Gojjam administrative Zone, were selected using purposive sampling for this study. Data was gathered through field observations, semi-structured interviews and focused group discussion from Yenetas(Qene Teachers) and students. Twenty-four participants have participated in the study. Data is analyzed and results are presented based on thematic approach. The findings indicate that Qene Bet church schools have their own indigenous pedagogical practices such as Qene Qotera (self-study), Qene Negera (oral presentation and defense) and Qene Zerefa (creating and presenting original Qene poems) that demands student centered and deep learning approaches. The findings also indicate that the practices of cooperative learning, peer learning, reflective learning, pace learning, critical interpretation, argumentative oral defense, differentiated instruction, self and peer assessment and scaffolding are central to the Qene education system. The study concluded that Qene Gubae Bet schools pedagogical practices have valuable insights for the current pedagogical practices of contemporary schools in Ethiopia.

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