Impediments to educative practicum: the case of teacher preparation in Ethiopia

Impediments to educative practicum: the case of teacherpreparation in Ethiopia

Jeylan Wolyie Hussein*

College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

(Received 16 August 2010; final version received 11 November 2010)

The study is a phenomenological case study into the lived experience of teachercandidates and associate teachers in Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to gain aphenomenological sensitivity to the lived experience of the participants andthrough that to identify key structural and conceptual impediments to meaningfulprofessional learning. The study presents analysis of how the problems framed as‘structural and conceptual impediments’ have jeopardised the emotional and pro-fessional well-being of the participants. The implication of the findings for teachereducation institutions that use practicum as a strategy to prepare teachers wasdrawn. This, in a nutshell, is the view that shared responsibility for teacher candi-dates’ learning is impossible without shared understanding, values and directions.

Keywords: practicum; Ethiopia; Teacher Education System Overhaul (TESO);associate teachers; teacher candidates; mentoring

Introduction

The teaching profession needs competent professionals with high concern and com-mitment for the social, psychological and intellectual prosperity of future citizens. Inprinciple, teachers should be practitioners with high educational wisdom or a solidknowledge base. There is no limited source from which teachers’ intellectual wisdomis drawn, but according to Huisheng (2007), ‘The educational wisdom of intellectualteachers is the outcome of the close integration of educational science and art. It isalso the result of teachers’ long-term practice, reflections and the comprehensiveexpression of teachers’ capacities’ (119). Teachers will be able to facilitate engagingeducation only when they are well educated or prepared for the profession. No doubtthe process to create teachers of such lofty intellectual, moral and psychological rec-titude takes huge and coordinated efforts. Learning how to teach is the process ofbecoming. Thus, teachers ‘must stay current in educational theory and practice’(Good and Weaver 2003, 439). There is a strong relationship between teachers’ pro-fessional quality and the quality of student achievements (Ball, Thames, and Phelps2008). According to Feiman-Nemser (2001), ‘What students learn depends on whatand how teachers teach; and what and how teachers teach depends on the knowl-edge, skills, and commitments they bring to their teaching and the opportunities theyhave to continue learning in and from their practice’ (1015). Good teaching, accord-ing to Osguthorpe (2008), ‘requires a teacher to be knowledgeable in content, skilled

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Research in Post-Compulsory EducationAquatic InsectsVol. 16, No. 3, September 2011, 333–355

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in method, and virtuous in character’. Osguthorpe underscores that, ‘. . .a deepunderstanding of subject matter and an ability to effectively employ methods to con-vey that subject matter might increase a student’s opportunity to learn’ (288). Teach-ers can generate subject matter knowledge and practical skills of teaching, towardshigh student achievements, primarily in their teacher education institutions and thenthrough life long experience and reflection. They can use their schools and class-rooms as sites for systematic inquiry (Cochran-Smith 2000).

The responsibility to learn how to teach rests primarily on the respective teachercandidate, but the informed participation of other stakeholders is pivotal. Teachercandidates need professionals who provide them with guidance and counseling onday to day encounters and who encourage them to develop the depth of their pro-fessional practice through conscious reflection and inquiry. As Wenzlaff and Wiese-man (2004, 114) convincingly stated: ‘Learning and growing in teaching involvethe construction and reconstruction of practical theories and personal practicalknowledge.’ The central role of teacher preparation programmes is creating aneffective teacher workforce by facilitating for teacher candidates challenging andauthentic learning experiences. The joint effort of teacher education faculty and pro-fessional development schools has now received great recognition. In this jointresponsibility:

the university provides theory, skills and knowledge through coursework and theschool provides the field setting where knowledge is applied. The preservice teacherintegrates it all. Student teaching is seen as the bridge between theory, knowledge andskills gained at the university and their application in the school. (Perry and Power2004, 125)

Among the elements that constitute teacher candidates’ competence, the principalones are sufficient knowledge of the subject matter, deeper understanding of subject-specific pedagogical matters, adequate knowledge of the impacts of learners and theirlearning contexts on educational delivery. Teacher candidates should also developpractical and theoretical awareness about how to intervene in educational problems.

In initial teacher education contexts, what Wenzlaff and Wieseman (2004) pro-pose as ‘the construction and reconstruction of practical theories and personal practi-cal knowledge’ (114) are usually hindered by structural and conceptual barriers.Structural or institutional barriers occur, for example, when a university’s teachereducation faculty and partner schools fail to plan together. It may also occur whenteacher candidates are denied the opportunity to discuss the uncertainties and dilem-mas they have encountered or that have affected their performance with their supervi-sors. The problem may occur as well when their supervisor’s role is limited to anauthoritarian way of fixing professional behaviors. For example, if a teacher candi-date’s supervisor thinks that the best way of advising, guiding and scaffolding a tea-cher candidate is through telling him/her what is right and what is wrong in adominant–subordinate sense and relationship, it is difficult to think of a supervisoryrelationship that fosters mutual understanding. Conceptual barriers are created whenthere are misunderstandings, ill-definitions or ill-conceptualisations somewhere in theprocess of educating and socialising teacher candidates. The two forms of barriers areinterrelated. For instance, conceptual barriers may cause structural barriers and struc-tural barriers, in turn, may hedge the opportunity to discuss and demystify conceptualuncertainties.

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Policy context for teacher education in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia teacher education policies and their guidelines are prepared nationallyby the country’s Ministry of Education. The ministry has a team of teachereducation experts with the responsibility to coordinate the policy works. The worksof these experts are supported and supervised by decision making figures with min-isterial positions in the ministry. Teacher educators in government’s higher learninginstitutions are also consulted and partially involved in the preparation of guidelinesto implement the policies.

Following the downfall of the Dergue Regime in 1991, education’s power tobring development and change to the socio-economic condition of the societygained high political attention. The role of teachers in educational enterprise wasalso emphasised. The belief that quality education is impossible without a compe-tent, committed and ethically well founded teacher workforce was underscored. Thepolicies accentuated as well that quality teachers are the results of quality teachereducation. According to the policies, before they become fully fledged teachers,candidates must pass through rigorous professional learning and thinking processes(Hussein 2009). One of the policies that emphasised teacher preparation as a sys-tematically integrated process is Teacher Education System Overhaul (MoE 2002).Teacher Education System Overhaul (TESO) emphasised teacher education as a keyfactor in the country’s overall educational improvement, in facilitating the democra-tisation process and in bringing socio-economic changes. It was designed to make aparadigm shift in teacher education. It emphasised that educational transformation ispossible through transforming the education of teachers and the quality of theirpreparation. TESO recognised teaching as a noble profession structured on an ade-quate body of knowledge and understanding.

TESO emphasised that competent and effective teachers are the outcomes of rig-orous training, clinical experiences and reflective self reconstruction. It portrayedteachers as key figures in educational and social transformations and as disciplinedand committed members of the society who take a central role in cultivating pro-ductive citizens through providing quality education and nurturing virtuous citizens.TESO underscored that teachers who are capable of executing huge intellectual andsocial responsibilities in schools are created through the joint efforts of teacher edu-cation institutions, public schools and proper educational management. The systemchallenged the traditional forms of placing graduates of sciences in schools asteachers without sufficiently equipping them with the technical, pedagogical, psy-chological and professional preparations. The system stressed that teacher educationinstitutions should engage with schools for mutual educational transformation, thatis, to bring system wide improvements in teaching and learning. On the whole, thesystem attempted to create linkages between teacher training, teacher quality andeducational achievements of schools (MoE 2002).

TESO was immediately followed by teacher preparation guidelines (MoE 2003).This policy stressed that teacher candidates must be given the opportunity to inte-grate the knowledge, theories and understandings they have gained in teacher educa-tion institutions with the practical problems, challenges and expectations in schools.Teaching practicum was thus given high importance. The policy put in place a struc-tured practicum to provide teacher candidates with the opportunity to know whatteaching really is through connected blocks of practical works in partnerschools. Teacher education institutions embraced school practicum and started its

Research in Post-Compulsory Education 335

implementation in 2003. The process involved placing the teacher candidates innearby schools. The practicum involved weeks of school and classroom observa-tions, identifying weaknesses and strengths of the teaching learning processes in thepartner schools and writing reflections or impressions, planning systematic interven-tions to deal with selected educational problems and doing practical teaching inclassrooms. Therefore, the arrangement necessitated cooperation between teachereducation institutions and the neighbouring schools. The practicum based teacherpreparation scheme is similar in its intention with international teacher preparationschemes that give emphasis to integration between theory and practice, and to astrong coordination between teacher education institutions and professional develop-ment schools. Teacher education scholars and policy makers argue that, ‘classroomteaching experience is a critical ingredient in learning to teach, especially when suchexperiences are related thoughtfully and purposefully to principles of teaching andlearning’ (Grossman et al. 2008, 273). In this regard, our extended practicum shouldbe appreciated as it emphasised field experience as a strong strategy to provideteacher candidates with a deeper understanding of what teaching and learning in realcontexts are.

However, before it went further, our practicum-based teacher preparationconfronted challenges that necessitated changes in the structure and essence of thepracticum. Teacher education professionals in teacher education institutions werethe first to pose resistance against the arrangement. Their resistance emerged fromthe view that teachers candidates’ premature placement in partner schools is unpro-ductive as they benefit little from visiting schools without first obtaining reliablesubject matter, pedagogical, curricular and contextual knowledge. The other issuethat ignited resistance was the high credit given to practicum, which was 25 credithours. The fundamental complaint was that overemphasising practicum experiencereduced the amount of credit that should be given to subject matter knowledgewhich forms the core foundation of a professional teacher. In the context of my uni-versity, the partner schools also showed resistance as they felt a heavy burden ofincreased frequency of school placement by teacher candidates which disturbedtheir routine activities and affected the behaviours of school pupils. All of the resis-tances and disagreements were expressed on a national teacher education forumheld at Haramaya University in October 2006. On the basis of the discussions madeand consensuses reached, the credits given for practicum were reduced to 13 credithours. Finally, practicum-based teacher preparation waned by 2010 after a life spanof less than seven years.

In Ethiopia, students join teacher education institutions both by choice and byobligation. In institutions whose main roles are training teachers, for example Kot-ebe College of Teachers Education, the students assigned in the college undergo thetraining to become secondary school teachers. In multidisciplinary institutions likeHaramaya University, the students usually come without exactly knowing whetherthey would be assigned in teacher education departments. In this and other similaruniversities some students would join teacher education programmes by choicewhile others join the programmes when they are unable to join non-teachereducation programmes.

In the context of Haramaya University, school practicum was organised andmonitored by the practicum unit of the then-named Faculty of Education. Teachercandidates in the faculty were assigned in the partner schools and were givenpocket money for subsistence and rent. Each department assigned mentors for a

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cohort of teacher candidates to provide professional support. The same arrangementwas made in partner schools to link the teacher candidates with associate teachers.The associate teachers, also known as mentors, are partner school teachers whowere given the responsibility to assist, guide, correct and evaluate the candidates’day-to-day practice. The same mentors were supposed to read and grade thecandidates’ reflections. In partner schools, practicum was organised by practicumcoordinators in the schools. The role of the school coordinators was assigningteachers, facilitating conditions for professional learning and reporting progresses,challenges and suggestions for improvements.

Practicum placed high emphasis on procedural and guided professional learn-ing by locating the candidates in the schools to have them observe and analyserealities. The arrangement was made on the premise that teacher preparation is acollaborative task that should draw together the coordinated efforts of multiplestakeholders. The other view behind the practicum was that extended practicum inschools reduces the shock which teachers usually encounter when they aredirectly placed in schools. The other, and maybe most important premise, is thatextended practicum in schools enhances the professional competence of the tea-cher and enables him to develop positive, concerned and goal-oriented attitudestowards the profession (MoE 2002). Theoretically, prolonged clinical experiencein schools provides teacher candidates with ample opportunity to develop them-selves as future teachers, but in practice there are complicated barriers that impedethe professional development needs of teacher candidates (Grossman et al. 2008;Zeichner and Liston 1996).

In Ethiopia, teacher educators (e.g. Tessema 2006; Hussein 2009; Mekonnen2008) have already addressed practical challenges to the policy’s rhetoric. Some ofthe identified challenges were fundamental defects in the essence and structure ofthe arrangement, lack of consensus in the goals and the teacher preparation pro-cesses, for example, lack of sufficient and organised professional supervision thatcan promote meaningful learning of teaching. There were numerous other structuraland conceptual contradictions that characterised both the policy and its implementa-tion. But today, the country is shifting to an add-on certification scheme. In thisscheme, the candidates will complete their studies in core social and natural sci-ences and hold bachelor degrees. If they want to become teachers, they go back toselected teacher training institutions/faculties in universities and undergo a one-yearcertification program. The programme has already been tentatively named the post-graduate diploma teaching program. The programme is for post-baccalaureateswho choose to become secondary school teachers. During the one-year certificationprogramme, the candidates will take pedagogical, curricular, language, psychologi-cal and other professional courses as add-ons. The certification courses have beenprepared and evaluated by a team of teacher educators from different universities inthe country.

The TESO’s practicum being evaluated in this study has already expired as asystem of teacher education; but it had left behind strengths and weaknesses fromwhich we can learn how to improve our teacher education in the future. The mainaim of the current study was to identify the structural and conceptual uncertaintiesthat inhibit educative practicum and jeopardise the professional and emotional well-being of teacher candidates in Ethiopia. Understanding teachers’ memories ofpracticum experience provides insights that have important policy and practicalimplications for an effective teacher preparation programme that involves multiple


parties in a collaborative venture. Evaluation of past experiences may reveal the roleof partners of teacher preparation, how they should play their role to better effectand create a partnership that is supportive, collaborative, cooperative and mutuallyadvantageous (Carpenter and Blance 2007).

The study and its design

The study was a phenomenological case study. As a phenomenological inquiry, itsaim was to identify and assess the subjective experiences of the associate teachers,teacher candidates and postgraduate students about the structural and conceptualbarriers to meaningful professional preparation in a practicum-based approach. Themain goal of the study was to grasp the experiences of individuals from their per-spective. It emphasises the research participant’s subjectivity, perspectives and inter-pretation of the essence of their lived experience. In this research, the experienceexamined was named: impediments to educative practicum. An educative practicumis a practicum in which teacher candidates, associate teachers and university super-visors join hands and think together to obtain better understanding about teachingand learning.

There are various approaches to phenomenological understanding of individuals’lived experience. In this research, hermeneutic phenomenological approach wasused to know and interpret the experiences of the research participants. In this andother research that follows interpretive paradigms:

findings emerge from the interactions between the researcher and the participants asthe research progresses. . . Therefore, subjectivity is valued; there is acknowledgementthat humans are incapable of total objectivity because they are situated in a realityconstructed by subjective experiences. Further, the research is value-bound by the nat-ure of the questions being asked, the values held by the researcher, and the ways find-ings are generated and interpreted. (Ajjawi and Higgs 2007, 615).

In this study, the research participants shared not only their experiences, but alsowhat that experience means to them. The core essence of this methodological–epis-temological orientation is the emphasis placed on description, subjectivity, agencyand interpretation of humans’ lived experience. The principal tenet is that the mean-ing a person attaches to his or her experience is gained by examining or analysinghis or her subjective experience, the inner dynamism created as the experienceunfolds in the meaning of the person as he or she reconstructs the experiencedworld (Trotman 2006).

Research participants

The participants were associate teachers in partner schools, pre-service teacher can-didates and graduate school students at Haramaya University. Mixed approacheswere used to obtain the participants. The associate teachers were selected using dif-ferent forms of purposive sampling depending on the knowledge, experience andavailability of the respondents. The available sample was used to involve the gradu-ate school students with practicum experience. During the first phase of the study(in January 2007) 60 teachers in six secondary schools working with HaramayaUniversity as partner schools for practicum were involved. This period was whenpracticum was at its initial phase. In April 2010 one of these schools was selected

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to gain more information about the trajectories of practicum and the impressions itleft on associate teachers. This period was when practicum was about to phase out.Seventy pre-service teacher candidates also shared their experiences and its chal-lenges. In addition, I involved 30 graduate students in the School of Foreign Lan-guage Studies at Haramaya University to produce a narrative reflection of theirpracticum experiences by pinpointing the challenges they encountered in their previ-ous colleges or universities (see Appendix 4). All of them were in the university inthe period between 2007 and 2009 and had undergone practicum. The graduatestudents studied their first degree in five different universities, one of which wasHaramaya University, and thus brought to the study the challenges and opportuni-ties they experienced in these different universities and the schools with which theuniversities partnered to prepare teachers. When they participated in this research,the candidates were taking a course called Language Teacher Development, thecourse I have been teaching since the launch of the master’s programme.

Methods of data collection

The study used different methods of data collection. The first groups of the associateteachers were contacted in January 2007 and they shared their experiences about thestrengths and weaknesses of practicum and the impressions those situations had onthem, through written reflections (see Appendix 1). The second group of associateteachers were contacted in April 2010 and they shared their experience in focus groupdiscussion and the discussion was guided by semi-structured interviews designed tounlock their experiences (see Appendix 2). The teacher candidates shared their viewsand experiences through written reflection (see Appendix 3). The graduate school stu-dents shared their experiences through narratives (see Appendix 4).

Narrative-based data collection used to obtain the experiences of graduate stu-dents was informed by works of researchers of teacher narratives (e.g. Carter 1993;Clandinin and Connelly 2000; Johnson 2007). All of them stress the role of narra-tives in enabling the narrators to reconstruct their past experience. Construction andreconstruction of narrative accounts help the research subjects to draw together thedifferent substantive elements in their narrative structure. For example, it helps themconnect the social action, historicity, temporality and relationality in the experiencedlife world (Miller 2005). The researcher’s critical role is getting narrators to structureand tell accounts of their lived experience. The meaning and essence of that experi-ence is then examined from the perspectives of the research informants (Paul 2001)by allowing the phenomenon to manifest itself in consciousness (Zayed 2008). Inteacher education, ‘a narrative and holistic orientation to professional learning isbased on the education and development of the whole person who is becoming a tea-cher’. In teacher education, ‘the construction of professional knowledge is under-stood as a relational and interactive process where teacher, student and subjectmatter are interconnected’ (Beattie 2000, 3). Narratives of past experience enableteachers to place themselves in ‘certain versions of historical and social contexts,which form part of their professional identity’ (Burns and Pachler 2004, 152). Thecandidates were required to make a narrative-based re-examination of their studentteaching experience by focusing on challenges they encountered and what they hadlearned from the challenges. I refer to their narratives as narratives of disenchant-ment because they hold in them complaints about actions/behaviours that are at oddswith actions/behaviours which the narrators originally expected from practicum.


After they agreed to narrate, the candidates were advised to maintain the narra-tive structure of their accounts by pointing out the setting, causality, style, plot, nar-rative presence, character and point of view (Brophy 2009). In other words,I emphasised that the structure of their narration should contain information aboutthe setting (time, place, situation and participants), events one after the other, themeaning of the events to the narrator, what finally happened and rounding of thenarrative by way of returning the perspective to the present (Elliott 2005). Theywere also required to make a reflective evaluation of their encounters as it is whenthey make reflective evaluation of their encounters that the respondents can sharesubjective meanings. Regarding this, Elliott (2005, 9) notes that:

. . .evaluation is socially the most important component of the narrative. . .the narratormust guard against the ‘so what?’ response to a story. This is accomplished by provid-ing an adequate evaluation of the events that have been recounted. . . It is the evalua-tion that conveys to an audience how they are to understand the meaning of theevents that constitute the narrative, and simultaneously indicates what type of responseis required. (emphasis in original)

Methods of data analysis

In qualitative inquiry, the data collection, analysis and writing are carried out simul-taneously and reiteratively. This was true in this research particularly when I dealtwith the focus-group data. All of the data were analysed using methods that aresuitable to their nature. For example, reflections of the associate teachers in 2007and 2010 were compiled to find a common thread, following principles of structuralor thematic corroboration. Then, this was integrated with the themes developedfrom teacher candidates’ written reflections. The data obtained from the graduateschool students were analysed using narrative analysis and constant comparativeanalysis. During the analysis, I focused on identifying the narrative segments. Theprocess required careful reading of the structure of the narratives. I identified theultimate communicative goal of each narration. To remove ‘unnecessary details’, Iused dotted lines. But I took care to maintain the logical flow or emplotment of thenarration (Lawler 2002) to avoid losing ‘the richness and the nuances of meaningin human affairs’ (Carter, 1993, 6). Attention was paid to the whole of the accountsas part of the story loses significance unless it is put within the context of the wholenarrative (Ezzy 2002).

In this study, the aim was to make an interpretive analysis of the research partic-ipants’ lived experience, the context of the story, the way the events unfolded, themeanings the research participants draw from their experiences and the feelingsinduced by the experiences and their dynamics. When this is the case, the focusand procedure of analysis should be what Elliot (2005) states below:

Interpretive analysis demands that we understand how the subjects of our researchmake sense of events and experiences and require dense, detailed, and contextualizeddescription. One implication of this is that the type of understanding required on thepart of the researcher is ‘imaginative reconstruction’ or ‘empathy’. This is a subjectiveexercise that cannot be readily represented by an algorithm or method. (37)

On the whole, the following procedures of data analysis were observed to drawmeaning and essence from the three instruments:

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(1) Gaining the sense of the whole or to get familiarised with the meanings andessences inherent in the narratives. When that happens, promising analyticideas may arise. Analytic notes are taken on these ideas as they may proveuseful later when the actual analysis of data is made. But at this point aswell as in the subsequent steps, clear distinction is made between analyticnotes, on the one hand, and both the accounts provided by participants andthe researcher’s own descriptions of actions and situations, on the other,through bracketing the notes or writing them in a separate field journal(Hammersley and Atkinson 2007, 150).

(2) Returning to individual data to reduce unwanted details and to figure out top-ics pertinent to the issue under study. This, in other words, simply meansdetermining the focus of the analysis.

(3) Formulating meanings by categorising information contained in the narra-tives, identifying themes and their patterns. This can be called a thematicdepiction of the issues.

(4) Organising the evolving themes and patterns into broader and coherent cate-gories.

(5) Making a detailed analytical description and interpretation of the variousessences of the lived experiences. This is the place at which meaning wasattached to the experiences and their thematic peculiarities. At this point ofanalysis and interpretation, the research participants’ relevant and representa-tive expressions may be used to illustrate the essence of some themes.

The above steps suggest that a fuller essence of the respondents’ lived experience isobtained through reading and re-reading the texts. The meaning construction pro-cess is iterative, involving back-and-forth movement between parts and the whole.It is basically this meticulous reiterative process that makes such an inquiry logicaland reasoned. The quality and viability of understanding also changes over time asit is normally influenced by the researcher’s interpretative process. As in any otherqualitative research that encourages subjective experience (Clegg 2006), in thisstudy too, the purpose is not to come up with universal truth, but to reveal theunderlying meaning structure of an experience within its context. Whereverrequired, the meanings and essences of the lived experience were interpreted inlight of appropriate theories or perspectives expressed by scholars having relatedconcerns regarding the experiences that form the substance of the study.

Discussion of themes in the lived experiences

Here, the themes generated from the data will be analysed and discussed. The firstpart of the analysis presents themes generated from associate teachers’ and teachercandidates’ reflections. The second part presents themes generated from graduatestudents. On the basis of the analyses, concluding remarks will be made.

Summary of associate teachers’ and teacher candidates’ reflections

The reflections of associate teachers and teacher candidates revealed that there arevarious factors that minimise the meaningfulness or educativeness of practicum.Teacher candidates hold the view that it is difficult to expect a meaningful profes-sional learning practice in a situation where they are inadequately supported and


guided by university supervisors and school-based associate teachers. The secondview is that teacher education courses have not equipped teacher candidates withthe knowledge, skills and moral conditions required to successfully tackle theeducational and social dilemmas in schools. According to the associate teachers,this minimises not only the quality of experience which teacher candidates gainfrom practicum, but also their contributions to the partner schools. They stated, forexample, that a teacher candidate with insufficient awareness or experience abouthow to do reflective practice or inquiry-based professional learning in teacher edu-cation courses is hardly able to design and implement inquiry-based learning. Theassociate teachers’ other view is that teacher candidates’ effort to cope with daunt-ing challenges inherent in teaching will be crippled if they are not provided withadequate professional development support from their supervisors and if schoolpupils do not show them cooperation.

The other symptom of structural discordance stated by the associate teachers as adisappointing arrangement was the moral disaster caused by the meagre paymentwhich the university teacher education faculty paid them with the intention to com-pensate their mentoring works. The associate teachers mentioned how much they werepaid per teacher candidate and portrayed that as downtrodden payment that has dis-honored their professional contribution and personal respect. Some of them said thatinstead of paying them such a humiliating payment, the university should certify themfor the commitments they have shown in socialising the teacher candidates. The otherconcern of the associate teachers was that they were unsure that they had assumed fullor adequate ownership of the programme and that the teacher education faculty hadsufficient understanding and respect for their school’s programme. They stated in theirobservation that there is inadequate communication of roles, responsibilities andexpectations, and a strong evaluation system that helps deal with dilemmas thatemerge from the partnership. One of the symptoms of these problems is universitypracticum supervisors’ marginalisation of their knowledge and contributions. Theyindicated that this has created disillusionment, alienation or carelessness in them.

The associate teachers revealed that the other serious barrier to educative practi-cum is the fact that some experienced teachers do not consider teacher candidatesas teachers who can fulfil their professional responsibility adequately. This view isrelated to their previous complaint that the concerned teacher education institutionshad not adequately prepared candidates who could sufficiently discharge their edu-cational and social responsibilities. They stated that as some teacher candidates lackknowledge of the subject matter as well as other elements that constitute the profes-sional foundation of teachers, they do not trust the teaching done by teacher candi-dates. The associate teachers’ other negative observation was that teachercandidates are defensive when they are given comments or feedback on their class-room performance. They admitted, of course, that among the major factors thatdiminished their influence on teacher candidates was a lack of adequate training onhow to carry out structured mentoring. In the practicum structure teacher candidatesare expected to do action research to improve the rationality of their practice,improve understanding of their learning process and the situation in which theyundertake their practice (Carr and Kemmis 1986; Kemmis and McTaggart 1982).But when the issue of action research was raised, the associate teachers confirmedthat although they have been mentoring teacher candidates they had no idea aboutteacher candidates’ engagement in action research and that they did not assist thecandidates in planning and processing the inquiry.

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Teacher candidates, for their part, emphasised absence of sincerity in the waythey were evaluated, for example, absence of growth-oriented evaluation of theirperformance. They see harsh evaluations and impositions by associate teachers anduniversity supervisors as psychological violence that makes them feel powerless.They are of the view that instead of scaffolding them to develop and become hope-ful practitioners, their supervisors consider them problematic and blame them forevery classroom pitfall. They consider ruthless comments and devaluations of theirprofessional endeavors as an act of terrorisation. They noted that they become moreterrorised when their supervisors do not give them any feedback and fail to clearlysuggest areas that need improvement. They indicated that their supervisors’ failureto provide them with organised and situated feedback on their performance hinderscritical self-experience and creates insecurity. They argue that mistreatment is oneof the sources of emotional vulnerability and that in the absence of psychologicaland professional support from their supervisors, teaching practice becomes an emo-tionally taxing undertaking. In other words, they suggested that it is difficult to nur-ture a real teacher identity and sense of agency in the absence of a supportiveclimate. Their reflection simply implies that it is important to structure practicumexperience that yields professional as well as emotional satisfactions as a practicumthat is not animated with enthusiastic professional and psychological assistancetends to become an alienating experience (Hussein 2009).

The other thing pointed out by teacher candidates was that some associate teachersand university supervisors lack respect for their efforts. They claimed that teacherswho show disdain for their performance themselves lack knowledge of current teach-ing methodologies, particularly knowledge of how to promote active learning meth-ods in their classrooms. They said that their associate teachers as well as supervisorslacked strong commitment to assist them in a planned or systematic manner. Forexample, they said that their supporters did not offer them the opportunity to listen totheir own personal experiences, particularly regarding ways of overcoming day to dayeducational dilemmas. Some teacher candidates appreciate the assistances they wereprovided with by their associate teachers such as their kindness in providing informa-tion about the school principles and expectations, the learners and the community theyhave come from. They also pointed out that the associate teachers they worked withhelped them overcome some uncertainties in their classroom.

However, from their reflections it is apparent that the manner in which the sup-ports were offered to them shows that the associate teachers acted largely as con-trollers, tellers and correctors rather than as nurturers of professional development.Their compliant is compatible with associate teachers’ admission that they did nothave enough awareness on how to carry out principled mentoring. Mentors’ domi-nation of the mentoring relationship falls short of what a democratic and transfor-mative mentor does. In democratic and transformative mentoring, knowledge issocially constructed, and mentors and mentees enter into a professional develop-ment relationship whose main purpose is building mutual knowledge and under-standing about teaching and learning (Rhodes and Beneicke 2002; Holden 2002;Wang 2002). In this perspective of mentoring:

The goal of teacher mentoring is not to reproduce the existing knowledge of teachingthrough transmitting the presumed expertise and context knowledge from mentor tonovices with careful examination of them. . . Instead, it is to articulate intentions ofand pose questions for existing knowledge and teaching practice. . .and to explore new


ideas and approaches of teaching. . .through an ongoing collaborative inquiry intoteaching practice. . . The knowledge of teaching developed in this kind of mentor/nov-ice relationship is expected to transform the existing practice of teaching. . . and adaptto different teaching contexts and student populations. (Wang 2002, 341)

Such an interactive and constructivist learning assists mentors and mentees inchanging the way they see and understand the world. Mezirow (1990) calls sucha process of transformation transformative learning. He defines learning as, ‘theprocess of making a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of an experi-ence, which guides subsequent understanding, appreciation and action’ (Mezirow1990, 1). Palmer (1998) also implicitly states that mentoring should be a transfor-mative learning process in which the mentor and the mentee change each other’sperspective. For him, ‘mentors and mentees are partners in the dance of spirallinggenerations, in which the old empower the young with their experience and theyoung empower the old with new life, reweaving the fabric of the human com-munity as they touch and turn’ (25). Collaborative learning, according to Palmer,provides the mentor and the mentee with ‘a chance to look at reality through theeyes of others: instead of forcing them to process everything through their ownlimited vision’ (127). Reflective model of mentoring fosters transformative learn-ing as it is the model in which the mentor assumes the role of a critical friendand assists the mentee in his/her evaluation of teaching (Hankey 2004; Child andMerrill 2003).

But from what teacher candidates say one feels that such an approach to men-toring and professional development of novices was non-existent. From the sum-mary made above one can see teacher candidates’ overall dissatisfaction on thecontribution of their associate teachers, their university supervisors and the entirepracticum placement. The associate teachers, for their part, state their dissatisfactionon teacher candidates, the university supervisors and the entire practicum place-ment. It is not clear from these reflections where the problem lies, but one can seethat the problems are of a structural and conceptual nature. For instance, lack ofsound collaboration between the partner schools and the university’s teacher educa-tion faculty, which the associate teachers complained about, shows the existence ofloose structural connection between the responsible institutions. The other elementthat resonates in the reflections made by both associate teachers and teacher candi-dates is lack of adequate conception of teacher preparation. The associate teachersseem to have expected teacher candidates to perform in an outstanding manner andbehave in a professionally intact manner. The teacher candidates for their part seeassociate teachers as old-fashioned practitioners who do not have up-to-dateconceptual awareness about how to make teaching an interesting experience forlearners.

The issue that is translucently obvious in the blame and counter-blame is ourteacher education programme’s inability to engage the participants in collaborativeknowledge construction. The reflections suggested that the participants had fewstructural and conceptual conveniences to negotiate on what it means to be an effec-tive teacher and what the process to become an effective teacher takes. Therefore,one feels that there is a tendency to undermine the complexity of teacher education,teacher performance and knowledge construction. Without the intention of judgingthe standards of the respondents’ reactions, I must state that the blame and counter-blame which they produced against one another are generally unjustified as they

344 J.W. Hussein

come from participants who did not obtain adequate structural and conceptual prep-aration on the basis of which to confront one another’s epistemological beliefs andprofessional dispositions (Hankey 2004; Wang 2002; Beck and Kosnik 2000,2002).

Analysis and discussions of the graduate students’ narrative data

Under each narrative theme, I organised the general summary of the candidates’lived experience. This was then followed by anecdotal scenarios that revealunique experiences or encounters of each narrator. This was followed by thenarrators’ own critical reflections on the encounters. This was further highlightedby the researcher’s own interpretative analysis. This appears in the form of reflec-tion on the core meaning of the categorised narrative themes and their anecdotalillustrations.

Pains from professional maleficence and infidelity

In the following narration, Narrator A narrates one of his disappointing experiencesas a teacher candidate at one of the universities in Ethiopia. He indicated that hewas one of the outstanding students in his class and indicated his cumulative gradewas among the highest. After that introduction, he narrated about a supervisor who,as he portrayed, is known for attacking teacher candidates, mainly by giving thembad grades despite their good efforts. As he was aware of the supervisor’s unfair-ness and remorselessness, Narrator A was taking care. For example, he prepared hislesson plans and showed them to other members of the cohort, to his associate tea-cher and even got the approval of that very supervisor. In spite of the care taken,Narrator A could not escape the punishment:

When I received positive comments from my supervisor prior to classroom observa-tion, I hoped to get what I deserve since everyone reaps what he/she has sown. But asopposed to my expectation, he posted for me a ‘C’ grade, two ‘As’ and two ‘Bs’ forthe remaining students of my group. I was confused on seeing my grade and furiouslyheaded to his office to make sure if it was a typing error made by his secretary. . .There too, he showed me the same grade and asked me to leave his office as I askedhim to tell me the assessment criteria. The previously peaceful person now turned outwild on showing me my result. . . The grade I got on practicum lowered my cumula-tive grade point average, thereby paving the way for my competitors. . .to exceed me.More than the bad grade which I never expected to score, what wounded me severelywas his unwillingness to show me the scale and to discuss how he decided mygrade. . .. The practicum passed, but placed a great psychological wound in my mind,negatively affecting my self-concept and attitudes towards. . .other teacher educators.The event had made me conclude that teacher educators at the university are narrow-minded people who intentionally give students lower grades on practicum.

Narrator A not only indicated the deep harm he experienced by the obnoxiousaction of his supervisor, but also shared what he thinks should be done to improvesupervisor–supervisee relationships to improve teacher education and to shore upthe academic, social and emotional well-being of the emerging professionals. Heargued that the unethical behaviours of unfair supervisors cripple the country’sdesire to create a competent teacher workforce for the teaching profession. Heconcluded that:


. . .one can obviously observe from my encounter that some irresponsible teacher edu-cators tend to produce teachers who doubt about their future competence or developnegative self concept, negative attitude towards the profession, become irresponsiblefor the learning of their future pupils and perceive no reason for developingthemselves into the profession.

In spite of his unhappy experience, Narrator A hopes that things can beimproved if people who work in teacher education programmes become caring andfair-minded practitioners, and if a deliberate act of distressing teacher candidatesand shattering their hope to grow is reversed. He thus advises:

Rather than showing authoritative and prescriptive behaviours towards their students,teacher educators need to be catalystic. . .to help student-teachers become moreresponsible for who and what they are in order to gain more control over their per-formance. They also need to empower them by deeply affirming the value of thestudent teacher, their self-discovery, self-learning and problem-solving. Teachers orstudent teachers would not develop themselves both personally and profession-ally. . .if they are implanted with painful memories and experiences. Moreover, theirfresh effort and energy would be left in vein and [as a result] they. . .become a bur-den on the country/society rather than becoming a remedy for the rampant problemsof their society.

Narrator A’s negative experience implied that supervisors should be supportive,open, democratic, impartial and understanding. It is only when such a positive envi-ronment is created for them that teachers can reshape their knowledge of teachingand learning (Brookfield 1995) and become effective practitioners.

Sense of incompetency, its troublesomeness and the decision to rummage aroundfor an escaping

In the following narratives, Narrator B relates what and how he learned fromincompetence as a teacher candidate. He said that without adequate preparation andawareness about how to make teaching a lively and meaningful activity for learners,he was assigned to teach in one of the neighbouring schools:

As a student teacher, I found the situation frustrating because it was my first time toteach in large classes. . . Moreover, all of the teacher education trainings I had in thecollege were theories which did not take into account any experiences of the actualclassroom situation. On top of this, as a student teacher and as a stranger in theschool, I did not get any support from the teachers in the school. Hence, I sufferedfrom lack of practical knowledge and skills of teaching and from lack of collegial andprofessional support to carry out my job. . . I lost my confidence in becoming a teacherand in teaching the classes I was assigned to. Being in such a frustrating situation, Ihad spent a week with the students. But I was uncertain about what I was doing inthe classroom. . . I felt that I was not teaching them properly. Hence, I asked them towrite comments on the overall teaching. I had just done this to improve my weak-nesses before the supervisor visited me for evaluation. . . I found their comments con-structive. . . I tried my best to improve the weaknesses that they had commented. I gotprepared very well to broaden my subject matter knowledge. I improved my chalk-board use and wrote notes on the board clearly and legibly. At the end of the week, Iagain asked them for other comments. I found their comments interesting, motivatingand educative. I understood that I was improving and developing in becoming ateacher.

346 J.W. Hussein

The surface and deep structure of Narrator B’s experience should be elucidatedhere. At the surface structure level, there are two important lessons he learned aboutteaching. One is that a sense of incompetence evokes uneasiness, anxiety andhumiliation. The other lesson is that one can find solutions to the situational prob-lems one has encountered by involving other participants in the setting. These areevident in his narration below:

As a student teacher, I can develop my teaching skills and knowledge and can becomea good teacher through learning from my students’ comments. [He added:] Myencounter created on me the impression that theory-based training could not help meto manage the teaching learning effectively in the actual classroom. . . I also under-stood from my encounter that teacher education and development need to combinetheory and practice and should take into account the actual classroom situations thatneed practical skills and competence.

At the deep structure level, we can notice that the effectiveness of Narrator B’sintervention in his problem could have increased had he received planned mentoringfrom supervisors. From his experience one can understand that planned professionalmentoring may help teacher candidates achieve emancipation from limiting assump-tions by allowing them the opportunity to see alternative ways of reasoning andbehaving in different contexts of professional practice (Wang 2002; Gray 2007).

Facing the big reality with small means

In the following narration, Narrator C provides accounts of how he was made to facebig challenges in schools with small or inadequate and de-contextualised preparation:

I remember exactly when I went out for practicum. . . That was my first ever travel forteaching in a school. It was the only chance to put my theoretical knowledge intopractice. . . It was for the first time that I observed disparities between theoreticalknowledge and practical performance as well as the discrepancy between the assumedand the real classroom situations. . . The learning curve I was engaged in prior to prac-ticum time was theory focused. . . The only mechanisms, which were very limited,meant for practice were peer teaching and group presentations. . . In such presentationsand peer teachings, I had no chance to look for the teaching methods that were impor-tant for ensuring active engagements. . . Because of that fact, when I was teaching inthose sections, I had to rely on the methods which I picked from the peer teachingsand presentations, but which later proved to be inapt to the real context at schools. . .Despite the fact that I devoted all my knowledge and efforts to assist students’ under-standing. . . most of the students seemed to be passive recipients of only what I pro-vided them with. That condition urged me to find out the reason why the learnerswere passive. . . I realised that my teaching was extremely teacher dominated. . . Itseems reasonable to me that a teacher who has never experienced the right method atthe right place and context should strive to use what s/he already knows. But it wouldhave been the fault of the teacher if he had not used what s/he knew. The same wastrue with me; I tried to employ what I was practising prior to the actual practicumtime.

The narrator observed problems in uncritical overdependence on the artificial orcontrived peer teaching practices followed in the teacher education institution andshared his understanding that peer teaching does not usually characterise the actualpractice of teaching in schools:


The first contextual mismatch could be spotted in terms of students’ level of under-standing. In peer teaching and presentations, the audience. . .was in an approximatelevel of understanding. . . The goal was just to see the extent to which the peer teachercan disseminate information. . . The second contextual difference resulted due to thelessons [I] used to teach. In the peer teaching, the lessons were taken from grade nineor ten textbooks and taught for the peers. Most of the audience perceived the peer tea-cher as a ‘joker’; the lesson was superficial and valueless to the immediate needs ofthe audience. . . However, the case was quite different at the actual classroom inschools. . . Generally, as a peer teacher I was provided with opportunities for practisingthe right contents in the wrong context. . . I had generally learned from my experiencethat the contexts in which we learn and the availability of adequate time for genuinepractice would have a significant effect on teachers’ professional development andpractice.

Narrator C’s experience suggests that experienced teachers should attend tonovice teachers who lack adequate understanding of the limitations of contrivedrehearsals in teacher education classrooms in the face of complex and demandingclasses of secondary schools. In other words, his reflection suggests that close men-toring is required to help teacher candidates develop a more reflective conscious-ness about what works and what does not in the real context of teaching andlearning.

Confusions and estrangement caused by professionals’ betrayal amidst uncertainty

In the following narration, Narrator D gives accounts of how his university adviserand school-based supervisor left him unattended to amidst huge uncertainty. Heindicates how he was confused and alienated by the condition:

I was told to visit one of the grade ten sections for one week. My advisor told me ear-lier that every supplementary material for the teaching purpose and [professional]advice on how to manage students would be given to me before I would begin theactual class. . . He also assured me that other administrative bodies in the school wouldhelp me in case I face any difficulty. . . Because of this I felt comfortable and thoughtthat things would be alright and could finish my practicum easily. I thought that Iwould receive ample practical experiences during my stay in the school. . . The actualteacher that had been teaching that section was very eager to give me the class. Hecame to me and asked me to take the textbook to begin the class the next day. But Itold him that my [university] advisor advised me to observe the teaching and learningsituation for a week. I added that I could not start [the class] before I got used to theclassroom atmosphere. Moreover, I told him that there is a lot that he himself couldadvise me before he let me start the class. He tried to convince me and after naggingsI gave up and started teaching.

It seems that the teacher in the school convinced Narrator D to start teachingwith a promise that he would be around and help him whenever he needed theassistance. To his disappointment, the teacher disappeared from the school, leavinghim alone and unsupported. Narrator D thus narrated:

Two days later, I wanted to consult the teacher when I needed materials such asan attendance sheet, teacher’s guide and other supplementary materials. I wantedhim also to adjust for me some other inconveniences on classroom managementareas. It was unfortunate that I could not get the teacher. . . Later, I heard that hehad gone [away] the day I received the class from him. . . After all these inconve-niences, I decided to contact my advisor to tell him what was going on. In fact, I

348 J.W. Hussein

had already realised that my advisor himself was reluctant to advise me as he didnot introduce me to the staff of the school at least on the first day of my arrivalin the school. . . It was only when one day was left for the practicum to end thatmy advisor came and talked to the director and the department head. They dis-cussed for some minutes and signed a formality paper. Then they told me that Ihad completed the practicum course. Finally, my advisor told me to see him in thecampus to discuss on my practicum results.

Narrator D made a long reflection on the meaning of wrong practicumplacement and how that affected his professional development. The following aresummaries of key issues he raised in his reflection. At that moment, the negli-gence of his advisor and school teacher created in him the impression that theywere devoid of respect and commitment for their profession. He stated that thereason why both the school teacher and his own university-based supervisorfailed to become supportive could be because the partnership was not robust orthat they were involved in the partnership without a clear conceptual foundationabout the purpose of the practicum. According to him, we cannot expect com-mitment in a situation where people do not have clear ideas about their role ineducating and socialising teachers. He added that school-based socialisation ofteacher candidates needs the commitment not only of the school teachers anduniversity supervisors, but also of the school administration. This shows thatNarrator D has reached a higher level of reflection that teacher preparation orsocialisation does not occur in a vacuum and that it calls for the commitmentof all parties identified in the country’s teacher education policy as importantcontributors. To make teacher preparation programme a meaningful and an effec-tive programme the concerned participants need to reconceptualise their rolesand relationship (Ewart and Straw 2005; Wang 2002). Educative practicum isimpossible in situations where teacher candidates are given insufficient mentoringsupport, are not engaged in dialogue or motivated to think critically about theirpractice (Beck and Kosnik 2000; Wang 2001, 2002).

Narrator E shares similar experiences with Narrator D. Like Narrator D, hewas betrayed by the teacher in the school who was teaching the course before hisarrival. His most painful experience, however, was the way his university supervisormade an unannounced visit to observe his class and finally disappeared after givinghim authoritarian remarks. Narrator E narrates:

Like any other teacher candidates, I was assigned in one of the nearby schools. . . Itwas on the first day of my teaching practice that I encountered the first bad impressionin my profession. There was no prior detailed discussion between the school and thecollege on the exact day of starting the practice. . . A day later, after discussionbetween the school, I was assigned to teach one of the grades. Next, I had to look forthe subject teacher to introduce myself and ask her for the teaching materials. . . How-ever, as soon as this teacher knew that I was assigned to teach her class, she left theschool. . . Even though I was expecting her to help me. . . she couldn’t even introduceme to the students I was assigned to teach. . . As the students were already informedthat student teachers had come from the neighbouring college for teaching practice, Igot no problem in introducing myself and starting teaching. . . I finished the first daylesson which was full of interruptions due to misbehaving students in the classroom. Idid not exactly know what to do about such misbehaviors. . . In the following days, Iadjusted myself to the situations in the classroom. . . Three weeks passed this way. Butat the fourth and the final week of the teaching practice, my practicum advisor [in thecollege] came to supervise me. It was this day that I saw him for the first and for the


last day. . . He entered my class while I was teaching a reading comprehension lesson.He observed me for about 25 minutes and left the class, giving me some commentson a piece of paper. I stood at the door, looking quickly at the paper. . . I got noopportunity to reflect why I did the things in the way I did. . . Or simply I got nochance to clarify things that were on the paper as comments.

Narrator E continued with narration that holds the message that the school tea-cher and his own university supervisor treated him unfairly and that created a nega-tive impression in him, and jeopardised his attitude towards the profession:

These encounters, therefore, made me hesitate my professional capability as a teacher. . .As far as I did not get support on how to contextualise, integrate and practically interactwith the real teaching. . .theories I had learned lacked practical support. The way we takeour first steps towards our final steps are critical in attaining the desired goal. Likewise,the impression this teaching practice created on me due to insufficient support andadvice as a trainee who was practicing to be a professional teacher had a devastatingeffect on the realisation of myself in the profession. . . I felt [because of lack of properschool-based socialisation] that I knew theoretical aspects [of teaching] as trainee-tea-cher, but I was not confident enough to use them in the real teaching context.

Narrator E emphasises in his narration that he was highly affected as he wasdenied the opportunity to merge theory and practice. He did not have the company ofimportant people to help him tackle the practical problems or difficulties encounteredduring teaching practice. His adviser’s careless way of delivering feedback suggestsstructural and conceptual uncertainty under which Narrator E was trying to teach.Narrator E’s narration elucidates the negative impact of structure on agency. It isclear that Narrator E felt disempowered and disenfranchised as he was denied theoutlet to point out and explain his perspectives. As Sarason (1993) strongly argues,‘To ignore what the would-be teacher knows and has experienced, what that teacheraspires to be and achieve, is to seal off a gold mine in the face of poverty’ (Sarason1993, 150). Such a problem occurs, among other things, when there is a lack of‘coherent philosophy of teaching and learning that guides both the campus programand the practicum’ (Beck and Kosnik 2002, 7). Teacher preparation gains coherencewhen theory and practice are integrated and when teacher candidates receive suffi-ciently organised guidance and feedback on their teaching (Hankey 2004). To suc-cessfully conduct mentoring that is purposeful and developmental, mentors shouldneed to be competent in knowledge, skills, character and interpersonal proficiency.

Concluding remarks

This study attempted to identify and grasp the structural and conceptual barriersto meaningful practicum-based professional learning by teacher candidates. Thestudy indicated that we may change the structure and content of teacher educa-tion, but if we do not change the structure of implementation, our reform at thepolicy level is doomed to fail. The problems are clear revelations that we wereunable to ensure a structured change process in our teacher education. The studyrevealed that teacher candidates need professional, emotional and material supportsto gain meaningful experience from their field. It was clear in their reflections thatit was difficult for them to discuss issues under relational uncertainties. Thereflections by teacher candidates regarding discouraging conditions or adversitiesin the field that have jeopardised their motivation and confidence indicate the

350 J.W. Hussein

importance of trust in human relationships. The study suggests that both teachercandidates and graduate students have the feeling that trust provides them withsignificant leverage, makes them exceedingly comfortable with their scaffoldersand opens doors for a synergetic relationship.

The implication of the findings for teacher education institutions which prepareteachers through practicum should be pointed out. The study hinted that associateteachers, teacher candidates and other important stakeholders need clarity regardingthe aims of and strategies for teacher candidates’ professional development. Aboveall, the partnership of teacher education must be built on open, clear and candid com-munication. A healthy partnership is the function of strong core values and robuststrategic arrangements to ensure a proper translation of these values into actions. Oneof the core visions or values is commitment towards creating informed professionalsthat can make teaching a meaningful experience for themselves and for their learners.These are issues that deserve primacy over all other considerations.

Associate teachers as well as university supervisors need awareness that mentoringor supervision is an activity of high accountability. Their main role should be creatingthoughtful relationships, setting challenging learning goals, promoting self-directedlearning, developing shared learning experience through observation and dialogicreflection, and providing teacher candidates with structured educative feedback(Zeichner and Liston 1996). They also need to develop intellectual humility and open-mindedness when they assess teacher candidates’ thoughts and actions. At the sametime, they need to avoid unwarranted lightheartedness in a situation where they haveobserved problems that cause danger to the intellectual and moral standards of the pro-fession. These technical and intellectual virtues are the capacities which teacher educa-tion faculties and partner schools should create together (Grossman et al. 2008).

In an effective mentoring relationship, associate teachers in the partner schools,instead of passing authoritarian judgments on the performance of teacher candidates,should support them as professional co-learners and scaffolders. Effective mentoringof teacher candidates is one in which the associate teachers integrate competence,experience, skills of communication, enthusiasm, commitment and ethical account-ability. The degree of support which the school leadership offers the mentoringactivities is a crucial factor in increasing the effectiveness of mentoring by associateteachers. The school leadership’s main responsibility is ensuring that associateteachers are competent enough to engage in mentoring. To effectively do their men-toring, the associate teachers must have adequate time to support teacher candi-dates’ growth. Above all, providing associate teachers with up-to-date informationand awareness about how to conduct structured, but developmentally orientedsupervisory practice is an important thing which teacher education faculties andpartner schools should think about (Beck and Kosnik 2002; Ewart and Straw 2005).If the parts involved in professional growth of teacher candidates have adequateawareness about their role and show unreserved commitment, they may becomeeffective agents of change in teacher education. In other words, effective teachereducation is the result of collective commitment and empowerment, and only thencan it bring a drastic improvement or transformation in educational practice.

AcknowledgementsI thank Haramaya University for financing this and my other research on teacher education.The respondents who supplied me with the information also deserve acknowledgement. In


addition, I express my gratitude for Prof. Geoffrey Elliott, the editor of Research in Post-Compulsory Education, and the anonymous reviewers of my article, for their constructivecomments and suggestions that helped me improve the work.

Notes on contributorJeylan Wolyie Hussein is associate professor of Language and Education at the College ofSocial Sciences and Humanities, Haramaya University. He has been teaching and doingresearch in the university for the last 11 years. His research interests are teacher educationand its challenges, critical pedagogy, the role of language of education in educationalachievements, the role of action research in understanding one’s profession and to attainprofessional development.

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Appendix 1. A framework to guide associate teachers’ reflection on practicumand its effectiveness (January 2007)

(1) To what extent are teacher candidates benefiting from practical attachment in termsof testing and improving their practical know how?

(2) What deficiencies, if any, have you noticed in teacher candidates that you think havereduced their performance and impact on learners?

(3) What are the challenges of partnership arrangement that, in your view, have reducedthe quality of your and your schools’ involvement? How are these variables affectingthe quality of field experience that the teacher candidates are expected to obtain?

Appendix 2. A framework to guide associate teachers’ reflection on practicumand its effectiveness (April 2010)

(1) How do you see the importance and usefulness of providing teacher candidates withschool-based professional learning experience? Explain your thoughts adequately.

(2) How were you involved in practicum?(3) How did you find our teacher candidates’ performance? Support your evaluations

with evidences and explanations.(4) Do you think school-based professional learning experience has provided meaningful

learning experience for our teacher candidates and other involved groups? Explainyour thoughts adequately.

(5) What factors have inhibited sound partnership according to your observation? Sup-port your evaluations with evidence and explanations.

Appendix 3. A framework to guide teacher candidates’ reflection on practicumand its effectiveness

Practicum issue one: teaching and learning

Core essence of the thinking questions: Identifying the values the candidates have for con-ceptions of teaching and learning to individual practitioners.

(1) What have you generally learned about the complexity of teaching and learning?(2) What challenges or dilemmas have you encountered which you never thought about

teaching and learning? Elaborate.(3) What did you learn from those encounters or experiences?(4) How do you want to deal with similar and related issues in the future?

Practicum issue two: practicum and its meaning

Core essence of the thinking questions: Identifying the candidates’ transcendental-phenome-nological meaning of field experience.

(1) What does practicum mean to you from the point of view of learning how to teach?Elaborate.

(2) Mention improvements of abilities and thinking that you think have happenedbecause of practicum?

(3) What are the issues or concerns of teaching and learning which the practicum hasnot satisfactorily helped you deal with?

(4) How have you dealt with these issues or concerns? Elaborate.

354 J.W. Hussein

Practicum issue three: mentoring by associate teachers

Core essence of the thinking questions: Identifying candidates’ relational experience withsignificant others.

(1) What was good and what was not about your mentoring experience?(2) What are the qualities of good mentors?(3) What are the qualities of not good mentors?(4) How did your mentors’ work affect your practicum experience?

Appendix 4. A framework to guide narrative reflection of graduate students

All of you had passed through the student teacher programme and had reasonable experiencein partner schools. Make narrative explanations of your lived experience as a teacher candi-date in your previous teacher education institution. Focus on one unique, but interestingevent or experience you encountered that challenged you as a person and as a professional.What type of impression had the encounters created on you? What understanding or aware-ness had you framed or developed from that particular experience?


Documents

Impediments to educative practicum: the case of teacher preparation in Ethiopia