The Perception Of Prospective Teachers Teacher Educators And College Officials Towards Utilization Of Awngi As Medium Of Instruction At Debre Markos College Of Teacher Education
The purpose of thi ' study was to investigate the perceptioll of prospective Teachers, TeacherrnEducators and College Officials to'ward" IItilization of Awngi as medium of instruction at DebrernMarko ollege of Teacher Education. The status quo of aw(/reness created, affitude developed,rnopportunity provided and challenge facing the program were emphasis areas of the study. Tornachieve this end, the descriptive survey method was employed. Prospective Teachers of diplomarnprogram who were affending teacher education in Awngi, Teacher Educators and College Officialsrnwere used as source of data. Having determined this, stratified random sampling technique wasrnused to draw proportional unit of trainees from each department and 49.17% of trainees werernselected to respond to the questionnaire. Moreover, simple random sampling technique (lotteryrnmethod) was used to select trainees to participate in the focus group discussion. Furthermore,rnsimple random sampling technique (loflelY method)e and availability sampling techniques 'werernlIsed to select sample Teacher Educaton and ollege Officials respectively. Questionnaire, focusrngroup discussion and interview guides were data collecting instruments used. Data collectedrnthrough questionnaire were presented, analyzed and inteljJreted using frequency counts andrnpercentage of responses. On the other hand, data secured through focus group discussion andrninterview 'were analvzed and interpreted qualitatively through descriptive statements and lorrnexplanation. The findings of the study indicated that the majority of Prospective Teachers andrnTeacher Educators were aware oj the educational, psychological, sociological, linguistic andrnpolitical significances oj pro~'ision oj Teacher Education in Awngi. They also reacted toward' thernadvantages 0/ the' program /al'()rably. Prospective teachers who were deprived oj affendingrnprimary education il1 Awngi were less aware oj the sign!ficance of the program and reactedrntowards the benefits of the program unJavorably Jor they did not noticed practically thesernadvantages. Although more oj COs were aware oj educational, linguistic and political advantagesrnof this program, ha(( (~f COs were less aware oj the psychological and sociological benefits oj thernprogram. WhC'n more of COs reacted III fill'or oj educational and linguistic significances oj thernprogram, half of COs reacted towards fJ.sychological, SOCiological and political advantages oj thernprogram discouragingly. Better awareness created and favorable reactions of most of TeacherrnEducators and Pro.~pective Teachers (milaI'd') the significances oj the program, encouragingrnsupport rendered to the program hy ANRSEB, AAZED, the Awngi Unit oj the ('0 llege, l' acherrnEducators of the Awngi Unit and beffer language skills proficiency oj more of Prospeclive Teacher'rnwere opportunities of the program. I!owever, lack of beforehand prepared curriculum materials,rnlack of teacher training on holl' to train in Awngi, absence of reference materials in Awngi, poorrnsupport oj more of ('Os and other College community members, poor language skills proficiencyrna.! Teacher Educators in Awngi and lack o.f adaptation of cllrriculum materials to local resourcesrnand cullure oj the AWl nation wen? challenges (if the program. At Ihe end, so as to strengthen andrnmaintain the sustainabilify of the program, it wa recommended to raise the awareness ofrnstakeholders toward.') the advantages of the program, to develop language skills proficiency ofrnTeacher Edllcators il1 ifll'l1gi; to prOl ide the required SlIppnrlto the program; to adapt curriculumrnmalerials 10 local nsollrces ami Cllllure of the Awi nation (.Iml to establish and 'Irengthen TeacherrnEducation College in wi Administrative Zone where Prospective Teachers and Teacher Educatorsrncrmfetch information that. 'll'C'ngthens the program.