Browsing by Author "Reshad, Mahmud"

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    A Comparative Study of the Practices of Early Childhood Care and Education across Private, Government, International and Missionary Preschools in Addis Ababa
    (Addis Ababa University, 2020-06) Reshad, Mahmud; Rönnerman, Karin (Professor); Mekasha, Kassaye, (PhD)
    In Ethiopia, it has been recently that the larger society has understood the benefits of early childhood care and education, and until recent times, many have claimed that it is overlooked by the government and left for the private and other religious and charitable organizations which are not accessible for and affordable by the larger community. Aware of what is going on in this area around the world, parents and education professionals are asking about the ways how children are learning and the access and types of care they are getting from their teachers and the preschools. Above all, teachers‟ qualification and training is a key discussion point of the area. This study is, therefore, a comparative exploration of the practices of early childhood care and education across private, government, international and missionary preschools of Addis Ababa, The Capital City of Ethiopia. Through this major objective, the study has tried to undertake a close observation of the home (parents) and the preschool (facilitators) interaction in the process of child care and education. It also explored the extent at which teachers/schools actually consider child-centeredness and play-based learning approaches accompanied by developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant practices in their day-to-day practice. Besides, the study has noted the type (s) of spoken language (s) that is (are) in use as medium of teacher-child and parent interaction and instruction and the participation of parents in their children‟s learning. In Ethiopia, the guiding principles of early childhood care and education, in one-way or another, have been drawn from the theoretical insights of Piaget‟s foundational cognitive theory and Vygotsky‟s contemporary sociocultural theory; and to consider its objectives, the study is also informed by the theoretical understandings of these theories. This study has employed qualitative research approach as a research methodology and it also used a comparative multi case research design. The central subjects of the study were teachers, children, parents, diploma early childhood care and education prospective graduate teachers of 2019 and officials of the area chosen based on purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The data collection processes were held through interview, observation and focus group discussion. Finally, the study concluded that most children are not given the opportunity to learn by themselves; and most participants agreed that play has great benefits for childrens‟ learning; however, the implementation did not match with this understanding. The study also showed that early childhood care and education practices ares not developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant; and the holistic aspect of child care is not well understood and implemented throughout all study preschools. The other finding of the study is that the focus of the assessment was mainly developed to measure the knowledge or the understanding level of children, and mostly conducted through paperwork. The study also revealed that the participation of parents on the learning their children is low, especially, in government preschools. Therefore, to improve the area, all rounded interventions are needed; we need to revisit our early childhood XII care and education training program and its implementation. The government, professionals, training institutes, preschool owners and the society as a whole has to work hand-to-hand
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    The Principles of Physical Fitness Training and Their Applications in the Fitness Centers of Addis Ababa
    (Addis Ababa University, 2008-07) Reshad, Mahmud; Tebeje, Wegayehu (PhD)
    This study was aimed at investigating the principles of physical fitness training and their applications in Addis Ababa fitness centers/gyms. In order to meet this purpose, some basic questions were raised regarding the general conditions of the gyms and gym instructors and mass media physical fitness programs. The basic questions related to instructors qualification, gym facility and the fitness program as a whole. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and simple random and purposive sampling techniques for selecting those who took part in the study. In the study 104 trainees, 15 instructors of the eight top level gyms of Addis Ababa, 2 experts of Ministry of Youth and Sports were participated. Questionnaires, interview, observation, and document reviewing were used as tools of data gathering. Accordingly, the overall study revealed that the human capacity of the gymslclubs could not correspond with the expansion of this industry and allentions were not given for special need groups, and some small but important things like changing rooms, well stocked first aid kit and fire extinguisher were forgollen in the gyms. The study concluded that there is lack of qualified professionals in this area of discipline while special needs are ignored at all. Thus the recommendations for addressing this issue includes higher institutes should produce qualified professionals for the area, gyms should consider some minor but important materials and facilities like changing rooms, fully stocked first aid kit, fire extinguisher,jorms which trainees fill in; gyms should also consider special need groups; and finally mass media fitness programs should be a coordinated and cooperative work with governmental and non governmental organizations.