scholarly journals Tutors’ perceptions about science curriculum reforms and challenges for their implementation in Teacher Training Colleges in Rwanda

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-116
Author(s):  
Camille Kanamugire ◽  
Lakhan Lal Yadav ◽  
Agnes Mbonyiryivuze
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Laboratory Equipment ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Teacher Training Colleges ◽  
Curriculum Reforms

This paper reports science tutors’ perceptions about science curriculum reforms occurred in Rwanda from 1996 to 2013 in Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs). It also highlights their perceptions about challenges and factors for effective implementation of Integrated Science Curriculum (ISC). Data for the study were collected from 26 science tutors teaching ISC in 11 TTCs from 4 provinces using questionnaires and structured interviews. Results showed that a slim majority of science tutors were not resistant to curriculum reform. Even if most of the science tutors were confident while teaching most of the topics in ISC, they have experienced some difficulties in teaching physics and cross-cutting domains related topics as well as practical activities. Other identified challenges include lack of qualified tutors to teach ISC in TTCs, insufficient contact hours allocated to ISC topics, tutors’ heavy workload, lack of sufficient science laboratory equipment and materials. In addition to TTC libraries that are not well equipped, lack of textbooks and teacher’s guides, as well as lack of in-service tutors’ training, were stressed to be some of the challenges. Even if it was found that most competencies, skills, knowledge and attitudes gained by student-teachers after completing ISC were highly rated by science tutors, communication skills and problem-solving skills that are claimed to be important skills needed by graduates of science in the workplaces were poorly rated. The recommended strategies to overcome the identified challenges include active involvement of TTCs’ science tutors in designing and development of ISC. Moreover, all TTCs should be provided with qualified science tutors to teach ISC. Training for in-service science tutors, recruitment of qualified tutors, and provision of adequate facilities, libraries and well-equipped science laboratories for all TTCs are also recommended.

scholarly journals Exploring transformative learning experiences of the vocationally interested and vocationally disinterested pre-service teachers in selected teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Esnati Macharaga ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Transformative Learning Theory ◽  
Spiritual Support ◽  
Teacher Training Colleges ◽  
Analysis Strategy

The purpose of this study was to explore the transformative learning experiences of 40 vocationally interested and vocationally disinterested pre-service teachers in four selected teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe. This multi-site case study was guided by Mezirow’s tenphase Transformative Learning Theory to understand and unpack the pre-service teachers’ transformative learning experiences, how they understood their transformative learning, and the forms of support offered by the institutional communities that enhanced their transformative learning experiences. Having employed a multi-modal approach which involved focus group discussions, individual face-to-face interviews and continuum drawings and discussions to generate data, a qualitative data analysis strategy using open coding was adopted. Findings suggested that student teachers experienced transformative learning through two major avenues: disorienting dilemmas and learning experiences. While the majority of the pre-service teachers, both the vocationally interested and the vocationally disinterested, experienced transformative learning in teacher education, this thesis found that some did not experience transformation. From the findings, the pre-service teachers investigated understood their transformative learning as embracing two domains: transformative learning as change (of perceptions, views, attitudes and beliefs and understanding of the teaching profession); and transformative learning as the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Such change and knowledge acquisition gave rise to personal awareness that created new ways of thinking and seeing the world. Infrastructural (libraries, theatres, halls of residence), material (computers, books) and human (staff, peers) resources, as well as spiritual support, emerged as critical for enhancing student teachers’ transformative learning. However, where infrastructural resources offered inadequate spaces, particularly in private institutions, this tended to limit the pre-service teachers’ transformative learning experiences. This study thus recommends the provision of adequate and spacious learning spaces to foster student teacher transformative learning. Drawing on Mezirow’s ten-stage Transformative Learning Theory, it is argued that vocationally interested and vocationally disinterested pre-service teachers experienced transformative learning differently. Although the transformative learning phases were sequential and undeviating in Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, for the pre-service teachers investigated, the transformative learning experiences were neither linear nor experienced by having passed through all ten stages. This thesis discovered that vocationally interested pre-teachers achieved transformative learning having passed through fewer stages of Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, while their vocationally disinterested counterparts had to move through more stages to realise shifts in their paradigms. The thesis suggests a need for comprehensive longitudinal studies, drawing on this framework to trace the transformative learning journeys of pre-service teachers from first year to third year, to understand their transformative learning experiences as well as establish whether or not all of them experience perspective changes at the end of their teacher training

scholarly journals Development and Assessment of Reflective Skills among Teacher Trainees in Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (Issue 3) ◽  
pp. 190-197
Author(s):  
Raymond Martin Ndomba
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Training Institution ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teacher Colleges ◽  
Reflective Skills

Reflective skills are a required ability that needs to be developed and assessed in any teacher training institution for quality practice and overall professional effectiveness. This study employed a case study design in exploring how teacher educators viewed the development and assessment of the reflective skills to the pre-service student teachers and the challenges educators faced among two selected teacher training colleges in Kilimanjaro and Ruvuma Regions. Data was collected through structured interviews to a sample of 10 teacher educators from two teacher colleges. The study concludes that there are different approaches used by educators in as far as developing reflective skills is concerned. These include participatory methods, inquiry learning, research strategy, group discussion, question-answer strategy and portfolios. Participatory strategy was more often used as compared to the other strategies because it is very easy and simple to administer. Each strategy had some peculiar advantages. Teacher educators used various approaches in assessing reflective skills among pre-service student teachers. The strategies used include portfolios, single lesson practice, block teaching practices, problem-solving ability and projects. Each strategy used had some specific advantages as compared to the others. The challenges teacher educators faced in developing and assessing the reflective skills of the pre-service student teachers included personal, professional, psychological and institutional. The study recommends that teacher educators should make effective use of cognitive strategies while teaching. They should also furnish their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter for them to be acquainted with current innovations in order to minimize the notable challenges.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing the Choice of an Agriculture Specialisation by Primary teachers’ Diploma College Students in Swaziland

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Micah Bheki Masuku ◽  
Alfred F. Tsikati ◽  
Barnabas M. Dlamini
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Career Decisions ◽  
Primary Teachers ◽  
Modified Delphi ◽  
Teacher Training Colleges ◽  
Modified Delphi Technique ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Desk Review

The choice of a specialisation is one of the lifetime career decisions students have to make when entering college. The purpose of the study was to determine factors that influence the choice of Agriculture specialisation by college student teachers in Swaziland. A desk review and a Modified Delphi technique were used to generate items used in the survey questionnaire for data collection. A census of 351 student teachers from three teacher training colleges was used. Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression. The findings of the study revealed that students’ interest, department’s image, sex and influence by professionals were the predictors for the choice of Agriculture specialisation in the teacher training colleges in Swaziland. The study recommends that the Agriculture departments in the colleges must stage campaigns and craft policies to promote the choice of the Agriculture specialisation. A study should be conducted to determine the influence of the subject combinations that make an area of specialisation on the choice of the Agriculture specialisation.

scholarly journals Teacher Computer Literacy in Selected Public Primary Schools in Ainamoi Sub-County in Kericho County, Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrice Chebet Ngeno ◽  
Hellen C Sang ◽  
Carolyn Chemosit
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Primary Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teacher Training Colleges ◽  
The Government

The practice of integrating education with computers has been used worldwide because of the emerging education global trends. Computer literacy in teachers plays an important role in the integration of technology in education, which favours the Kenyan education system. This study set out to determine the teacher computer literacy level in public primary schools Ainamoi Sub-County, Kericho.  A descriptive survey design was used involving 21 headteachers, 42 lower primary teachers, one ICT Expert, and CASO officer. Data were collected using structured interviews, questionnaires, and checklist observation. Purposive, simple random sampling and stratified sampling were used to sample the respondents. Data was presented in tables and percentages. The findings revealed that computer teacher training that was done in May 2015 did not cater for all the teachers in the field. This is because headteachers and only two lower primary teachers were trained from each school. It was also founded that teachers who graduated from teacher training colleges from 2009 were computer literate out of all the teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) after 2006. There is a need for the government to arrange the seminars and in-service programs to cater to those teachers who are already in the field but are computer noncompliant. Teachers should be ready to embrace the new technology and integrate it into teaching and learning. Teachers should have more exposure to computers and ICT facilities to enhance their computer competency. A digital computer content guide should be developed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to enhance consistent computer knowledge. Besides, teacher training colleges should provide KNEC examinable computer courses.

scholarly journals TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN B.ED COLLEGE

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (8(SE)) ◽  
pp. 27-35
Author(s):  
Priti Sivaramakrishan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Total Quality Management ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Teacher Training Colleges ◽  
Teaching Learning

The aim of the present study was to investigate the perception of B.Ed student teachers towards Total Quality Management (TQM) in Teacher Training Colleges. The study aims to evaluate how well the college functions in the transaction of imparting the teaching learning process.  The study was conducted on 68 B.Ed student teachers from one of the teacher training colleges of Mumbai University.  The data was analyzed using percent mean method. The results of the study showed that most of the dimensions of quality control ranged between 60% to 75% which suggests that the said college has room for improvement on its services.

Curriculum development at the African Regional Wildlife Colleges, with special reference to the Ecole de Faune, Cameroon

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Scholte
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Feedback System ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Conservation Practice ◽  
Curriculum Review ◽  
Regional Colleges ◽  
Training Need ◽  
Curriculum Reforms

Regional colleges in Tanzania, Cameroon and, recently, South Africa have trained some 4000 wildlife managers. Training need assessments called for major curriculum reforms, which were developed and implemented in the late 1990s. This is an analysis of the factors that influenced this curriculum reform in the colleges' endeavour to respond to new developments in African wildlife management. Since 1979, the curriculum of Garoua Wildlife College, Cameroon, has changed only gradually, whereas work placement subjects, selected by students and their employers, have quickly responded to developments in wildlife management, with an increase in the number of people-oriented subjects amongst other things. In the new curriculum, Garoua's mid-career students appreciated biology and inventory disciplines for their relevance, as well as courses in other disciplines tailored to conservation practice. The curriculum reforms implemented at Garoua depended on the presence of interested lecturers with an appropriate background, often obtained by additional training. The curricula of the regional wildlife colleges at Garoua (Cameroon) Mweka (Tanzania) and SAWC (South Africa) showed important differences, as a result of regional differences and differing visions of the wildlife management profession. All three colleges have struggled to establish a feedback system for continuous curriculum review. Increasing the exchanges between the colleges could further develop the curricula. While pursuing necessary changes in curriculum and institutions, care should be taken to avoid reducing the colleges' sustainability.

Most Difficult Topic in Social Science Curriculum as Perceived by Elementary Level Student-Teachers

2021 ◽  
pp. 236-247
Author(s):  
R. Vinodh Kumar ◽  
M. Vakkil
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
First Year ◽  
Elementary Teacher Education ◽  
Tamil Nadu State ◽  
Interest And Motivation ◽  
And Training

The study was conducted to identify the most difficult topic in elementary teacher education first-year social science curriculum as perceived by the student-teachers by using survey research design. The study also investigated the underlying reasons responsible for the student-teachers' difficulties in learning different topics. 218 student-teachers were selected using convenience sampling technique from five District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET), in Tamil Nadu State (India) for the study. The instrument used for data collection was a checklist designed by the researchers to elicit information from the student-teachers. The data collected were analysed using frequencies and percentages. The results showed that the topic namely, 'Reading the Globe, Maps and Atlas' was perceived as the most difficult topic in social science curriculum. The results also showed that teaching the topic without using the maps, lack of previous knowledge about the maps, the existence of vague concepts, heavy content load, and lack of interest and motivation to learn map concepts were the main reasons responsible for the student-teachers' difficulties in learning the topic.

An institutional perspective on the selection and use of accounting textbooks: the case of universities in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irsyadillah Irsyadillah ◽  
Mohamed Salem M Bayou
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Education ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Institutional Pressures ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
The People

Purpose This study aims to investigate the selection and use of introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks in the context of achieving the objectives of accounting education to provide both discipline-specific skills and liberal education. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a qualitative research design to collect data through semi-structured interviews with 33 accounting educators across Indonesia. This study uses the institutional theory approach to explain how accounting textbooks are selected and used to meet the objectives of accounting education at universities. Findings The study provides evidence of the adoption of a systematic procedure for the selection of recommended IFA textbooks. The selection was driven by the technical-regulatory objective of providing technical training. This objective also guides the use of the recommended textbooks. In a sense, accounting educators were more concerned about responding to institutional pressures of preparing accountants for work in the accounting industry rather than providing students with a liberal education that promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on the selection and use of IFA textbooks. Further research should examine the contents of various accounting textbooks and obtain feedback from the people involved in the publication of the textbooks. Originality/value The findings of this study have important implications for accounting educators. They can use these findings to improve their selection and use of accounting textbooks.

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