Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Curriculum Development Centre (Zambia)'

Schools are traditionally established as the main meeting platforms for awareness, education, training and capacity building in the local communities, and as such, are highly regarded and respected. They are situated and integrated in nearly all local communities. They are thus perfectly suited to reach, draw on and provide capacity building to the communities. Zambia recently introduced a new curriculum aspect named localised curriculum, which makes up 20% of the curriculum. This curriculum area encourages schools to address issues of sustainable development that are locally relevant through this curriculum component, but it is not clear what kind of learning emerges from this curriculum aspect. The study looked at the shift in pedagogical discourse since the introduction of the localised curriculum. Using case study methodology and observation of a number of classroom activities in the Keemba District near Monze in Zambia, I observed social learning interactions taking place in the implementation of the localised curriculum. In particular, I was interested in how the different aspects of the localised curriculum enabled social learning, at different levels. What is important in this research is that it focused not so much on what people should know, or be able to do, but rather, drawing on some of the questions raised by Wals (2007), I considered questions of how people learn, and how social learning emerges in school-community interactions in the localised curriculum. The main research question was to investigate: How does localised curriculum enable social learning in response to environmental issues in Zambian schools? This research drew on a number of associated research projects that were carried out in southern Africa and beyond. In his research, Namafe (2008) states that he saw a great need to institutionalise increased participation of Zambian Basic Schools and their local communities in sustainable development of the country in order to alleviate poverty and achieve equitable development. Hogan (2008, p. 122 ) researching in a different context, argues that contextualisation of the curriculum allowed for indigenous knowledge to come in to the classroom, stating that ‘Weakening of the frames provided the opportunity of closer relationships to give space for knowledge other than teacher selected knowledge or book knowledge to enter the classroom.’ In this study I found that: - Teaching localised curriculum allowed for contextualisation and integration of environment and natural resource management issues - Localising the curriculum contributed to curriculum relevancy: teaching localised curriculum helped learners, teachers and community to develop concern for quality of life and contributed to an understanding of sustainable development - Localised curriculum allowed for frame awareness, frame deconstruction and reframing to take place: this allowed teachers to use methods which promoted active pupil participation and interaction, encouraging learners to be reflexive thinkers rather than just using rote memory - Participation of teachers, community and learners in the implementation of the localised curriculum: The involvement of community members to teach topics of the localised curriculum was useful and articulated processes of inter–epistemological dialogue between traditional or every day and scientific or institutional knowledge - The localised curriculum implementation involved various roles and was influenced by various factors. Of key interest to this study was the fact that neither parents, learners nor teachers saw the localised curriculum as an opportunity for problem solving, but rather emphasised the learning of practical life skills relevant to the community. This differed from the curriculum manuals, and reduced the environmental education potential and also social learning opportunities.

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Zambia is reported to have high levels of maternal morbidity and mortality due to low contraceptive prevalence rates, over 50% of births not being attended to by skilled persons, and teenage pregnancies. A number of organisations (stakeholders) have invested in the training of adolescent reproductive health peer educators with the aim of empowering them to be role models to their peers in reproductive health, but Zambia does not have a generic and locally developed training programme for peer educators. The purpose of this study was to develop a training programme that would produce competent and more effective peer educators for Zambia. The objectives were to determine the characteristics of the ideal peer educator. Further objectives were to ascertain the factors that contribute to or impair the development of the ideal peer educator, and to determine whether training programmes that were being used were producing ideal peer educators and enhancing healthy lifestyle behaviours. Key stakeholders participated in group interviews were they presented and critiqued their training programmes. Emerging out of this process was a draft training programme, developed by the stakeholders. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were held with adolescent peer educators from Lusaka, Kafue, Livingstone and Maheba refugee camp. Data were analysed by triangulating the outcomes of the group interviews (with the stakeholders) with the outcomes of the FGDs and reviewed literature. The FGDs highlighted the characteristics of an ideal peer educator as well as factors that contribute towards his/her competence development. Numerous factors were reported that had a negative impact on the development of an ideal peer educator. The peer educators reported that their training had had a positive effect on their lifestyle behaviours. While they had gained more knowledge on HIV and AIDS, they recommended more training on other health issues. The study found that at community level, peer educators were not being given adequate respect because the concept of voluntary work was not readily accepted and they were regarded as failures in life. Major demotivating factors were the lack of payment of incentives and the fact that peer educators were not certified. Peer educators did not receive sufficient support from programme managers/coordinators to enable them to become more effective at community level. Weaknesses in the way the training programmes were conducted were also discerned. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that more life skills’ development be promoted for peer educators. Training should be contextualised for the communities in which the peer educators work. The developed training programme, which should be used as a guide, should be repackaged to suit the profiles (e.g. values) of the different communities. Adolescents and various social sectors (inclusive of indicated stakeholders) ought to be involved in diagnosing community needs so as to influence both peers and communities in a way that would promote adolescent reproductive health. This study also recommends a more informal way of practising peer education, which would produce trainees who would be peer educators and role models in any given setting.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Na berig word is die hoë siekte- en sterftesyfers onder moeders in Zambië daaraan te wyte dat voorbehoedmiddels nie algemeen gebruik word nie, dat meer as 50% van geboortes plaasvind sonder die bystand van bekwame persone, en dat daar ‘n hoë voorkoms van tienerswangerskappe is. ‘n Aantal organisasies (belanghebbers) het in die opleiding van adolessent- portuurgroep-opvoeders in reproduktiewe gesondheid belê ten einde hierdie portuurgroep-opvoeders te bemagtig om as rolmodelle in reproduktiewe gesondheid op te tree. Zambië het egter nie ‘n eie generiese, plaaslik-ontwikkelde opleidingsprogram vir portuurgroep-opvoeders nie. Die doel van hierdie studie was om ‘n opleidingsmodel en opleidingsprogram te ontwikkel wat bekwame en meer effektiewe portuurgroep-opvoeders vir Zambië sou kon oplewer. Die doelstellings was om die kenmerke van ‘n ideale portuurgroep-opvoeder te bepaal en om die faktore te identifiseer wat óf tot die ontwikkeling van ‘n ideale portuurgroep-opvoeder bydra óf sy/haar ontwikkeling strem. Daar moes ook vasgestel word of bestaande opleidingsprogramme ideale portuurgroep-opvoeders oplewer en gevolglik gesonde leefstylgedrag bevorder. Die navorser het groeponderhoude gebruik en betekenisvolle belanghebbers genooi om hulle opleidingsprogramme aan te bied, te beoordeel en krities te bespreek. ‘n Konsepopleidingsprogram wat deur die belanghebbers ontwikkel is, het uit hierdie proses ontstaan. Fokusgroepbesprekings (Engels: Focus Group Discussions of FGDs) is met adolessente portuurgroep-opvoeders van Lusaka, Kafue, Livingstone en die Maheba-vlugtelingekamp gehou. Data is ontleed deur die uitkomste van die groeponderhoude (met die deelhebbers) met die uitkomste van die fokusgroepbesprekings en die bespreekte literatuur te trianguleer. Die fokusgroepbesprekings het die soeklig op die kenmerke van die ideale portuurgroepopvoeder asook op die faktore wat tot sy/haar bekwaamheidsontwikkeling bydra, laat val. Talle faktore wat ‘n negatiewe uitwerking op die ontwikkeling van ‘n ideale portuurgroep-opvoeder het, is ook vasgestel. Die portuurgroep-opvoeders het bevestig dat hul opleiding ‘n positiewe invloed op hul lewenstylgedrag gehad het. Terwyl hulle genoem het dat hulle meer kennis oor MIV en VIGS opgedoen het, het hulle aanbeveel dat daar ook meer klem op ander gesondheidskwessies behoort te wees. In hierdie studie is daar bevind dat portuurgroepopvoeders op gemeenskapsvlak nie met voldoende respek behandel word nie. Die begrip van vrywillige werk word nie geredelik aanvaar nie, en die opvoeders word as mislukkings beskou. Faktore wat besonder ontmoedigend inwerk is die gebrek aan ‘n aansporingsloon en die feit dat portuurgroep-opvoeders nie sertifikate ontvang nie. Portuurgroep-opvoeders het ook nie voldoende ondersteuning van programbestuurders/- koördineerders ontvang om hulle in staat te stel om meer effektief op gemeenskapsvlak op te tree nie. Daar is voorts swakhede opgemerk in die wyse waarop die opleidingsprogramme uitgevoer is. Gegrond op die bevindinge van hierdie studie, word daar aanbeveel dat die ontwikkeling van lewensvaardighede tot ‘n groter mate bevorder word. Opleiding behoort gekontekstualiseer te word vir die gemeenskappe waarbinne die opvoeders werk. Die bestaande opleidingsprogram, wat as ‘n riglyn gebruik behoort te word, behoort herstruktureer te word om by die profiele (bv. die waardes) van die verskillende gemeenskappe in te pas. Adolessente en verskillende sosiale sektore (insluitend die aangeduide belanghebbers) behoort betrokke te wees by die bepaling van die gemeenskap se behoeftes ten einde beide portuurgroepe en gemeenskappe so te beïnvloed dat adolessente- reproduktiewe gesondheid bevoordeel sal word. Hierdie studie beveel ook aan dat portuurgroep-opvoeding op ‘n informeler grondslag beoefen behoort te word sodat die kwekelinge uiteindelik in enige gegewe omgewing suksesvolle portuurgroepopvoeders en rolmodelle sal kan wees.

The publication of the Curriculum Development Centre's discussion paper 'Core Curriculum for Australian Schools' in June 1980 stimulated discussion of the concept of core curriculum in Australia. The driving force came from the Foundation Director of the CDC, Dr Malcolm Skilbeck. This study discusses the themes and directions to which Skilbeck was committed through a study of his work prior to his return to Australia in 1975 and his subsequent writings. The study considers Skilbeck's work against general thinking on educational matters in Australia and overseas. The initial discussion centres on Skilbeck's work in the United Kingdom prior to 1975. This concludes that his views were moulded by his own research on the American progressive educator John Dewey and that Dewey's ideals of a democratic society moulded and sustained by a democratic core curriculum have been dominant in all Skilbeck's subsequent thinking. The study reviews the establishment, working and conclusions of the CDC Core Curriculum and Values Education Working Party. In two subsequent chapters, the study looks at Skilbeck's approach to cultural mapping and school-based curriculum development as the two fundamental Planks of his approach to the development and implementation of a core curriculum for Australian schools. The study shows that Skilbeck's concept of cultural mapping is helpful but does not succeed in providing an effective basis for the articulation of national guidelines. In consequence, the CDC did not succeed in providing a framework sufficient to hold together the infinite range of possibilities opened UP by school-based action. The study considers the limited published reactions to the CDC Paper. It notes that the termination of the CDC by the Committee for Review of Commonwealth Functions in early 1931 prevented the fuller dissemination and debate of the topic during 19S1 and subsequently. The study notes that responses were disaapointingly few and in many cases failed to address the central questions raised by the CDC paper, in particular the idea of national curriculum guidelines and their application through school-based curriculum development. The major responses came in the State of Victoria where local circumstances encouraged discussion of the issues raised by the CDC. The study concludes that the CDC discussion paper was a valuable stimulus to discussion of curricular foundations at the time it was released but represented a point of view that was not fully understood or appreciated at the time. It laid the foundation for the renaissance of the general concept as 'democratic curriculum' in 1986 and provides important indications of the potential for the development of the Participation and Equity Program.

This study aims to capture the challenges and tensions that arise in donor funded curriculum projects in Lesotho. Through an interpretive case study research design I investigated these challenges and tensions in two projects relevant to Education for Sustainable Development, namely the Lesotho Environmental Support Project (LEESP) and the Population/Family Education (POP/FLE) projects which are donor funded curriculum projects funded by DANIDA and UNFPA respectively. A review of donor funded curriculum projects in the field of environmental education/Education for Sustainable Development was undertaken to provide background and a theoretical context for the study. It highlighted different challenges and implementation tensions experienced by other similar projects in other countries. At the heart of such projects lies a particular political economy, which is based on development assistance to poor countries. Such development assistance is constructed around concepts of need, participation and innovation, and donor-recipient relationships. It is structured around a system of governance and management that normally uses logical framework planning as its main methodology. This political economy has shaped the two donor funded projects that were considered in this study, and has shaped many of the tensions and challenges identified in the study. To investigate the two projects, data for this study was generated through in-depth interviews, document analysis and focus group interviews, with people who had been involved with the projects at the national level. The data generation process did not involve the schools where the projects were ultimately implemented, as it was seeking to identify how local institutions such as the National Curriculum Development Centre could support better synergies between donor funded initiatives and the local context. The findings of the study revealed the ambivalent nature of donor initiatives, and identified that the political economy and donor-recipient relations influence the projects. Aspects such as the design and management of projects, the processes associated with introducing innovation in educational ideas and paradigms, pedagogical issues, and staff contributions and ownership were identified as some of the key tensions that existed in the projects. Other factors such as poor capacity levels of local staff, non-alignment with existing structures, inadequate sustainability mechanisms and the difficulty of the envisaged integration of new paradigm thinking (methods and approaches) into the existing curriculum framework were also significant tensions, given the positivist history of the Lesotho curriculum. The study recommends the need to establish mechanisms for working with donors to tackle the tensions that arise in such projects within longer-term donor assistance. It proposes that government should expedite the development of policy on donor coordination. Both donors and the NCDC need to put mechanisms in place to allow for debate and discussions on innovations brought in by the donors in relation to local needs. The study further recommends that in cases where more than one donor exists, the NCDC and the donors should work towards developing synergies between the different initiatives to avoid duplication and overlap. Finally, there is a need for projects to use bottom-up approaches for the design and formulation of projects to ensure ownership.

As a means of addressing observed inadequacies in school curricula, the Catholic Special Education and Guidance Service, Brisbane Catholic Education Office in 1980 established a partial withdrawal centre for counsellor-selected gifted children. The Learning Enrichment Centre (L.E.C.) aimed to - 1) meet the needs of enrolled gifted students by - a) providing appropriate learning experiences; and b) providing an administrative arrangement (partial withdrawal) which afforded them the opportunity to interact with like minds; 2) meet the needs of the system by - a) developing and evaluating units of work for gifted students; b) conducting workshops, seminars and in-service days for teachers. In 1984 the L.E.C. curriculum was designed and implemented in accordance with Maker's model of curriculum modification for gifted students (Maker, 1982). This model outlines a set of principles which Maker claims, recognize the characteristics and needs of gifted students and guide the development of a qualitatively different curriculum. In making decisions about design and implementation of Maker's curriculum modifications, factors related to the setting, the teachers and the students were considered. The overall purpose of the Study was to assist teachers in making rational decisions about future L.E.C. provision. In particular the Study was to collect information on the worth of the program - its relative strengths and weaknesses - and the influence on the curriculum of the administrative arrangement. The program was evaluated by ascertaining levels of satisfaction typically expressed by the students. Of secondary concern was whether the organisational arrangement of partial withdrawal had inhibited or enhanced the program's intentions. It was acknowledged that unfavourable attitudes of parents, classroom teachers or peers could conceivably alter students' receptivity of the program. In Term 4, two parallel questionnaires, one addressing the L.E.C., the other the regular classroom, were administered to the students. By comparing responses on matching items, levels of satisfaction with the L.E.C. curriculum were determined. Selected items on the L.E.C. instrument were further to reveal how students felt about the administrative provision and whether classroom teachers and peers were perceived to be supportive. Subsequent to program completion, a questionnaire was mailed to parents bo ascertain their support for the program by asking them how their child's emotional behaviour had changed as a result of LEC attendance. Also they were to indicate whether they preferred that enrichment occur in the regular classroom or partial withdrawal setting. To confirm the students' impressions of classroom teacher support and interest, parents were requested to comment on their understanding of it. Student responses indicated that they found their LEC experiences to be particularly interesting and enjoyable, and the LEC teachers to be kind, helpful, friendly and fair. These perceptions differed significantly from their perceptions of school. Elements of the Maker model which were consistently most valued by the group were the Process modifications, 'Freedom of Choice' and 'Higher Levels of Thinking'. Parents proved to be supportive of the LEC program. Although some would have preferred classroom enrichment to partial withdrawal, they felt that schools could not currently provide it. It was the students' viewpoint that interactions with peers and classroom teachers were not adversely affected by their LEC participation. Classroom teachers were seen to be generally supportive and interested - a perception incidentally not shared by parents and LEC teachers. Perceived positive attitudes towards their LEC involvement most likely enhanced student satisfaction with the program. The evaluation unequivocally indicated that the LEC program based on Maker's model appealed to the students. Though withdrawal from class possibly contributed to program satisfaction, the level of satisfaction was very high and could not be attributed solely to hidden curriculum efects (the organisational arrangement). The Study concluded that use of the Maker model as a guide for developing LEC curricula should continue but that parent and classroom teacher attitudes towards the administrative arrangement should be regularly monitored as they appeared to have the potential to enhance or reduce students' receptivity of the program. As a result of Study, various procedures for the conduct of future evaluations were recommended.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Leadership development is an essential and valuable tool for capacitating police leaders in the South African Police Service to deal with the diverse challenges that they face in the policing environment. There seem to be a need for leadership development processes that can stimulate change, and for perspective transformation to enable police leaders to find alternative ways of dealing with the challenges experienced in their working environment. This thesis explored transformative learning as a tool to enhance the leadership development processes of police leaders. The essential elements of transformative learning are: centrality of experience; critical thinking; rational discourse; and policy praxis. Theory development were chosen as best to carefully construct the foundational argument through non-empirical literary-based sources, in which the literature itself became the database towards theoretical formulation in this non-empirical study. The alignment and integration of the elements of transformative learning were explored as a strategy to capacitate police leaders to: reflect on past experiences; think critically about ways of dealing with policing challenges based on experiences; discuss these challenges with other police leaders; and act on reflections made during leadership development processes. The study is limited to the analysis of the status of leadership development in the South African Police Service, which was the context of this study.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Leierskapsontwikkeling is ‘n essensiële en waardevolle hulpmiddel om leiers in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens te bemagtig om die uiteenlopende uitdagings waarmee hulle te kampe het, beter te hanteer. Dit blyk egter dat daar ‘n behoefte is vir leierskapsontwikkelingprosesse wat intrinsieke verandering en ‘n paradigmaskuif vir polisieleiers te weeg kan bring en wat hulle in staat kan stel om die uitdagings binne hul beroepsveld meer doeltreffend te hanteer. Hierdie tesis ondersoek transformatiewe leerteorie as ‘n instrument om leierskapsontwikkeling van polisieleiers te bevorder. Die hoofelemente van transformatiewe leerteorie is: sentralisering van ondervinding; kritiese denke; rasionele diskoers en beleidsvorming. Teorie-ontwikkeling as navorsingsmetodologie was selekteer as die mees geskikste metodologie om die argument deur nie-empiriese literêre bronne te konstrueer, waarvolgens die gekose literatuur die databasis van die teoretiese formulasie rondom die argument gevorm het in hierdie nie-empiriese studie. Groepering en integrasie van bogenoemde elemente was ondersoek as ‘n strategie om polisieleiers te bemagtig om te reflekteer oor vorige ondervindinge; kritiese denkwyses oor hantering van uitdagings in beroepsveld met inagneming van vorige ondervindinge toe te pas; diskoers oor uitdagings met ander polisieleiers te hê en om aktief te reageer op refleksies tydens leierskapsontwikkelingsprosesse. Die studie is beperk tot die analise van die status van leierskap in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens as konteks waarbinne hierdie studie onderneem is.

The ability to apply and follow mathematical reasoning is an ability students should develop according to Curriculum for the compulsory school, preeschool class and the leisure- time centre 2011. The purpose of this survey was to find out how teachers in compulsory school and preeschool class work with the ability to apply and follow mathematical reasoning. I was also interested in investigating if participation in continuing professional development in mathematics influence the teachers way of working with the students. The survey consisted of six qualitative interviewees in which three of the interviewees were part of continuing professional development in didactics for teachers educating mathematics. The result showed that all interviewees consider that it is importent to communicate mathematics, both between students as well as between teachers and students. The teachers included in continuing professinonal development showed a clear consciousness in their work to reason and follow mathematical reasoning. However, among some interviewees the consiousness appeared to come from their experience and which reflects their way of working. The student's age and how far they have developed their language also appeared to be significance to how capable they are of reasoning. The teachers analyze the ability to apply and follow mathematical reasoning, it's meaning and usage, differently.

The Zimbabwean refugees sheltered at Holy Cross Church* in central Johannesburg have taken the initiative to develop their own curriculum. There have been many orientations to curriculum development with current reconceptualisations emphasising practical and descriptive curriculum development approaches. This research is framed specifically by Walker’s naturalistic curriculum development model, the community-based approach to education development, literature on refugee education and generally by broader theories of curriculum. The study employed the ethnographic research method and gathered data through non-participant observation, interviews and document analysis. Taking a wider approach to curriculum development and in the context of displaced people, the research redefined the term curriculum developer to mean ordinary people and refugees in their communal social setting. This study provides an analysis and description of how the refugees successfully initiated and developed effective learning and training programmes which resulted in the establishment of a school, early childhood, adult-education and vocational training centres. The refugee meetings and school council deliberation forums guided by common values and political, social and economic factors made practically defensible, education and training resolutions on language, school policies, curriculum options, pedagogy, knowledge and certification issues. On the forms of refugee-emergency education, the refugee school curriculum followed that of the country of origin, with some minor modifications thereby preparing learners for return to their country. The training programmes utilised a slightly adjusted curriculum of the host country in synergies with local private colleges and prepared the refugees to integrate into the host country’s economic communities. To improve the quality of education and training at Holy Cross there is need for intervention from government and international humanitarian organisations. In addition to the academic curriculum, subjects with a social reconstructionist ideology, double-shift schooling and democratic teaching and learning approaches must be introduced as well as awarding refugees with regionally recognised training certificates.

A curriculum is a mirror reflecting the identity, goals, aims and objectives of any nation. The kind of graduates a country has are a reflection of the type of curriculum and the success of any curriculum depends on the involvement of those who implement it. Teachers in particular are the ‘engine’ of curriculum success but can also be the architects of its downfall. Zambia launched the 2013 curriculum framework in January 2014. However, with a worldwide historical trend of discrimination against disability and to some extent against teachers of learners with disabilities, it was imperative to undertake this study to establish how the 2013 revised curriculum was being implemented in teaching Learners with Special Educational Needs in Zambia. Without knowledge of whether special education teachers were involved in the curriculum process or not, it was further imperative to study their involvement in the curriculum development process and its implementation. This study sampled one hundered and twenty (120) special education teachers, twelve (12) Education Standards Officers and two (2) Curriculum Specialists for special education. Questionnaires, interviews, checklists and teacher observations were used to collect data. Questionnaires were administered to special education teachers to collect data of their knowledge about and involvement in curriculum development process, the methods and strategies and the challenges they faced implementing the curriculum. Interviews were administered on Education Standards Officers and Curriculum Specialists for special education to establish their role the curriculum development process, their appreciation of the curriculum change, the challenges they and the teachers faced implementing the curriculum and how they helped to overcome the challenges. By using the observation checklist during lesson observation and post lesson discussions, the researcher managed to collect data about the actual experiences in natural settings – the classroom. The study employed the Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Design. Quantitative data was analysed by use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to derive statistical interpretations such as frequencies, percentages, standard deviation, mean, significant differences and relationships. Qualitative data was analysed with the help of NVIVO qualitative data software to create themes by coding density and basic cross tabulations by node attribute values. Results were triangulated to come up with a consolidated conclusion. It was established that special education teachers were not involved in the CDP except at implementation and they were implementing the revised curriculum amidst numerous challenges. Lack of involvement in the curriculum development process was linked to special education teachers’ lack of understanding of key concepts necessary for curriculum implementation for LSENs. The study recommends a deliberative cycle of training of special education teachers in the revised curriculum as it relates to special education. The study further calls for the provision of necessary specialised and adapted materials for effective implementation of the revised curriculum.
Curriculum and Instructional Studies
D. Phil. (Education)

An exploratory study covering phase 1 stages 1, 2 and 3 only was undertaken in this large hybrid research project to determine perceptions and understandings of the practitioners and the community about mental health problems of children and adolescents in Zambia because so far there is little known about this phenomenon. The aim of this exploratory study was to gain new insights into the phenomenon by undertaking a preliminary investigation to determine priorities for the future post doctoral research before a more structured study to develop the PHC innovative curriculum. The process first 'explored' social reality on the ground to better comprehend the perceptions and understandings of mental health problems of CA and the curricula model preferences as perceived by the practitioners and the community respectively. This was done to appreciate the "reality of practice" on the ground using the Systems, Ecological, and Biopsychosocial theories which underpinned the four field areas of the study which are: Mental Health, Curriculum Development, INSET and Action Research (AR). The total project is open-ended with three (3) phases and eight (8) stages, from the initial exploration of perceptions (phase 1), through reports to government and stakeholders, curriculum development and piloting with health educators (phase 2) and finally implementing the reconstructed curriculum and integration (phase 3) in such a way as to empower primary health workers to themselves do further research. This thesis, covering the initial explorations of perception, encompasses ONLY the first phase and three stages of this larger qualitative research project because of the Higher Education requirements and funding to try to complete in 4 years. This entails literature review of all 4 field areas because in order to orientate the first phase and three stages of such research and to see the implications of results, it is necessary to have a good grounding in all four. The research study process commenced with an orientation and introduction of the context and purpose of the study, followed by the search conferences and focus group meetings using Qualitative Research Design and Methodology. Search conferences, focus group discussions, hospital registers and clinic records were the three sources of data collection. Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative Data used NVIVO and SPSS 13.0 Statistical Data Analysis Soft ware respectively. The study showed that mental health problems of Children and Adolescents perceived by the community and the practitioners were also referred and recorded in various hospital registers. The analysis of data from hospital records on referred cases further showed that there are serious psychotic mental health disorders in children and adolescents referred for further consultations to hospitals from the community, some of which are: acute psychotic states, with some associated with HIV/Aids. In addition to these psychotic states, epilepsy, drug and alcohol abuse, child defilement, rape cases, mental retardation and conversion disorders particularly in female children/adolescents appeared to be relatively significant mental health concerns and problems in the researched community sites. The conclusion of the study suggests that there were more environment related factors perceived to cause mental health challenges to children and adolescents. This finding further suggests that there are similarities of cases referred from the community with those seen in clinical practice areas. The significance of these findings in the reality of practice, implies that the preferred PRISMS curriculum model to be developed later as a post doctoral activity for 'INSET' of PHC practitioners in Zambia should have deliberate blending of curriculum content with more socio-environment related issues than the current traditional curricula models which are more clinical in structure, process and content.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

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Between 2008 and 2011 academic teaching staff from Leeds Beckett University (UK) and Chainama Hills College of Health Sciences (Zambia) worked together on a Development Partnership in Higher Education (DelPHe) project funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) via the British Council. The partnership focused on “up-scaling” the provision of mental health education which was intended to build capacity through the delivery of a range of workshops for health educators at Chainama College, Lusaka. The project was evaluated on completion using small focus group discussions (FGDs), so educators could feedback on their experience of the workshops and discuss the impact of learning into their teaching practice. This chapter discusses the challenges of scaling up the mental health workforce in Zambia; the rationale for the content and delivery style of workshops with the health educators and finally presents and critically discusses the evaluation findings.
Department for International Development (DFID) via the British Council