The practice of learning post-1994 instructional reforms in Ethiopia: Looking a case primary school through the lens of organizational learning theory

The purpose of this study was to examine school-level learning of post1994 instructional reforms via the lens of organizational learning theory (OLT) in a sample primary school. Data were collected from three teachers, a school principal and head of Woreda Education Office (WEO) using interviews. Besides, data were collected from review of documents. The collected data were analyzed, narrated and interpreted qualitatively. The results showed that (1) the school displays only limited constructs of organizational learning (OL) and characteristics of a learning organization (LO), (2) team learning seemed the lively agency of learning followed by school-wide learning while teacher as agency were still indiscernible, (3) it seems that self-initiated instructional reforms have been overlooked both in policy and practice while reforms prescribed by MoE were the most focused contents of learning, (4) the influence of team learning and school-wide learning in reforming instruction seems insignificant as audited from teachers' plans; rather, it resulted in a heap of reports that would be discarded after periodic performance appraisal, (5) the school's subtle effort of being a learning school was hindered by overdose of prescribed reforms, lack of instructional leadership skills and teachers' resistance resulting from pedagogical deskilling, subject matter incompetency and reluctance to change. On the basis of these findings, conclusions and implications have been made.