Teachers’ Perception and Classroom Practice of Instructional Scaffolding among a College of Teacher Education in Ethiopia

Quality education is the function of a number of factors, one of which is quality learning.One of the mechanisms by which one's education system realizes its quality individualized learning is instructional scaffolding.To this end, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perception, practices and challenges of Instructional scaffolding in Woldia College of Teachers Education, Ethiopia.Participants of this study were 60 teachers of the college.In order to select the participants, stratified sampling technique followed by simple random sampling technique was applied.The data was collected through questionnaire and observation checklist.The study used descriptive survey research design and mixed research approach to generate information on the current perception, practices and challenges in using instructional scaffolding.As a means, thematic data analysis technique was used to analyze the gathered qualitative data; whereas the quantitative data was analyzed by using one sample t-test, statistical technique analysis of variance (one way ANOVA) and post hoc comparison.The result of the study portrayed that teachers have positive perception about the contribution of Instructional scaffolding.There was significance difference in effective utilization of Instructional scaffolding.Inappropriate selection of scaffolds that match the diverse learning and communication styles of students, not knowing when to remove the scaffold so the student does not rely on the support, and not knowing the students well enough (their cognitive and affective abilities) to provide appropriate scaffolds are the major challenges to its implementation.These imply that the current practices in using Instructional scaffolding might not be up to the purpose it is designed for.Hence, it is inferred that Instructional scaffolding in the college seems poorly utilized to realize student's learning and support their success.Thus, it is recommended that, Instructional scaffolding should be emphasized in HDP and CTE in service programs through manuals and clear guidelines.