Professional Learning of Teachers in Ethiopia: Challenges and Implications for Reform

Australian Journal of Teacher Education, May 2015

Abstract Continuous professional development of teachers is of growing interest globally, as it is considered vital to cope effectively with ongoing changes and to improve the quality of education. This qualitative case study explores potential and actual barriers that hinder teachers’ professional development in Ethiopian schools. Data was collected via interviews and focus group discussions from 37 purposively sampled participants. The study reveals three major challenges in teachers’ development: 1) conceptions and conceptual issues related to teaching, professional development and mentoring, 2) management and leadership, and 3) teachers’ work conditions. The need to reconsider educational change management strategies, reform teacher education, strengthen research-based practices, renew management and leadership culture, and improve teachers’ work conditions are thus found to be the areas identified as needing interventions.

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Professional Learning of Teachers in Ethiopia: Challenges and Implications for Reform

Vol Australian Journal of Teacher Education Recommended Citation 0 Fekede Tuli Gemeda University of Ambo 1 Päivi Tynjälä Professor University of Jyväskylä Part of the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons - Professional Learning of Teachers in Ethiopia: Challenges and Implications for Reform Fekede Tuli Institute of Education and Professional Studies, Ambo University, Ethiopia Päivi Tynjälä Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Abstract: Continuous professional development of teachers is of growing interest globally, as it is considered vital to cope effectively with ongoing changes and to improve the quality of education. This qualitative case study explores potential and actual barriers that hinder teachers’ professional development in Ethiopian schools. Data was collected via interviews and focus group discussions from 37 purposively sampled participants. The study reveals three major challenges in teachers’ development: 1) conceptions and conceptual issues related to teaching, professional development and mentoring, 2) management and leadership, and 3) teachers’ work conditions. The need to reconsider educational change management strategies, reform teacher education, strengthen research-based practices, renew management and leadership culture, and improve teachers’ work conditions are thus found to be the areas identified as needing interventions. Introduction The world is in a constant state of change in every aspect: technologically, socially, politically, and economically. This demands a nation’s school system to be responsive and continuously update the capacity of its staff. To this end, professional development programs for teachers are seen to play a vital role, as they provide opportunities for teachers to learn and grow within the profession. This in turn is expected to have an impact on student learning (Lowden, 2005) . In the last two decades, the Ethiopian government has embarked on a massive expansion of the national education system with the intention to transform the country. The increasing access to education was also fueled by the government’s promise to meet its official educational goals such as achieving universal primary education in 2015 and secondary education in 2020. Though tremendous achievement has been made in terms of quantitative expansion, the quality of education has been deteriorating and student achievement declining (Fekede & Fiorucci, 2012; Lemlem, 2010; National Agency for Examinations (NAE), 2011; Oulai et al., 2011; Tessema, 2006). The professional development of teachers is considered to be an essential component and strategy in efforts aimed at improving the quality of the schools (Guskey, 2000) . To this end, a centrally designed professional development program have been disseminated in a top-down fashion and implemented prescriptively across the country. The overall aim of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program is to improve teacher effectiveness and raise the achievement levels of students in Ethiopian schools (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2003; 2009) . It is expected that effective professional development opportunities for teachers will renew their capacity to improve classroom practices and will have a positive impact on student learning and achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Goldschmidt & Phelps, 2010; Guskey, 2000) . Currently, schools are challenged to raise student achievement through the provision of CPD. The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges that exist in the Ethiopian education system, especially those aspects that may become potential barriers to the teachers’ professional development and provide the necessary considerations to create an effective professional learning. In the next section, the recent literature on teachers’ professional development in Ethiopia is discussed. Professional Development of Teachers Craft (2000) asserts that if schools are about promoting the learning of pupils in a changing world, then education professionals learning throughout their career is essential. Fullan (1991) defined teachers’ professional development as the sum total of formal and informal learning experiences throughout a teachers’ career from pre-service teacher education to retirement. Correspondingly, Wei et al. (2009) conceptualise professional learning as a product of both externally provided and job-embedded activities that increase teachers’ knowledge and change their instructional practices in ways that support student learning. Both emphasise that learning will occur both in formal and informal ways. This conception of professional development thus challenges the traditional, training-focused approach to teachers’ learning that gives more emphasis to formal learning. In current global educational practices, the emphasis on the utilisation of both formal and informal learning in professional development has become even strengthened (...truncated)


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Fekede Tuli Gemeda, Päivi Tynjälä Professor. Professional Learning of Teachers in Ethiopia: Challenges and Implications for Reform, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2015, Volume 40, Issue 5,