Teacher collaboration and professional development in secondary schools of Ethiopia: A literature review

Pages: 1031-1034
Jagpreet Kaur and Olana Debel (Department of Education, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab)

The main objective of this review was to look at whether teacher collaborative activities are related to their professional growth in secondary schools of west Oromia, Ethiopia. Ethiopia is currently working on the capacity building for school leaders particularly those of school principal, vice principal and supervisors since 1913. The efforts of the MoE to bring about quality education by scaling up the capacity of the school supervisors haven’t successfully met the standard set. This study therefore, intended to contribute to school system through creating the mechanisms of teachers’ collaborative effort for the betterment of improved classroom instruction. To this end, related research studies conducted in this area have been thoroughly reviewed. Thus, the findings from relevant meta analysis showed that teacher collaboration has significant impact on teachers’ competence, confidences, and attendances of their practices, teachers’ collaboration produce desired results through shared goals, teacher efficacy, and positive interdependences of teachers in the school. Teachers’ collaboration is part of teachers’ daily routines and they need to be involved in planning, implementing, and evaluation of the impact. Furthermore, the review study identified that teachers’ participation in different forms of collaborative practices organized in stable and supportive school environment which has the potential to influence school-based teachers’ professional learning on a continual basis. On the other hand, the study mentioned the problems to teachers’ collaboration and their professional development as backward teaching methods and belief, awareness, and limitation of skill, be short of initiative to improve, lack of dedication, as well as motivation are the major challenges to teachers’ collaborations and professional development.