Edmore Mutekwe

Female Students' Perceptions of Gender and Academic Achievement: A Case of Sixth Form Girls in Zimbabwean School

Abstract In this paper we report findings from a study that sought to explore girl students’ perceptions of gender and academic achievement in the Zimbabwean schools. The study adopted a qualitative approach in which focus interviews with female high school learners were conducted. Data was analysed through content analysis as emerging key issues led to themes that were best analysed by this means. The study found that female students believe that they were not on par with boys in terms of treatment. Their treatment in schools, at home and in society led to under-achievement. The study concluded that female high school students held certain perceptions which they believed negatively affected their academic achievement. The study recommends that gender sensitivity should be taken seriously in schools and in homes as well as in society at large to ensure that female students have positive self-concepts which, invariably, lead to better performance and improved academic attainment.

Factors Affecting Female Students' Career Choices and Aspirations: A Zimbabwean Example

Abstract The study sought to investigate the factors affecting female students’ career choices and aspirations in selected Zimbabwean schools. The study adopted a qualitative approach and used focus group interviews with a convenient and purposive sample size of 20 high school girls. Data were analysed through content analysis as emerging key issues led to themes that guided the analysis and discussion. The study revealed that career choices and aspirations for girls are influenced by a whole range of factors most notable of which are gender role socialization, parental expectations, teacher attitudes, the gender-typing of school subjects studied as well as the gendered occupational landscape in which they exist. The study concluded that there is a strong need for significant others, especially parents and teachers, to help girls and females by deconstructing the gender-role stereotypes or perceptions of roles society considers appropriate for girls or boys. The researchers thus recommend that female students be empowered to aspire for a stake in occupations or careers traditionally regarded as male-domains. The school curriculum, teachers, parents and older siblings need to be supportive of the need to minimize gender stereotypes in school subjects and career choices.

Teacher Accountability in South African Public Schools: A Call for Professionalism from Teachers

Abstract Many times teachers hide behind “The Department”, “The Standards”, “The Examinations”, and “The Resources” when taken to task about their poor instruction and lack of adequate care for learners and commitment to duty. A lot of public funds are used to finance education. Such huge funding has to be justified through calls for responsibility and accountability in schools, particularly by teachers. There is a general view that if public schools were managed in exactly the same way private companies were managed and the reward and punishment for teachers was on the basis of how much students learnt, teaching and learning would improve in schools. Teachers often see themselves as teaching learners without critically reflecting on the extent to which they are accountable to parents of the learners and to the learners they teach. Such a lack of a complete understanding of the view that teachers as professionals have high levels of accountability often see teachers exhibiting unprofessional conduct in wanton disrespect and despise of parents and learners. In this paper the researchers explore the concept teacher accountability. They further examine the different types of accountability teachers have and also outline some of the elements of unprofessional conduct teachers exhibit due to lack of accountability. The reasons why teachers should be fully accountable to parents and learners are outlined. In this paper the researchers also outline conditions that should be in place before teachers are made accountable and they recommend the licensing of teachers and the introduction of performance-related incentives as some of the measures that to ensure teacher accountability in public schools in South Africa.

A SWOT Analysis of the Rise and Pedagogical Implications of the Social Constructivist Epistemology in Educational Practice

Abstract In this paper the researchers argue that constructivism is a term that should be used with caution because of its multifarious nature. It is widely used in many disciplines with very different meanings that make it appear ‘like a chimera’ creature whose real identity is a subject of debate. For instance, in education where it has been widely embraced as a modern progressive pedagogy as opposed to the traditional ‘jug and mug’ or banking concept (Freirre 1990), it is also used with many and varied meanings, for example, to describe learning and teaching as well as curricula and assessment. The researchers explore the rise of the social constructivist epistemology by focusing our attention on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of the approach in pedagogical terms. In doing so, the researchers draw from the views of both apologists and critics of the social constructivist epistemology. The paper is basically a conceptual theoretical discursive analysis of a seemingly popular teaching philosophy. The analysis therefore unfolds with an examination of the genesis and development of the social constructivist epistemology and proceeds with a discussion of the merits and insights generated by the approach in pedagogical terms. This implies that the opportunities and threats the epistemology offers to classroom practitioners are dealt with. The paper thus seeks to offer a critique of the constructivist epistemology in education through the SWOT analysis strategy.

Philosophy for Children: A Possible Starting Point for Democratic Citizenship in Africa?

Abstract In this paper, the researchers suggest that the engagement of children in philosophical enquiry from an early age can help prepare them for democratic citizenship and help to create future leaders in Africa who are tolerant, respectful of others, committed to social justice and appreciative of the ‘otherness’ of the ‘other’. Although the desire for freedom may be innate, knowledge of how democracy functions must be taught and learnt. The researchers argue that the skills and values of democracy are socially learnt rather than innate and thus need to be modelled in formal schools. To this end, they posit that any society that wishes to remain free needs to ensure that its citizens (including children) are well educated in the theory and practice of democracy. The paper offers a critical philosophical exploration of the Matthew Lipman-initiated Philosophy for Children programme and the influence it may have on the production of democratic citizens.

Perceived Challenges of Implementing the Performance Management System in Zimbabwe

Abstract The study examined the challenges experienced by teachers when implementing the performance management system (PMS) in Zimbabwean high schools. A qualitative survey design was used. Forty school teachers and five school heads participated in the study. The sample for teachers was randomly selected while the school heads were purposively selected from five high schools in Masvingo province of Zimbabwe. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews in this study. The study found that lack of training on performance management (PM), abuse of the system by school heads, failure by school management to provide staff development programmes, lack of meaningful reward as well as shortage of resources were the major obstacles affecting the implementation of the system. Recommendations thus mainly focused at ways of mitigating such challenges so as to revitalise the PMS.

An Evaluation of the Gender Sensitive Nature of Selected Textbooks in the Zimbabwean Secondary School Curriculum

Abstract The aim of the study was to evaluate the gender sensitivity and balance of selected textbooks in the Zimbabwean school curriculum. An evaluation instrument was designed to evaluate the books and focus group interviews were carried out with a purposive and gender stratified sample of students. The data management and analysis procedures adopted covered both the content and discourse analyses of selected history text books in addition to the interpretations of participants’ verbatim statements from the focus group discussions. The study revealed that a great deal of patriarchal values and ideologies are embodied in the textbooks. The textbooks analysed were found to contain gender biases, imbalances and stereotypes. The interviews’ carried out revealed that students were overtly and covertly affected by the gender representations in textbooks. In depicting traditional gender stereotypes, textbooks shaped students in particular ways and affect their academic achievement and career choices. The study recommends that textbooks in schools should be carefully selected to avoid those that are full of gender biases or stereotypes. Where possible textbooks could be rewritten to ensure gender sensitivity in order to avoid producing and peddling gender role ideologies and stereotypes that differentially reinforce boys and girls for not only different but highly gender polarized social roles.

Interrogating the Social Class Assumptions and Classroom Implications of Bernstein’s Pedagogic Discourse of Visible and Invisible Pedagogies

Abstract Herein the argument that there are social class assumptions and classroom implications for Bernstein’s pedagogic discourses of visible and invisible pedagogies is advanced. The paper unpacks the assumptions implicit in Bernstein’s conceptual framework of visible and invisible pedagogies in relation to the educational experiences and outcomes of pupils from the middle and working class backgrounds. The paper’s thesis is that Bernstein’s work on pedagogic discourse offers important insights for classroom practices, for educators in their production, distribution and reproduction of official knowledge and how that knowledge is related to structurally determined power relations. The argument in this paper does not only show how Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse is concerned with the description of the production and transmission of knowledge but also how it unravels consequences for such knowledge for different social groups in society. In doing this, the paper looks at the process and content of what happens inside schools and classrooms to unmask the effects of the various rules of pedagogic discourse and how they affect the content’s transmission (pedagogy) by acting selectively on pupils from the different social class backgrounds. It is for these reasons that the social class assumptions and consequences of forms of pedagogic practices, visible and invisible pedagogies are examined. The paper thus unfolds with a brief overview of Bernstein’s socio-linguistic code theory and the theory of pedagogic discourse before examining the distinction between visible and invisible pedagogies and the social class assumptions implicit in each of these pedagogies.

Can a Philosophy for Children Programme Empower the 21st Century Child in Africa

Abstract In this paper the researchers present a theoretical debate in which they advance the case of doing philosophy with children. It is their case that children in Africa will take their rightful, empowered positions and play meaningful roles in adult life if they are exposed to philosophy in schools from an early age. Throughout the history of ideas, philosophy has been interpreted as providing enlightenment and attending to the questions and issues that seek to improve human life. Critics have, however, denigrated the role of philosophy in contemporary life and hence relegated it to mere verbiage that serves no purpose for practical life. They have accused it of being a distraction which contributes nothing to society; one that is dangerous. On the contrary, in this paper we attempt to justify doing philosophy with children as a pragmatic and realistic way of empowering children as citizens-in-waiting. The Philosophy for Children approach aims at the development of critical thinking in young learners through philosophical dialogue. Starting with children, the researchers contend that philosophy is needed now in Africa more than ever to address issues of ethnic diversity, oppression, and the creation of more tolerant and inclusive societies.

To What Extent Is Testing a Barometer for Educational Quality? Unveiling the Intended and Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing on Student Learning

Abstract This conceptual paper explores a centrally important element in the teaching and learning process, namely, assessment. The paper argues that assessment is the mainstay of any quality learning process. The discourse specifically focuses on high-stakes testing as an assessment instrument that has gained wide currency the world over. The authors use a critical analysis to stimulate an intellectual conversation on the impact of high-stakes testing on student learning. The discourse unfolds with an exposition of conceptual terms that constitute the building blocks of the discussion and then highlights the major intended and unintended consequences associated with the use of high-stakes tests. The authors suggest that educational decisions that affect students learning in profound ways should not be based on the narrow results of high-stakes testing perse as these may not be representative enough. The use of eclectic assessment strategies that afford students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding is therefore recommended.