Dawit Mekonnen Mihiretie
6 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFDeveloping good person and citizen through civic and ethical education in Ethiopia: A content analysis of secondary school textbooks
By Zerihun Takele Ayane
There is broad consensus that citizenship or civic education plays an important role in preparing democratic, tolerant and socially active citizens, although the role of civic education in achieving this goal in divided societies is far from straightforward. There is also the interdependent goal of developing a good person and a good citizen. In order for this to be successful, the content and pedagogy integrated into the formal curriculum (core curriculum framework and textbooks) play an indispensable role. This article examines how the characteristics of a good person and a good citizen are presented as learners' distinctive personal development in the Ethiopian civics textbooks (grades 9 to 12) and to what extent the learning activities in textbooks enable learners to explore alternative qualities of a good person and good citizens. The study mainly used quantitative content analysis method. All pages of the textbooks were used as units of analysis. The results show that the textbooks presented the characteristics of a good person and a good citizen as distinct dimensions of students' personal development. However, almost two third of the contents emphasize social self-identity (good citizens), while a fifth of the contents deal with autonomous self-identity (good person). The results also reveal that there are open-ended and future-oriented learning activities that can help students discover alternative characteristics of a good person and a good citizen. Most studies on Ethiopian secondary school and university students question the extent to which students develop and demonstrate desired goals of civic and ethnical education. The effectiveness of civic and ethical education in divided countries where the goals of the formal curriculum are not reinforced by macro-social political conditions and other factors of socialization are discussed. © 2024 The Authors
The Quality of Primary School Teachers’ Professional Development Policy Implementation: Conceptualization of Targets, Contents, Methods, Process and Contexts in Oromia, Ethiopia
By Girma Moti Geletu
The study evaluated the suitability of primary school teachers’ professional development policy implementation conceptualization of targets, reflective contents, process, methods and contexts in which it occurs in Oromia. The researchers used a mixed method with concurrent triangulation design. The researchers selected a total of 618 samples of the study using different sampling techniques such as purposive, convenience, stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The data were collected from primary sources of data such as teachers, mentors, principals, supervisors, coordinating committees and parents using questionnaires, interview, focus group discussion, document examination and observation. Then, the researchers analyzed the data using mean, standard deviation, one-way ANOVA and post hock test, and thematic narration. The study showed that both veteran and novice teachers were less able to conceptualize and contextualize their professional development practices to the existing phenomena in the schools under investigation. Teachers’ professional development practices were powerless to update professional competencies and improve professional and innovative pedagogical practices in classrooms. In addition, the professional development contents and activities were repetitive from time to time. Primary school teachers were not learning proficiently from continuous professional development practices to ensure basic and specific professional competencies required in classrooms. The implementations of reflective activities such as action researches, classroom observation, differentiate learning; collaborative learning, microteaching and lesson studies couldn’t contribute to practical changes. Teachers weren’t actively participating in professional development because of lack of conceptualization and contextualization of reflective activities to improve professional competencies although they are transformative intellectuals. Therefore, teachers, mentors, principals, and cluster supervisors should use face-to-face learning and digital learning strategies to improve instructional practices in classrooms, and values and prestige of teaching profession. Likewise, the study forecasts the requirement of context specific policy framework and practical toolkit for newly deployed and experienced teachers rather than focusing on the generic policy document. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.
Education Policy Intentions and Principals' and Teachers' Conceptualizations of Curriculum Differentiation in
By Kagnew Tarekegn
This study examined the intentions of education policy documents and the conceptualizations of secondary school principals and teachers regarding curriculum differentiation. Regular and special day schools were selected using purposive sampling based on their experiences with different types of curriculum differentiation. Two school principals and 17 subject teachers were selected using purposive and convenience samplings, respectively. The study analyzed national education policy documents (e.g., education and training policy and curriculum framework) and collected interview data from school principals and teachers. The two main national education policy documents conceptualize curriculum differentiation in terms of various tracks, like fields of study, streams, and school types. The other national document, the guideline for curriculum differentiation, emphasizes the differentiation of curriculum components- - contents, instructional processes, assessment strategies, and learning environments-and - and highlights the importance of inclusive classrooms. Principals' ' and teachers' ' conceptualizations of curriculum differentiation vary across three levels: lacking awareness, holding divergent views, and aligning with policy intentions. The absence of a coherent policy guide and the lack of engagement of principals and teachers in reform ideas have contributed to these diverse conceptualizations. Additionally, the policy intentions seem inadequately addressed through curriculum differentiation practice by school types, such as regular, special day, and boarding schools, which do not correspond to variations in the types and levels of difficulty of the school subjects taught. .
The role of Ethiopian secondary school biology textbooks for global understanding
By Takele Ayane Zerihun
This article investigates the role of Ethiopian secondary school (grade 9 to 12) biology textbooks in promoting students' global understanding. This study grounded on Ethiopia's education policy aims and general education's curriculum framework objectives to prepare globally informed citizens. The study used mainly quantitative content analysis techniques. All pages in the textbooks were used as units of analysis. The findings of the study indicated that the textbooks represented some of the dimensions of global issues and perspectives in varied degrees of integrations, which have a potential to promote students' global understanding to some extent. However, the findings show that the dimensions of global issues and perspectives were not integrated comprehensively in the textbooks. The findings also revealed that there is no independent global education framework in Ethiopian education system, which can serve as standards to evaluate the adequacy of integration in the textbooks for global understanding. Finally, based on the findings, the study provided a recommendation for Ministry of Education should develop a national global education framework that can serve as a standard for curriculum practitioners. © 2023 The Authors
Professional accountability and responsibility of learning communities of practice in professional development versus curriculum practice in classrooms: Possibilities and pathways
By Girma Moti Geletu
The study examined professional engagement of communities of practice in primary school teachers’ continuous professional learning activities and improves curriculum practices in classrooms. The study employed a mixed method with concurrent triangulation design. The researchers selected 515 respondents by using purposive, availability, stratified and simple random sampling techniques from target population of the study. Questionnaires, interviews, classroom observation and document examination were used to collect data. The data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic narration. The findings showed that teachers were unable to improve their content-knowledge and pedagogical skills required in the classroom to effectively transform the curriculum into actual practices. The professional learning communities of practice were unable to improve their professional and academic capital, and curriculum implementation in classrooms. The engagement of communities of practice in teachers’ professional development activities affected quality of curriculum practices in classrooms. Therefore, the study recommended that learning communities of practices should carefully plan and implement the curricula in classrooms. Similarly, improving teachers’ accountability system and commitment in their collaborative professional learning should improve instructional practices in primary classrooms in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. © 2022 The Author(s)
Teacher educators use of feedback to facilitate reflective practice among pre-service teachers during microteaching
By Demekash Asregid
This study investigated how teacher educators utilize feedback to enhance reflective practices among pre-service teachers during microteaching sessions. Conducted at a government-run teacher education college in Ethiopia, this research adopted a case study approach, employing semi-structured interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), and observations for data collection. Both pre-service teachers and teacher educators were sources of data. Thematic analysis facilitated the interpretation of the data. Findings indicated that teacher educators often relied on evaluation criteria as preliminary feedback (feed-up), delivered feedback that lacked dialogue following teaching practices and did not offer forward-looking feedback (feed-forward). The unchecked use of evaluation criteria for every aspect of pre-service teachers’ practices, coupled with non-dialogic feedback on identified shortcomings and the absence of constructive feed-forward mechanisms, hindered opportunities for pre-service teachers to genuinely engage in reflective practices during microteaching sessions. The study deduced that teacher educators inadequately leveraged varied feedback methods to foster active reflective practices among pre-service teachers. This suggests a missed opportunity in utilizing feedback as an effective pedagogical tool to encourage reflective practice among pre-service teachers. Given the limitations regarding the generalizability of this study, it is recommended that future research gathers more comprehensive data on the subject and delves into the nature and content of feedback in relation to the depth of reflection in teacher education. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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