Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in Ethiopian Secondary School Teacher Education Practicum Supervision

Abstract

The current teacher education program in Ethiopia has taken a relatively new modality known as PGDT (Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching) program, in which candidates are admitted after obtaining a first degree in one of school subjects and expected to acquire professional knowledge (i.e., Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and knowledge of learners and context). The current study, therefore, aims to examine the practicum supervision practices of the PGDT program at Bahir Dar University (BDU) and Mekelle University (MU), Ethiopia. To achieve this, data were collected from student teachers (n=21), university supervisors (n=16), teacher educators (n=11), and cooperating teachers (n=19) and program coordinators (n=3) through interview along with document analysis. The results show that the practice fails to adequately address PCK as subject-specific pedagogy becomes a peripheral issue in the practicum supervision. Hence, it is called for restructuring the PGDT practicum supervision program in a way that could well address PCK

Keywords

• Pedagogical content knowledge, postgraduate diploma in teaching, practicum, supervision

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