Perceived Impact of Collaborative Partnerships on Student Teachers’ Core Skills of the 21st Century: A Case of East-Central and Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The study explored the perceived impact of collaborative partnerships on the core skills of the 21^st century in learning institutions East-Central and Southern Ethiopia using the descriptive research design. The study involved 7 colleges of teacher education and 35 secondary schools with 6021 college teachers, secondary school teachers and student-teachers. The researchers randomly sampled 853 respondents. Questionnaire was used as the major instrument for data collection and 3.50-4.00 = strongly agree, 2.50-3.49= agree, 1.50-2.49 = disagree and 1.00-1.49 = strongly disagree. Respondents considered collaborative partnership to have impact on the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, research conducting skills, communication skills, creativity and innovation skills and life and career skills. Based on the conclusions, the researchers recommend that the Ministry of Education, colleges and schools should work collaboratively to improve the colleges and schools' curricula in a ways that encourage sustainable collaboration so as student teachers may develop various skills that are necessary for their future careers.