A Study on Teaching Competencies of Bachelor Degree Holders in Teaching Preparatory Classes (11 Th And 12th Grades) : The Case Of North Shewa Zone (Oromia)
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Date
2004-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of high school
teachers (those who have first degree) in implementing the new curriculum
according to the new direction of teaching (teaching how to learn). Dewey argued
that a quality or effective teacher has the "ability to think scientifically, an unusual
love and aptitude in some one subject, genuine insight into all subjects and the
ability to communicate love of learning to others. " If education is under consideration,
the aim cannot be merely to train students, as if they are dogs, to act in certain ways.
But education concerns teaching with regard for students' capacity to know,
understand and reason. Education should not be reduced to training or conditioning
behavior.
In the last 12 years many promising actions have been taken to raise the quality of
education at all levels. Varieties of instructional materials and equipment have been
purchased, short training and workshops have been conducted and new curricula
have been developed, but the competence of curriculum implementers (teachers)
has not been investigated yet. There is information that high school teachers are not
implementing the curriculum the way it is expected. Students have discussed it
formally and informally, as teachers are not competent enough to implement the
curriculum. Some teachers also reported as they faced difficulty in implementing the
new curriculum. This complains initiated the researcher to conduct research on
teachers' competence in implementing the curriculum.
This study followed a descriptive survey method. Questionnaires were administered
to available samples of 67 teachers (to those who have bachelor degree in teaching)
and to 33 instructional leaders (principals, vice principals, department heads and
supervisors). Classroom observation, document analysis, structured and
unstructured interview were also used to collect detailed information.
The findings indicated that a large proportion that is 73.13%, 88.06%, 94.03%,
100.00% and 70.115% of the teachers rated themselves as "poor" in stimulating
thought provoking questions, in using varieties of teaching methods, in relating
lessons to students personal experiences and real world situations, and in
organizing instructional tasks that advance higher order thinking respectively. It was
concluded that most teaching in North Shewa Zone (Oromiya) was formal and
didactic. Activity-based learning was rare. Some teachers were aware of other
methods but they rarely used them.
Pre and in-service programs will have to prepare prospective teachers in both
professional skills and attitudes necessary for accepting teaching responsibilities.
The teachers also have to develop their capacity for self-sustaining professional
growth. Since subject matter knowledge, pedagogical and psychological skills are
the prerequisite criteria for teaching, the researcher recommends that all teachers
should be committed all the time to improve their subject knowledge and
pedagogical and psychological skills through reading up-to-date educational and
research literature, because it is quite impossible to train teachers fully and for life
during initial teacher training.
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Keywords
Teaching Competencies of Bachelor Degree Holders