Teachers' Differences on the Utilization of Instructional Materials as the Function of their Years of Teaching Experiences, Level of Academic Qualifications and School Contexts in Bahir Dar Town Schools

Abstract

The study was conducted on 176 (111 males and 65 females) teachers in Bahir Dar town schools. The major purposes were to assess the impact of teaching experience and academic qualification of teachers, and school context on the utilization of instructional materials, and to identify the major obstacles in the utilization of instructional materials. Questionnaire, observation and interview were used as data collection instrument of the study. Percentage, ANOVA and post Hoc mean comparison were used to analyze the collected data. ANOVA results indicated that less qualified and less experienced teachers tend to utilize instructional materials more than the teachers with a higher qualification and a longer teaching experience. Moreover, except TTI qualified teachers, all NGO-school teachers utilized instructional materials more than the teachers in government schools. Lack of training, time constraints, large class size, administrative problems and lack of instructional materials were reported as the main obstacles to utilize instructional materials. Certain recommendations were made for educational officers including the directors, teachers and teacher training institutions.