Democracy and Social Studies Education at the Junior Secondary School Level in Botswana

This paper briefly examines the concept of democracy, its relationship to education and its African context. The meaning and value of democracy in African society is discussed and it is suggested that traditional political systems represented a particular kind of democracy. It then focuses on the extent to which the concept of democracy is covered in the junior secondary school social studies syllabus in Botswana. Finally the authors make some recommendations for curricular improvement in education for democracy at the junior secondary level in Botswana as part of the continuing attempt to produce the effective citizen for the new millennium.     

An Investigation into the Status of the Teaching and Learning of the Concept of Democracy at the Junior Secondary School Level in Botswana

This paper identifies the aims and contents directly linked to the teaching and learning of the concept of democracy at the junior secondary school level in Botswana. It examines the perceived extent to which the objectives of teaching the concept of democracy has been achieved by 72 social studies teachers, in addition to finding out the perceived challenges they face and their suggested solutions while teaching topics related to democracy. It was found that the majority of the social studies teachers believe that the level of the achievement of the teaching of the aims is either average or above average. The problems of defining the concept of democracy and the handling of mixed ability students were identified as major challenges to the teaching of the concept of democracy in social studies. The study found a moderate but positive correlation between the self-assessment of 36 purposively selected subjects from the 72 social studies teachers and the observed attributes on some traits on democracy while teaching a topic on democracy. A correlated t -test further indicates a significant difference between the ratings of the teachers and those of the investigator. It was concluded that a gap exists between theory (what teachers perceive as practicing) and practice (what they actually do in the classrooms).     

Changing histories: strengthening teacher agency and improving education through action research in Botswana

Music teachers in Botswana’s junior secondary schools could transform their students’ and their own experience of music education through understanding, using and establishing action research as part of their practice. Furthermore, they could significantly impact the education system, by challenging its current paradigm and ultimately shifting its focus towards more socially just values and outcomes. These changes are long overdue, long written about and anticipated, long mandated through policy and accompanied by numerous research studies observing and theorizing the absence of student-centred pedagogy. This article situates the proposed project in relation to other African research studies in education reform. The project seeks to change, improve, and eventually re-structure and reinvigorate the teachers’ personal, professional and political landscapes not only through the changes to their practice, but through coming to see the subject area, their role in its delivery and their agency in an entirely new way.     

Language identity and multicultural diversity in Botswana

This study explored the common wisdom that sees Botswana as inherently ethnically homogenous. It used the existing Afrobarometer survey data drawn from Round 1 (1999), Round 2 (2003), Round 3 (2005) and Round 4 (2008). The findings of this study revealed that when using language spoken mostly at home, common wisdom is confirmed. However, it is disconfirmed when using disaggregated home language. This is more apparent when language is broken down according to district and rural-urban location. The implications of this study are that multicultural and linguistic diversity of Botswana compels us to view every group as heterogeneously unique and important in its own ways. While Botswana is generally viewed as a shining example of a successful African democracy, its policies towards language, especially within the education system, leave much to be desired. The education system should move beyond the homogenous-thinking doctrine and embrace multicultural diversity.     

ALBINISM IN BOTSWANA: Albinism in Botswana junior secondary schools – a double case study

Pupils with albinism potentially face a number of challenges in accessing quality education in schools in Botswana. Physical issues such as poor eyesight related to the condition and the problems of sensitive skin in such a dry and warm climate are both contributing factors to making learning problematic for some pupils. This study by Gareth Dart of the University of Worcester, Tiroyaone Nkanotsang from a junior secondary school in Botswana, Ose Chizwe from the Government of Botswana and Lily Kowa from a junior secondary school in Botswana, considers the educational experience of two particular pupils with albinism in junior secondary schools in Botswana. Case studies were carried out by student teachers on teaching practice. Issues arising from the case studies of the two pupils were combined with the life story of a third student teacher who himself has albinism. The authors conclude by making some recommendations as to how the experience of pupils with albinism might be improved in the light of local conditions and principles of development.     

千年发展目标进程中的博茨瓦纳中等教育改革

联合国千年发展目标对非洲国家的基础教育产生了积极的影响。其中,博茨瓦纳是撒哈拉以南非洲国家中基础教育发展最好的国家之一。博茨瓦纳以中等教育改革为重点推动基础教育千年目标的进程。其改革措施包括:通过建立多元化的教育体制,加大对教育的投入;通过基础教育课程的改革,解决政策的适切性和课程设置的合理化等。同时,博茨瓦纳中等教育的发展也存在着一些困境和挑战。     

From Sacred Initiation to Bureaucratic Apostasy: Junior secondary school-leavers and the secularisation of education in southern Africa

In the country now known as Botswana, the history of Tswana culture prior to British colonialism in the nineteenth century shows a tribal or pre-urban spirituality, a strong kinship organisation and a systematic approach to the training of youth both informally and formally. This pre-colonial pedagogy defined the Tswana cosmology and the way future adults related to their society as productive members. The European missionaries who came at the eve of colonialism interpreted education and work in a manner that had less continuity with Tswana culture. This trend was developed further by secular educators and institutionalised by post-colonialist, independent Botswana. The Botswana government has been rapidly expanding its formal academic education system. Although practical programmes of education with production like the Brigades supported local development and the transition from the pre-colonial era, they are now facing obsolescence. Thousands of junior secondary school-leavers are being added to the ranks of the underemployed each year, while competition for academic credentials increases. Government reluctance to offer training for practical employment skills reflects a deference to secular Western education and production models and the need to understand better their effects on the tribal culture.     

Responses to cultural diversity in Botswana’s schools: links between national policy,school actions and students’ civic equality

This article examines nation state policies that have prioritized toleration of diversity over recognition through comparative case studies of three junior secondary schools in Botswana. Through data collected in observations, focus groups, interviews and participatory action research, we demonstrate how the schools, which varied in the ethnic composition of their students, teachers and surrounding communities, responded differently to the reality of their multicultural student bodies. Two followed national policies closely, while the third crafted school-level policies adapted to its student population, yet tightly constricted by national policies and curriculum. In all three schools, students of ethnic minority backgrounds experienced varying degrees of shame, discrimination and a sense of exclusion from the nation and found little recourse to discuss and address these experiences within the structures of their schools. We argue that schools could better develop students’ capacity for equal citizenship were they supported by national education policies and curriculum to recognize the cultural, historical and linguistic diversity of Botswana’s ethnic minorities explicitly in schools.     

Adult education and the empowerment of civil society: the case of trade unions in Botswana

The paper examines the potential role of adult education in the empowerment of civil society in Botswana. It shows that adult education can be instrumental in the empowerment of trade unions as organs of civil society in a liberal democracy. It argues that the country's democratic tradition can be sustained by a strong civil society. The paper traces the history of trade unions in Botswana showing that the state has mostly weakened them through legislation. It is contended that individuals participate in trade unions as their mouthpiece when they are in trouble with capital. Most trade union members reported not being aware of adult education activities in Botswana. The paper explores some of the weaknesses of the unions and suggests how adult education provision from adult basic education to adult and continuing education at the university could help to redress the workers' problems. It concludes by mapping out some practical ways in which adult education could empower the unions in Botswana as it has done elsewhere.     

中等职业教育:农民工随迁子女初中后教育的重要路径

农民工随迁子女初中后教育是当前社会关注的焦点问题之一。作为初中后教育的重要承载体,中等职业教育对农民工随迁子女接受初中后教育具有重要的现实价值。由于财政投入、职业教育模式、社会观念上存在的不足和偏差,致使中等职业教育尚未成为农民工随迁子女初中后教育的积极选择。因此,明确财政投入主体及其责任、改革职业教育模式、转变社会观念是促进中等职业教育的着力之举,它将成为农民工随迁子女初中后教育的重要路径。     

Language and Student Performance in Junior Secondary Science Examinations: The Case of Second Language Learners in Botswana

Teaching and testing in science in junior secondary schools in Botswana, takes place in English which is a second language for the majority of Batswana (Citizens of Botswana are called Batswana [sing. Motswana] and the national language is Setswana.) students and a third language for many. The understanding of textual material in science has been shown to be problematic for first language speakers, which means that difficulties in comprehension are likely to be even greater for second language readers. This study set out to test the hypothesis that improving the readability of junior certificate science examination questions would improve student achievement. Results show that changing certain readability factors, such as sentence length, simplified vocabulary and the removal of obscure information, brought about an improvement in achievement. The conclusion considers the implications of the study for the writers of examinations and other texts in science.     

Globalization and higher education restructuring in South Africa: is democracy under threat?

My intention is to explore the link between globalization and higher education restructuring in South Africa and whether it looms as a threat to democracy. I contend that an argument can be made that the ascendancy of market-driven concerns in defining the restructuring of higher education in South Africa may have the effect whereby higher education institutions (universities and technikons) become subordinated to the demands of the market place, which situation in turn, can be detrimental to the consolidation of South Africa's newly found democracy. First, I argue that the restructuring of higher education according to the ‘logic of globalization’ would not necessarily minimize socio-economic inequality, thus providing a major barrier to the move towards deepening democracy. However, the economic, political and cultural effects of globalization as determinants of higher education restructuring in South Africa are not going to disappear, at least not for the immediate future. Already the South African government considers as a central feature of its economic policy the meeting of the ‘challenge of international competitiveness … (and) an inability to compete will increasingly marginalise the South African economy (and), have profound effects on its rate of growth and consequences for the social well-being and stability of South African society’ (CHE 2000a: 20)

Second therefore, in order to safeguard and promote democracy, in spite of the market-bound trend, I assess some democratic prospects of a globalizing world in the restructuring of higher education. Like Jones (1998: 153), I contend that an argument can be made for achieving democracy in a sphere of corporate dominance if higher education is considered as a public good that allows space for the development of relations of trust, individual autonomy and democratic dialogue.     

Instructional systems development in a large-scale education project

The Mission of Botswana's Junior Secondary Education Improvement Project is to expand the country's junior secondary education program, which is roughly equivalent to the junior high school level in the United States. An instructional systems design (ISD) model was used in the design of the project. As such, the project has provided an opportunity to study the practical use and implementation of an ISD approach to a sector-wide education intervention within the setting of a developing country. In this article, issues pertaining to sectorwide planning strategies of educational development are explored. Particularly stressed is the importance of conducting a contextual review at the outset of a large-scale educational project. Note: In 1984, USAID began a ten-year project called “Improving the Efficiency of Educational Systems” (IEES) that has provided technical assistance to a number of countries around the world through a consortium of institutions including Florida State University, the State University of New York at Albany, and the Institute for International Research. The Junior Secondary Education Improvement Project (JSEIP) in Botswana has been one of the IEES projects.     

The role of Representative Councils for Learners in South African schools: Maximal or minimal participation?

Abstract

In 1999 the South African Department of Education issued guides for the Representative Councils for Learners established in terms of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996). This article examines the usefulness of these guides in promoting democracy and education for citizenship in South African schools. The guides are located in the context of theories of participatory democracy, representation, and education for citizenship, and of the democratic strengths of the People's Education Movement of the 1980s. In this context, it is argued that the main tendency of the guides is to undermine democratic participation, and that their favoured conception of education for citizenship is minimalist. The article emphasises the need for a more maximalist approach to citizenship education, and for more scope for participatory democracy in schools.     

Teaching and Learning of Citizenship Education at the Junior Secondary Level in Botswana

This paper explores the extent to which the objectives of citizenship education has been realized in Botswana. The authors draw on data from interviews and observations of thirty-two social studies teachers drawn from eighteen junior secondary schools. The majority of the teachers felt that the objective of working to produce good citizens had either been minimally or satisfactorily achieved. The use of inquiry methods and group work were perceived as particularly effective methods of teaching citizenship. About half of the social studies teachers thought they had undergone sufficient training to effectively teach the concepts involved in citizenship education but they highlighted the challenges of irrelevant instructional materials, job dissatisfaction and large class size. The authors recommend providing regular workshops, restructuring pre-service and in-service education programmes in order to improve the present situation and to bridge the gap between theory and practice.     

Teacher incentives in the Third World

Based on Kemmerer's earlier work on teacher incentives, this study examined the extent that teacher incentives (or the type that might be influenced by central ministries of education) were related to teachers' instructional practices and career satisfaction of junior secondary school teachers in Botswana. Results indicated that the level of incentives teachers received was meaningfully related to teachers' career satisfaction, but was not related to teachers' classroom teaching practices. Findings suggest that, while incentives to improve teachers' overall career satisfaction might stimulate teacher recruitment and encourage retention in teaching, those incentives would not necessarily lead to improved instructional practices.     

Quality Assurance Mechanisms and Processes in Teaching Practice: The Case of the University of Botswana

ABSTRACT

Teacher education in Botswana is offered at various higher education institutions (HEIs). Undergraduate pre-service teachers for the secondary school level are trained at the University of Botswana (UB) and the Botswana College of Agriculture, and both HEIs offer different and autonomous teacher-training programmes. The Faculty of Education at UB has its own quality assurance mechanisms for the Teaching Practice (TP) and Practicum. The purpose of the study reported on was to identify the quality assurance mechanisms and processes in place and then to establish their effectiveness. The research type adopted was the case study. Data for the study was collected through document analysis, an open-ended questionnaire and interviews with student teachers, TP coordinators and supervisors and those who have participated in moderation panels. Generally, the findings indicated that there are effective quality assurance mechanisms, structures, processes and procedures in place for the TP at UB.     

Can ubuntu provide a model for citizenship education in African democracies?

Some proponents of Africanism argue that African traditional education and the principles of ubuntu should provide the framework for citizenship education. While conceding that understandable concerns lie behind defences of ubuntu as underpinning African democracy, we argue that the Africanist perspective faces various problems and makes substantial errors: political, moral, epistemic and educational. While democracy and democratic citizenship necessarily involve sensitivity to local context, their fundamental principles and tenets are universal. Failure to acknowledge this comes at a substantial price. Taking as its initial focus an analysis and critical evaluation of Malegapuru William Makgoba's critique of liberal democracy, the paper questions the purported uniqueness of ubuntu and its value and efficiency as a practical guide to action and policy, as well as its capacity to indicate how conflict between its associate principles and values might be resolved, insofar as these principles and values are indeed morally worthy.     

Teacher migration to Botswana: causes and implications for human resources management in education

Abstract

Botswana has been a host country to migrant teachers from various countries and regions of the world for many years. This paper reports on the migration motives that prompted teachers from four countries to move to Botswana to work in junior and senior secondary schools, and their attitudes towards human resource management (HRM) policies and practices in these schools. The teachers completed an 87-item questionnaire which measured four dimensions of migration push-pull factors, and HRM policy and practice issues. Multiple factors were revealed, linked to economic issues, personal circumstances, community and school-related conditions in both the home and host countries. However, the influence of each factor is related to migrants’ gender and countries of origin. As a follow-up to the above, a small, qualitative investigation was conducted. The reactions of five Botswana school managers to the HRM issues raised in the first phase were investigated by means of interviews. The results reveal the unique challenges of a diversified workforce for HRM in these schools.