Teachers’ Beliefs, Knowledge and Practice of Learner-Centered Approach in Schools of Ethiopia
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs teachers hold and the knowledge they have about learner-centered approach as well as the degree to which they practice it in classroom settings. It also aimed at investigating the effects of beliefs, knowledge, empowerment, class size, teaching load, and year of service on teachers’ practice of learner-centered approach. The data were collected from 635 in-service teacher training program participants at Bahir Dar University, Education Faculty, who were teaching different subjects at middle and high schools in almost all parts of the country. The results revealed that the teachers tend to employ mostly the traditional teacher-centered approach of teaching. Regression analysis indicated that the three most prominent factors that contributed significantly to the variance in practice were learner-centered belief about learning, learner and teaching (Factor 1), knowledge, and instructional empowerment. In other words, teachers who had knowledge of this teaching approach, those who were empowered to have the freedom to choose their own instructional approaches, and those who had learner-centered beliefs tended to apply student-centered approach in their classrooms. This may have implication to teacher education institutes in that there is a need to incorporate learner-centered approach in their programs in the training of would-be-teachers.
Downloads
References
Centered Psychological Principles. In N. Lambert and B.L. McCombs (Eds.),
How Students Learn: Reforming Schools through Learner-centered
Education. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Barr, R., and Tagg, J. (1995, Nov./Dec.). From Teaching to Learning: A New
Paradigm for Undergraduate Education. Change, 27(6), 13 – 25.
Bruner, J. S. (1961). The Act of Discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31(1),
21- 32.
Carrier, C. and McNergney. R. (1979). Interaction Research: Can it Help
Individualized Instruction? Educational Technology, 19(4), 40-45.
Datnow, A., and Castellano, M. (2000). Teachers’ Responses to Success for All:
How Beliefs, Experiences, and Adaptations Shape Implementation.
American Educational Research Journal, 37(3), 775-799.
Deci, E. L., Ryan, and R. M., and Williams, G. C. (1996). Need Satisfaction and the
Self-Regulation of Learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 8(3),
165-183.
Dewey, J. (1922). Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social
Psychology. New York: Holt Publishing.
Elmore, R. (1996). Getting to Scale with Good Educational Practice. Harvard
Educational Review, 66(1), 1-26.
Frisby, C. L. (1998). Contextual Factors Influencing the Classroom Application of
Learner-Centered Principles. In N. Lambert, and B. L. McCombs (Eds.)
(1998). How Students Learn: Reforming Schools through Learner-centered
Education. Washington, DC: APA Books, pp.61-79.
Garcia, T. (1996). Self-Regulation: An Introduction. Learning and Individual
Differences, 8(3), 161-163.
Glassman, M. (2001). Dewey and Vygotsky: Society, Experience, and Inquiry in
Educational Practice. Educational Researcher, 30 (4), 3-14.
Habtamu Wondimu. (1998). Interpersonal Violence in Addis Ababa Secondary
Schools: An Iceberg of Challenge to the Democratization of Education in
Ethiopia. In Amare Asgedom, et al., (eds.) Quality Education in Ethiopia in
21st Century. Proceedings of the First Educational Conference on Quality
Education in Ethiopia, Awassa, IER, Addis Ababa University.
Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing Teachers, Changing Times. New York:
Teachers College Press.
Haury, D. L., and Rillero, P. (1994). Perspectives of Hands-on Science Teaching.
The ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental
Education.
Jonassen, D. H., and Grabowski, B. L. (1993). Handbook of Individual
Differences, Learning and Instruction. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Lambert, N. M., and, McCombs, B. L. (1998). Introduction: Learner-Centered
Schools and Classrooms as a Direction for Schools Reform. In N. Lambert,
and B. L. McCombs (Eds.), How Students Learn: Reforming Schools
through Learner-centered Education. Washington, DC: APA Books, pp. 1-
22.
McCluskey, K. W., Baker, P.A., Bergsgaard, M., and McCluskey, A. L. A. (2001).
Creative Problem Solving in the Trenches: Interventions with At-Risk
Populations. Monograph #308.
McCombs, B. (2000). Assessing the Role of Educational Technology in the
Teaching and Learning Process: A Learner-Centered Perspective. White
paper for the Secretary’s Conference on Educational Technology: Measuring
t he Impacts and Shaping the Future, Washington DC, September 11-12,
2000.
_____ (April, 2001). What Do We Know About Learners and Learning? The
Learner-Centered Framework. Paper presented in the Symposium,
“Integrating What We Know About Learners and Learning: A Foundation for
Transforming Pre K-20 Practices,” at the Annual Meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, Seattle.
McCombs, B. and Whisler, J. S. (1997). The Learner-Centered Classroom and
School: Strategies for Increasing Student Motivation and Achievement.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pub.
Piaget, J. (1986). Science of education and the psychology of the child. In H. E.
Gruber and J. J. Voneche (Eds.), The Essential Piaget: An Interpretive
Reference Guide. New York: Basic Books.
Shuell, T. J. (1986). Cognitive Conceptions of Learning. Review of Educational
Research, 56, 411-436.
Snow, R. E. (1977). Individual Differences and Instructional Theory. Educational
Researcher. 6, 11-15.
Tan, A.G. (2001). Elementary School Teachers’ Perceptions of Desirable Learning
Activities: A Singaporean Perspective. Educational Research, 43, 47-61.
Tekeste Negash. (1990). The Crisis of Ethiopian Education: Implications to
Nation Building. Uppsala: Nordaska, Afrikainiutat.
Thompson, J., Licklider, B, and Jungst, S. (2003). Learner – Centered Teaching:
Postsecondary Strategies that Promote Thinking like a Professional. Theory
into Practice. Retrieved on April 14, 2006 from
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles
Transitional Government of Ethiopia. (1994). National Education and Training
Policy. Addis Ababa: EMPDA.
Weinsten, C. N. (1991). The Classroom as a Social Context for Learning. Annual
Review of Psychology, 42, 493-525.
Zimmerman, B. J. (1990). Self-regulating Academic Learning and Achievement: The
Emergence of a Social Cognitive Perspective. Educational Psychology
Review, 2, 173-201.