Not Enough Time is Spent on Quality Teaching in Ethiopia

Guest blog written by Alemu Tesfaye, Gebre Negash, Nisha Makan, Tamene Keneni, Teshager Mersha, Yeshitla Mulat

PDIA is an innovative approach to problem-solving and capacity building that involves frequent iteration and reflection. Such iterative and reflective process allows teams and individuals to move back and forth and correct and learn from mistakes. It also helps to gain deep insights into the problem and its causes and sub-causes and decide the right entry point and time to tackle the problem. The iteration process also builds an individual’s and teams’ capacity to understand and systematically solve the problem. It is also a powerful approach to engage actors at all levels from authorizers to frontline actors (implementers). Working in teams and collaboration with all actors is a key aspect of the PDIA. PDIA is a solution to a fall into the trap of wanting to get to answers to big questions fast. PDIA is also a remedy to not fall into traps of coming up with solutions without taking time to properly understand the problem. PDIA’s focus on adaptation to the local context makes it a uniquely relevant approach to educational challenges in linguistically and culturally diverse countries such as Ethiopia. Overall, we learned that PDIA is a problem-focused approach that rests upon (1) articulation and prioritization of concrete problems to be solved, (2) encouragement of experimentation and positive deviance, (3) iteration, reflection, and adaptation, and (4) collaboration with all actors at all levels. 

Read more: Not Enough Time is Spent on Quality Teaching in Ethiopia

Initially we tended to be over ambitious and began with a very general problem- “a learning crisis in Ethiopia in which many children are leaving their primary education at early grade levels (G1 &2) without basic numeracy and literacy skills”. However, through weekly iterations and reflections we narrowed down our problem to “Not Enough Time is Spent on Quality Teaching” which is one of the key contributors to learning crisis in Ethiopia though least recognized as such by actors particularly frontline actors. 

The progress we made and/or the insights we have had so far are:  

• We began to understand that while some of the obvious sub-causes (like teacher salaries) do not have a large change space, there are other areas where we can make change 
• We realised that teacher motivation and action can be affected without necessarily more pay 
• We realised that teachers and schools already recognize the same problems but have given up due to not being heard, being under resourced, etc. 
• We realised that it really is considered okay in the context to have women work different hours to men so they can care for their own children 

• We seemed to move from focusing on teacher time in classroom to move back towards teacher absenteeism in general- even though that has been a sensitive subject in the past 
• We made progress on speaking to schools and seeing their framing and engaging them to try some things 
• We captured some positive deviances on reducing absenteeism 
• We also resorted to traditional solutions like the ministry giving top-down instructions which only seems to work if the ministry then keep re-visiting to reinforce those rules 
• We realized that ineffective use of an allotted instructional time was an underestimated factor contributing to learning crisis that stakeholders in the education sector didn’t recognize well; from our school visits, we noticed that at the beginning and end of a lesson session more than 10 minutes are wasted from the total 40 minutes allotted and this is not understood as a waste even by the schoolteachers themselves.  

• We realized that understanding the problem from the perspective of the frontline actors and looking into the solution with meaningful engagement of thereof is essential  
• We also understood that constructing a problem that matters is very important  

As a country team, we are convinced that there is a lot to take forward on team building, trusting others, empowering others, sharing credit, delegating others, slowing down the pace and managing upwards on unrealistic expectations, building authorization and engagement by sharing and iterating the problem rather than the solutions. We also understood that engaging as many stakeholders as possible meaningfully is key to creating ownership and ensure sustainability. We realized that effectiveness of a solution to a certain problem is a function of the degree to which stakeholders and local actors are engaged and we will take this and other principles of the PDIA forward in our current and future engagements with the ministry of education and other stakeholders. 

In a country like Ethiopia where greater numbers of schools are in rural areas, PDIA seems highly viable. It allows local actors such as district officials and school communities be part of solution makers than mere implementers of solution from the center. Thus, we recommend the approach be part of Ministry of Education’s plan. When doing future strategy, policy, or planning roles, we intend to go back to issues trees (fishbones), problem framing and building a coalition before jumping so quickly to final products. We will make PDIA an agenda in all meetings and interactions that we will have with regional education bureaus and lower-level actors in the education system. Subject to budget and approval, we will have orientations and engagement with wider ministry and downward. We are also aiming to cascade it in our respective organizations and departments. 

We have these wisdoms to share with the world: 

• The whole idea of PDIA seems to align with the saying form John Dewey (American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer) which says, “A problem well stated is a problem half solved.” 
• Please know that all problems aren’t meant to be fixed, at least by you. Therefore ask “Is this a problem I should fix, put up with, or walk away from?” 
• We all need to make a step at a time-one problem at a time—just figure out this one problem.  
• I will not work out of PDIA; hence my slogan becomes “Local solutions for Local Problems”. 
• An Oromo proverb “Kan abbaa irra beeku budaadha” which literally translates as “people are experts of their own problem” aligns well with the PDIA principles. PDIA aims at building local capacity and seek local solution for a local problem than importing ready-made solutions. 

• PDIA coincides with the African proverb “No shortcuts exist to the top of a palm tree” in that no shortcuts exist to effectively a problem. 

This blog was written by the alumni of the PDIA for Education Systems Online Executive Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. 56 participants from 8 countries successfully completed this 12-week program from September – December 2022. Learn more about this program. (Link to PDIA for education program page)