Special Edition

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11070/2171

Browse

Browsing Special Edition by Title

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessment practices in Africa today
    (University of Namibia, 2014) Condy, Janet
    The 1990 Jomtien World Conference ‘Education for All’ and the 2000 World Education Forum in Daka encouraged governments in developing countries to shift their emphasis from measuring outcomes to establishing the extent to which their education systems could provide quality in education (Howie, 2012, p. 81). Within the global economy, governments are held responsible for providing adequate education. This increased political pressure has led to direct links between national economies and education. The purpose of this paper is to identify tensions found in the various types of literacy and numeracy assessments within Africa; from large international high-stakes testing to local classroom formative and summative assessments. Four high-stakes tests commonly found in Africa are discussed. They are: school-leaving exams which assess all subjects at Grade 12 level; Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS); The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ); and, finally, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). I discuss four principles of summative and formative assessments based on the work of Johnston and Costello (2005, p. 256-265). They include: assessment as a social practice, minds in society, representation and interpretation and, lastly, practices of teacher assessments.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Impact of the University of Namibia merger on staff and students: The case of Hifikepunye Pohamba campus
    (University of Namibia, 2014) Lopez, Razavi O.; Mbodo, L.
    The merger of the University of Namibia (UNAM) with the four Colleges of Education in 2010 was necessitated by an Act of Parliament for tertiary institutions. This study aims to identify the challenges for staff and students to cope with the merger, in order to bring the merger process to the attention of the stakeholders. This study is important because, while history is being made, one needs to establish the human experiences of those going through these changes. It is intended to capture the merger’s impact on the academic, administrative and auxiliary staff and students. Participants responded to open-ended questionnaires and interviews designed to assess their perceptions of capabilities in their new roles, as well as the responsibilities, constraints and opportunities availed for personal and professional growth. The students who participated are the former BETD (Basic Education Teacher Diploma) students who were articulated into the B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education) Lower and Upper Primary program during the merge. Preliminary results indicated that the majority of the participants had positive experiences after joining UNAM. Challenges in the following areas were highlighted: infra-structure, unreliable communication technologies, the breadth and depth of work covered in some modules, diminishing philosophy of learner-centered education. A few participants voiced their concerns regarding some anomalies. A number of suggestions from the different stakeholders to make the merger even more effective and efficient are offered.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Making space for literacy learning: The impact of spatial and temporal organization in constructing a writing subject in the early years
    (University of Namibia, 2014) Dixon, Kerryn
    The teaching of literacy is an embodied practice. Teacher’s pedagogical practices are directed onto children’s bodies. These practices are informed by teachers’ own knowledge, experiences and beliefs about literacy as well as constructions of literacy in the curriculum. These shape literate subjects children become. It is through these practices that children become literate subjects. This article explores how children become ‘writers’, by using Foucault’s work on power and the spatial as theoretical lenses. The article is underpinned by the view that everything happens in space. We construct space and space constructs us, social relations can only happen in space. But, because space and social relations are mutually constitutive, they can transform each other. Data is drawn from a research project using ethnographic methods in early years classrooms in South Africa. A spatial and temporal lens is applied to observations of the teaching of writing in two preschool classrooms (4-5 year olds and 5 to 6 year olds) and one Grade 1 classroom and illustrates how mundane practices are crucial to learning and teaching. It raises questions about how time and space across thevearly years produce literate subjects and the influence of globally of technicist approaches to literacy which have implications for teacher education.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using the Van Hiele phases of instruction to design and implement a circle geometry teaching programme in a secondary school in Oshikoto region: A Namibian case study
    (University of Namibia, 2014) Dongwi, Beata Lididimikeni
    Despite my positive views of geometry as one of the most interesting topics in the mathematics curriculum, others find it rather complicated and sometimes unbearable to successfully complete a geometry course. It is a common phenomenon that secondary school students globally struggle with simple geometric problems and their thinking and reasoning are generally below average. Although difficulties in geometric thinking and reasoning are prevalent in global educational research, problems in geometric conceptualisation still prevail. It is therefore the aim of this paper to report on the case study research that was conducted to examine, analyse and report on the findings of the experiences of selected mathematics teachers when they used the Van Hiele phases of instruction in designing and implementing a Grade 11 circle geometry teaching programme. The sample consisted of three selected Grade 11 mathematics teachers from the school where the researcher taught. The findings of this research revealed that teachers used and implemented all the five Van Hiele phases of instruction in their lessons whilst navigating quite freely from one phase of instruction to the next, but also returned to the earlier phases for clarification and reinforcement in their teaching. Teachers also saw the phases of instruction as a good pedagogical tool or template for planning and presenting lessons. The majority of the learners followed the instructions and seemed to obtain the answers faster than expected.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Wikipedia translation as an additive pedagogy for Oshikwanyama language learning
    (University of Namibia, 2014) Hamwedi, Aletta
    This paper reports on a study carried out in a northern Namibian urban school about the use of Wikipedia translation as an additional teaching and learning tool in Oshikwanyama Firs Language classroom. Higher-level learners (Secondary phase) were purposefully chosen for this study. The study followed a situated learning theoretical framework, of which its cognitive apprenticeship elements were used as the analytical tool. The research findings show that Wikipedia translation offers a simulating learning platform for learners to learn both languages Oshikwanyama and English reciprocally and this improves their performance. Furthermore, Wikipedia translation, which is done collaboratively, give learners confidence towards working with others to create knowledge. Lastly, Wikipedia translation motivates learners to learn Oshikwanyama and use it in their daily ICT interaction.