Academic literature on the topic 'Education and state - Namibia - History'

Before the attainment of independence on 21 March 1990, the people of Namibia were engaged in a protracted struggle against colonialism, racism and apartheid, all of which had denied the majority of the people democracy and development. The people of Namibia therefore did not have power to make decisions on matters that affect their lives and were also not able to determine their own destiny (Ministry of Regional Government and Housing [MoRGH]: 1998:1). After independence, the Namibian government provided for a policy of decentralization under Chapter 12 of the Constitution. After adopting decentralization as state policy in 1996 the government, under the auspices of the Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing, embarked upon an implementation process that began in 2003. Education decentralization was included in this process. As my research investigated participants' experience of education decentralization in the Omaheke Region, I conducted an interpretive case study. I employed semi-structured interviews as my main data collection instrument. The quality of my research lies mostly in the authenticity of my thick descriptions where I rely to a large degree on a high ratio of participant to researcher voice. The study has revealed that there is a basic understanding of what education decentralization refers to. Education decentralization is also perceived to provide for the democratization of education through the active participation of all relevant stakeholders - parents, teachers, learners and civil servants - in the education process. However, although there is a basic understanding of what education decentralization entails, there is not necessarily acceptance. The study revealed that many people in Omaheke have reservations about the process of decentralizing education services. Some regard education decentralization as central government "dumping" its responsibility on the Regions. Furthermore, neither the Regional Council, the Regional Education Office, schools, communities nor parents have the capacity to cope with decentralization. The responsibility for overseeing the implementation of decentralization in the Region lies with the Omaheke Regional Council. Education as a decentralized function ought to resort directly under the Regional Council. However, the Regional Education office does not yet operate under the Regional Council. Instead the Education Director continues to report directly to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education in the capital. In this way an important decentralization structure, the Regional Council, is bypassed and rendered toothless. The data reveal that there is only partial evidence of psychological and structural readiness for education decentralization. Consequently there is little meaningful participation and therefore no sense of ownership among parents, teachers, learners, community-based organizations and political leaders.

Effective implementation of education reforms consists of alterations in curriculum materials, instructional practices and behaviour, beliefs and understandings on the part of the teachers involved in the reform (Fullan and Hargreaves, 1993: 5). A process of implementation is therefore, a learning process, learning how to do something new (ibid.). This study was done to establish how Biology teachers in Caprivi have responded to the reform process ten years down the line. I used a qualitative case study of two secondary schools. Four Biology teachers, two school principals and two groups of learners participated in the study. Data was collected by means of interviews, lesson observations, a workshop, and school inventories. The data was analysed within an interpretive framework. The results of the study show a move into 'activity-based teaching'. It shows a shift from the traditional transmission teaching approach. In general teachers seem to equate 'activity-based teaching' with the learner-centred approach.

This Portfolio was submitted in 2005 to Rhodes University as a Research Portfolio presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in General Education Theory and Practice. The Portfolio consists of seven (7) key parts. The reader of this Portfolio is courteously informed that the structure of this portfolio is to some extent differ from the thesis structure. Thus, the reader should be attentive not to weigh against the two. Further more, I hereby declare that this portfolio is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of references indicated at the end of each part. Part 2 and 6 are the core parts of the portfolio. The focal point of part 2 is the contextual curriculum analysis of Grade 8-10 Oshindonga Curriculum in order to investigate its implementation in four educational circuits: Oshigambo, Onathinge, Onyaanya and Omuthiya in Oshikoto Region. Based on the findings of this analysis, lack of critical inquiry and reflective practice among Oshindonga teachers was identified as one of the major obstacles that preventing the effective implementation of the curriculum. Most of these teachers are Basic Education Teacher Diploma (BETD) postgraduates. Thus, part 3 and 4 were developed as supplements to inform the main research paper (part 6) which is related to teacher's professionalism in the classroom. The focus of part 3 (literature review) was on the teacher as a reflective practitioner. This is in line with the Namibian Education Policy, which identifies reflective practice as the heart of teacher professionalism. In this part, I explored a variety of views related to the notion of professionalism in teaching. I have also focused on views related to teacher's professional development both on macro and micro levels. These views provided a clarification and an underpinning framework on which to base my analysis of reflective practice as professionalism in education. Part 4 (education theories) focused on the digging of understanding of knowledge as an important theoretical domain of behaviourist and constructivist theories. I have tried to establish how the two theories (Behaviourist and Constructivist) view knowledge and its acquisition and to gain an understanding of how the two theories have been informing the practice. Subsequently, part 6 meant to investigate and assess the extent to which Basic Education Teacher Diploma postgraduate teachers are autonomously applying the theory of critical inquiry and reflective practice in the classroom. Both part 2 and 6 have findings. There is much correlation between the issues and problems in the implementation of the curriculum as identified in part 2 and the findings of the main research paper (part 6). Though critical inquiry and reflective practice is the key journey towards a high level of reflectivity and one of the significant characters of teacher professionalism in the classroom, most issues and problems identified were related to the insufficient practice of critical inquiry and reflective practices. Low correlation was found between critical inquiry and reflective practice theory and teachers' practices in the classroom. Despite to the fact that various rationales were mentioned as to why critical inquiry and reflective practice successful implementation is not taking place, the study positioned an emphasis on team working at school, cluster and circuit base that could contributed to a great extend to making teachers more competent and supporting themselves in mastering the applicable critical inquiry and reflective practice skills.

This study is the first cycle of an action research project that focuses on the implementation of the Environmental Education Policy in Namibia. Perceptions of Namibian decision-makers were sought with regard to their understanding of the concepts ‘environment’ and ‘environmental education’, as well as to identify environmental problems and obstacles to the implementation of the Environmental Education Policy. The approach of coming up with options to address the identified problems/obstacles/constraints, was employed in this study. To this effect, interviews, a workshop, observations and reflections on the process of implementation resulted in a wealth of data. The findings shed light on possible solutions to address the identified problems and obstacles. The results revealed that community participation, skills development and the proper co-ordination of environmental education activities are imperative in addressing the obvious policy-practice gap. Decision-makers uncovered the fact that the socio-economic situation of our people necessitated pulling our resources together and working as a team. The overall perceptions are that the environment is everyone’s business and that we should zealously use it and carefully guard it, not only for ourselves but also, for the benefit of coming generations.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the implementation of the Namibian education policy with particular reference to Senior Secondary education (Grades 11-12) in order to develop analysing skills that will facilitate better understanding of my professional context and enhance my ability to operate within a research environment. The main purpose is to look at the theory that underpins the curriculum and to find out whether that theory is carried through into practice. This contextual analysis is also designed to provide baseline data as I subsequently explore my area of research. The specific objectives of the research are to: • conduct interviews with teachers and learners which may reveal ideological differences on how these various actors perceive the curriculum; • analyse specific areas within the curriculum that might reveal the type of theory underpinning the curriculum; • assess the curriculum in order to identify objectives and goals that may affect the implementation of the intended curriculum.

The post independence Namibian education system has been characterised by many reform initiatives, aimed at eradicating inequity, poor performance, and inferior education provision inherited from a pre-independence education system. This legacy posed a serious challenge to Namibia when it set out to achieve a national goal, Vision 2030. Vision 2030 inspires Namibia to be among the eveloped countries in 2030. In an attempt to achieve the goals outlined by the mission statement of Vision 2030, the Ministry of Education (MoE) introduced two national education initiatives: the Education and Training Sector Improvement Program (ETSIP), and the National Standards and Performance Indicators (NSPIs). These would be implemented in Namibian schools as, respectively, the Ministry’s strategic plan and its policy document. The NSPIs were introduced to address the fragmentation of standards and inequity in regions and schools in Namibia, as they aimed to standardise the provision of equal, quality education across the country (Namibia. MoE, 2005a, p. 1). The NSPI policy calls for schools to take quality assurance seriously, with particular emphasis on School Self-Evaluation (SSE), a process that encourages self-management (Namibia. MoE, 2007a, p. 3). Thus, the standards set out by the NSPIs became the yardstick by which internal and external school evaluators could assess whole school performance. The purpose of this present study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of principals in the Ohangwena Region following the implementation of the NSPIs. It is a case study involving two Inspectors of Education (IoEs), twelve principals, and four Heads of Department (HODs). Interviews, document analysis, questionnaires, and a focus group interview were used to collect the data. The study found that principals acknowledge the importance of the NSPIs, and believe that they would succeed in improving the provision of quality education if they were fully implemented. The study found that schools implemented Performance Indicators 5.3 (School Administration) Aspect 5.3.2 (Storage and retrieval of information) in Key Area 5. However, the results of the study also showed that principals experienced many challenges in the implementation of the NSPIs. These included a lack of understanding among principals and teachers of the NSPIs, a lack of understanding of contemporary leadership theories (that would otherwise help principals to implement change effectively), and a lack of support in terms of skills and resources from both the Regional Office in Ohangwena and the MoE itself. The study found that the NSPIs have not yet improved school performance, and consequently that the pass rate remains the same as before the introduction of the NSPIs, four years ago. The SSE, which aims to help schools identify their strengths and weaknesses, and encourages them to establish and make use of a School Development Plan (SDP) to address weaknesses and sustain strengths, is characterised by a high degree of dishonesty. Thus, the information furnished by SSEs, SDPs, and Teachers Self-Evaluations (TSEs) is unreliable, lacks credibility, and has the further ill-effect of skewing schools’ performance targets. Therefore, this problem could be addressed when the rationale of completing the SSE is clearly explained to principals and teachers.

Organisations that will not, that resist, that cannot, that are incapable, that lack the confidence or that believe it’s not possible to change are likely to stagnate and die (Smith: work in progress). Since independence in March 1990, the new Namibian Government has realized that the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of Namibian schools depends on the ability of teachers and other stakeholders to be innovators and facilitators of change, especially through effective communication, effective meetings, working through conflict, solving problems and making decisions. Organization Development (OD) is an effective, planned change approach for improving organization workgroup processes. Resting on a foundation of values and assumptions about people and organizations, OD promotes collaboration, interdependence and interconnectedness, empowerment, participation and involvement in problem solving and decision-making for all members. Based primarily on a normative, re-educative strategy and secondarily on a rational-empirical strategy, OD assumes that people will change if and when they realize that change is advantageous to them. OD makes use of interventions to determine areas requiring change. The intervention used for my research included a survey-data-feedback (SDF) where data was gathered, analyzed and fed back to the participants. The data was used as a basis for problem solving and training in organizational processes of communication. The case study involved 23 teachers. Journal entries, observation, formal and non-formal interviews as well as focus interviews were used as data collection tools. Participants wanted to see immediate organizational changes thus it was important to remind them that OD is a long-term change approach and that there is no quick fix. Initially, participants were used to the norm of fault finding to determine areas requiring change. However, a year later, during problem solving sessions, I observed collaborative and positive involvement by all participants. Finally, the outcome of the intervention based on the data from the communication workshop and the problem-solving meetings revealed that participants want OD to be institutionalized in all Namibian schools.

The issue of decentralisation has been one of the top priorities of the Namibian education system since independence in 1990. One of the decentralisation aims was to enhance parental involvement in education by establishing School Boards. However, School Boards and the role of parents in school management have been considered ineffective for several years which led to the promulgation of Education Act 16 of 2001 in which the roles of School Boards are strengthened and clarified. This study sought to investigate School Board members’ perceptions, understanding and experiences of parents’ involvement in school governance more specifically after the implementation of the Education Act of 2001 in 2003. This study is an interpretive case study of one combined rural school in the Ohangwena educational region of Namibia. This research employed three data collection techniques, namely semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The main findings of this study reveal that there is a lack of joint understanding and shared vision between educators and parents in the School Board. This problem underpins other more symptomatic problems, such as lack of accountability in the matter of school finances, differences in understanding the roles of School Board members and lack of parents’ motivation from the school management. The study further reveals the ineffectiveness and insufficiency of the training provided in the past. It highlights some of the challenges that hinder the effective involvement of parents in rural school governance, such as poor educational background among parents, poor knowledge of the English language and poor understanding of educational issues. However the findings also acknowledge parents’ participation and their full involvement in decision-making. The findings show that the new School Board elected in terms of the Education Act of 2001 has been more effective than previous School Boards and has reached a number of achievements such as being instrumental in solving disciplinary problems, purchasing school assets and renovating classrooms. Recommendations for practice and for further research are made.

The study sought to understand how Grade 9 History teachers perceive and implement learner-centered education (LCE) in selected schools in Caprivi educational region in the Republic of Namibia. It concentrated on three teachers in two combined and junior secondary schools. The research employed a qualitative approach and three data instruments were used: interviews, class observations and document analysis. The findings of the study show that in their interview discussions of the principles, intent and recommended key features of LCE, the three participating teachers generally correctly captured some of the essential intentions of a LCE approach. At times in the interviews they seemed to strongly grasp the essence of a key strategy and its intent, but at other times their views were sketchy. Their view of different teaching strategies at times appeared integrated but not always that strongly. When it came to their classroom practice they could and did use a number of appropriate LCE teaching approaches. The level of effectiveness in their use of many of the approaches varied from effective to far from ideal and in need of quite big improvement. In the area of resources the three classrooms were extremely limited in what they displayed, had and used. There were too few textbooks and almost no posters and wall displays on history and the geography of the world and its peoples that the students were studying. An especially interesting feature was that they all seemed to be consciously engaged in an on-going teaching experiment with the LCE approaches. The LSC [sic] practices were clearly not yet strongly imbedded as solid classroom habits or dispositions, with perhaps the exception of questioning. But this experimenting made them much more self-conscious and reflective about their experiences. They all frankly identified some tensions that they felt existed between the espoused official features of a LCE class and the demands of the covering the curriculum, size of classes etc. Overall it was an encouraging picture of teachers eager to find ways to improve their teaching and experiment with new ideas. But also a picture of people not properly exposed to good or best practice in each teaching strategy and having to reinvent and rediscover on their own even the basics of reasonable practice often making very basic mistakes, for example in questioning.