Analysing the implementation of selfcontained classroom teaching: the case of lower primary schools in west arsi zone oromia regional state

Abstract

In Ethiopia currently first cycle (grade 1-4) primary school is organized in the form of selfcontained classroom. The implementation of this approach with its all assumptions has been questioned due to the deterioration of the quality of primary education in the Oromia regional state. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation of selfcontained classroom teaching in some selected primary schools in west Arsi zone, Oromia Regional state. To this end, basic questions were raised regarding the attitude of primary school principals, teachers and students towards self-contained classroom teaching; the role of selfcontained classroom teaching in enhancing the learning of students; the drawbacks encountered, student performance, and the remedial mechanisms for the implementation of self-contained classroom teaching. The study involved 13 selected primary schools in West Arsi zone. The sources of information were 5 woreda education office experts, 13 primary schools principals, and 118 teachers who were engaged in teaching self-contained classrooms and 39top three of grade four students selected through both convenient and purposive sampling techniques. The used questionnaire, interviews, and FGD to gather the relevant data. The data utilized both quantitatively and qualitatively analysis methods. Based on the analysis the following major findings were obtained. Teacher respondents are considered self-contained classroom teaching as a way of facilitating pupils’ understanding of the integrated subjects, forming strong relationship between teachers and students, enhancing self-understanding and self-respect, and providing chance to students to be treated individually. But on the reverse side, self-contained teaching was entangled with heavy teacher workload, high works stress levels, inadequate training and low students academic performance, the absence of additional assistance teachers, large class-size and the inadequately equipped classrooms with materials and facilities, lack of teachers commitment to help their students were found to be the major problems for the selfcontained classroom not to become effective. Based on the findings obtained, the following recommendations are made. Teachers who have a diploma or degree tend to have better subject knowledge than those who have a one year certificate. Having a degree is the single most important factor with a significant effect on teachers’ subject matter knowledge, therefore, developing the trained of assigning such better qualified teachers to the lower primary school as well as updating and upgrading the quality of lower primary school teachers through pre-service and in-service training is substantial to attain the intended objectives. Owing to heavy burden self-contained teachers cannot do their work properly to mitigate this problem assigning additional substitute teachers to share paper works and some time to replace the main teacher, encouraging the trained of zero class, having reasonable (standardized) class-size so that teachers can address their teaching-learning activities and manage his/her students properly. Moreover, to compensate some short comings of self-contained classroom teaching all stakeholders should motivating best performance teachers to win their interest, school should work in collaboration with parents to plan on the future of students, teachers should serve their students with greater commitment and willingness to strengthen their students special needs/interests, teachers should develop the trained of collaborating students in co-curricular activities to strengthen non-academic skills, school should providing educative and attractive classrooms. If these pre-conditions are not fulfilled, it is unlikely to attain the desired objectives in self-contained classroom