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The Diversification of Curriculum Contents and Learning Experiences in Primary School Textbooks in Post-1991 Ethiopia: The Experiences of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which primary school textbooks’ contents and learning experiences have been diversified to the regional context of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State level to reflect the political, social, economic, historical, cultural life and environmental conditions. In the study, content analysis was conducted on 8 student textbooks selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. An interview was employed to collect data taking contents, activities, exercises, projects, and illustrations as a focus of the analysis. The collected data were classified as general when they reflect experiences outside of the regional state, but as regional/local when they were found closer and familiar to the learner and reflecting the immediate environment and related to the region. The level of diversifications of the contents and learning experiences were quantitatively analyzed using frequency count and percentages. Interviews were made with the regional level textbook writers and editors and analyzed qualitatively using narration. The content analysis on the first cycle textbooks showed that they were diversified and made to reflect the regional state’s reality while the second cycle textbooks emphasized universally established subject matter contents and learning experiences focusing more on the logical structures of the subjects than using contents and learning experiences from the regional state. However, the contents and learning experiences of the first-generation textbooks were diversified while the second-generation textbooks for the second cycle focused more on country-wide shared contents and learning experiences. The study concluded by recommending that as diversification accommodates differences, it must be further strengthened
Needs Assessment Practices in Curriculum Planning for Primary Schools in Ethiopia: The Past and Present
No full textThe Diversification of Curriculum Contents and Learning Experiences in Primary School Textbooks in Post-1991 Ethiopia: The Experiences of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which primary school textbooks’ contents and learning experiences have been diversified to the regional context of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State level to reflect the political, social, economic, historical, cultural life and environmental conditions. In the study, content analysis was conducted on 8 student textbooks selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. An interview was employed to collect data taking contents, activities, exercises, projects, and illustrations as a focus of the analysis. The collected data were classified as general when they reflect experiences outside of the regional state, but as regional/local when they were found closer and familiar to the learner and reflecting the immediate environment and related to the region. The level of diversifications of the contents and learning experiences were quantitatively analyzed using frequency count and percentages. Interviews were made with the regional level textbook writers and editors and analyzed qualitatively using narration. The content analysis on the first cycle textbooks showed that they were diversified and made to reflect the regional state’s reality while the second cycle textbooks emphasized universally established subject matter contents and learning experiences focusing more on the logical structures of the subjects than using contents and learning experiences from the regional state. However, the contents and learning experiences of the first-generation textbooks were diversified while the second-generation textbooks for the second cycle focused more on country-wide shared contents and learning experiences. The study concluded by recommending that as diversification accommodates differences, it must be further strengthened
Curriculum Planning Process for the Primary Level Education in Post-1991 Ethiopia: The Case of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State
No full textCurriculum Planning Process for Primary Level Education in Post-1991 Ethiopia: The
Case of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State
Lemma Setegn, Addis Ababa University, 2015
Diversifying primary school experiences has been considered as a solution to
accommodate differences through school curriculum and the government of Ethiopia set
an Education and Training Policy (ETP) that provides provisions on localizing primary
school curriculum to make the education relevant and responsive to the learner and the
society. To materialize the policy, the roles of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the
Regional Education Bureau (REB) with regard to curriculum planning process for the
primary school were described. Researches on access, equity, quality, efficiency and
relevance, which necessitated the launching of the declaration of the Education and
Training Policy, were made. However, there have been scarcities of research reports on
curriculum planning process for primary schools in post-1991 Ethiopia, especially on
Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State (SNNPRS). Thus, a
descriptive case study and content analysis were conducted with a purpose to examining
and getting clear understanding on the implementation of the policy provisions by
assessing to what extent the curriculum planners have been acquainted with the
theoretical knowledge, the rationales of curriculum planning and localization of the
primary schools’ curriculum and possess required technical skills. It also examined how
open and flexible the syllabi were to incorporate local experiences and to accommodate
local differences, the work relationship between the Federal and the SNNPR Education
Bureau; the achievements, problems and challenges of the localization of the primary
school curriculum. To this end, a mixed methods research design has been employed and
samples of curriculum planners were selected from former Institute for Curriculum
Development and Research (ICDR) and the current Curriculum Development and
Implementation Core Process Directorate (CDICPD) from the Ministry of Education
using snowball and availability sampling techniques respectively. At the regional level,
the Region’s Education Bureau, six Zones and a Special Woreda Education
Departments’ Curriculum and Educational Materials Supply Core Performers, Subject
Performers, textbook writers and editors were selected using stratified, availability and
snowball sampling techniques. A total of 54 samples were made to fill in a questionnaire.
In addition, thirteen students’ textbooks were selected using stratified sampling technique
for content analysis. Semi-structured interview items were used to collect data from the
two heads, two panel members and a coordinator; a director, two experts of the ICDR
and the CDICPD at the federal level. One core performer, nine subject performers, eight
textbook writers, and three content and language editors were interviewed at the
SNNPRS. The data collected through the interview, questionnaire and content analysis
were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative (mixed methods) approaches. The
qualitative data analysis has been done using narration while the quantitative data were
analyzed using frequency count, percentage and mean values to determine the position of
level of agreement of the respondents. The analysis of the data showed that the primary
school curricula of the regional state were drafted by the MoE the validations were made
by representatives of the region when they were invited in both the Transition period and
after the founding of the FDRE. The objectives model has been used to plan, but with no
needs assessment data. However, the Transition Period Charter, the FDRE Constitution,
agreements the country had signed and ratified, the students’ profile of the level and the
Education Sector Review(1970s) and the Evaluative Research on General Education
System of Ethiopia(1980s) were consulted. The region’s representatives were informed
that the syllabi were open and flexible to be adapted to local conditions at the time of
validation workshops. Minor adjustments in sequence of contents were made at the
preparation of textbooks on those subjects that were left to the region. The adaptations or
localizing the contents to local conditions were made using the practical activities, group
projects, exercises and questions in both earlier and latter phases of textbook
preparations. The region’s curriculum sections were staffed by subject area graduates
who had no training on curriculum design and development. The work relationships
between the federal MoE and the regional education bureau have been characterized as
supportive, or cooperative, but not hierarchic. The use of mother tongue languages and
English as media of instruction, the utilization of local resources (materials and
institutions) for the instructional process, the acquisition of skills to write textbooks,
develop syllabi and writing textbooks for the mother tongue languages, the increased
enrolment and retention of students in schools, employment opportunities in the zones
and special Woredas to work in school and offices have been considered as some of the
achievements of the curriculum localization/adaptation in the region . However, the
absence of trained and experienced human resource at the initial period to localize the
syllabi, write and edit textbooks, shortages of reference materials and financial support
have been the outstanding problems in the planning process encountered during the
beginning years. There have been some kind of resistance on the localization of the
primary school curriculum and the use of mother tongue languages as media of
instruction by some groups, reluctance of those educated groups to participate in
changing the curriculum; the diversity of the people in the region and the difficulty to
localize the curriculum documents to each of them have been the major challenges.
Thus, the restructuring of the Region’s Education Bureau, Zonal and Special Woreda
Education Departments with a primary school curriculum section, which is staffed with
trained and experienced staff; playing its ascribed roles as per the policy provisions;
conducting needs assessment to further localize the curriculum and accommodate
differences through the devolution of the curriculum planning power to the zones, special
Woredas and schools are recommended to the Regional Education Bureau. Similarly, the
Federal MoE needs to strengthen its assistance and setting practicable curriculum
planning framework and standards; arranging training and experience sharing programs
to build the capacity of the planers both at home and abroad on curriculum development
matters; and working to restructure and staff the CDICPD with appropriate experts that
work in teams on specific subject lines and levels. It needs to work on creating awareness
that localizing the primary school curriculum would not be a threat to national integrity
as long as it is done with a purpose of achieving education objectives of the country.
Key Terms: Curriculum planning, local curriculum, curriculum relevance, responsive
curriculum, Power Devolution, Content diversification, and Integrating
experienc
Curriculum Adaptation Experience of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State: The Process, Achievements and Challenges
No full textThe study was conducted to examine the curriculum adaptation experiences for the primary level education in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) focusing on the practice/ process, achievements and challenges. A case study method was employed with a sample of 17 curriculum workers from the Regional State’s Education Bureau, Zonal and Special Woreda Departments and Offices and 2 heads and 3 panel members of the former Institute for Curriculum Development and Research (ICDR), 2 directors and 2 experts from Curriculum Development and Implementation Core Process Directorate (CDICPD) of the Federal Ministry of Education (MoE) using snowball, purposive and availability sampling techniques respectively. Interviews and document analysis were used to collect data. The interview results were qualitatively analyzed using narration on themes identified while the document analysis was used to triangulate or supplement the interview results at some points. The analysis showed that the primary school syllabi have been developed and repeatedly revised at the Federal Ministry of Education with limited participation of the SNNPRS’ representatives. The students’ textbooks’ preparation and adaptations to the regional level in the earlier years was seen as a big achievement by region until the preparations and revisions of the syllabi and textbooks for the second cycle were taken by the MoE and written by those who won the bids. The earlier regional level preparation had given the regional state chances to adapt the curriculum to concrete regional conditions and most local needs were met using local contents and learning experiences. However, lack of experience, material resources and absence of trained curriculum staff including resistance from few groups were the challenges encountered
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Stakeholders’ Views on the Preparation and Utilization of School Supplementary Curriculum Materials in Selected Private Primary Schools in Addis Ababa
No full textThe purpose of the study was to investigate the views of stakeholders on schoolsupplementary curriculum materials’ preparation and utilization in two private primary schools inAddis Ababa. A concurrent mixed methods research design was used for the study. A total of174 students and 65 parents were selected using stratified and convenient sampling techniquesrespectively while 12 teachers were selected using availability sampling technique. Four schooladministrators and four education bureau experts were selected using purposive and availabilitysampling techniques respectively. Questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion anddocument analysis were used to collect data. The quantitative data were analyzed usingfrequencies, percentages, and mean scores while the qualitative data was analyzed usingthemes. The findings revealed that the stakeholders had positive views on the supplementarycurriculum materials for they facilitated students’ learning and improved their achievements. TheEducation Bureau’s guideline and criteria improved the preparation, but reduced the number ofprivate schools that were involved in the preparation and utilization practice. The preparation andutilization of the supplementary curriculum materials in the English language for the first cyclegrades and access through sale were contrary to the Education and Training Policy of the countryand the criteria set by Addis Ababa Education Bureau. Lack of trained writers and clearguidelines including costs of preparation were found to be the major problems of the schools.Thus, organizing extensive forums for stakeholders’ discussions, training to the writers, settingstandards and supervising the practice with parents were recommended to improve the practicein the schools
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