Practicum Implementation of Secondary School Mathematics Teacher Education: Experiences from Partner Schools of Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Practicum is one critical pillar incorporated in teacher education in Ethiopia. But, its implementation has inconsistency and experiences among universities and schools vary. Teacher education universities host future teachers and lead practicum implementation that faces multifaceted problems related to its implementation. The purpose of this study was to document the incumbent practicum implementation and share experiences of two partner schools of Addis Ababa University. For this purpose the study employed qualitative research method. Pre-service post graduate diploma in teaching (PGDT) program Mathematics student teachers, school mentors and school principals were participants of the study. Focus group discussion, open ended questions and researchers’ observation were used as data collection tools. The data gathered through the various approaches were analysed employing thematic analysis. This study extracted lessons that limited practicum implementation and highlighted success stories that are helpful to learn from. Finally, recommendations are drawn to help mitigate observed problems.