Ethiopian's stay at the School of Social Work is expected to improve teaching practices in his homeland
When Abebaw Minaye Gezie was in the third grade, something clicked and the young student understood the importance of school.
Ever since then he has excelled as he pursued a career in academics. So it’s hardly a surprise that Gezie will leave his homeland for a period of months and travel to Indiana University School of Social Work on a mission involving education.
Gezie, now a university lecturer at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia, arrived this week to participate in the “Developing the Capacity for Teaching Excellence in Social Work and Social Development in Ethiopia Project.”
The project involves a partnership between Addis Ababa University, the IU School of Social Work and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
Gezie has a degree in Pedagogical Science and in Educational Psychology and has 12 years of teaching and research experience in education and psychology in various colleges and universities in Ethiopia. He has been a lecturer in Psychology since 2003 at Addis Ababa University where he is a 2nd year PhD student in Social Work and Social Development.
Addis Ababa is the first school in sub-Saharan Africa to offer a PhD in Social Work and Social Development. It is one of more than 50 doctoral programs being established to staff the country’s 11 new public universities. Ethiopia has a lack of pedagogical experts, with most faculty using only lecture-exam model.
Gezie will learn more about the art of teaching while at the IU School of Social Work and UIC and has been selected to become the expert in pedagogy at AAU. By teaching and training other PhD students at Bahir Dar University, Gondar University and Adama University in teaching research and methods, he will contribute to the development of expert pedagogy at three emerging departments of social work.
Gezie has already taken two courses – pedagogy and teaching in social work from Professor Emeritus Valerie Chang and scholarly writing Dr. Margaret Adamek, the director of the IU School of Social Work’s PhD program, when the IU faculty came to AAU to teach.
“Our school (School of Social Work at AAU) is training students at BSW, MSW and PhD levels,” Gezie wrote in a letter about his interest in team teaching and research at IU. “But there is a lack of qualified faculty for teaching of qualified faculty for teaching at the MSW and PhD level. So we highly depend on expatriate staff elsewhere in the world.”
“This may be good for partnership but we want local staffs which are competitive enough. A more authentic partnership also requires empowerment of our local staff so that they could cooperatively and competitively work with international professors,” Gezie explained. “It is with this intention our school is trying to have better links with international universities to give international exposure and experience for its PhD students.”
During his stay at IU, Gezie will observe and discuss teaching practices with faculty, attend three major conferences, including the International Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He will also observe PhD courses; participate in numerous trainings on teaching and learning; work with doctoral students and work collaboratively on research on student satisfaction, learning and grading practices. He will also enhance the internationalization of the curriculum by consulting with individual faculty, team teaching as well as delivering guest lectures. At UIC, he will compile international links and develop materials related to excellence in teaching.
Gezie, who is married and has a 4-year-old daughter, said he was the first in his family to begin teaching at the university level and now has two cousins who also teach at universities in Ethiopia. Plus, his wife is to graduate with an MA in Social Psychology.
“My family will definitely appreciate my coming to IU because they understand that I will be coming to IU to get a better academic experience with celebrated professors like Professor Valerie Chang and Professor Margaret Adamek,” he said of his first trip to the United States.
“I am ambitious to see this great nation physically. I hope it will be an exciting experience to visit the U.S.,” Gezie said in response to a question about his upcoming trip. “I really was eager to get this opportunity.”
Gezie said he has been influenced by the scholarship of visiting professors, including Chang and Adamek, who have taught him PhD courses. While he has been teaching in higher education for the last 12 years in Ethiopia and knows many professors, the academic culture in Ethiopia is “in its early childhood,” he explained.
Ethiopia, he noted is an ancient African country, “cherished to be the origin of mankind and a history of three thousand years.” Now it trails in many economic, social and other development indicators, he added. “Yet there is a promising beginning where (the number) of universities grew from 2 to 23 in the last 12 years.”
The School of Social Work at AAU is on its way to establishing a vibrant academic culture, he pointed out. At IU, he is looking forward to teaching courses, presenting papers, attending conferences and doing research on issues of educational assessment, human trafficking, and social work education.”
Part of what Gezie will do at IU is to record his experience so he can then share it with his colleagues upon his return to Ethiopia.
“This chance is important for me, my university (AAU) and Indiana University.”
