ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to assess the major technical problems in teaching basketball practical session of Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School. To undertake this study, descriptive survey design with mixed method was employed. The sources of the data were 63 Grade 11 students, health and physical education (HPE) teachers, 3 principals, and 1 department head. Stratified random sampling technique was employed to select students from Grade 11 natural and social science students by considering sexes. Health and physical education teachers, principals and department head were selected by using availability sampling technique. Moreover, classroom monitors were selected by using purposive sampling technique. Even though questionnaires were the main data gathering instruments, focus-group-discussion, observation and document analysis were also used to enrich the data gathered through questionnaires. The data gathered by using these tools were analyzed by using both descriptive statistics like percentages, rank order, average mean and grand mean. The finding of the study revealed that the cooperation and commitment of school principals and the quantity and quality of technical equipment for basketball practical session were found not to be encouraging. Even though there were student's textbooks in the school understudy, there were no syllabus, reference books and teacher's guide in the school at all. The findings of the study also illustrated that though health and physical teachers' basic skills (shooting, ball handling, passing, pivoting, receiving, boxing, etc.) in basketball technical practical session were encouraging, they have weak pedagogical skills to relate the theoretical aspect of the syllabus with its practical aspect in the basketball field to promote individual practice and they were not technically competent enough to teach basketball practical session in light of individual and team practice due to lack of attention on how to utilize the rules of basketball. The finding of the study also shows that even though students nearly accept and implement comments given by their teachers, they have low speed in playing basketball and they were practicing common personal and technical fouls and violations while playing basketball during practical session and week peer assessment experiences were recognized in the school under study.
Key words: Basketball technical practical session, basic skills, pedagogical skills, technical equipment.
Although education developed from the human struggle for survival and enlightenment, nowadays, the demanding nature of problem-solving skills is alarmingly increased. Due to this fact, the world in general and Ethiopia in particular has given due attention to sport science including basketball in order to be health and competent in this knowledge-based economy in the era of globalization (Jaun and Rico, 2010).
Moreover, education enables individuals and society to make all rounded participation in growth and development processes by acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes in general and sport science plays its own role in the development of physical, mental and psychological endurance of children in particular (ETP, 1994). This shows that provision of any education takes a key priority area in the development of Ethiopian education system. With respect to this, a lot has been done to overcome the deep rooted problems of education system. As a result, the Gross Enrollment Rate of students has grown from 19 to 94% (MOE, 2011). However, the deep rooted problems in teaching-learning process had not yet been tangibly addressed in the recent past including practical implementation of many sport games in general and that of basketball in particular. On the other hand, Munger (2007) suggests that taking a physical education class or maintaining physical activities practically helps students with their academic performances. Recent research has begun to shed light on how movement in different sports directly benefits the nervous system, muscular activities and coordinate movements in human beings.
As study indicates, students who spend an additional hour in gymnasium class each day performs better on exams compared to less active students. When it come to basketball as one of the branches of science sports, it has first come to be known in Ethiopia since 1934E.C. at Teferi Mekonnen School and Haileselassie 1st Secondary School by teachers who came from Canada (Jaun and Rico, 2010). Later on, in 1946 E.C Ethiopian Basketball Federation was established and become a member of FIBA (MOE, 2006). After the establishment of Ethiopian basketball federation, the game has spread across the country rapidly and the annual basketball competition was later started. Even though it was started before 70 years ago, basketball is not developed and achieved its popularity in its basic skills like movement without and with the ball as compared to other components of physical education. By movement with the ball and taking these points into account, an assessment of major technical problems in teaching basketball practical session of Grade 11 studentsIn Alamura Preparatory School was conducted.
Statement of the problem
It is obviously a known fact that basketball is categorized among one of the most beautiful games in the world in general and in Ethiopia in particular. However, due to lack of giving attention to this game by principals, teachers and students, lack of technical equipment of basketball, lack of emphasis by mass-media and shortage of qualified teachers made the technical practical session of basketball non attractive at all educational levels in general and in preparatory schools in particular. Even though basketball plays fundamental roles in the lives of individuals in improving socialization and decision making capacity of individuals through increasing the effectiveness of motor skills and intellectual activities of a brain, attentions were not given to practical session basketball game by the schools. Similarly, research has found consistently that high school students who participate in sports have higher academic achievement and greater personal aspirations at their core is a focus on academic and unwavering expectation that all learners can and will achieve academic proficiency (Munger, 2007). However, taking and exercising such roles, responsibilities and accountability were not encouraging in Alamura preparatory school with respect to solving technical problems in teaching basketball practical session.
Although basketball technical practical session (movement without the ball and movement with the ball) is one of the physical teachers' tasks, lack of technical skills by teachers, shortage of duration of time (40 minutes) and lack of in heart initiation and commitment and interests by principals, sport teachers and students have handicapped its implementation. Even though there are technical practical session implementation bottlenecks, as far as the knowledge of the researcher was concerned, no research had been completely conducted on technical problems of teaching basketball practical session. Based on the aforementioned substantial information, reading about techniques of basketball practical session, work experience and professional knowledge, the researcher was initiated to deal with the real and concrete situations in preparatory school in her local town as prior researcher. Hence, the study was focused on assessing major technical problems in teaching basketball practical session of Grade 11 students in Alamura Preparatory School.
Objectives of the study
The main objective of this research was to understand and assess the major factors that affect teaching of basketball practical session in the case of Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School. Based on this, the following specific objectives were formulated:
1. To improve major technical problems in teaching basketball practical session in preparatory school.
2. To promote the pedagogical and basic skills of physical education teachers in order to implement basketball technical practical session in school under investigation.
3. To assess the availability and quality of technical equipment’s of basketball to conduct technical practical session.
4. To provoke an interest in principals, department head, HPE teachers and students towards basketball game.
Research questions
The following basic questions were raised to be answered in the course of the study:
1. How do you evaluate the pedagogical and basic skills of physical education teachers in implementing basketball technical practical session?
2. To what extent do the tasks in Grade 11 students' textbook are relevant to basketball technical practical activity?
3. How do you evaluate the availability and quality of technical equipment’s of basketball to conduct technical practical session?
4. To what extent does the school environment
conducive for basketball technical practical session?
5. To what extent do physical educators in school apply the rules of basketball during practical session?
Significances of the study
This study may help to identify major challenging technical problems that affect an implementation of basketball practical session. Similarly, it helps to improve the pedagogical skills of physical education teachers in line with improving major basic skills in basketball practical session. Moreover, it is useful to promote the participation of teachers, principals and students in alleviating major technical problems in basketball practical session and may help as a source of information for further researches to be done on technical problems in basketball practical session.
Delimitation of the study
Even though there are major technical problems in basketball practical session in many preparatory schools, it is difficult to conduct an investigation in a wider geographical area at Zonal or Regional level. Due to time and resource constraints, the researcher was forced to delimit the scope of this research geographically to Alamura Preparatory School. This was assumed to make the work manageable and specific to undertake an in depth investigation.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Historical development of basketball in Ethiopia
Researches indicated that basketball has first come to be known in 1934.E.C. at Teferi Mekonnen School (Entoto Comprehensive School) and Haileselassie 1st Secondary School (KokebTsebah Secondary School) by teachers who came from Canada. After 1943, the game has become popular in many Addis Ababa elementary and secondary schools, and then interschool competition began between different Addis Ababa schools. At the same time university college teachers and students mate at Juventus sport to start Addis Ababa basketball competition. The competitions were held at basketball court of Juventus Sport Club (MOE, 2006). This shows the historical background of basketball games.
In 1948, Melborn Olympic Games, Ethiopia wanted to participate in athletics and box sports. To participate in Olympic Games, it requires at least to be a member of five International Federations. Because of these reasons, in 1946 Ethiopian basketball Federation was established and become a member of FIBA. After the establishment of Ethiopian Basketball Federation, the game has spread across the country rapidly and the annual basketball competition was later started (FIBA, 2010). In the same manner, there are several known obstacles facing basketball federation throughout Ethiopia in its efforts to popularize the sport and improve the caliber of performance. These are the deficiencies, needs or problems which exist, either because of lack of knowledge or interest in the game or because of certain natural factors which can be changed and therefore must be accepted. The game of basketball has not yet become a mass sport in Ethiopia. Similarly, the attention given by media in showing the existence of the game and increasing the knowledge and interest of those who have only a slight awareness of basketball game is low.
Cooperation of school principals in fulfilling technical equipment
In Ethiopia, principals are expected to be both leaders and mangers (MOE, 2006). The principals are the key figures in promoting an environment within the school that is conducive to student learning. Effective relationships in schools, good communication, and continuous professional development and motivated staffs are the essential building blocks of the effective instructional leaders (Pandey, 2007). This shows that cooperation of the school principals are instrumental in solving some technical problems in basketball technical session
.
Conducive school environment for basketball technical practices
Conducive school environment/positive school climate/sets the tone for all the learning and teaching done in the school environment. MOE (2007) states that conducive school environment addresses quality and character of the school life as it relates to norms, values, interpersonal relations, and organizational processes and structures. Likely, school based-learning provides students with an opportunity to better understand the culture of schools, teaching and classrooms (Mujibul, 2004). This contributes to develop knowledge building community. The positive impact of conducive school environment calls up on high teacher competency, best field of different sports and high student’s achievement.
Class size and its effect on basketball technical practical session
If the number of students in a class room exceeded the reasonable number, it is difficult to say there is conducive environment for the learning and teachers cannot use different methods of teaching that meet the interest and needs of individual student. Smith (1996) confirmed that in the large class, size individualization of instruction is limited and lecture method is most frequently utilized instead of conducting practical session. If the class size increased and school facilities remain constant the teaching methods employed would be lecture type, which could affect educational out comes.
Problems of facilities facing basketball practical sessions
Although it is an important science sport, the development and popularity of basketball within the country was not as expected because of the following reasons:
1. Attention for the game was not given by schools, clubs 'different governmental and non-governmental organizations.
2. Shortage of qualified teachers and out datedness of textbooks.
3. Expense of basketball materials in the country.
4. Press, radio, and television did not play their parts to give information and develop interest towards basketball game unlike to football and basketball.
Technical equipment of basketball
According FIBA (2010), the following equipment’s are some of the most important parts required for technical practical session of basketball:
1. Backboards
2. Baskets comprising (pressure release) rings and nets
3. Backboard support: including padding (basketballs, game clock, score board, twenty-four (24) second clock, stop watch or suitable (visible) device (not the game clock) for timing time-outs, two (2) separate, distinctly different and loud sound signals, score sheet, player foul markers, team foul markers, signals, alternative possession arrow, playing floor, playing court, and adequate lighting.
Appropriateness of curriculum, syllabus and textbook
In Ethiopia, much effort and thought has been put into the planning and execution of an education system which was expected to move the country forward in the direction of nation activities. Accordingly, the new Education and Training Policy primarily focuses on the relevance of curricular materials. Of the policy statement concerning, first, the preparation of curriculum will be based on the stated objectives of education ensuring that the relevant standards and expected profile of students are achieved. Second, ensure that the curriculum developed and textbooks prepared at pedagogical and psychological principles and update international standard give due attention to concrete local condition and gender issues (ETP, 1994). Besides, a relevant curriculum is related to wider changes in an increasing knowledge-based economy and to the idea that a curriculum must not only give students access to existing knowledge but also the means to shape knowledge in the future (Michael, 1999). This indicates that a transformative knowledge focuses on the creation of new knowledge as well as the transmission of existing knowledge.
Professional competence and performance of physical education teachers
Low qualification of teaching staffs appears unlikely to carry out the teaching-learning process effectively. Hence, it calls for inferior quality of education because teachers’ professional development and educational qualification have paramount importance to promote quality of education. In developing countries unqualified and insufficiently qualified teachers are high which makes educational quality inferior. They stated that teachers’ qualification, experience and knowledge have significance for students’ achievement (Boum and Tolbert, 1985). Moreover, Fullan (2003) states the opportunities for teachers to continue learning are essential if the quality of education is to be sustained and improved.” This shows that a teacher is a lifelong learner as long as he/she is in the teaching profession.
The 13-rules of basketball to be followed during practical sessions
Juan and Rico in FIBA (2010) outlined the basic rules of basketball written by James Naismith (1861-1939 G.C.) are the following. These are:
Rule 1: The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
Rule 2: The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands but never with the fist.
Rule 3: A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which it is catched, allowance to be made for a man running at good speed.
Rule 4: The ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
Rule 5: No shouldering, holding shooting, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent.
Rule6: A foul is a striking at the ball with the fist violations.
Rule7: If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for opponents.
Rule 8: A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket.
Rule 9: When the ball goes out of hands, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first
Rule10: The umpire shall be the judge of the ball and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made.
Rule11: The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bound, to which side it belongs and shall keep the time.
Rule 12: The time shall be two-fifteen minutes halves, with five minutes rest between.
Rules 13: The side making the most goals at that time shall be declared the winner.
Pedagogical knowledge and basic skills of physical education teachers
As to Anderson and Shannon. (1998), teaching involves a wide range of activities that relate more or less to essential purpose of helping others understand. Thus, pedagogical knowledge helps teachers to figure out ways of making abstract topics understandable, for classroom management and utilization of technology. This indicates that teaching without having any pedagogical know-how will cause poor quality of instruction more than other factors as teacher’s pedagogical training is the right hand of instruction and the heart of quality in education. With respect to basic technical skills of basketball game, Sahlemichael and Meseret (2006) in Grade 11 students’ textbook stated that the following basic technical skills are required by physical education teachers to teach basketball game. These are:
Ball handing: Free ball handling in stationary position by controlling the ball. The ball is in stationary position with right and left hand.
Receiving: Catching the ball after it bounces once on the floor, or releasing it in the air and catching it again.
Passing: Moving the ball by throwing, bouncing, handing or rolling it to another player (chest, bounce, lob). Passing the ball that rolls for a length of 5 m to another player, at a distance of 5 m from the chest at 3 m and over the head to a distance of 5 m.
Shooting: The skill of shooting is the backbone of basketball game. It is throwing the ball to make a basket. Free shooting in the basket is shooting with both hands from a distance of 3 m and from side position with both hands from the chest.
Pivoting: Is stepping once or more in any direction with the same foot while holding the ball and other foot is at its initial point.
Rebounding: Is receiving of a shoot that bounces off the backboard or the ring.
Dribbling: Is bunching the ball with one hand using your finger prints instead of your palm so that it rebounds back to yourself (the only legal way to move with the ball).
Boxing out: Is a player's position between an opposing player and the basket to obtain a better rebounding position.
Technical problems facing basketball practical sessions
According to Munger (2007), technical problems affecting basketball technical session can be classified into two categories.
Violations
Results in a change of possession with the team in bounding the ball at the side line opposite where the infringement takes place.
Double dribbling: A player dribbles the ball with both hands at the same time/stops and the start dribbling again.
Travelling: Travelling is the illegal movement of one foot or both feet beyond the limits outlined in this article, in any direction, while holding a live ball on the playing court.
Three seconds: An offensive player remains in the key (free throw lane -the area under the basket) for more than three seconds.
Fouls
There are two types of fouls (technical fouls and personal fouls). A foul is an infraction of the rules concerning illegal
personal contact with an opponent and/or unsportsmanlike behavior. Any number of fouls may be called against a team. Irrespective of the penalty, each foul shall be charged, entered on the score shoot against the offender and penalized accordingly.
Illegal screening: Is when the player who is screening an opponent was moving when contact occurred, did not give sufficient distance in setting a screen outside the field of vision of a stationary opponent when contact occurred and did not respect the elements of time and distance of an opponent in motion when contact occurred.
Blocking: Blocking is illegal personal contact which impedes the progress of an opponent with or without the ball by extending on or both arms horizontally or getting in the path of a moving player.
Charging: Running into a stationary player while he is moving with the ball.
Hacking: The player hits the arm or hand of the person holding the ball.
Holding: Holding is illegal personal contact with an opponent that interferes with his freedom of movement. This contact (holding) can occur with any part of the body.
Pushing: Is illegal personal contact with any part of the body in which a player forcibly moves or attempts to move an opponent with or without control of the ball.
Personal foul: A personal foul is a player’s contact foul with an opponent, whether the ball is alive or dead. A player shall not hold, block, push, charge, trip or impede the progress of an opponent by extending his hand, arm, elbow, shoulder, hip, leg, knee or foot, nor by bending his body into an 'abnormal' position (outside his cylinder), nor shall he in dug in any rough or violent play.
Double foul: A double foul is a situation in which two (2) opponents commit personal fouls against each other at approximately the same time.
Unsportsmanlike foul: An unsportsmanlike foul is a player contact foul which, in the judgment of an official, is not a legitimate attempt to directly play the ball within the spirit.
Disqualifying foul: A disqualifying foul is any flagrantly unsportsmanlike action of a player, substitute, excluded player, coach, assistant coach or team follower.
Technical foul: The proper conduct of the game demands the full and loyal cooperation of the members of both teams (players, substitutes, coaches, assistant coaches, excluded players and team followers) with the officials, table officials and commissioner, if present.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
With the intention of getting the general image of major technical problems in basketball practical session in Alamura Preparatory School ," Descriptive Survey Method” was employed for the study. In light of this, Seyoum and Ayalew (1989) assured that survey is more effective in assessing performance and natural setting. Therefore, the researcher believed that this method is appropriate to describe an ongoing processes and trends that are developing.
Sources of data
In this study, both primary and secondary sources of data were used to get adequate information about major technical problems in basketball practical session in Alamura Preparatory School. The primary sources of data were used to get firsthand information concerning challenging factors affecting basketball practical session in Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School. Accordingly, teachers, department head, Grade 11 students, classroom monitors from six sections of Grade 11 and principals were used as relevant sources of the study. Likely, the secondary sources of data were used to enrich the primary sources of data. So that teacher’s guide and students' textbook were investigated.
Samples size and sampling techniques
The target population of the study included Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School which was selected by using simple random sampling technique through drawing a lottery to provide an equal and independent chance to be selected as sample school of the study. Similarly, six classroom monitors were selected from 12 classroom monitors using purposive sampling techniques by believing that they would give adequate information on technical problems in basket practical session.
The sample size of each target population is determined by what Best and Kahn (989) suggest that “the ideal sample size of a target population is large enough to be selected economically in terms of both time and complexity.” Based on this logic, 6 sections of Grade 11 were selected by using availability sampling technique based on the logic that they would give adequate information on major technical problems in basketball practical session in the school under study (Table 1).
Sampling procedures
A total of 70 respondents were selected as samples of the study by using different sampling techniques from a total of 389 target population of Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School of 2018 academic year. Accordingly, one principal and two vice principals, one department head and three physical education teachers were selected by using availability sampling techniques based on the logic that they would give adequate information on major technical problems in teaching basketball.
Likewise, about 15% (57) Grade 11 students were selected from 382 Grade 11 natural and social science students gender-wise by using stratified random sampling technique based on their gender and field of study.
Data collection instruments
The instruments used to gather data were questionnaires, focus group discussion, observation and document analysis. Regarding this, CressWell (2003) states that employing multiple data collection instruments helps the research to combine, strengthen and amend some of the inadequacies and for triangulation of data. Hence, in this study, questionnaires were the main data gathering instruments while focus group discussion, observation and document analyses were used to enrich the data obtained through questionnaires.
Questionnaires were used to collect relevant and firsthand information from students, teachers and principals. Closed ended questionnaires were set for students, teachers and principals in English, because it is a medium of instruction. The researcher preferred questionnaire because it is easier to handle and simple for respondents to answer within short period of time (Koul, 2008). Semi-structured guiding questions were also prepared for department head and six classroom monitors to gather new information. With respect to this, Matt (2000) indicates that focus group discussion is helpful because it tends to generate a verbose and argued response to a question. Based on such assumption, the researcher had used focus group discussion to get in-depth information.
Moreover, observation is a method that employs the sense of vision as its main source (Robson, 1993). In order to triangulate the information gathered through questionnaires, observation was conducted by using observation checklist on the technical practical teaching-learning process of basketball, availability of technical equipment in the pedagogical center of the school, field of basketball and reference books in the library. In order to cross-check the major technical problems in basketball practical session, teacher's guide and students' textbook were also analyzed.
Data collecting procedures
Before the actual data collection was carried out, the instruments were seen by language teachers. Then, based on the comments given from language teachers, necessary clarifications and modifications were made on some items of the questionnaires before they were distributed for an actual research.
Ethical considerations
First, the objective of the study was disclosed to respondents and everything was kept confidential. Similarly, no attempt was made to use real names of respondents; instead pseudo names were used so as to keep anonymity. In the same manner, every respondent was given due respect during data gathering sessions
and they were thanked for their contribution.
Methods of data analysis
The data collected through questionnaires were tallied, tabulated and analyzed in tables and charts by using appropriate statistical tools (percentages, average means, grand means and rank orders). Besides, the data obtained through FGD, observation and document analyses were organized and narrated by using descriptive statements.
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INERPRETATION OF DATA
Here, data collected from respondents of the study through questionnaires, focus group discussion, observation and document analysis were presented, analyzed and interpreted. The data were presented and organized in tables and analyzed by using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentage, rank order and average mean. Besides, the most important points were narrated qualitatively through descriptive statements.
Characteristics of respondents
In Table 2, item 1 shows that 4 (100%) principals and department head, 3 (100%) teachers and 44 (70%) students were males whereas none of the principals and teachers, 19 (30%) of students were females. Therefore, there was slightly low participation of females as compared to their male counter parts in the areas of school's administration and HPE teachers. As it can also be seen from item 2 of Table 2, the age of all respondents, 4 (100%) of principals and department heads, and 3 (100%) of HPE teachers’ ages lie between 21 and 35 years. This indicated that they were matured enough to implement basketball technical session effectively and efficiently. The ages of 63 (100%) of students lie between 17 and 20 years. This remarks that they were young enough to do practical work effectively.
With respect to educational qualification of this semi-academic staff, Table 2 shows item 3 reflects that 4 (100%) principals and department head were first Degree holders. Such that they were able to understand the issues of the study; though according to our education policy their qualification should be Master’s degree. Moreover, the 4th item of Table 2 reflects that 1 (33%) HPE teacher has 4 years teaching experiences, 3 (40%) principals and department head and 3 (67%) teachers have 6 to 25 years teaching experiences. Likely, these remarked that the majority of the academic staffs were more experienced to plan and implement.
To strengthen items 1 and 2 of Table 3, Boum and Tolbert (1985) pointed out that in developing countries unqualified and insufficiently qualified teachers are high which makes educational quality inferior. They stated that teachers’ qualification, experience and knowledge have significance for students' performance and achievement.
Table 3 shows that the responses of respondents with respect to the roles and responsibilities of school's principals in light of basketball practical session were ranked (1st-5th) according to the grand mean values from the most practiced to the least practiced one. As it can be seen from items 1 to 5, principals and department head, teachers and students expressed their feelings whether the school principals were cooperatively working with HPE teachers in order to ensure the quality of basketball practical session. Accordingly, the grand mean values of responses of principals and department heads, teachers and students were found to be 2.76, 2.84, 2.87, 2.83 and 2.97, respectively which lie below the ideal mean value (3.00). This indicates that the school principals were not actively involved in supporting physical educators, do not allocate enough budget to fulfill equipment of sports, do not motivate HPE teachers to give awareness creation training for students on practical session, do not allocate enough time for basketball practical session and the department head was not guiding HPE teachers on how to plan and implement teaching basketball practical session.
As it can be seen from Table 4, items 6 to 10, principals and department, teachers and students expressed their feelings whether the school's environment is appropriate or not. Accordingly, the grand mean values of responses of principals and department heads, teachers and students on items 6 to 10 were found to be 2.87, 2.73, 2.61, 2.46 and 2.83, respectively. These grand mean values lie below the ideal mean value (3.00). This shows unfavorable feelings of respondents with respect to the conduciveness of the schools' environment in light of field of sports for different types of sports, technical equipment’s of basketball in school's pedagogical center, office where teachers arrive after doing exercises, number of students per class. To support this finding, Smith (1996) confirms that in thelarge class size individualization of instruction is limited; quantity and quality of basketballs were not encouraging to undertake basketball practical session. Similarly, the focus group discussion team assured that “even though the school was located in a physically positive environment, lack of technical equipment of basketball in the school's pedagogical center, lack of qualified basketball field and large number of students per class had made the school environment less appropriate to implement basketball practical session."
As shown in Table 5, items 11 to 14, responses of all principals and department heads, teachers and students were rated the grand mean values as 2.58, 2.60, 2.76 and 2.65, respectively. All responses were found to be below the ideal mean value (3.00). This indicates that activities in the textbook do not fully support HPE teachers to undertake basketball technical practical session; there are shortage of student textbooks and reference books in the school, student's textbooks are not appropriate in terms of the maturity level of students and almost out dated. From this, it is possible to conclude that practicability of Grade 11 HPE textbook was not to the point of undertaking basketball technical practical session. Besides, the focus group discussion team confirmed that “even though there were student's textbook in the school, there was no any teacher's guide and syllabus in school under investigation”.
As shown in Table 6, items 15 to 17, principals and department head, teachers and students have expressed their feelings whether or not principals and department head, teachers and students apply the 13-rules of basketball by rating their responses. Accordingly, the calculated grand mean values of their responses were found to be 2.36, 2.41 and 2.70, respectively and they were ranked based on the practices in the school under investigation. Moreover, it was also evident from observation that most of the time, students were encountered with common technical and personal fouls due to lack of an awareness and shortage of comments by the teachers on utilizing the 13- rules of basketball during individual or team practice. Similarly, the focus group discussion team stated that “although they have learned these rules theoretically in the class room, they had failed to implement them during basketball technical practical session in the field”.
As shown in Table 7, items 18 to 22 show that the pedagogical competencies of HPE teachers in conducting basketball practical session in Grade 11 in school under investigation was found to be not promising to ensure quality of different sport games in general and basketball game in particular. Accordingly, the grand mean values of responses of principals and department heads, teachers and students for items 18 to 22 were found to be 2.85, 2.90, 2.33, 2.39 and 3.26, respectively. Even though HPE teachers' basic skills (shooting, ball handling, passing, pivoting, receiving, boxing, etc.) in basketball technical practical session are encouraging, they have weak pedagogical know-how to relate the theoretical aspect of the syllabus with its practical aspect in the basketball field to promote individual practice and they are not technically competent enough to teach basketball practical session in light of individual and team practice.
As shown in Table 8, items 23 to 26 indicate some technical problems in basketball practical session in Grade 11 in school under investigation. Even though students nearly accept and implement comments given by their teachers, they have low speed in playing basketball and practicing common personal and technical fouls and violations while playing basketball during practical session and week peer assessment experiences were recognized. Accordingly, the grand mean values of responses of respondents on items 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 were found to be 2.65, 2.36, 2.45, 2.97 and 2.82, respectively. This shows that there are common technical problems such as fouls and violations in basketball practical session in Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School. Moreover, the focus group team “ascertained that even though students accept and implement few comments rarely given by their teachers, they were not active enough to be free from fouls and violations and they lacked speed to move with basketball.
As shown in Table 9, items 28 and 29 show that students have developed good participation, positive attitudes and aspirations (Interests and Inclination) on basketball technical session but with low tendency on basketball game than or other types of sports like handball and football game. Accordingly, the grand mean values of responses of principals and department head, teachers and students for items 28 and 29 were found to be 2.89 and 2.72, respectively. This shows that respondents have unfavorable feelings on participation, positive attitudes and aspirations of students towards basketball game in the school under investigation. Likely, three of the focus group team, "assured that even though certain changes and progresses were observed on students' attitudes, aspirations, knowledge and basic skills which help them to solve their immediate problems in their basketball practical session, now students do not give due attention to basketball practical session unlike to handball and football.
Finally, based on the analyses of the data, the following major findings were obtained from the research undertaken:
1. The educational qualifications of the academic staffs were not found to be satisfactory except the students' grade level. The academic qualification of all semi-teaching staff 7 (100% were first degree holders). Unlikely, the teaching/work experiences of more than 86% of principals, department head and teachers (6-25 years) were satisfactory to plan and implement basketball technical practical session properly to the point to improve quality of education according to our education policy.
2.The findings of the study show that the main bottlenecks in basketball technical practical session of Grade 11 students were directly associated with lack of cooperation and commitment of school principals in light of motivating HPE teachers and allocating enough budget and time for basketball technical practical session.
3. The finding of the study, points out that even though the school was located in a physically positive environment, lack of technical equipment of basketball in the school's pedagogical center, lack of qualified basketball field and large number of students per class had made the school environment less appropriate to implement basketball technical practical session which in turn made individualization of instruction limited.
4. The findings of the study indicate that the practicability of grade 11 HPE textbook was not encouraging and even though there were student's textbook in the school, there was no any teacher's guide and syllabus in school under investigation to the point of undertaking basketball
technical practical session.
5. Even though students have learned the13-rules of basketball theoretically in the class room, they had failed to implement them during basketball technical practical session in the basketball field properly.
6. The findings of the study illustrate that though HPE teachers' basic skills (shooting, ball handling, passing, pivoting, receiving, boxing, etc.) in basketball technical practical session are encouraging, they have weak pedagogical know-how to relate the theoretical aspect of the syllabus with its practical aspect in the basketball field to promote individual practice and they were not technically competent enough to teach basketball practical session in light of individual and team practice.
7. The finding of the study shows that even though students nearly accept and implement comments given by their teachers, they have low speed in playing basketball and they were practicing common personal and technical fouls and violations while playing basketball during practical session and week peer assessment experiences were recognized in the school under study.
8. The findings of the study also mirrored out that even though certain changes and progresses were observed on students' attitudes, aspirations, knowledge and basic skills which help them to solve their immediate problems in their basketball technical practical session, now students do not give due attention to basketball practical session
unlike to handball and football.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Although qualification of semi-teaching staff and their teaching/work experiences did not exactly match the essential required minimum standard set for Preparatory School, their qualification, work experiences and the grade level of students in school under study were adequate enough to respond to questions raised related by major technical problems in teaching basketball practical session. Similarly, even though the school was located in a physically positive environment, lack of technical equipment’s of basketball in the school's pedagogical center, lack of qualified basketball field and large number of students per class had made the school environment less appropriate to implement basketball technical practical session which in turn made individualization of instruction limited. Likewise, the main bottlenecks in basketball technical practical session in Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School were directly associated with lack of cooperation and commitment of school principals in light of motivating HPE teachers and allocating enough budget and time for basketball technical practical session. Moreover, the practicability of Grade 11 HPE textbook was not encouraging due to the presence of student's textbook in the school alone without teacher's guide and syllabus to the point of undertaking basketball technical practical session. Students have learned the 13-rules of basketball theoretically in the class room but they had failed to implement them during basketball technical practical session in the basketball field properly. These are believed to emanate from weak pedagogical know-how of HPE teachers to relate the theoretical aspect of the syllabus with its practical aspect in the basketball field to promote individual and team practice and teachers were not technically competent enough to teach basketball practical session in light of individual and team practices. Finally, students have low speed in playing basketball due to poor basic skills like shooting, ball handling, passing, pivoting, receiving, boxing, etc., in basketball technical practical session and they were practicing common personal and technical fouls and violations while playing basketball during practical session and week peer assessment experiences were recognized in the school under study due to lack of interest, inclination and giving due attention to basketball technical practical session.
Based on these conclusions, the following recommendations were made to be looked critically by the concerned bodies to alleviate the major technical problems in teaching basketball practical session in Grade 11 in Alamura Preparatory School. Accordingly, the following scientific guesses were forwarded:
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The educational qualifications of principals, department head and HPE teachers were found to be below the required minimum standard set by MOE. Hence, principals, department head and HPE teachers had better upgrade their education at least to M.A/MED so as to bring out perfect implementation of basketball technical practical session. Therefore, special consideration should be given to the quantity and quality of these semi-teaching staff as they are the front line implementers of basketball practical session.
2. As they are the most important front line implementers, school principals and department head should be cooperative and committed in adjusting the school environment through budgeting time and resources (student's textbooks, syllabus, reference books), fulfilling basketball technical equipment and motivating HPE teachers by providing trainings, seminar and workshops.
3. Experience sharing practices should also be recommended to be made with nearby equivalent “Model Public Preparatory Schools” as key tools to-up-date the pedagogical and basic skills by HPE teachers and Grade 11 students on basketball technical practical session which in turn invite themselves to be skillful, committed and increase the sense of belongingness and enthusiasm.
4. For the betterment of basketball technical practical session in the school under investigation, HPE teachers and Grade 11 students should apply the theoretical rules of basketball learned in the class room in the field of basketball properly.
5. HPE teachers should act as critical or figure parents in coaching, guiding and counseling their students on how to conduct basketball technical practical session. Similarly, department head and principals themselves should develop a culture of undertaking consequent in-built supervision program and assessment in order to improve implementation of basketball practical session in the school under study.
6. Due attention should be given by HPE teachers and Grade 11 students to avoid common personal and technical fouls, and violations while teaching and playing basketball technical practical session by remembering the rules of basketball.
The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.
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