The Ethiopian Journal of Education

Relationship among Autonomy, Quitting Intentions, Job Burnout and Performance of High School Teachers

Amare Sahle — 2023-12-26

This research investigated the structural relationship of emotion related variables of teachers’ performance, burnout, autonomy and quitting intentions, under the title of Roles of Autonomy and Quitting Intentions on Effect of Burnout on High school teachers Performance. It intended to develop a comprehensive understanding model. A random sample 361 out of 1945 target population determined by single population proportion formula with 95% CI was taken from 10 weredas of Central Zone in Tigray; that is, all the 23 schools. Responses were quantitatively analyzed based on the statistical assumptions. EFA (explorative factors analysis) identified four components in six constructs that explained 60.4% of the total variance taking Eigen values > 1 cutoff point and tolerable communality, KMO and anti-image correlations. In SEM, both measurement and structural modeling fit indices > .90; and ≤ .051 for RMSEA were used to assess fitness predictability and testability of parameters and model respectively. Results of SEM indicated that burnout and quitting intention negatively predicts teaching performance. It’s also indicated that these variables have indirect effect on performance and mediate the effect of burnout. Autonomy and quitting intention perfectly mediated the relationship between burnout and performance. Burnout badly initiates quitting intentions. It is concluded that work related emotions highly impact teachers’ performance appraisal. Therefore it is recommended that the education sector should review secondary schools’ performance appraisal system in terms of content, process and procedure of teaching performance appraisal. Besides, training must be given to evaluators on how to avoid errors and some biases in their evaluation.

Validity of Pre-college Students’ English School Based Assessment in Predicting Achievement in University Entrance Examination

Hawa Mohammed Yimam — 2023-12-25

This study investigated the validity of pre-college students’ School Based English Assessment (SBEA) as a predictor of their English achievement in University Entrance Examination (UEE). A quantitative research method with predictive correlational design was employed. The participants were 1,113 students from Woldia Preparatory School, Ethiopia; they were selected using convenience sampling. The students’ Grade 11 and Grade12 SBEA scores and their English UEE scores were taken as data. Descriptive Statistics, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficients and Simple Linear Regression Analysis were employed for the data analysis. The descriptive statistics indicated that the students’ level of achievement was average in SBEA and low in UEE. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test result showed statistically significant difference between SBEA and UEE, favoring SBEA. The correlation between students’ achievement in SBEA and UEE was found to be positive but moderate for natural science students and low for social science students. The linear regression analysis result indicated that SBEA was found to have a predictive validity on achievement in UEE for natural science students; however, SBEA score did not predict social science students’ score in UEE. Recommendations were suggested based on the findings.

Quest for a Space for Co-curriculum as an Alternative Peace-building Mechanism: Analysis of the Legal Frameworks of the Ethiopian Higher Education System

Messash Kassaye Woldetsadik — 2023-12-26

There are several platforms to build peace within higher education institutions (HEIs). Out of these, co-curricular programs (CoCPs) received considerable attention for obtaining peace-promoting effects. However, it is rare to find literature that analyzes the legal frameworks (proclamations, legislations, and regulations) that enable CoCPs to play a significant role in peace-building. This is also true in the Ethiopian HEIs context. This article attempts to find out whether the legal arrangements leave space for CoCPs so that it could acknowledge their possible contributions to promote peace within the public of the HEIs. In so doing, the Education and Training Policy (ETP), the three higher education proclamations, the Ethiopian Education Development Roadmap, HEIs 10 Years Development Plan and five selected university senate legislations were examined. The qualitative content analysis revealed that the proclamations, the road map and senate legislations indeed leave some room for CoCPs to contribute to the efforts of building peace. However, the significance of CoCPs is not explicitly stated in relation to peace. Hence, the contribution of CoCPs under the legal frameworks of Ethiopian Higher Education System (HES) as alternative peace-building mechanism is inferred.

Organization and Management of Inclusive Education Resource Centers in Gamo Zone Primary Schools

Sewalem Tsega — 2023-12-26

Inclusive education resource centers are pedagogical centers equipped with specific materials and support devices and staffed with professionals to support LSENs teachers, and satellite schools. This study aims at exploring the current status of the organization and management of inclusive education resource centers in Gamo zone primary schools in Southern Ethiopia. A convergent parallel mixed design was used to blend both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Primary data were obtained from 136 systematically selected sample units that comprised 95(36.5%) teachers and 41(69.5%) resource center core team members. A self-developed questionnaire, non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis were used as data-gathering tools. Quantitative data were analyzed using mean, SD, independent sample t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient(r), whereas qualitative data were analyzed through the narrative description. Based on the results, inclusive education resource centers are not well organized with necessary materials and professionals, perhaps due to the absence of professionals and the inadequacy of special equipment and support devices. In contrast, the resource center core team weakly managed their implementation, more likely due to a lack of special skills. Most probably due to resource center-related training received, there are some significant view variations between the respondent groups for management and organization of inclusive education resource centers. It can also be concluded that when the resource center core team increases their involvement by at least an average, the centers tend to be well organized since the two variables have moderate and significant positive correlations with each other. The resource center core team, therefore, should better design educational projects and work in collaboration with school stakeholders as well as NGOs to lobby for additional funds. They should also provide awareness raising and special skill training for school teachers regarding inclusion and inclusive education resource centers. Above all, district education offices should work closely with resource center schools and allocate budget mainly for recruiting professionals and purchasing special equipment for the centers.

The Vulnerable Graduates? Exploring the Post-bachelor’s Degree Un/employment Experiences of Somali and Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia

Alebachew Kemissso — 2023-12-26

The overall objective of this study was to explore the post-bachelor's degree un/employment experiences of refugees who participated in higher education using scholarships in Ethiopia. The study followed a qualitative research approach. Participants of this study were Eritrean and Somali refugee graduates, and staff from the Refugee and Returnee Service, and the Ministry of Education of Ethiopia. Policy and legal documents, and government directives pertinent to refugee education were also used as sources of data. Data were collected through interviews and review of documents. The findings indicated that higher education scholarships were beneficial for the individual refugees in terms of developing a critical consciousness about what they aspired to attain in the future and provided a slim option to pursue a legal pathway to move out from Ethiopia. For the refugee community, graduates from public universities served as a pool of human capital who could volunteer as an organized group to work against social and economic problems in the camps. However, refugees' post-bachelor's degree experiences revealed that higher education opportunities could exacerbate vulnerability if experiences after graduation did not lead to employment. The study implied that refugees who were graduates of higher education and outside the predefined categories as vulnerable by UNHCR could be susceptible to harm and marginalisation due to their status. Hence, policymakers and researchers need to understand the meaning and manifestation of vulnerability from the specific experiences of the refugees who live in varying contexts.

The Relationship between First-year Student Motivation for Learning Physical Fitness Course and Quality Physical Fitness Instructional Service: The Case of Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia

Demisse Gashu Walle — 2023-12-26

The motivation of students for learning is affected by quality physical fitness instructional service. However, it is not clear how the quality of the physical fitness instructional service predicts a student’s motivation to learn physical fitness courses. Besides, the relationships between contextual factors and quality physical fitness instructional service are not explored. This study examines the relationship between quality physical fitness instructional service and the motivation of students to learn physical fitness courses. Moreover, it also examines the extent to which contextual factors predict quality physical fitness instructional service. This study further examines the extent to which quality physical fitness instructional services interact with contextual variables to predict students’ motivation for learning physical fitness courses at Bahir Dar University. A cross-sectional research design consisting of 323 samples from the total population of 1860, using systematic random sampling techniques, is used for the study. The average age of the majority of students (n= 216, 66.9%) is 20. The quality of physical fitness instructional service and the motivation of students for learning the course are assessed by using the adapted standard tools, Service Quality Assessment Scale (SQAS), and Exercise Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-E) respectively. The analysis involves correlation and multiple regression analysis. Based on the data collected and analyzed, the following findings were obtained. The Pearson correlation results indicated that all motivational variables are significantly associated with most quality variables (p<.01). Particularly, intrinsic and introjection motivation is significantly associated with all quality variables (p<.01). In this study, the regression analysis also examined that the contextual variables slightly predicted the quality physical fitness instructional service (p<.05). However, the regression analysis confirmed that the quality physical fitness instructional service and contextual factors, together as predictors, accounted for 22% and 16% of the variance in intrinsic and introjection motivation respectively (p<.05). This means that twenty-two per cent of the variance in internal motivation and sixteen per cent of introjection motivation are accounted for by the predictor quality variables. The implication is that there is a need for an intervention in quality physical fitness service variables to influence student motivation for physical fitness courses.