Effectiveness of secondary school teachers’ preparation for inclusion in Ethiopia

Abstract

The agenda of inclusion in education has become increasingly popular both nationally and internationally since the endorsement of Salamanca statement and framework for action in 1994. It motivates for teachers ought to accommodate students with diverse learning needs in inclusive classroom settings. This implies that the implementation of inclusive education highly depends on effective teacher preparation that is tailored towards it. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate the effectiveness of secondary school teachers’ preparation for inclusive education in Ethiopia and propose an alternative strategy that enhances its effectiveness. The study was embedded in the theoretical framework of inclusive pedagogy, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning, and Hart’s notion of learning without limits. A total of 152 graduates (109 males and 43 females) selected using simple random sampling and seven graduates (four males and three females) selected using purposive sampling participated in the first and second phases of the study, respectively, as the study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design. A questionnaire and face-to-face, semi-structured individual interviews were used to collect the data. In the first phase, quantitative data was analysed by exporting it into SPSS version 26 and performing descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. In the second phase, the qualitative data was thematically analysed following the transcription of the audiotaped interviews. Finally, the separate analyses of quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated into the discussion section to provide a better understanding of the research problem. The findings revealed that the current teacher education programme in Ethiopia is ineffective in providing adequate academic, psychosocial, and emotional support in the sense that it does not ensure the selection of high-performing candidates into the teaching profession, and fails to produce graduates who could use active learning methodologies and child-centered pedagogies to implement inclusive teaching. Additionally, the curriculum of the programme is determined to be ineffective in providing graduates with appropriate pedagogical content knowledge; the pedagogies of the programme do not promote inclusiveness and inclusive pedagogy throughout the training; and the inclusive education course integrated into the programme is ineffective in balancing the theory and practice dimensions of the training. Further, the collaboration among different stakeholders does not allow adequate time and opportunities for collaborative learning experiences, and the programme is not capable of raising the competence standards of graduates related to inclusive practices. Finally, the programme does not equip the graduates with adequate knowledge of inclusion, was not adequate in positively influencing the attitudes of graduates towards inclusion and does not adequately expose the graduates to practical and hands-on experience for inclusive teaching. The study concludes that the preparation of secondary school teachers for inclusion is ineffective in Ethiopia. Hence, there is a need for fundamental transformation of policies, practices and alternative strategies that enhances the effectiveness of teachers’ preparation for inclusion, as for that proposed herein.

በ1994 የሳልማንካ መግለጫ እና የተግባር ማዕቀፍ ከፀደቀ በኋላ በትምህርት ውስጥ የማካተት አጀንዳ በአገር አቀፍም ሆነ በአለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ተወዳጅ እየሆነ መጥቷል። አስተማሪዎች የተለያየ የትምህርት ፍላጎት ያላቸውን ተማሪዎች በክፍል ውስጥ ባካተተ መልኩ ማስተናገድ አለባቸው። ይህ የሚያመለክተው የአካታች ትምህርት አተገባበር በከፍተኛ ደረጃ የተመካው ለዚያ በተዘጋጀው ውጤታማ የመምህራን ዝግጅት ላይ ነው። የዚህ ጥናት አላማ የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት መምህራንን የሁለንተናዊ ትምህርት ዝግጅት ውጤታማነት በመመርመር ውጤታማነቱን የሚያጎለብት አማራጭ ስልት ለመጠቆም ነው። ጥናቱ በንድፈ ሃሳባዊ ማዕቀፍ ውስጥ በአካታች ትምህርት ፣ በቪጎትስኪ ማህበራዊ ባህላዊ የመማሪያ ፅንሰ-ሀሳብ እና የሃርት የመማር እሳቤ ውስጥ ያለ ገደብ ተካቷል። በአጠቃላይ 152 ተመራቂዎች (109 ወንድ እና 43 ሴት) በቀላል የዘፈቀደ ናሙና የተመረጡ እና ሰባት ተመራቂዎች (አራት ወንድ እና ሶስት ሴት) በዓላማ ናሙና ተመርጠዋል በጥናቱ የመጀመሪያ እና ሁለተኛ ምዕራፍ ላይ የተሳተፉ ሲሆን ጥናቱ በቅደም ተከተል ገላጭ ድብልቅ ዘዴዎች የምርምር ንድፍ. መረጃውን ለመሰብሰብ መጠይቅ እና ፊት ለፊት፣ ከፊል የተዋቀሩ የግለሰብ ቃለመጠይቆች ጥቅም ላይ ውለዋል። በመጀመሪያው ደረጃ፣ መጠናዊ መረጃ ወደ SPSS ስሪት 26 በመላክ እና ገላጭ እና ተጨባጭ ስታቲስቲካዊ ትንታኔዎችን በማካሄድ ተንትኗል። በሁለተኛው ምዕራፍ፣ በድምጽ የተቀዳ ቃለ-መጠይቆች ከተገለበጡ በኋላ የጥራት መረጃው በቲማቲክ ተንትኗል። በመጨረሻም በቁጥር እና በጥራት ግኝቶች ላይ የተለዩ ትንታኔዎች በውይይት ክፍሉ ውስጥ ተቀናጅተው ስለ የምርምር ችግር የተሻለ ግንዛቤ እንዲኖራቸው ተደርጓል። ግኝቶቹ እንዳረጋገጡት አሁን በኢትዮጵያ ያለው የመምህራን ትምህርት መርሃ ግብር በቂ የትምህርት፣ ስነ-ልቦናዊ እና ስሜታዊ ድጋፍ በመስጠት ከፍተኛ አፈፃፀም ያላቸውን እጩዎች ወደ መምህርነት መምረጥ ባለመቻሉ እና ሊጠቀሙ የሚችሉ ምሩቃን አለማፍራት ነው። አካታች ትምህርትን ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ንቁ የመማር ዘዴዎች እና ልጅን ያማከለ ትምህርት። በተጨማሪም የፕሮግራሙ ሥርዓተ-ትምህርት ለተመራቂዎች ተገቢውን ትምህርታዊ ይዘት እውቀት ለመስጠት ውጤታማ እንዳልሆነ ተወስኗል። የፕሮግራሙ አስተምህሮዎች በስልጠናው ውስጥ ሁሉን አቀፍነትን እና አካታች ትምህርትን አያበረታቱም; እና በፕሮግራሙ ውስጥ የተቀናጀው ሁሉን አቀፍ የትምህርት ኮርስ የስልጠናውን ንድፈ ሃሳብ እና የተግባር ልኬቶችን በማመጣጠን ረገድ ውጤታማ አይደለም። በተጨማሪም በተለያዩ ባለድርሻ አካላት መካከል ያለው ትብብር ለትብብር ልምምዶች በቂ ጊዜ እና እድሎች አይፈቅድም, እና መርሃግብሩ የተመራቂዎችን የአካታች ልምዶችን የብቃት ደረጃ ለማሳደግ የሚያስችል አይደለም. በመጨረሻም መርሃ ግብሩ ተመራቂዎችን በማካተት በቂ እውቀት ያላሰለሰ፣ የተመራቂዎችን የመደመር አመለካከት በአዎንታዊ መልኩ ለማሳረፍ በቂ አልነበረም፣ እንዲሁም ተመራቂዎችን በበቂ ሁኔታ ለተግባራዊ እና ለተግባራዊ ትምህርታዊ ልምድ አላጋለጣም። ጥናቱ የ2ኛ ደረጃ ት/ቤት መምህራንን ለማካተት መዘጋጀቱ በኢትዮጵያ ውጤታማ እንዳልሆነ ገልጿል። ስለሆነም የመምህራንን የመደመር ዝግጅት ውጤታማነት የሚያጎለብቱ የፖሊሲዎች፣ ልምዶች እና አማራጭ ስልቶች መሠረታዊ ለውጥ ያስፈልጋል። ቁልፍ ቃላት ውጤታማነት፣ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ማካተት፣ አካታች ትምህርት፣ የቅድመ-አገልግሎት መምህራን ትምህርት፣ ሁለተኛ ደረጃ የመምህራን ትምህርት፣ የመምህራን ለማካተት ዝግጅት፣ ሰልጣኞች

Lenaneothero la thuto ya go akaretša bohle le tšwela pele go šomišwa ka mo nageng le maemong a boditšhabatšhaba go tloga mola setatamente sa Salamanca le foreimeweke ya tirišo di amogelwago ka 1994. Le hlohleletša barutiši go ba le bokgoni bja go ruta baithuti bao ba nago le dinyakwa tše di kgethegilego tša go ithuta ka diphaphošing tša go akaretša bohle. Se se laetša gore phethagatšo ya thuto ya go akaretša bohle e laolwa kudu ke tlhahlo ya morutiši ya go ba le bokgoni bja go ruta bohle. Maikemišetšo a nyakišišo ye ke go sekaseka gore barutiši ba sekolo sa sekontari kua Ethiopia ba hweditše tlhahlo ya go ruta thuto ya go akaretša bohle, gomme e tle le maano a mangwe gore e tšwele pele go šoma gabotse. Nyakišišo e theilwe godimo ga foreimeweke ya tsela ya go ruta ye e akaretšago bohle, teori ya Vygotsky ya seabe sa leago thutong le teoring ya Hart ya go ithuta ntle le ditšhitišo. Nyakišišo e šomišitše mokgwa wo o tswakantšwego wa tlhathollo wa go sekaseka go kgetha dikemedi. Mokgwa wa go kgetha dikemedi fela o šomišitšwe go kgetha palomoka ya dialoga tše 152 (banna ba 109 le basadi ba 43) le go kgetha ka maikemišetšo dikemedi tša dialoga tše šupa (banna ba bane le basadi ba bararo) bao ba tšerego karolo kgatong ya pele le ya bobedi ya nyakišišo. Nyakišišo e šomišitše mananeopotšišo le dipoledišano le batšeakarolo ka sebele go kgoboketša datha. Go kgato ya mathomo ya nyakišišo, datha ya khwanthithethifi e lekotšwe ka go romelwa go SPSS bešene ya 26 le ka ditshekatsheko tša go hlaloša datha le dipalopalo tšeo di akantšwego. Go kgato ya bobedi, datha ya khwalithethifi e sekasekilwe ka morago ga go bala le go theeletša dipoledišano tša odiyo tše di rekhotilwego. Mafelelong, ditshekatsheko tša dikhwetšo tša khwanthithethifi le khwalithethifi di kopantšhitšwe go karolo ya kahlaahlo ya nyakišišo go hwetša dikarabo tša bothata bja nyakišišo. Diphihlelelo tša nyakišišo di utollotše gore lenaneo la go ruta la bjale la barutiši ka Ethiopia ga le šome gabotse go fa thekgo ya maleba ya thuto, kgokagano ya dikgopolo le maikutlo, ka ge le sa netefatše gore go kgethwa batho ba go ba le maswanedi profešeneng ya borutiši gomme le palelwa ke go tšweletša dialoga tšeo di kgonago go šomiša mekgwa ya go ruta dithuto tšeo di lebanego bana go thuto ya go akaretša bohle. Go tlaleletša se, lenaneo la kharikhulamo ye ga le fe baithuti botsebi bja maleba mabapi le thuto ya go akaretša bohle ka ge lenaneo la thuto le sa hlohleletše thuto ya go akaretša bohle; gomme khoso ya lenaneo la thuto leo le akaretšago bohle ga e laetše palantshe ya teori le tsela ya go ruta bohle. Go feta moo, tšhomišano mmogo ya batšeakarolo ba go fapanafapana ga e fe nako le menyetla ya maitemogelo a go ithuta mmogo, gomme le lenaneo ga le hlatloše maemo go fa dialoga bokgoni mabapi le tsela ya go ruta bohle. Diphihlelelo di laeditše gape gore lenaneo ga le fe dialoga tsebo ye e tseneletšego mabapi le thuto ya go akaretša bohle, ga le hlohleletše tšhomišo ya mokgwa wo wa go ruta ebile ga le rute goba go fa baithuti bokgoni le maitemogelo a go ruta thuto ya go akaretša bohle. Dipoelo tša nyakišišo di tšweleditše gore tlhahlo ya barutiši ba sekolo sa sekontari go thuto ya go akaretša bohle ga e šome gabotse ka Ethiopia. Nyakišišo ye e šišinya go fetolwa ga dipholisi, tšhomišo le maano a mangwe a go fa barutiši tšhupatsela gore ba be le bokgoni bja go ruta thuto ya go akaretša bohle.