The Integration of Life Skills into the General Secondary Schools’ Curriculum of Ethiopia: Practices and Perspectives
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2018-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study explores the practices and perspectives of integrating life skills into the general secondary schools curriculum of Ethiopia by taking three subjects as cases. It seeks to interrogate how the general secondary school curriculum integrates life skills, how it develops life skills based education and how the different professionals with their perception and practice have influenced the integration of life skills in the general secondary schools’ curriculum of Ethiopia. To achieve the goals, the study used a multi-method research approach within the qualitative research tradition. It used content analysis, case study and phenomenological methods of research. The curriculum materials along with curriculum specialists, teachers and concerned others were used as sources of data. To select appropriate samples from the study population it used purposive and snowball sampling techniques. To collect data from the data sources qualitative content analysis coding sheet, interview, observation check list and field note were used as instruments of data collection. The data collected were analyzed thematically case by case followed by a cross-case analysis while relating it with available literature and my own unavoidable views of the experiences and practices of integrating life skills. It was found that although the aims of education, as stated in the ETP, had significant relation with life skills, many (if not most) of the competences (objectives) in the curricular materials were at the lower level of the cognitive domain, hence, had no significant relation with the development of life skills. In addition, while trying to give emphasis to large amount of subject contents the curricular documents were obscuring life skills. In line with this, it is found that both the curriculum designers and the curriculum implementers claim following constructivism, but work in positivism. Based on this fact, there was no common frame of reference created and there was no common understanding reached among stakeholders regarding what life skills was, the various types of life skills that were to be integrated within the school curriculum, the degree as to how to integrated the life skills and the model to be used in integrating life skills. Owing to this fact, some of the life skills were properly integrated, while others were partially integrated and still others were totally neglected. There was clear disparity among the three cases as to the degree of integration of the different life skills; and yet, many of the stakeholders believe that life skills are associated only with issues of HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, the following were found to be major factors affecting the practices of integrating life skills in the general secondary school curriculum of Ethiopia: stakeholders disparity in the perception, understanding and skills in integrating life skills, stakeholders’ lack of attention and commitment, lack of resources and materials, and inappropriate organizational setup of the curriculum designing and developing directorate of the Ministry of Education. Finally it has to be noted that this research has implications to the rethinking of the ways as to how life skills are to be integrated in schools where large numbers of subjects are presented as courses without further addition of an independent subject related with life skills. Furthermore, it paves the way to rethink the possibility of integrating life skills in the school curriculum not only with respect to HIV/AIDS but also with the various aspects of life so as to make the curriculum to be relevant to the life of students and the society. This research will further motivate stakeholders to question the taken-for-granted assumption of focusing on content knowledge. This in-turn demand and urge stakeholders to make a shift of paradigm in both theories and practices in relation to curriculum development processes. Last, but not list, this research encourages researchers to carry out further research in the area.
Keywords: Constructivism, curriculum designing, curriculum development, curriculum implementation, curriculum integration, curriculum relevance, life skills, positivism, quality education.
Description
Keywords
Constructivism, curriculum designing, curriculum development, curriculum implementation, curriculum integration, curriculum relevance, life skills, positivism, quality education