Evaluation of implementation of the paradigm shift in EFL teacher education in Ethiopia,
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In this study attempts were made to the extent to which EFL teacher education program me
participants' hold a shared set 0 f beliefs a bout t he new E FL teacher education operation and
practices, and to explore factors that affect the proper implementation of the EFL teacher
education program-me practices in six university based EFL teacher education p aerogrammes in
Ethiopia in light of a constructionist paradigm by using both closed ended survey questionnaires
involving 382 respondents (265 student teachers, 55 in instructors and 62 cooperating teachers) and
an open ended, discovery oriented qualitative method involving individual and group interviews,
observations and document analyses in one of the six program me as a case study.
In order to evaluate the implementation of the EFL teacher education program-me, a conceptual
framework was designed to gather and analyses data examining four broad areas: assumptions,
goals, tasks, and roles, which are considered essential for critical regulation of an EFL teacher
education program me within the context. Therefore, criteria were conceptualized within a
constructionist perspective of teacher education and scales were developed to identify degrees of
presence of the required attributes for assessing each area in the quantitative part of this study and
essential questions were set to explore the required attributes for assessing each area in the
qualitative part of this study.
The survey results showed that though the program me participants perceived the goa ls of the EFL
teacher education program me positively, they held different levels of beliefs about basic
assumptions and principles of constructionist pedagogy as well as about the goals of the EFL
teacher education program me, proved to be statistically significant through a one-way ANOV A.
As regards the tasks in the school-based component of the program me, the survey results
revealed., however, the practical activities (such as practicum support system, reflective
dialogues, and portfolio construction and action research experiences) were found inadequate.
The survey results also showed that the roles of university supervisors in practicum were rated
below the expected mean value and those of the cooperating teachers were rated still far lower,
which signifies their diminished roles in the programme as co-educators.
However, the qualitative data di sproved the participants' claimed beliefs about the basic
assumptions and theoretical bases underlying constructi vi st pedagogy as the actual programme
practices were found inconsistent with the espoused beliefs. Numerous things such as the absence
of training for cooperating teachers and the absence of activities like reflective dialogues,
portfolios and action research seminars to promote the student teachers' reflective habits, skills
and attitude in the practical courses indicated that the program me was being implemented in an
environment that did not support all the means to the end. The qualitative data supported the
survey findings by showing that the tasks in the practicum courses have problems in terms of
transparency, consistency, integration of theory and practice, and organization, and confirming
that the non-existent roles of cooperating teachers and the same unchanged traditional roles of the
university supervisors in the new practicum setting.
This study concluded that major conceptual and contextual factors (such as class size, the lower
academic achievements of the student teachers and wrong assumptions of the context during the
reform introduction) have affected the implementation of the program me.
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Keywords
Evaluation of Implementation 'Paradigm