Hileni M. Kapenda

The Role of Everyday Contexts in Learner‐centred Teaching: The practice in Namibian secondary schools

This paper reports on the use of out‐of‐school everyday contexts in Namibian science classrooms. This use is portrayed against the backdrop of an explicit educational philosophy of learner‐centred teaching. Data were collected through audio‐taped teacher–learner interactions and non‐participant field notes in 29 junior and senior science classes taught by 12 teachers in six schools. An existing typology was applied to classify episodes of use of everyday contexts and identify teachers’ pedagogic strategies for their use. The results show that more everyday contexts are used in junior secondary than in senior secondary classes, that only a limited range of types of everyday contexts are used at both levels, and that their use often follows theoretical exposition or teacher questioning. These findings are related to three interpretations of learner‐centred teaching. Recommendations for a fuller implementation of learner‐centred teaching are made.

Teachers' Use of Textbooks: Practice in Namibian Science Classrooms.

Incidences of prescribed textbook usage in science classrooms in Namibia have been analysed using an approach adapted from linguistic analysis. Aspects of pedagogic purpose, text genre, and the social interactions between teachers and learners were used to characterise teacher and learner engagement with textbooks, and thus categorise their usage in relation to a national policy of learner-centred education. Results indicate a teacher dominated textbook use and a low frequency and restricted range of textbook references per lesson, with some 40% of the Senior Secondary classes observed making no use of their textbook in class. The major uses of textbooks in class were for diagrams and data, and to verify factual information. Occasionally, questions in textbooks were used as homework to test and/or consolidate knowledge. Pupils rarely initiated a reference to a textbook. It is suggested that if learners are to benefit fully from the investment in textbooks then their teachers need to be helped to use the resource in more constructive ways.

Characteristics of Practical Work in Science Classrooms in Namibia.

This paper presents a study into science practical work conducted in Namibian classrooms. Lesson plans, task sheets, student work, lesson transcripts and observation notes were used to identify intended learning outcomes. In addition, aspects of task design (inductive-deductive; open-closed; nature of student involvement) and the context of the practical task (duration; interaction patterns; types of task information and apparatus; nature of the student record) were explored. A profile form was used and its usefulness evaluated for the analysis of 12 practical tasks. The findings showed an emphasis on conceptual as opposed to procedural objectives, and a frequent change from an inductive to a deductive approach during the execution of the tasks. Pupil practical activity was rarely consolidated as a laboratory report but functioned as an enjoyable introduction to a set of general questions on the content covered in the practical. Suggestions are made for the modification of the profile form, and for in-service activities to support teachers to use practical work more effectively.