A Case Study Of The Implementation Of School-based Teacher Collaborative Professional Learning In Ethiopian Primary Schools

The topic of school-based teacher collaboration has received a lot of attention since the 1980 s as a model of professional learning around the globe,and oftentimes it is linked with improving teacher performance and student learning outcomes.However,insights about its actual implementation,particularly,in context of developing countries have been less available in the literature.Thus,the main purpose of the current study is to understand the phenomenon of school-based teacher collaborative professional learning(CPL)by exploring the lived experiences of primary school teachers in Ethiopia and contribute to the gap in the extant literature.This necessitated the adoption of constructivist orientation,which accepts learning and knowledge as subjective,socially mediated and contextual.This in turn required the adoption of qualitative case study method of inquiry.As a result,the study was based on data collected through in-depth interviews,focus group discussions(FGDs),document reviews,and field notes.The study had 18 one-to-one interviews and 3 FGDs that were conducted in three purposively selected typical primary schools.The document review involved analysis of the national CPD Framework,teachers’ discussion minutes and professional learning logs pertinent to the school-based teacher collaboration.The textual data were then coded and thematically analysed in accordance with the research questions,alongside the review of documents and field notes,to ensure triangulation.The findings revealed that the school-based teacher collaborative learning implemented by Ethiopian school teachers appeared to be top-down and mandatory.Accordingly,teachers are put into school-required(formal)teacher collaboration teams known as subject-based teams and one-to-five networks of teachers.However,the findings specified that teachers’ participation in these mandatory collaborative learning teams was mainly meant for compliance purposes.Teachers were reluctant to get involved in deeper collaborative activities,suggesting that they were in favour of superficial collaborative practices at best and supported isolation at worst in their instructional practices.On the contrary,the findings indicated that teachers have well established collectivistic culture(mahiberawi hiyiwet-in the Amharic language)oriented mainly towards satisfying the socio-economic interests of teachers,but not necessarily their professional goals.That is to say,the collectivistic culture of teachers is preoccupied with strong social dimensions and suffers from a lack of professional orientation.So,this study concludes that the momentum within the social relationships or collective life of teachers does not essentially lead to robust teacher professional collaboration.The findings on the perceived impacts of implementing school-based teacher CPL comprised both benefits and drawbacks.However,evidences demonstrating the positive effects or gains such as teacher learning were limited.Instead,teachers appreciated collaboration for it helps them to collectively administer out of classroom regular school routines.In contrast,responses that indicated its drawbacks were widespread.The most frequently mentioned drawbacks that teachers experienced as a result of the implementation of school-based collaboration were work intensification,loss of professional autonomy,groupthink,and conflict intensification.Furthermore,the findings disclosed that there exist several context-specific cultural,structural,and political factors that constrain the practices of school-based teacher collaborative professional learning.These constraints were organized into three:(a)system-related constraints(broader policy contexts),which include the national political context that resulted in discriminatory school administration,diminished value of being a teacher in current Ethiopia,and trends in educational policy developments;(b)school-related constraints,which include a lack of support from school leaders,a lack of scheduled time,a double-shift schooling system,and the absence of an established collaborative school culture;and(c)teacher-related factors which include teachers’ lack of awareness and interest,engagement of teachers in a second/side job and the belief teachers hold about CPL.Lastly,implications for policy,practice,and future research were suggested based on the findings.