Ethiopian Journal of Teacher Education and Leadership

Policy Analysis on Ethiopian Technical and Vocational Education and Training Program: Emphasis on Relevance and Quality

Fita Ayalew Dehnie — 2024-08-07

The purpose of this article was to analyze the Ethiopian TVET Policy in delivering relevant and quality training. The study used a systematic review method on locally and internationally published literature. Local literatures used for the Study were policies, strategies, periodic reports, abstracts and plans that are officially available from stakeholders of the TVET sub-sector. Literatures from the internationally reputable journals were also used using online searching engines such as ERIC, SCOPUS, EBSCO and Google Scholar. Searching topics used for the online search were Education and Training, Technical and Vocational Education, Quality of Education and Training, Relevance of Education and Training, Quality of Vocational Education, Relevance of Vocational Education and Ethiopian Education and Training. The investigation has revealed that the sub-sector is challenged by the problems of identifying and instilling quality and relevant skills to the country’s labor market demand. These problems were exacerbated by shortage of qualified teachers, inadequate training facilities, few industries for cooperative learning and poor coordination among the stakeholders. To alleviate the current problems associated with quality and relevance of TVET programs, there seems to be a need to strengthen the linkage between the TVET providers and industries. Stakeholders in the TVET sub-sector are also required to equip the training providers with adequate training facilities and provide trainings by competent trainers.

Teachers’ Sense of Autonomy and their Work Motivation in Selected Secondary Schools in Oromia Regional State

Begna Ordofa — 2024-08-07

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of teachers’ sense of autonomy and its association with their work motivation in some selected secondary schools in Ethiopia. In this mixed methods research, data were gathered from 95 teachers with a questionnaire and 5 teachers with semi-structured interview guide from three secondary schools in the Oromia region, Ethiopia. T-test, one-way ANOVA, and thematic descriptions were used for data analysis. The result indicated that the perceived level of teacher autonomy as measured along two dimensions (general autonomy and curriculum autonomy) seemed to be low. Teachers’ sense of autonomy was associated positively with their work motivation. External interference (e.g., imposed teaching approaches that ignore teachers’ decisions and too many routine activities imposed on the teachers) was prevalent. Hence, teachers feel that they are powerless to decide what they have to do at school. This might hinder them from involving actively, confidently, creatively, and with motivation in their teaching activities. The implications of these and other findings of the study were identified and suggestions for further research were forwarded.

The Gap between Indigenous Ways of Life and Formal Education among the Guji People in Southern Ethiopia: Challenges and Lessons

Tadesse Jaleta Jirata — 2024-08-07

Children among indigenous people are involved in two disconnected social environments: the indigenous home context and the “modern” school environment. This disconnection and the way it affects children’s everyday lives have received little research attention so far. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, this article examines children’s perspectives on this disconnection and its effects on their educational well-being among the Guji people in Ethiopia. Unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observations were used to generate data. Data were collected from three villages in the western part of the Guji district in 2019. Twenty-five children (13 girls and 12 boys) in the age range of 6-13 and their parents participated as sources of data. The data wereanalyzed qualitatively and the result shows that the gap between the indigenous ways of life and formal education has exposed children to a sense of dis-entanglement and increasing challenges of learning. It discusses that the gap between the indigenous ways of life and formal education has weakened children’s learning efficacy; therefore, needs due attention from the government, policymakers, curriculum developers, teachers, and parents.

Affective and Professional Knowledge Components: An Assessment of their Association and Implication in Primary School Mathematics Teacher Education

Kassa Michael — 2024-08-07

The competence of pre-service teachers at teacher education colleges is at stake in Ethiopia where some are attributed to knowledge dimensions and the other to affective dimensions. This Study assessed the association between the knowledge dimensions and affective components pre-service teachers should possess by employing a correlational survey design and indicating implications. A sample was drawn from nine colleges of teacher education (CTE) which was selected using stratified sampling. Those selected regions that have only one CTE were selected based on availability sampling. The Study employed questionnaires with five-point Likert scale-type questions. Factor analysis followed by correlational analysis was conducted to reduce data. As a result, the seven knowledge components of technological pedagogical content knowledge were significantly correlated among each other. The three affective component variables were also significantly correlated. The aggregate of knowledge and affective variables were found to have a significant correlation with around 42% of common variance. Despite these, the primary and secondary factor loadings were extracted. The Study result indicates a strong association between knowledge and affective components. Thus, it has been recommended that the capacity of teacher educators should be enhanced and a teacher education program that fulfills both ends to meet the demands for teacher knowledge for teaching and concerned bodies should be developed. Also, attention should be given to enhancing affective constructs through integrating content, pedagogy, and technology beyond the usual knowledge related concerns.

Assessing the Implementation of Environmental and Sustainability Education:The Case of Robe College of Teacher Education

Kedir Gebi — 2024-08-07

This study aimed at assessing the implementation of environmental and sustainability education by Robe College of Teacher Education staff in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. The study sought to assess (1) staff perception towards environmental and sustainability education; (2) teaching strategies used by teachers while implementing environmental and sustainability education (3) environmental issues addressed during environmental and sustainability education; and, (4) factors hindering the implementation of environmental and sustainability education. A mixed research methods were employed to collect data for the study. Household survey, key informant interview and personal observation were the sources of data. Five management committee members, thirty teachers selected from all the departments, and five work team leaders were included in the sample. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation) was employed for data analysis using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software version 20. Result revealed that although the staff had positive perception towards environmental issues, and there were some effort to create awareness; respondents’ understanding was found to be low, and practices of environmental measures had great variations. The interview and observation results were consistent with the quantitative findings. In short, the result implies that the staff need to be better familiarized with the notion of environment and sustainability; the teacher education curriculum needs to be revisited. Besides, there should be an effective law enforcement mechanism for effective implementation of environmental activities.

EJTEL Vol 1, No 2, May 2023 Issue

EJTEL — 2023-05-02