dc.description.abstract |
The purpose of this study was to investigate the place of values-education in teachers'
professional practices by considering two secondary schools in East Gojjam. To this end, a
qualitative approach and a descriptive case study design were employed. The schools and
participants were selected based on purposeful sampling, complemented, in particular, by
snowball sampling. Data sources were teachers, principals, students, and documents. The data
gathering instruments were semi-structured interviews, semi-structured observations, and
document reviews. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with the staff to learn
about the teachers' beliefs, understandings, and actual values-education practices. Semistructured
group interviews were also conducted with students to obtain data about their
teachers' beliefs as moral educators, teacher-student interactions, and the moral climate of the
staff. Non-participant observation was employed to collect data in relation to classroom
instruction and social interactions outside the classroom. Document review was employed to
understand the textual and pictorial representations in different locations of the schools. The
data were then analyzed narratively through interpretational and reflective analyses. The finding
suggests that values-education was not sufficiently infused into teachers' professional practices
due to a set of factors. The research results have shown that teachers' beliefs and understandings
appear to be lower; values-education actual practices tend to be reactive and unconsciously
performed; and potential challenges appear to be problematic in the efforts of teaching moral
character. Therefore, it is implied that the Ministry of Education is expected to revise the present
system of values-education in a manner that reflects the Ethiopian reality. It is also necessary to
raise the competency of teachers through pre-service and in-service training modalities.
Moreover, teachers themselves are expected to have a positive attitude towards values-education
and practice an integrated values-education while confronting the challenges they encounter.
Finally, other investigators are needed to conduct further investigation on such sensitive issue of
the nation. |
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