Browsing Faculty of Education by Issue Date
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Ntseane, P. G.; Youngman, F. (Development Policy Management Forum, http://www.dpmf.org, NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: The paper is based on a study conducted in Botswana from June 2001 – February 2002 as part of an larger regional research project on Leadership, Civil Society and Democracy in Africa. In Botswana, the research was based on two non-governmental organisations, namely, Emang Basadi Association and Molengwane Ikemeleng Producer Cooperative. The study on Leadership, Civil Society and Democracy in Botswana has confirmed that well-led civil society organisations are a valuable instrument for democracy. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/643 Files in this item: 1
Ntseane_DPMF_2002.pdf (297.8Kb) -
Kesamang, M.; Taiwo, A.A. (Taylor & Francis, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals, NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: The study was undertaken to find out whether there is a significant relationship between the socio- cultural beliefs held by beginning junior secondary school (JSS) students in Botswana and their attitudes towards school science on one hand and their achievement in school science on the other hand. Seven research questions were formulated. The nature of the study dictated the employment of descriptive research (survey) design. The sample for the study consisted of 395 JSS students randomly selected from eleven junior secondary schools within 120 kilometre radius of Gaborone, the state capital of Botswana. The collection of the data for the study was accomplished by the use of three constructed and validated research instruments. The findings of the study include the fact that Setswana1 (Botswana) mythology has a telling effect, to a large extent, on the thought processes of the average Botswana JSS student. This resulted in significant negative relationships between the students’ socio- cultural background and their attitudes towards school science on one hand and their achievement in school science on the other hand. But in spite of the negative effect of the elements of the students’ culture on the ease with which they learn school science, Botswana JSS students are found to be positively disposed towards school science in general. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1112 Files in this item: 1
Taiwo_IJSE_2002.pdf (1.468Mb) -
Physically active lifestyle and the development and sustenance of healthy human and economic sourcesOnyewadume, I.U. (Boleswa, http://bera.co.bw, NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: Dedicated participation in leisure/recreational and competitive physical activities have been known to develop the physical fitness and the physical working capacity (PWC) of the individuals concerned. In the same vein, improved physical fitness and PWC lead to improved productivity in any group of people in their various professions. The ultimate goal of any profession is the provision of abundant economic and material benefits through the development of fit and capable human resouces. Thus, this paper aims at bringing to the fore the modalities through which a countyr's human resource can be galvanized into a fit and physically empowered factor of production for the achievement of material and economic prosperity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/721 Files in this item: 1
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Chilisa, B. (Taylor & Francis, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals, NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: The article critiques pregnancy policies in the education systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Policies discussed are divided into expulsion, re-entry and continuation policies. Arguing from the standpoint of theories of oppression, it is postulated that expulsion policies symbolise direct violence against girls who become pregnant and are more common in those countries with poor human rights records. Continuation and re-entry policies are prevalent in countries that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Children. It is argued that re-entry policies also violate girl mothers’ right to education through a retreat ideology that requires temporary withdrawal of the pregnant girl from school. Moreover, gender inequalities are built into the policies and supported by traditional and institutional ideologies that make re-entry of the girl mother into the school difficult. The Botswana re-entry policy is reviewed to illustrate difficulties in the readmission of girl mothers to school. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1040 Files in this item: 1
Chilisa_GE_2002.pdf (1.431Mb) -
Taiwo, A.A.; Tyolo, J.B. (Elsevier, http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/homepage.cws_home, January 8, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: Evidence abounds in the literature of a direct link between pre-primary education and academic performance in the primary school. The salutary effect of the ‘Head start’ programme inaugurated in the United States of America in the early 1960s on the academic performances of its beneficiaries in the lower primary is such a piece of evidence. Premised on this commonality between pre-primary education and academic achievement in the primary school, the study aimed at finding out whether there were significant differences in the performances of Botswana grade one pupils with preschool education experience and their counterparts without such an experience on selected tasks in English language, mathematics and science. Using purposive sampling technique for school selection, a total of 120 grade one pupils were randomly selected for the study from four selected primary schools in Botswana. In addition, 20 grade one teachers from the study schools participated in the study. For data collection purpose, each pupil-subject was individually interviewed for about 20 min on the study tasks; and the opinions of the twenty teachers on the subject of the study was sampled by the use of a questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that pupils with pre-school education experience significantly out-performed their counterparts without such experience in all the three school subject areas surveyed by the study. This trend of the impact of pre-school education on academic achievement at the early primary school level was corroborated by the opinions of the primary school teachers. The paper concluded by observing that preschool education equips children with pre-requisite skills which make learning in grade one easier and faster for children so exposed. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/722 Files in this item: 1
Taiwo_IJED_2002.pdf (1.263Mb) -
Chilisa, B. (Routledge, http://www.informaworld.com, March NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: The article critiques pregnancy policies in the education systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Policies discussed are divided into expulsion, re-entry and continuation policies. Arguing from the standpoint of theories of oppression, it is postulated that expulsion policies symbolise direct violence against girls who become pregnant and are more common in those countries with poor human rights records. Continuation and re-entry policies are prevalent in countries that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Children. It is argued that re-entry policies also violate girl mothers' right to education through a retreat ideology that requires temporary withdrawal of the pregnant girl from school. Moreover, gender inequalities are built into the policies and supported by traditional and institutional ideologies that make re-entry of the girl mother into the school difficult. The Botswana re-entry policy is reviewed to illustrate difficulties in the readmission of girl mothers to school. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/835 Files in this item: 1
Chilisa_GE_2002.pdf (789.0Kb) -
Tabulawa, R. (Routledge. http://www.informaworld.com, June NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: Curriculum reviews during the past two decades in Botswana have had mixed fortunes for geography in secondary schools. While the subject has modernised over the years it has at the same time shrunk in terms of its spread over the entire secondary schooling period. This paper describes this contradictory development, teasing out some of the most salient forces that have shaped the geography curriculum in secondary schools in Botswana. It argues that the subject's future is precarious and uncertain. Deliberate and concerted effort to promote and 'sell' the subject is required of those with vested interests in it. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/515 Files in this item: 1
Tabulawa_IRGEE_2002.pdf (1.042Mb) -
Mahgoub, S.E.O.; Bandeke, T.; Nnyepi, M. (Oxford University Press; http://tropej.oxfordjournals.org/, August NaN, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in four randomly selected districts of Botswana. Two study sites were chosen in each district. Four hundred households with children under 3 years old were enrolled into the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to mothers of eligible children in 50 households in each of the eight sites. About half the families had monthly incomes below 400 Pula (1 US$ = 4.6 Pula). The majority of families had only one child under 3 years of age. A total of 76.4 per cent of the mothers were single and a high proportion of them had primary or secondary education. Over half, 59.3 per cent, of the mothers had a high level of information about breastfeeding mainly obtained before conception; 94.4 per cent of the mothers believed that breastfeeding was better than bottlefeeding. Ninety-five per cent of the mothers had breastfed their children, and they started breastfeeding immediately or a few hours after delivery. More than 85 per cent of the mothers were planning to continue breastfeeding for 18 months or more. The majority obtained advice about breastfeeding from health workers. The main reason for stopping breastfeeding was that the mother was at work or school. Although 58.2 per cent of mothers had little or no support for breastfeeding from the community it had a positive effect on their decision to breastfeed. The majority of mothers indicated their confidence about breastfeeding when they were pregnant. Over three-quarters (79.6 per cent) of the mothers delivered in government hospitals, and nearly all were roomed with their babies after delivery. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/214 Files in this item: 2
license.txt (1.998Kb)Mahgoub_JTP_2002.pdf (199.9Kb) -
Tabulawa, R. (Routledge. http://www.informaworld.com, February NaN, 2003)[more][less]
Abstract: Recent pronouncements by international aid agencies on their interest in and preference for a learner-centred pedagogy so far appear not to have attracted much scholarly attention. This paper attempts to explain this interest. It argues that although the efficacy of the pedagogy is often couched in cognitive/educational terms, in essence, its efficacy lies in its political and ideological nature. The fact that the aid agencies’ interest in the pedagogy became explicit soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall is in itself significant. The paper argues that aid agencies’ apparent lack of interest in pedagogical issues before 1989 lay partially in the very central hypothesis of the modernisation theory of development which became enshrined in policies of aid agencies soon after the latter were created. The hypothesis, coupled with human capital theory, viewed education in technicist terms. However, the ascendancy of neo-liberalism as a development paradigm in the 1980s and 1990s elevated political democratisation as a prerequisite for economic development. Education, then, assumed a central role in the democratisation project. Given its democratic tendencies, learner-centred pedagogy was a natural choice for the development of democratic social relations in the schools of aid-receiving countries. Aid agencies, therefore, had to be explicit about their preference for the pedagogy. Thus, the pedagogy is an ideological outlook, a worldview intended to develop a preferred kind of society and people. It is in this sense that it should be seen as representing a process of Westernisation disguised as quality and effective teaching. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/518 Files in this item: 1
Tabulawa_CE_2003.pdf (1.336Mb) -
Oduaran, A. (Taylor & Francis, http://www.informaworld.com, March NaN, 2003)[more][less]
Abstract: The future of Botswana and Nigeria hangs precariously on the balance of life and death. In recent years, the latter seems to be winning as both countries face the devastation of their middle generation due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Neither country can afford to simply watch their populations be depleted at such an alarming rate. This paper seeks to propose how an intergenerational framework might be applied to this situation with the hope that intergenerational policies and approaches might ameliorate this social crisis. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/655 Files in this item: 1
Oduaran_JIR_2003.pdf (1.084Mb) -
Ntseane, P. G. (UNESCO. http://www.unesco.org, NaN, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper argues that sex has to be analyzed and understood from a sociological perspective because sex in itself has a social function. A phenomenological study that was carried out among five ethnic groups of Botswana revealed the importance of taking into account cultural sexual realities when prevention strategies for HIV/AIDS are considered and implemented. Furthermore the study threw light on the ineffectiveness of the current national HIV/AIDS prevention strategy of ‘Abstain, Be faithful, and use a Condom’ (ABC), a strategy borrowed from the Christian cultural morality of sex. Therefore, this paper advocates for empowerment processes that take into consideration local ways of knowing and delivery modes such as participatory approaches. An effective and sustainable alternative to the current national ‘ABC’ strategy is to engage people meaningfully in analyzing their current cultural situation and coming up with working strategies that can make a difference in a country seriously affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/757 Files in this item: 1
Ntseane_PLE_2004.pdf (1.377Mb) -
Tabulawa, R.T. (Routledge. http://www.informaworld.com, January NaN, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: This study reports on the strategies (overt and subtle) employed by students in one senior secondary school in Botswana to keep their teachers in an information-giving position. Contrary to the prevailing view that the 'teacher dominance' of classroom activities so often reported in classroom studies results from teachers' desire for social control, this study sees the dominance as a negotiated product, resulting instead from teachers and students exercising power on one another. Such a view of classroom practice is only possible where power is conceptualized not as a negative force that dominates, but as a productive force that simultaneously constrains and enables human action. Viewed this way, classroom reality becomes a co-construction, a 'joint project' by teacher and students. Attempts to change this reality, therefore, must include both teacher and students. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/516 Files in this item: 1
Tabulawa_JCS_2004.pdf (1.362Mb) -
Maruatona, T. (Elsevier, http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/homepage.cws_home, January 24, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: Planning adult literacy education in developing nations is largely viewed as a technical process reserved for government officials at the Ministry of Education. This empirical study argues that in Botswana, state sponsored adult literacy asserts its hegemony and stifles learner participation and district initiatives. The paper provides an overview of the socio-economic and political situation in Botswana arguing that in spite of being a liberal democracy, the planning and implementation of adult literacy education is driven by central government officials and views learners as having similar experiences and treats them as passive consumers. It fails to employ literacy education to address social disparities based on ethnicity and gender. Finally, the paper suggests that the planning should be decentralized and use a participatory approach. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/820 Files in this item: 1
Maruatona_IJED_2004.pdf (2.376Mb) -
Koosimile, A.T. (Taylor & Francis, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals, March 19, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper sets out to identify some key problems, issues and challenges relating to out-of-school experiences of learners in science teaching that emerged during classroom observations in schools in Botswana. Generally, there is evidence suggesting weak incorporation of learners’ experiences into teaching. The experiences seemed to have a lower teaching priority than did formal universally accepted canonical science concepts. The study revealed that the relative merits of the science curriculum also appeared undermined by lack of teacher preparedness to handle the learners’ out-of-school experiences. This paper also considers some of the implications of the research findings to science education in Botswana. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1113 Files in this item: 1
Koosimile_IJSE_2004.pdf (1.309Mb) -
Clausen, T.; Charlton, K.E.; Gobotswang, K.S.M.; Holmboe-Ottesen, G. (Elsevier; www.elsevier.com/locate/nut, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: Objective: We investigated whether food variety and diversity are associated with physical and cognitive functioning in older adults in Botswana and designed a simple set of screening questions that predict food variety in this population. Methods: Data were collected (1998) as a national household survey of 1085 subjects 60 y and older. A food variety score, based on a food frequency checklist, was calculated by summing the frequency of weekly intakes of 16 food items (0 to 66). A dietary diversity score was calculated as the number of food groups consumed weekly (0 to 5). A representative subsample (n = 393) was randomly selected for the clinical component of the survey, and measurements on dependency and cognitive function were conducted. Results: Low food variety was found: 35.2%, 59.3%, and 22.4% of subjects consumed no dairy products, fruits, and vegetables, respectively. A higher food variety score was associated with urban residence, ownership of cattle, higher education, and more frequent meals, and these indicators were used to construct a nutritional risk indicator. Higher food variety score was associated with better self-reported health and better cognitive function. Similarly, a higher score on the nutritional risk indicator screening tool was associated with desirable health outcomes. Conclusion: A limited number of foods is consumed, leading to an overall pattern of poor food variety. Higher food variety was associated with improved physical and cognitive functions. A screening tool that predicts food variety in this population has been developed and is recommended to be incorporated at a primary care level to identify older adults most at risk of a poor quality diet. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/212 Files in this item: 2
Gobotswang_N_2005.pdf (2.476Mb)license.txt (1.998Kb) -
Lekoko, R. (Oxford Journals. http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper argues for the use of field-based learning activities in the training of community-based extension workers (CBEWs). CBEWs are in a challenging position. They are expected to provide services to local communities in an integrated/coordinated manner. Thus, they require partnership skills to work as an effective group. Hermeneutic-phenomenological interviewing revealed that training systems in their current forms remain unable to address the partnership skill-needs of CBEWs. This paper argues for the re-orientation of the current training systems, to make field-based learning an integral element of the training systems. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/550 Files in this item: 1
Lekoko_CDJ_2005.pdf (1.180Mb) -
Moswela, B. (Librarians of Institutes & Schools in Education (LISE); http://www2.worc.ac.uk/lise/, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper investigated the extent to which secondary school students make use of school libraries. It pursued this objective by first looking at the history of libraries; the concept of a library and the important role libraries play in society; how libraries world-wide have been lately under-funded and the effects thereof. The theoretical aspect of the paper was located in the school effectiveness literature. The empirical investigation was done using questionnaires administered to fourteen randomly selected high school classes of about 38 students each, the teacher librarian, and the school library. The paper concluded that although students satisfactorily use libraries, this is constrained by poorly funded and poorly stocked libraries. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/208 Files in this item: 2
license.txt (1.998Kb)Moswela_ELJ_2005.pdf (2.568Mb) -
Moswela, B. (Kamla Raj; http://www.krepublishers.com/, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: This study made an investigation of the nature of peer victimization and its causes and effects on its victims. The investigation was carried out in six primary and twelve secondary schools in Botswana using questionnaires and interviews on a randomly selected group of teachers and students. The study concluded that peer victimization is very prevalent in schools and that boys are the worst perpetrators and they do it more on girls than on other boys. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/211 Files in this item: 1
Moswela_JSS_2005.pdf (1.000Mb) -
Maruatona, T. (Routledge. http://www.informaworld.com, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: This empirical paper demonstrates that in spite of being a multiethnic society, literacy education in Botswana has ignored gender and cultural diversity. It demonstrates how planners endorsed a technocratic view of planning, emphasizing their curriculum expertise instead of learners' realities. The article argues that planners systematically ignored gender and minority issues through assuming that learners shared common concerns and that they are passive consumers. The planners reinforced their dominance by using one national language in a multilingual community, arguing that it is a natural choice and nobody objected to its use. Finally, the paper suggests that in order to address gender and minority issues, the programme should use the mother tongue and adopt participatory approaches in curriculum planning. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/513 Files in this item: 1
Maruatona_IJLE_2005.pdf (1.475Mb) -
Mooko, T. (Carfax Publishing, Taylor & Francis Group. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713415834, March NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to establish the usage of research and theory in the teaching of English language in secondary schools in Botswana. Altogether 100 questionnaires were administered in 19 secondary schools. The results of this study indicate that teachers rarely ever refer to language research in their teaching. Less value was also placed on the theoretical information acquired during training. The respondents indicated that their teaching is essentially based on utilizing their teaching experience and individual creativity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/165 Files in this item: 2
license.txt (1.998Kb)mooko_educational_studies05.pdf (1.968Mb)