https://hdl.handle.net/10646/745 2026-04-09T21:27:48Z https://hdl.handle.net/10646/4418 Title: Gender representation in Zimbabwe Ordinary Level 2010-2015 prescribed ChiShona literature texts. Authors: Taringa, Beatrice Abstract: Textbooks play a crucial role in the moulding of pupils’ gender identities. The purpose of this study is to explore gender representation in the Zimbabwean Ordinary Level 2010-2015 ChiShona prescribed literature texts in order to determine the gender representation that the prescribed texts expose to pupils. The study also sought to determine the potential educational implications of the gender representation in light of the Afrocentric paradigm of Africana Womanist Theory. The study is primarily qualitative. It involves purposively sampled four Old World and three New World novels and a play. The study subjects the purposively sampled ChiShona literature texts to documentary analysis, inductive content analysis and discourse analysis. The study employed grounded theory coding scheme and thematic web like data analysis. The results show that there is a plural gender representation in the selected prescribed ChiShona texts. The study has, therefore, generated a three-dimensional grounded theory of gender representation. First, there is a humanistic gender representation dimension that portrays gender in a relational and complementary picture. Second, there is the authoritarian gender representation dimension that portrays gender as differential, binary, oppositional and hierarchical in nature. Third, there is gender expansive representation that portrays gender as an individual choice. The tripartite gender representation has the potential of socialising pupils into gender complementarities (humanitarian), gender symmetrical (authoritarian) and gender asymmetrical (gender expansivity). These three gender representations correspond to three potential forms of gender socialisation among pupils in school. The humanitarian dimension of gender representation has the potential of socialising learners into a belief that gender is something hardwired into the biological make up of males and females. This may not measure up to the expectations of achieving gender equality in a learning environment. The authoritarian gender representation dimension may socialise learners into a belief in rigid, symmetrical gender duality in which the male is privileged over the female. The third dimension of gender expansive representation portrays gender-roles as open to any “body”. This has the potential of socialising pupils into a belief in the subversion of gender duality and buys into the theory of gender as performativity. This implies conceiving gender, as something of the future, that is, it will be what it will be. This implies that people will know gender roles when males/females perform them in specific contexts. 2018-12-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10646/4082 Title: A critical examination of the role of action research. Authors: Mavhundutse, Oliver Abstract: In Zimbabwe, there is no school for teacher educators. People who become teacher educators do so after gaining primary or secondary school teaching experience. Teacher educators may not have the necessary means to determine what they know and what they do not know. For this reason, this study sought to evaluate the experiences of teacher educators who had undergone a two-year intervention training project on action research. This was a qualitative phenomenological study, whose data were generated through interviews, focus group discussions, personal life stories and observations. Six participants considered to be rich informants were purposively selected for this case study. The study, guided by Fullan’s (2007) theory of change, also involved an inductive process leading to the generation of themes, which was followed by an interpretive discourse analysis. Five major themes emerged from the study, namely: evidence of reflection, interactive classrooms/lecture rooms as a source of joy, the need to change traditional ways of educating teachers; poor remuneration for participants who attend gruelling MQEP workshops, and the need for the involvement of all stakeholders from planning to exit of donor-funded projects. Implications drawn from the study include the need to incorporate action research into teacher education programmes or curricula. In that regard, the establishment of teacher educator institutions would help in the development of teacher educators. The study also notes the need for donor-driven projects to involve project beneficiaries so that both formative and summative evaluation strategies are collectively generated, to allow meaningful conclusions to be drawn from these projects. With respect to the Masvingo Quality Education Project, the major finding was that action research has the potential to improve teacher education. 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10646/3007 Title: A comparative study on the influence of formal and non-formal career guidance on career realisation by secondary school students Authors: Chifamba, Constance Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare two approaches to career guidance, formal and non-formal career guidance, so as to improve guidance programmes and raise career satisfaction and career realisation level of employees. A causal comparative survey was conducted in Harare. The researcher purposefully selected 93 participants, then employees in four different employing institutions at the time the research was conducted. The basis for the selection of the research participants is that they had gone through Ordinary level education at a secondary school in Zimbabwe where they were influenced by either of the two or both types of career guidance. Each participant completed a 45-item, closed form questionnaire indicating his/her perceptions about the career guidance he/she had received and how satisfied they felt about their careers. The results were analysed using SPSS, 20.0. A Chi-square Test was carried out to compare the relative strengths of the two major sources of influence, formal and non-formal career guidance. The focus of the Chi-square test was on comparing the observed and expected numbers of participants influenced by each of the sources of career guidance. The Chi-square test results indicated that there is a significant difference in the strengths of the influences of the two groups. A One- Way Analysis of Variance was carried out to compare the means of career realisation levels of the groups under study. The ANOVA results indicated that there was no significant difference between the career realisation levels of employees influenced by formal career guidance and those influenced by non-formal career guidance. Although formal career guidance seemed less convincing to attract many students, it seems to be associated with relatively higher career realisation levels because it provides relevant career information to the students before they make the career decisions. On the other hand, non-formal career guidance attracted almost half of the participants mainly because it provides sustainable financial and social support to the student during this transition period between school and employment. However, non-formal career guidance was associated with the limitation of lack of relevant information on career awareness and other career preparatory information. The participants influenced by non-formal career guidance reported relatively lower career realisation levels. About one third of the participants reported to have been influenced by both formal and non-formal career guidance and they indicated that they experience moderately high career realisation levels. This research study has shed more light as to why some employees seem not satisfied with their careers. Either they did not directly participate in choosing the career (as in the case of formal career guidance) or they selected the career before they had adequate information about the career (as in non-formal career guidance). The study indicated that there are strengths and weaknesses associated with each of the two approaches of providing career guidance. Adopting the strengths of each of these approaches is likely to maximize the career realisation levels of more students. From the findings of this study the researcher recommends that a collaboration of the two (formal and non-formal career guidance) be implemented in order for most students to achieve optimal career realisation levels when they enter their careers. 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10646/1240 Title: Professional development of Secondary School Mathematics teachers through collaborative reflection in pre-service and in-service learning contexts Authors: Nyaumwe, Lovemore Abstract: Teacher professional development is the area of study of this thesis. The cursory post lesson reflective texts written by most student teachers on teaching practice that typically belonged to low reflection category (level one) motivated this study. The extent of effectiveness of a collaborative reflection with a peer (CRP) framework to facilitate student teachers’ attainment of higher levels of reflection is documented. The study investigated the research question: How can collaborative reflection with a peer enable secondary school mathematics student teachers to critically reflect on their practice and influence positively their cognition and decision making during instruction and post lesson reflective dialogues? Developmental research involving case studies of three pairs of pre-service and two pairs of inservice teachers was the model of inquiry used in this action research. Two sessions of field work were used to improve the validity and practicality of the CRP framework before final implementation in a third field work session. Data for the study were collected collaboratively by the researcher and a peer through (a) assessment of student teachers’ reflective actions during teaching, (b) post lesson reflective dialogues, (c) assessment of post lesson reflective texts written by student teachers, and (d) group reflective interviews at the end of the teaching practice period. The results from the data of interest were that a cognitive theory of collaborative reflection could explain the possible understanding of decision making processes that a student teacher might attain. The cognitive theory states six linear stages that discourse in typical post lesson reflective dialogues went through. A theory of student teachers’ professional attitudes towards instructional practice theorises three phases that student teachers’ priorities went through to attain higher order reflections. It is recommended that two student teachers be attached to one experienced teacher and share his/her teaching load. Such a deployment pattern may positively influence student teachers’ cognitions and decision making during teaching and post lesson reflective dialogues. This deployment pattern may allow a student teacher and a peer to spend more time together during planning, teaching, and reflecting on each other’s teaching. 2014-06-17T00:00:00Z