Institute of Education and Research

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Tracing the level of TPCK among Secondary EFL Teachers: A Study in Bangladesh Context
(University of Dhaka, 2009-01-31) Parvin, Mst. Rozina
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) is a young research field of education. To keep pace of the world research trend, the purpose of this study was to explore the level of TPCK among secondary EFL teachers in Bangladesh context. The study was quantitative in nature. The sample of the study comprised of 120 secondary EFL teachers in Dhaka city and outskirt of Dhaka. The instrument was a five point Likert scale questionnaire for the secondary EFL teachers. The level of Technological Pedagogical Content knowledge (TPCK) was 54.2%. Its primary sub factors’ knowledge levelwas: Technological knowledge (TK) 60.8%, Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) 51.4% and Content Knowledge (CK) 73.3%. The first level transformative and mental knowledge was: Technological Pedagogical knowledge (TPK) 63.3%, Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) 60.8% and Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) 58.3%. The CK was significantly decreased when correlate with other primary knowledge. There was a significant influence in terms of age, gender and experience on the teachers’ respective knowledge. The knowledge was adequate, but not transformative to the students.The literature review and the findings of the study showed that the secondary EFL teachers’ level of TPCK and its sub sets should be treated in an integrated manner, not as separate constructs in the secondary level EFL teacher training programme in Bangladesh.
Comparative study of cognitive development and home intervention for children of primary school
(University of Dhaka, 2014-06-23) Jahan, Eshrat
Recently, there have been attempts to examine the effectiveness of home interventions as parent tutoring interventions and school–family collaborative interventions for improving students’ academic performance. Although empirical evaluation and synthesis of such programs is relatively recent and more work is needed, results of these initial examinations may serve to inform practice in schools and are relevant to educators as they endeavour to work with families to support student’s teaching learning (Carlson & Christenson, 2005).Over the years, many papers have been written about the way a child’s classroom performance and cognitive development are significantly influenced by the extent to which their parents become involved in school life, and the interest they take in their child’s education. The present analyses considered the comparison between cognitive development and home intervention for children of primary school in the following factors found to be important for this group of children.1) quality of home intervention, 2) academic performance of school 3) parental education occupation and income, and 4) whether the difference also exists among government and private schools. Differences did exist in what contributed to school performance especially among the two categories of schools. Further, there was a difference between the school performance and the level of education of parents. Students achieving A+, A, A- were accumulated mostly between parents having primary to Master’s degree in comparison to parents who were illiterate.
Impact of in-service training (cluster meeting) on primary teachers classroom practice
(University of Dhaka, 2015-03-02) Ashrafuzzaman, Md.
Teacher is one of the best teaching tools to attain, ensure and sustain the quality of education in any country. For this, teachers have to be trained. The trainings include both pre-service and in-service training, and continuous training for professional development. This study focused on the impact of in-service training (cluster meeting) on primary teachers’ classroom practice at the English in Action (EIA) intervention schools. This research adopted the “grounded theory” approach. Here, the researcher attempted to develop a theory inductively from various sources of data which is the basis of the grounded theory. For the convenience of the research and conducting this study, the researcher mainly collected open-ended data from the respondents through observation schedule, a semi-structured interview schedule and a focus group discussion guideline. The collected primary data were transcribed and developed into categories or themes of information and composed into figure or visual model that portrays the general explanation. In this respect, the study was qualitative in nature and conducted according to the grounded theory. The population of the study was all the teachers and students of primary grade of Paba upazila of Rajshahi district. The researcher worked with the students of the primary schools (grade I to V) and their English teachers. Two cluster meetings (CMs) were attended and observed. From those meetings, five English teachers were selected purposively and finally three English classes of each of those teachers (5x3=15classes) were observed for the study. After classroom observation those teachers were interviewed individually. Focus group discussions were conducted with the students of those observed classes. Eight students were present in each group who were selected purposively. The study was carried out in the schools of pilot phase of EIA programme. Data were collected from 31 March to 28 June, 2012. The teachers, who have responded in this study, are highly educated and attended cluster meetings and various other similar trainings. The cluster meetings had multifaceted objectives which provided them with ideas for warming up, reviewing and reflecting, micro teaching and extending activities for improving teaching and learning capacities of teachers. The cluster meetings were held in different venues or conference centres. The meetings fulfilled approximately 80% of their needs, especially in terms of solving classroom problems through sharing practical experiences and disseminating knowledge. It also helped for developing English teachers’ speaking fluency. Respondent teacherslearnt many new things in the cluster meetings. Some of them include: giving instruction in English, easier ways of teaching English, easier ways of teaching prepositions, playing games, using of teaching aid such as audio or iPod, Logitech, flashcard and posters, and writing paragraph by mind mapping. Most of the teachers used to take classes in their own ways before getting training from EIA. After being trained in cluster meetings, respondents applied and implemented new ideas and methods in their classrooms. Now they use audio, textbook and posters, which help students learn quickly and speak English without difficulty. Most of the teachers liked using English as the language of instruction in the classroom, showing posters and pictures, conducting group works, using audio, word games and board. Students mostly liked to listen to audio (songs, rhymes and poems), writing on the blackboard, playing word games and other group activities. In general, teachers and students like almost the same activities in English classes. But in some cases, it was found that the instructions given by the teachers, were not clear to students. A majority of the respondent teachers faced some problems in introducing EIA techniques in the classroom especially while using posters, Logitech and audio. Students on the other hand did not understand some parts of the audio. Teachers’ also faced some challenges for excessive class load, big size of classes and lack of supervision and monitoring. Having faced these challenges, many teachers return to their previous practice of teacher-centred methods such as lectures instead of using modern technologies.
Exploring the issues of implementing teaching materials and techniques in english language teaching at junior secondary level
(University of Dhaka, 2015-05-31) Sultana, Sabiha
The use of various teaching materials assists communicative language teaching in the classroom. Such usage accelerates interaction in the classroom. Thus it promotes the use of target language in a language classroom. However, there are a number of issues related to the implementation of teaching materials in English Language Teaching. Keeping in mind the implementation of mainly ICT based materials; this study aims to explore the types of materials as well as innovative techniques used in the English classrooms. It also examines the problems that teachers and students face while using these materials and techniques. Moreover, this study aims to reveal the benefits of implementing supplementary teaching materials. The study is qualitative in nature. All the students and English teachers from schools of Junior Secondary Level (Grade VI-VIII) in Kapasia upazila of Gazipur district was the target total population of the study. Ten English teachers from ten English in Action (EiA) supported schools, five groups consisting of ten students each and two EiA educators constituted the desired sample size. Thus purposive sampling was done for this study. The researcher took up multi-method approaches such as interviewing teachers, students and educators and classroom observation. Data were collected between 1 July to 15 October, 2012 (during the pilot phase of EiA). A structured observation schedule was prepared to observe the English teaching-learning situation in the classroom. Twenty open ended questions were set in the semi-structured interview schedule for teachers. An agenda-based focus group discussion schedule was coined for students. Two EiA educators, who closely observed EiA implementation at the grassroots level, were interviewed separately. The qualitative data were synthesized into a unique form and thematic analysis was followed. The findings from the classroom observation schedule suggested that English teachers use a variety of supplementary teaching materials other than textbooks. They use both audio and visual materials maintaining the relevancy with textbook lessons. Technology (e.g. iPods, Block rocker, Logitech) is mainly supplied by EiA but teachers also use their own materials (e.g. poster, picture, object). The teachers whose classes were observed covered various ELT aspects through communicative activities. Besides, they tried to speak in English all the time and tried to make the students do the same. There were icebreaking sessions, setting the scene for topic explanation, practising dialogues, elicitation, directed writing, group/pair works, role playing, language games, checking students’ understanding of a lesson, gesturing to communicate, monitoring the classroom activities and giving feedbacks. The finding regarding the positives of using supplementary materials identified by students are- materials are needed for better and easier understanding, it makes lessons attractive, students remain on the right track of thinking, they can write correctly, materials induce long-lasting memory and motivate students, materials are specially helpful for the weaker students, students can get their pronunciation correct by listening materials and materials help the learning of complex spelling. From the findings, it is revealed that there are many reasons as to why effective implementation of teaching materials and interactive techniques is difficult. These are- unavailability of materials, very large classrooms and number of students, lack of time for getting prepared for the class, classroom management, problem in operating technological materials due to power shortage and external noises during listening practice. Similarly, sound of activities has to be kept down so that other classes do not get disturbed. Again, teacher selection, maintaining standard of training, problems of conducting teachers’ training and absence of peer teacher for sharing ideas obstruct the implementation of innovation. Apart from that, conflict with the assessment system, lack of government’s support for listening and speaking practice, policy restrictions and material development by external experts play as hindrances. Then again, English teachers blame low level of proficiency of students in English, lack of students’ motivation in speaking in and listening to English and students’ only interests in rote learning and exam oriented study.
Nature of questioning in english classroom using communicative language teaching approach at junior secondary level
(University of Dhaka, 2015-06-30) Babu, Rasel
Questioning is an inseparable part of a classroom teaching-learning process. Realizing the importance of questioning, the educationists worldwide had shown their continuous interest in research on questioning. However, in the context of Bangladesh, researchers rarely have explored this significant area of teaching-learning. Comprehending this gap of researching, the current mixed method approach study had been designed. The aim of the study was to understand the questioning nature in English language classrooms. The following three research questions guided the study: 1) What are the questioning patterns in English classes? 2) In which process the teachers progress questioning? and 3) How do the learners perceive classroom questioning? Randomly selected 300 students, purposively selected 40 students and 10 English language teachers of junior secondary level participated in the study. Thirty English language classrooms were observed. To collect data, the researcher used classroom observation schedule, opinionnaire for students, focused group discussion schedule and teacher interview schedule. The study used classroom observation protocol to explore the actual status of questioning pattern and process happening in the classroom. The post lesson observation interview protocol helped to explore teachers’ opinion and explanation regarding the patterns and process of classroom questioning. Like the teachers, the learners have also been treated with importance to conduct this study. In previous researches on questioning, learners had always been neglected which is a shortcoming of the researches on questioning. To overcome this limitation, the study used an opinionnaire for investigating learners’ perception about questioning patterns and process. Beside the opinionnaire, a focused group discussion schedule was also administered with the learners to have in-depth understanding of their view, opinion and perception regarding questioning of English classes. To analyze the data, the researcher adopted thematic analysis approach where descriptive statistics like percentage, direct quotations from the respondents and the critical aspects of classroom discourse had been used. The findings derived from data triangulation and methodological triangulation revealed that in English classes, teachers asked questions mainly for three purposes such as warm up, assessment and motivational purposes. However, most of the questions were asked to assess the students’ learning. Findings showed that questioning pattern and process had not been changed significantly over the years. Still teachers asked most of the questions (90%) from the knowledge sub-domain of cognitive domain which is the lowest level of knowledge. Almost 55% of the classroom questions were closed in nature and 40% of the questions were yes-no questions. Hence, learners did not get scope for higher order thinking within the classroom or beyond. Another result of the study was that most of the questions were asked either from the exercise of the textbook or from the contents. Students’ life related questions were almost absent in classroom teaching-learning process. So, it was difficult for the students to link between classroom and real life situation through questioning. Moreover, it is suggested in communicative language teaching approach that students should participate in classroom talk especially in questioning but the study findings showed a different scenario regarding questioning practice. 98% of the questions were asked by the teachers and among the questions 63% of them were asked in English. Teachers asked 90% of the questions to individual learners; as a result, the whole classes were not engaged in questioning for most of the time. Though it is expected all the learners should be treated equally in the classroom, in real situation, it was seen teachers asked almost 65% questions to the front bench students and about 78% responses came from the front side students. Basically, the front bench students were the best learners of the classroom and they dominated in the classrooms teaching-learning. Inspite of the dominance of the bright learners the teachers gave most attention to them. Data showed that only 12% of the total number of questions was asked to the back bench students and they could reply to only 6% of the questions. Though there were discrimination and less participation in questioning, still the learners liked questioning very much and they perceived classroom questioning as the most favorite instructional strategy. 98% of the learners believed that questioning helped their learning by promoting their critical thinking skill and keeping their concentration in teaching-learning. Learners opined that question-answer practice helped them to pass the exam and 94% of the learners thought that questioning was really helpful for developing speaking skill. Realizing the importance of questioning, almost 97% of the learners mentioned that they could learn more when their teachers questioned more. Based on the findings, the study recommended to arrange proper and adequate training on classroom questioning for the English teachers; and also suggested to conduct further studies on why learners did not participate in questioning and what kinds of questioning practices are going on in the primary and pre-primary schools.
A study on reading comprehension for grade iii pupils of primary schools in Bangladesh
(University of Dhaka, 2016-01-06) Saha, Shilpi Rani
The purpose of the study was to find out grade 3 students’ present status of reading comprehension and the current practices in classroom to achieve this skill. The study also wanted to know the variations of achievement between urban and rural students as well as boys and girls of this grade. Similarly, the challenges faced by the teachers to achieve the skill were also explored. As a sample, five government primary urban schools from Gulshan thana and five government primary rural schools from Manikgong sadar thana were selected. A total of 200 students (100 boys & 100 girls) of class 3 participated from the schools. An achievement test was administered to know students’ reading comprehension and class observation as well as interview schedule was used to get the answer of the research questions. The study found that majority of the students was not able to recognize all the letters, words and the text. On an average, urban student performed comparatively better than rural students and boys performed better than girls but in some aspects girls did better. It was also found that teachers were practicing some of the strategies in a limited way and a good number of teachers had no training. Even those who had training also had forgotten training contents. The study also identified some challenges faced by the teachers and found that large class size, teaching overload, lack of congenial environment, insufficient training, students coming to schools with empty stomach, no academic support from home, lack of cooperation among parents have hindered in achieving the particular skill and also quality education. Finally, to improve students reading comprehension and their reading capacity, reading activities should be more focused in classroom as well as in early grades. Along with this, teachers’ challenges need to be addressed and scope has to be increased so that they could give more focus on practicing this skill.
Improving quality primary education: The impact of community participation
(University of Dhaka, 2016-06-19) Mallik, Tahmina
Qualitative change in our primary education system is the most important priority of the day. The previous two decades have seen the increase of the enrollment and drop out rate and decrease of illiteracy rate in primary education. However, there are still over one million primary school age children who do not attend formal primary schools. One of the causes of not improving quality in primary education is lack of community participation. In this study, the researcher has tried to investigate the role of community participation for enhancing quality primary education with a focus on present status and impact of Community participation. In order to compare the impact of community participation, 9 Good Community Participation Schools (GCPS) and 9 Less Community Participation Schools (LCPS) were conveniently selected from 3 Upazilas of Tangail District as the sample of the study. A total of 216 Participants including UEOs, AUEOs, Teachers, SMC, PTA, LGR members and Parents were also selected. Data were collected by questionnaires, FGDs, and Interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied for analyzing the data. For major findings of the study, it was found that there was a good cooperation between school and community in Good Community Participation schools. The SMC, PTA, LGR, and SLIP members and guardian\Parents had co-operated with the teachers for the work of child survey, student admission, text book distribution, student attendant and removing drop out. The SMC, PTA members and Parents donated fans, clocks and various furniture like, chair, benches and almira and managed para teachers for the schools. In order to increase learner’s enrollment and attendance the teachers arranged posturing, miking, rally. They also visited the absentee learner’s houses. To remove drop out and increase primary cycle completion rate the teachers supplied free paper and pencils for the poor learners by the help of SMC members and parents. The SMC members observed the learners activities and took care of their reading. In order to 100% pass in PSC the teachers, SMC, PTA and parents arranged a special class and model test for class five learners. The parents\guardians discussed with teachers about their children’s education quality. They knew in which class their children read in and their class position. They also arranged a reading corner in their houses for their children. Regarding the interaction between school and community the quality primary education level was god in Good Community Participation schools. But, the situation was not satisfactory in Less Community Participation schools. Most of the SMC, PTA members and Parents / Guardians were irregular in meetings / gatherings. Though some of them were attendant in meetings/ gatherings but, they did not take part in discussions and not gave their opinion.
Quality of mathematics teaching and learningin the primary schools of Bangladesh
(University of Dhaka, 2016-06-20) Hossain, Md. Billal
Although there has been a rapid growth in enrollments and overall growth in the primary education system of Bangladesh but the quality in primary education is not at in a satisfactory level. The quality teaching and learning alone play an important role in achieving overall quality education. According to the record most of the PEC examination, the percentage of the pass rate of mathematics was the lowest among other subjects. Even internal examination results also showed the same picture. It was also revealed that the lack of different components of quality teaching-learning e.g. use of proper teaching method, effective use of teaching aids, teachers‘ working load, student-teacher ratio, proper class size etc. have been prevailing in the primary schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the present situation of quality teaching learning in mathematics of primary schools in Bangladesh specially government primary schools in Bangladesh. The study collected data from a sample of 16 head teachers, 32 math teachers, 48 students from 16 different types of schools. Also 32 mathematics classes were observed for realizing actual teaching- learning situations. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, class observations and structured interview schedule. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for analysis of data. The findings of the study revealed that student-teacher ratio was high and also there were lack of subject based teaching and effective use of teaching aid. Most of the teachers never used teaching aids. Students always needed help from others. A large number of students did not interact with teacher in the classrooms. About fifty percent of math teachers did not have any subject based training. At the annual/PEC examinations of 2013 the students who failed in different subjects also failed in mathematics. The study recommended that student teacher ratio should be reduced by appointing new teacher, quality based supervision should be improved. Subject based teaching are very needed otherwise at least subject based training should be available for all teachers.
Job satisfaction of teachers of formal and non-formal primary schools: An impact study on students’ achievements
(University of Dhaka, 2016-07-12) Laboni, Tasmiri Tasmin
The study was conducted to determine the Job Satisfaction (JS) levels of formal (GPS) and non-formal (Ananda Schools (AS) of ROSC project) primary school teachers with a view to finding its (JS) impact on their students‟ academic achievements. For this purpose, 42 GPS and 42 AS having 182 teachers were selected with 6 schools for each category from seven divisions applying purposive convenient sampling procedure. To collect data, instruments of Primary School Teachers‟ Job Satisfaction Inventory and Students Academic Achievement Profile were developed and used. The first instrument contains 20 JS components which were developed comprising of equal number of positive and negative items following the Breyfield & Rothe Job Satisfaction Index (1951) on five point Likert scale. The weighted mean suggested in the scale was calculated against five alternative responses to get the level of job satisfaction of a teacher against positive and negative factors to form a major factor. These factors are -„teaching as a profession‟, „enjoying teaching‟, „teachers‟ professional development‟, „effective teaching‟, „workload‟ „teachers‟ salary‟, „job security‟, „social recognition‟, „leave & recreation‟, „teachers‟ relation with community‟ & „parents‟, „leadership‟, „team work‟, „decision making‟, „physical facilities‟, „teaching materials‟, „school environment‟, „school timing‟, „community role ‟ and „SMC/CMC behaviors‟. The finding of the study shows that teachers, irrespective of formal and non-formal primary schools, greatly possess Moderate Satisfaction (MS) level with their job. Further, the students‟ (4-grade) achievement profiles of the same schools in Bangla, Mathematics and English were also found to be average (moderate) largely. The apparent results are indicative of the fact that moderate job satisfaction of teachers influences moderate academic achievements of the students assuming that job satisfaction of primary school teachers was helpful for their students‟ academic achievement. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken by the concerned authorities to develop the level of JS of primary school teachers of Bangladesh.
Exploring the perceptions of the teachers and students on english language learning at junior secondary level in Rangamati
(University of Dhaka, 2016-10-30) Abdullah Al Mamun
This study explored both teachers and students’ perception, views, motivation and attitude on English language learning as a foreign language at junior secondary level in Rangamati; a hilly area of Bangladesh. To achieve the objectives of the study, a mixed method approach has been applied where variety of methods and data collection strategies such as FGD, Questionnaire and Interview have been used. Data of the study were collected from 6 English in Action intervention (a DFID funded English language development programme implemented in Bangladesh) secondary schools in Rangamati Sadar upazilla. Data were collected from 359 junior secondary students through an adapted 5-point Likert scale questionnaire and focus group discussion. An in depth interview was used to collect data from 6 English language teachers of 6 secondary schools. Collected data were analysed both statistically and narratively. Findings of the study revealed that both traditional and communicative approaches are simultaneously practiced in English language classroom though curriculum recommends the use of communicative approach only. In most of the cases, the teachers’ and students’ perceptions toward teaching-learning activities of English language contradict with communicative approach. On the other hand, in the process of teaching-learning English language in comparison to plain land both the teachers and students of this area are struggling more because of their ethnic identity, language, culture, school and residential environment and geographical nature. At the same time, different types of integrative and instrumental motivations are working as stimulus for learning English as an international language. Finally, the study shed some light on teachers and students’ perception on learning English that are very important to know to get desired outcomes. Findings of the study led to some important implications for different aspects and practice of English language education that will help the educators, concerned authorities to take proper initiatives to develop teaching-learning process in Bangladesh and other developing countries.
বাংলাদেশে শিক্ষা বিস্তারে কাথলিক মিশনারীদের অবদান মূল্যায়ন
(University of Dhaka, 2018-01-01) কস্তা, লিপিকা জেন
ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে অধ্যয়নরত ছাত্রীদের সামাজিক প্রেক্ষাপট অনুসন্ধান
(University of Dhaka, 2018-01-25) নাহার, নাজমিন
Challenges faced by the teachers and students in implementing English curriculum in general and indigenous primary schools in Bangladesh
(University of Dhaka, 2018-01-28) Adhikary, Bishnu Kumar
This thesis is based on the findings evolved from a study conducted on Primary English Curriculum Implementation Challenges of General (Bangali) and Indigenous Students and teachers in Bangladesh to sort out an appropriate methodology for the challenges of implementation of English curriculum to these students and teachers. This study fully conducted on the Primary schools in Rangamati hill districts. All of the students and teachers were grade 3, 4 and 5 of General and different Indigenous community. Guardians of different grades students were also sample of this study. The school selected on purposely and students selected in simple random sampling. Teacher were same classes where students taken. Guardians were also taken as purposive. Data were collected through document analysis, classroom observation, teacher interview schedule, focus group discussion with students and an interview schedule for the guardians whose children were studying of those grades. Only Government primary schools were taken. The mixed approach based study data were analyzed theme and subtheme based and some statistically. Some result was come out which are very much significant to show the challenges of primary English curriculum implementation challenges on General and Indigenous schools in Bangladesh. Both General and Indigenous teacher were not found enough trained in English and curriculum. Teachers had a good amount of work load. 29.99% General and Indigenous teacher agreed that their lesson objectives were not clear to the students. General teachers faced mortified situation in the Indigenous language problems in the English class. 73.33% Indigenous students agreed that English teacher’s language was difficult to understand to them. 26.67% General students could not understand the English vocabularies which have used by the teachers. 73.33% Indigenous students could not understand the English vocabularies which have used by teachers. The prescribed methods of curriculum were not practice properly in the lesson. Most of curriculum objectives, competency and class wise competency were not achieved properly. Most of the teachers faced challenges to operate the audio-visual materials in the class. English language skills practices were found very poor. Assessment and feedback practice were not satisfactory. A lot dissimilarities issues were found into textbook from General and Indigenous studentsteachers perspective. Finally, some recommendation and further research suggestions were made on the basis of the findings.
Professional development and pedagogy of university teachers in Bangladesh: An exploratory study
(University of Dhaka, 2018-04-04) Abdus Salam, Md
Quality is a problem in higher education, even at both public and private universities in Bangladesh. The quality of teaching depends on the quality of the teachers which, in turn, depends, to some extent, on the quality of their professional development. The objectives of the study were to identify the current status of professional development scopes, to analyze the needs for professional development, to explore pedagogical practices, to ascertain the technological skills and requirements of teachers at universities and finally to propose a Professional Development and Pedagogy (PDP) program model. Therefore, the study integrated both qualitative and quantitative approaches based on social constructivism paradigm to explore the research questions. Triangulation approach has been employed to ensure the validity of data. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques have been followed in sample selection. The total sample size was 540 consisting of teachers (159), students (360) and university education management (21) which had been selected from 5 public universities. Questionnaire, Interview (semi-structure), Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and classroom observation (36) techniques were used for primary data collection. The study found that there were very limited scopes available for professional development of university teachers in Bangladesh. The study indicated that the teachers were proficient on content knowledge but they were unable to assimilate the content from pedagogical perspective. They usually used the traditional teaching methods in a large size classroom because of their lass understanding of the pedagogy. Data also indicated that ICT infrastructure was not available in all classrooms for integrating in teaching practices. The majority teachers have had limited ICT skills resulting less effective teaching learning. Thus, the study identified a strong need of providing PDP program for positive change of teachers’ attitude and practices in the classroom. Finally, the study recommended a PDP program model for the university teachers to be used in future.
Current scenerio of classroom teaching practice in primary schools: its impact on quality primary education in Bangladesh
(University of Dhaka, 2018-12-19) Shafiqul Islam, Md.
Classroom teaching is immensely significant in ensuring quality education.The main purpose of the study was to see the current scenerio of classroom teaching practices in Bangladesh. It examined primary school teachers‟ works in classrooms and how it impacts on quality primary education in Bangladesh. The study was focused mainly on the basic aspects of teachers‟ pedagogical practices. The aspects have been determined by exploring and examining literature, documents and research studies on effective teaching-learning process and quality education. A framework of quality indicators had been developed for analyzing teachers‟ pedagogical practices. This study had been conducted on different government primary schools of eight districts in Bangladesh. Mainly direct classroom observation and interview methods had been followed in this study. The study explored the variations of pedagogical practices of trained and untrained teachers. It also examined the differences between the teaching practices of male and female teachers.Data had been collected through the means of document analysis, physical observation of classrooms and in-depth interview with the stakeholders. For observation 40 Assistant Teachers and for interview 60 Respondentshad been selected which included Head Teachers, AUEOs, UEOs, PTI and URC instructors, PTI superintendents and DPEOs. This study resulted separately the impact of pedagogical practices of trained and untrained as well as male and female teachers on quality primary education. The findings also revealed that(i) the classroom teaching practice in primary schools of Bangladesh was not satisfactory enough, (ii) there were some acute and crucial differences between the teaching practices of trained and untrained as well as the male and female teachers, (iii) there were differences between the teaching practices of trained and untrained teachers however not enough significant and (iv)the overall performances of male teachers were found a bit better than that of the female. The findings also provided some additional information such as impact of curriculum, training, contact hour, infrastructure, inspection system, teachers‟ overloaded activities and job satisfaction concerning quality primary education and added a great value.
বাংলাদেশের প্রাক-প্রাথমিক শিক্ষার নীতি, পরিকল্পনা ও বাস্তবায়ন: একটি অনুসন্ধান
(University of Dhaka, 2019-01-28) ইসলাম, মোঃ জহিরুল
Formative Assessment and Feedback Practice at Secondary Level: Effects on Students Learning in English Classroom
(University of Dhaka, 2019-01-30) Salahuddin, Muhammad
Assessment is an essential and important part of the present schooling system. The main objective of this study is to explore the present situation of formative assessment and feedback practice at the secondary level as well as its effects on students learning at English classroom in Bangladesh. Following mixed method (convergent parallel design) approach, this study has been conducted based on empirical evidence. It also followed some descriptive inquiry. Both quantitative and qualitative data have been collected from different sources like teacher, students and classroom through questionnaire, observation checklist, interview, Likert scale and FGD guideline. The data analysis of this study has followed convergent design analysis method. This study found that most of the teachers of both areas have knowledge about assessment although some of them have limited knowledge about formative assessment. Three-fourths teachers of urban and almost half of rural secondary schools teachers are using the class test as an assessment tools. Most of the secondary schools have no opportunity to use audio materials for assessing listening skills of students. That’s why teachers are not assessing students listening skills. Teachers of both areas are following both oral and written method as feedback strategy. More than three-fourths teachers of urban and half of the teachers of rural secondary schools are giving feedback to their students during assessment time while most of the teachers are giving feedback to their students at the end of the assessment session. Most of the teachers of both areas’ secondary schools identified as formative assessment and feedback practice at English classroom have positive effects on students’ learning. It also helps the students to give concentration on their lesson. The formative assessment helps the teachers to know students’ improvement happened or not and they minimize their challenges. In addition, most of the students of both areas strongly mentioned that assessment helps them to improve peer learning. Following these findings researcher recommended that: the government should take necessary action to introduce an “assessment policy” for secondary level and four skills of English should be assessed during lesson.
Curriculum and Practice of Environmental Education at Primary Schools in Bangladesh
(University of Dhaka, 2019-02-17) Ropum, S M Kamruddin
Primary curriculum of Bangladesh has been revised in 2012 with updated contents and teaching-learning processes to provide effective primary education, and environmental education (EE) was also part of this revision and supposed to be implemented through different subjects. In this situation, it is important to know how far the EE related part of 2012 primary curriculum is being implemented at schools. The study took it as a problem and analyzed the practice of EE at schools compare to 2012 primary curriculum. The study chosen grade V “Primary Science” and “Bangladesh and Global Studies” as the sample subjects because both the subjects cover EE most. However, fifteen primary schools from eleven districts were selected purposively for the study. Total thirty teachers of grade V “Primary Science” and “Bangladesh and Global Studies” were selected purposively, and their teaching-learning activities related to EE were observed through a five-point scale starts from “zero” denoting “not practiced at all” and ends at “four” denoting “completely practiced” to explore the practice of EE at primary schools focusing two major categories “presenting contents” and “conducting teaching-learning processes” compare to 2012 primary curriculum. Moreover, ten students of grade V from each school were selected randomly for the focus group discussions (FGD). The FGDs were conducted through a structured guideline to know teachers’ practice of EE. In addition, headmasters of all schools and previously selected thirty teachers were interviewed to get their insights and know the factors behind their practices. Data gathered from different sources were triangulated and analyzed in mixed approach. It is found that most of the teachers know the concept of subject-based terminal competencies and grade-wise achievable competencies but no teachers could tell any subject-based terminal competencies correctly though very few of them could tell grade-wise achievable competencies correct. However, the teachers who told competencies wrong, their answers were closer to learning outcomes most of the cases. On the other hand, teachers’ have good idea about the concept of learning outcomes though majority of them could tell only 1-2 learning outcomes correctly. It is found that almost all the contents mentioned in the curriculum were presented by the teachers except contents related to weather change because they did not find the contents in the textbooks clearly. On the other hand, teachers followed teaching-learning processes related to previous curriculum learned from different trainings. They started lessons typically through motivation followed by showing flip charts, making student read the textbooks and finally asking questions for evaluation. Teachers argued that they did not get any training on new curriculum. However, subject teachers and headmasters mentioned unavailability of 2012 primary curriculum at schools as one of the most important factors behind teachers’ lack of knowledge and practice though this curriculum is available in online. Moreover, lack of teacher’s guide is found as another factor behind teachers’ performance. The study suggests that respective authorities should concentrate on EE through designing effective training for teachers and developing teacher’s guide on present curriculum, establishing necessary infrastructures at schools, implementing regular monitoring and mentoring activities, introducing continuing professional development processes in schools, etc.
বাউবি পরিচালিত সিএড কারিকুলাম এবং নেপ (NAPE) পরিচালিত সিইন.এড কারিকুলামের তুলনামূলক পর্যালোচনা
(University of Dhaka, 2019-03-21) আক্তার, পারভীন
Constitutional Responsibility of the Government of Bangladesh for Implementing Compulsory Primary Education: Issues and Challenges
(University of Dhaka, 2019-05-14) Mehtab, Farhana Helal
Education and its dissemination are said to have links with inequality, development and poverty alleviation. All the countries of the world have consistently supported the notion that every child in every country should be given the opportunity to complete at least primary education aiming to achieve basic skills which are necessary for better living. The 1990 World Conference on Education for All set this goal to be achieved by 2000 and the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000 reaffirmed the commitment. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) again declared universal primary education as a major goal to be achieved. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new global agenda, have correctly recognized the critical role of education due to the interlinkages between education and transformative change, driving progress towards sustainable development. Primary education can be considered the most important part of the whole gamut of education as it constructs the foundation of the basic skills of the children; builds founding blocs of their values, and morality; and reduces intra and inter-generational discriminations. Free, compulsory, and universal primary education is the very first step to build a just, egalitarian, and humanity based society. Given this reality, primary education has been recognized as fundamental human right by the international organizations as well as international human rights laws. The overall objective of this thesis is to examine the constitutional responsibility of the Government of Bangladesh for implementing compulsory primary education as well as to identify the issues and challenges related to its implementation. Specific objectives of this study are: (a) to explore the core spirit of the Bangladesh Constitution relating to primary education; (b) to determine the nature of the constitutional responsibility of the Government of Bangladesh as to primary education; (c) to examine the legal framework and measures taken by the Government of Bangladesh for implementing primary education; and (d) to identify the major issues and challenges relating to implementation of primary education in Bangladesh. This study has used a basic qualitative research approach as its methodology to determine the nature of the constitutional obligation of the Bangladesh Government as to primary education. In order to attain the objectives, the study has used two research techniques: (i) review of related documents; and (ii) in-depth interviews of selected legal experts, educationists and policy administrators. For attaining the major and specific objectives of the study, this thesis has been divided into seven chapters. Chapter one contains background information, and has stated objectives, significance and value of the study, and its limitations. Chapter two comprises literature review, and chapter three deals with the methodology of the study. Chapter four has analyzed the nature of constitutional responsibility of the Government of Bangladesh as to implementing free and compulsory primary education. Chapter five has discussed and evaluated the laws enacted, the policies adopted and the measures taken by the successive governments to ensure basic education. Chapter six has analyzed and interpreted the data. Chapter seven has stated the findings and discussions, underlined the issues and challenges, and finally put forward conclusions where the researcher has put forward a number of recommendations for the current and future policy makers. The important task of this study has been to determine the constitutional responsibility of the Bangladesh Government to implement compulsory primary education according to the core spirit and nature of the Constitution. The study has found that though international organizations and international human rights laws have recognized education as a fundamental human right, the Constitution of Bangladesh is yet to recognize education as a fundamental right. It is an astounding fact that Bangladesh’s supreme law of the land has not mentioned ‘primary education’ as a fundamental right, let alone providing a separate and detailed provision as to free and compulsory primary education in terms of its objectives, structure, and essence. This study has found that the nature of constitutional responsibility of the Bangladesh Government is declaratory, not mandatory, as under the Bangladesh Constitution, education is a basic necessity and policy instrument. But the legal experts are in full agreement that the successive governments cannot evade their responsibility relating to free and compulsory primary education by saying that this is not judicially enforceable and the constitutional articles do not impose any mandatory obligation on the state functionaries. The apex court of Bangladesh also expressed the same view as to the constitutional responsibility of the Bangladesh Government, but put utmost importance on education saying that the state functionaries have unavoidable responsibility to ensure education for all gradually and progressively. At the onset, this researcher fully agrees with the value of the constitutional articles relating to education, as they have said about establishing a uniform, mass-oriented, and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children; removing illiteracy and relating education to the needs of society. Nevertheless, it is a hard fact that primary education is not a fundamental human right under the Bangladesh Constitution. Even Bangladesh lags behind other South Asian countries, namely India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal, as those countries have progressed further in implementing the constitutional responsibilities laid down upon their governments regarding the right to primary education. Given the fact that it was a war devastated country and Bangladesh had scanty resources, the recognition of education as a basic necessity and policy instrument together with the progressive government responsibility to ensure free and compulsory primary education for all children under the original Bangladesh Constitution may be considered satisfactory. But the failure of the consecutive governments to provide a separate and detailed constitutional provision as to free and compulsory primary education by an amendment cannot be overlooked. As to legislative measures, the immediate government after the independence of Bangladesh had nationalized the primary schools by the Primary Education (Taking Over) Act, 1974. The Primary Education (Compulsory) Act was promulgated in 1990 to fulfill Bangladesh Government’s obligation to ensure universal primary education. A National Education Policy was adopted in 2010 and an education bill is now waiting to be a full-fledged law to further promote the cause of education. The successive governments have spectacular successes in distributing free text books among the primary school students at the beginning of the year, increasing enrollment rate particularly the enrollment of the girl students, recruiting good teachers, and developing infrastructure. Nevertheless, current and future state functionaries need to take effective measures to ensure qualitative, effective and inclusive primary education in Bangladesh. Particularly, the legal experts, educationists, and the policy administrators are in consensus that the successive governments have miserably failed to establish a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of primary education in Bangladesh, a constitutional obligation of the state functionaries under the Article 17 of the Bangladesh Constitution. Based on analyses, findings and detailed discussions, the study has identified nine major issues relating to free and compulsory primary education in Bangladesh. The study has clearly underlined the challenges relating to ensuring free, compulsory and quality primary education in the light of the identified issues. As to recommendations for ensuring uniform, mass oriented and universal system of primary education in Bangladesh, it seems fairly likely that the state functionaries should immediately put emphasis on ensuring quality of primary education; successful completions of primary education; recruiting more qualified teachers and making them children-friendly by proper training; taking measures for further development of infrastructure and logistics; and bringing all marginalized segments of children under an umbrella by an inclusive policy. Regarding the long term imperatives and policy decisions, this researcher considers that policy makers should deeply think of including a separate and detailed constitutional provision as to free and compulsory primary education by a constitutional amendment. What this researcher thinks appropriate and with which all the legal experts, educationists, and policy administrators are in agreement is that the current and future governments must establish a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of education gradually within a reasonable time. Though this qualitative study has reflected outlooks, views and the perspectives of limited participants, but it has provided knowledge-based expert perceptions, experience-based observations, insights, and recommendations for establishing a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of primary education for all. People who are interested in the development of primary education will get a detailed and fairly credible picture regarding the issues and challenges relating to primary education. This research will help the educationists, legal experts, policy administrators and civil society members for taking positive steps for development of primary education in Bangladesh. This study can be used by the future education and legal related researchers for critically analyzing the education system of any country in the light of the constitutional provisions, and education related laws and policies. They can analyze and determine to what extent the state functionaries of any country have been successful to achieve the objectives stated in their Constitution, laws and policies. Here lies the value and originality of this study.