Opportunities for the inclusion of Environmental Education in the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate, Geography, Grade 11-12: a case study from Namibia
- Authors: Ashipala, Helena Taakondjo
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Environmental education Namibia , Geography Study and teaching (Secondary) , Teacher participation in curriculum planning Namibia , Geography teachers Training of Namibia , Student-centered learning Namibia , Action competence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/245725 , vital:51399
- Description: Geography is widely recognised in Namibia as a subject within the curriculum that has been framed for understanding and resolving environment issues and sustainable development. It is in this light that this study examined the inclusion of opportunities for environmental education (EE)1 embedded in the Grade 11-12 Geography curriculum in the Namibian context. This study is undertaken as a case study of two schools in the Omusati region in northern Namibia. It investigated opportunities for EE that are embedded in the Geography curriculum using action competence as a lens to review the curriculum and how teachers are working with it in two rural school contexts. This study employed qualitative methods, specifically semi-structured interviews, an analysis of curriculum documents, classroom observations and focus group interviews. Ethical issues were taken into consideration throughout the study. The key findings from the study are: 1. The specification of EE has mainly emerged as a series of concerns that present as topics to be taught and compared with similar concerns in other parts of the world; 2. Teachers have little experience of what and how to teach and inform environmental education within their classrooms; 3. Learners are not actively involved in seeking and probing environmental concerns or in seeking solutions to these. These findings have been used to make recommendations that teachers: 1. Revisit and review the curriculum documents to carry theory into classroom practice; 2. Encourage learners’ participation to enhance their interest and emotional responsibility in environmental education. The study concludes by calling for further research into EE in Geography. This can be used to improve EE in the region where this study was conducted and beyond. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Exploring the possibility of integrating traditional music and dance into the design and delivery of lessons on the concepts of echo and waves in the grade 10 Physical Science sound topic
- Authors: Liveve, Angelius Kanyanga
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Student-centered learning Namibia , Culturally relevant pedagogy Namibia , Science Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , Dance in education Namibia , Music in education Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/13356 , vital:21826
- Description: Before Namibian independence in 1990, teaching was mostly characterized by teacher-centred pedagogies in which teachers were perceived as the main sources of knowledge. This resulted in learners being passive recipients of such unquestioned knowledge. After independence and to address this, a new educational system was introduced which promoted learner-centred education (LCE) pedagogy. Despite these grand ideals, educational changes in sub-Saharan Africa form a complex issue involving tensions between policy formulation and implementation. This presents Namibian teachers with some challenges in enacting LCE pedagogies. One of these challenges is to find ways to motivate learners and to assist their learning by finding relevant and interesting connections between subject topics and their own experiences and everyday culture outside the classroom. An inability to enact the new curriculum results in learners performing poorly in subjects such as Physical Science. Against this backdrop, this study sought to explore whether or not the integration of traditional music and dance into the design and delivery of lessons on the concepts of echo and waves could influence grade 10 Physical Science learners’ sense making and dispositions towards science. This study was underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. It was informed and guided by the socio-cultural theory as my theoretical framework. The study was carried out with a grade 10 Physical Science class consisting of 30 learners at Lyambombla Combined School (pseudonym) in the Kavango West Region in the northern part of Namibia. Data were generated through diagnostic and summative tests, interviews and lesson observations incorporating traditional music and dance. The findings of the study showed that learners’ sense making and dispositions toward science were positively influenced through traditional music and dance. The study thus recommends the incorporation of indigenous ways of knowing in order to enhance meaning making in science classrooms.
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- Date Issued: 2017