CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.5 The Ethiopian Experience in using Active Learning Approaches
2.5.3 Major Problems in the Implementation of
There is scarcity of published researches about the implementation of active learning in the Ethiopian school contexts (Boersma, 2008: 103). Even if there are some articles, their focus is on the general trends of education in the primary schools. There are few studies that focus on specific subjects, like English language at the tertiary level of education. Thus, it is difficult to get many studies about the implementation of student-centred approach and active learning in the Ethiopian school contexts.
Serbessa (2006: 132), one of the educational researchers, reports that the Ethiopian upbringing or socialisation does not encourage free discussion and interaction. He
tradition by becoming a model for the teaching and learning process of the modern education. Church education encourages “obedience, politeness, and silence” (Serbessa, 2006: 132).These elements play a negative role in the implementation of active and reflective teaching approaches in order to make students critical thinkers and problem solvers.
In his descriptive study, which involves the Ethiopian primary schools, Serbessa (2006: 137) found out that lecture method dominates, and teachers focus on continuous assessment; the major problems in applying active learning were the country’s tradition of teaching and learning process, lack of institutional support and learning resources, teachers’ lack of skills, problems in the curricular materials, and low level of students’ interest to work in active learning approaches
In relation to problems at the tertiary level, the Ethiopian higher education used to experience many problems in the past, and these problems were considered to affect negatively the teaching and learning process. For instance, according to Desta (2004: 72- 79), the following were the major problems: lack of pedagogical training for instructors, using lecture method predominantly, lack of experienced and qualified instructors, poor measurement and evaluation system, and lack of teaching resources and facilities. In connection with this idea, Al Jarf (2006: 9) indicates that large class sizes at undergraduate level has negative impacts on students’ achievement, attitude of instructors and students towards instruction, classroom instruction and students’ assessment.
Furthermore, Serbessa (2005: 127) listed that the main challenges in implementing active learning in Ethiopian higher education institutions are lack of teachers’ expertise, lack of institutional support and learning resources, problems in the tradition of child upbringing and teaching, inappropriate use of teaching materials, and lack of students’ active participation in the teaching and learning process. The Ethiopian education and training policy recommends that innovative teaching and learning approaches must be implemented. In practice, however, the traditional lecture method was still prevalent in the teaching and learning process in the Ethiopian higher education institutions (Serbessa, 2005: 127).
In order to identify the main reasons why these innovative teaching and learning approaches are not implemented, Serbessa (2005: 131-133) carried out a survey study in the institutions and obtained the following results:
Instructors felt that they use lecture method as they know it very well, and their students are in favour of it.
Some lack confidence and knowledge to apply active learning in their class Others claim lack of resources
Some teachers fear that students may not learn concepts in detail.
The way of test (i.e. focus on right answer) led students to shift and concentrate on memorising chunks of information
The classroom seating arrangement and large class size (80 or more students) does not allow instructors to use active learning.
The activities in the teaching materials are not presented in a way to encourage independent and reflective way of learning. Most course materials with a large amount of information to be memorised and students do not feel they are learning if instructors use active learning.
Since active learning is time consuming, students do not give attention to some topics as they are expected to cover vast portion of the course.
The instructors do not feel they can manage their course in short time if they use active learning approaches. So, to balance the objectivist and constructivist views of education, more effort is needed.
From the above list of findings, it is possible to summarise that the problems are related to earlier experience in the teaching and learning process, lack of knowledge, skills and attitudes to use new teaching techniques, problems in the assessment and evaluation system, and problems in connection with the facilities and teaching materials. The findings reflected that the objectivist model of teaching is still dominant in the instructional process. There is still a gap between what was planned in the policy and achieved in practice to bring the desired change.
Thus, in order to improve the teaching and learning process as stated in the policy document, balancing the objectivist dominance by using more constructivist approaches is essential in order to achieve the desired learning objectives and match students’ learning styles with the instructional approach. Similarly, Smith (2004: 61) has also reflected that the Ethiopian higher education institutions are affected by evaluation mechanisms, shortage of facilities, lack of pedagogical skills, lack of experience and qualification of instructors, poor guidance and counselling services, and dominance of the lecture method. Furthermore, according to research findings of a group of researchers on students of Debre Markos University, it was found out that most students were said to join preparatory programme without sufficient academic talents (Tesera, Shumet, and Demeke, 2010: 55). This becomes a barrier for students’ academic success at the freshman programme.