Wolaita Sodo University

Higher Diploma Programme

Reflective activities Report

Module_1
By: Aklilu G. (MSc.)

Submitted to: Girma Tessema

March, 2022
 Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia
Reflective activity_1

Discuss the mission of your university from the point of view of content, relevance, clarity,
precision, etc.

1. Reflection on mission
 Wolaita Sodo university mission is derived from the mission of Ethiopian higher
education which resembles to the local community living around the university; it is very
clear, relevant, precise, and very important in content wise. Moreover it is achievable
with in the time bounded.
2. Reflection on vision
 Wolaita Sodo University is currently working hard on promoting research and publishing
them on reputable journals, providing relevant community services, improving teachers’
capacity through scholarships and capacity building trainings, working on digital
services like library, e-learning, online registration and grading. Depending the already
mentioned issues the vision is clear, relevant and achievable.
3. How effectively are the teachers in your HEI working towards realizing the mission and
vision of the institution?
 Even if the mission and vision of higher education is very clear and well understood by
teachers, there is a gap of practically implementing it with commitment due to the factors
that there is no enough salary and funding for research, unavailability of recognition and
certification, unconducive environment for better teaching and learning process.
4. What are the core values of your institution?
 Academic freedom . good governance
 Accountability . strategic partnership and collaboration
 Institutional autonomy . Recognition of merits
 Reputability . Effectiveness and efficiency
 Customer orientation . Democracy and Multiculturalism
5. To what extent are the above core values practiced?
 Some of the above mentioned core values were practiced well but some of them are still
need to be improved in many ways. For example regarding with academic freedom and
institutional autonomy, still there is an involvement of unreasonable direct orders and
politics in evaluation of students’ performance. Particularly Wolaita Sodo University is
working well in achieving reputability, strategic partnership and collaboration,
Democracy and multiculturalism and customer orientation. But at some levels of the

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 administrative units accountability and good governance is still under question mark that
needs to be addressed well.
Reflective activity_2
1. How relevant and important are the various leadership positions for the effective
functioning of HEIs?
 Leadership positions in HEIs is highly relevant with respect to:
o Minimizing time to finish the job
o Power decentralization and reduction of workload
o Assert accountability as per their responsibilities
o Customer satisfaction
o Better for managing every detail activities of the institution
2. To what extent does the top leadership understand and support the efforts of lower
academic units to achieve the ultimate goals of the institution?
 According to Wolaita Sodo University, previously the top managements are not that
much concerned about the quality of the academics and there was poor communication
and effort with teachers. But recently the top managements fulfil the need lower academic
staffs with respect to fulfilling personal computer, teaching materials, digitizing services,
grant researches and certifying better performers.
3. From the point of view of need and efficiency, how satisfactory is the organization of
HEIs?
 In my opinion the satisfactory level is good in general as such it is different from
university to university. Now a days the HEIs are giving better attention for quality
education, they are trying to implement better directions to achieve their goal and
improve efficiency.
Reflective activity_3
1. How reasonable are the rights and duties of the academic staff as indicated in the Senate
Legislation of your University?
 The senate legislation of Wolaita Sodo University reasonable towards the rights and
duties of academic staffs. But the problem is relying on the functionality of the legislation
and poor follow up of them as per the legislation.

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2. To what extent are higher education teachers (in your university) performing according to
their duties and responsibilities as indicated in the Senate Legislation?
 Regarding with duties and responsibilities of teachers performance, I would like to give 6
out of 10. Because there are some teachers who are doing their job well and there are
also some teachers who does not care about it. For example most teachers have a
problem of using the full time of the schedule, problem in doing research and community
service, implementing continuous assessments well, go with their prepared lesson plan.

Reflective activity_4

1. What do reflection, reflective practice and reflective teaching mean to you?

 Reflection is a means of checking and developing students’ knowledge and understanding
in relation to the course delivered so as to improve one’s own capacity in so many ways.
 Reflection practice is the habit of excersing the act of reflection in day to day teaching
and learning activities.
 Reflective teaching is reviewing one’s practice, identifying lessons from it and
determining how the lessons influence future action
2. How well do you practice reflective thinking to deepen your own understanding and to
improve your teaching competence?
 Regarding with my experience reflective teaching was done through the application
of student continuous assessment in different ways. It was not satisfying and not
functioning well according to the plan due to lack of academic freedom and political
involvement.
3. Based on your teaching experiences, give examples of reflection on, in and for action.
 Based on my teaching experience
o Example of reflection on action: checking home assignments, projects,
laboratories and field works, checking how well the students understood
previous class through asking certain questions
o Example of reflection in action: asking students questions, allowing students
to ask question, giving class work, forming groups for discussion

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 o Example of reflection for action: collecting suggestions and feedback from
students about how well the class was understood, comments from students
through piece of paper or physical presence.
4. How well have you handled the technical, practical and critical levels of reflection?
Elaborate.
 In my experience of teaching I was trying to fulfill the technical, practical and critical
level of reflection well but it was not enough for the expected all rounded result on
students’ academic, behavioral and mental development. This was due to my personal
problem, unconducive environment and political involvement.
Reflective activity_5
1. What are the different techniques of reflection that you have been using in your reflective
learning endeavors? Why did you use them and how?
 So far I have been using critical incident and somewhat portfolio in my reflective
teaching endeavor. There is no special reason for using it rather I had seen it from
my previous teachers when I was student. Through collecting comments about my
teaching experience from students and evaluating the students result time to time, I
had checked the effect of my teaching experience.
2. Which reflective technique is more preferable and appropriate for teaching/learning and
for lifelong learning? How?
 Action research is the best of all techniques for lifelong learning because it is based
on research on current situation of academic environment and students in the modern
world. Education is dynamic from time to time as civilization and development is on
the way. Therefore in order to go with this dynamic world action research is the best
way to modernize teaching methodology.
Reflective activity_6
1. What have you understood about reflective higher education teachers in higher education
from the above cases?
 All the above three cases are different in their way of teaching and reflection. For
example from Balchas’ experience I have noticed that he is a role model and having
best teaching experience, from Endelibus’ experience the weakest teaching
methodology and techniques were observed with respect to reflective teaching and

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 from Tsions’ experience there are certain strong and weak side were seen. So it is
better to be a teacher as Balcha did for his students.
2. How effective are the above cases in changing your attitude towards applying reflective
thinking in your study and in your teaching? Explain.
 I have learned a lot from the above cases and imagined my teaching experience as
compared to theirs’. Some of the weak experiences are also seen in my teaching
experience. So I am taking it as a check list for me to improve my weak sides and
keep the strengths in the future.
3. After going through the cases, do you feel you should change your attitude towards the
application of reflection in your practice? Explain.
 From the cases given, I feel that I should change some of my practices and attitude
towards reflective learning. For instance with respect to class room management so
as to make groups in class and let them discuss on it. Due to the class room size and
number of students in one class I was considering it was impossible to apply it but
now I will do it whatever the case.
Reflective activity_7

My significant role model: Dr. Alemayehu Paulos (Associate professor in Analytical Chemistry
Hawassa University)

Characteristics/e.g. competence and interest in Behavior /e.g. punctuality; responsiveness/

subject area; years of service/
1. He has a practical knowledge on the i. He is punctual and would not miss any
subject matter class
2. He knows the subject in depth ii. He knows his responsibility very well
3. His way of presenting ideas with its iii. He cares for his students and very
chronological order is easily humble
understandable
4. He has more than 15 years of experience iv. He is so cheerful
of teaching
5. He is open minded to consult students in
any issues which might not directly

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 related to the course
6. His notes are clear and precise
7. Students will not be tired and exhausted
even if he talks the whole day
8. He respect his students and know the
knowledge gap very well

Which of the characteristics and behaviors you listed above do you think are particularly
important in influencing student values and conduct?

 From personal characteristics, having an excellent way of presentation and deep

practical knowledge on the subject matter is highly influencing the students’ values
and conduct. Respecting students is above all with respect to behavior of teachers to
influence students conduct.

Reflective activity_8

1. What is your best characteristic as a teacher?

 I want students to understand the course very well. In this regard I would try to
present the course in different ways like pictorial presentation, animations, videos and
diagrams. Apart from it I prepare very well for the course to deliver the best of my
knowledge.
2. Which role model characteristic do you most want to develop?
 Teaching the students for a long time without being bored and entertaining.
3. Write three things you can do to develop the characteristic you identified above.
 Practice to be as entertaining as possible
 Read as many books as possible not only in the subject matter but also out of it
 Taking lesson from seniors experiences
Reflective activity_9
1. Is diversity a problem or an opportunity for students learning? Yes/No, Why?
 Diversity might be either opportunity or a problem for students learning
depending on how we handle it. If we manage it well, like learning different
experiences, language and culture through many ways, it will be the opportunity

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 for one self. But if it is not managed well, like gaps in academic achievement,
ethnic conflict, sexual harassment and communication gap with disabilities, it will
be a problem for students learning.
2. In your opinion, how fairly do teachers in your university treat students with diverse
background?
 In my opinion most teachers in Wolaita Sodo University are treating their students
with diverse background is very nice. But there are some teachers who thinks in a
way that biased way of treatment could be noticed based on ethnic background
and political motivation of their students.
3. You most probably had the experience of teaching students with different attributes
(linguistic, socio-economic, etc). How well did you manage the task? If you faced
problems in this regard, how did you resolve them?
 While I had taught in Wolaita Sodo University, I was faced by students having
different back ground in terms of language, culture, gender and ethnicity. Since I
am using English as a means of teaching language was not that much a
challenging issue. I see my students on the same frame without discrimination and
I am willing to help them on any issue they face in their life. Sometimes I gave
tutors for female students and low achiever ones.
4. How can the issue of diversity and equity be best addressed in your institution? Discuss
in groups
 It is better to form association which could give different trainings on diversity
management and create platform to share different cultures and experiences of
diverse groups in the campus. Beside it is better to schedule for helping students
having a problem with academics and other issue. Organizing consultation office
is also another option and creating conducive environment for all students of
different backgrounds.

Reflective activity_10

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Identify at least three major problems that hinder the education of persons with disability or other
marginalized groups and suggest possible solutions.

Observed problems or issues Suggested solutions or actions

1. No teacher trained in sign language 1. Give sign language training for
2. Staged entrance for class teachers
3. Well prepared teaching materials 2. Construct smooth sloppy surface for
entrance
3. Organize and prepare special teaching
materials for disable students