This study explores the problem of a bibliocentric Religious Education curriculum in Zimbabwe amid the quest for a multi-faith curriculum. It traces the history of Religious Education, how it was started and crafted by the so-called missionary propagandists in order to suit their dogmatic interests. Two main aspects of the christianization of the Religious Education curriculum are highlighted, namely cultural alienation and indoctrination. Two post-independence teaching approaches, the life experience approach and the multi-faith approach are discussed in a comprehensive manner as possible solutions to the problem of Religious Education in Zimbabwe. An empirical analysis and evaluation of the views of various stakeholders about post-independence developments in Religious Education is also presented. Finally, relevant findings, conclusions and recommendations critical to successful Religious Education teaching are presented. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Didactics)

The present study attempted to assess the effectiveness of the Zimbabwean secondary school guidance and counselling services from school counsellors' and students' perspective. Available literature shows that students worldwide, including Zimbabwe, experience problems which schools should solve through the provision of guidance and counselling. It was therefore, important to the researcher to assess the effectiveness of the school guidance and counselling services in meeting students' concerns. The research design consisted of a literature and an empirical study. The survey method was used in the empirical study. A self constructed questionnaire was used. Three hundred and fourteen school counsellors and 636 students participated in this study. The SAS/STAT version 9.1 was used to analyse the data. One way and combined two way frequency tables were calculated. Ratios were calculated to establish the relative rating of each item. Chi-square tests were also calculated. The study revealed that there were differences between the level of the school guidance and counselling services in Zimbabwean secondary schools and the international arena. For example, school guidance and counselling services policy in Zimbabwe was not mandatory as compared to the international policies. The Zimbabwean school guidance and counselling services were not always planned for at the beginning of each year, Students and parents were not frequently involved in needs assessment while the services were not frequently evaluated in comparison with those in the international arena. The study also revealed that some biographical variables significantly influenced the way the respondents responded to given items while others did not. The study revealed that the majority of both school counsellors and students viewed the school guidance and counselling services as beneficial and school counsellors as effectively playing their role. The study further revealed that the effectiveness of the Zimbabwean secondary school guidance and counselling services was negatively affected by lack of resources and training in guidance and counselling and non-counselling duties performed by school counsellors. Recommendations for future approaches and strategies in secondary school guidance and counselling services in Zimbabwe are made. Areas for further research are proposed. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The research focused on the assessment of the effectiveness of the methods used in the implementation of environmental legislation in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe. Successful implementation of environmental legislation and any other legislation is determined by various factors. Some of the factors include environmental education, environmental awareness programmes, consistency in implementing environmental legislation, coordination of all stakeholders, willingness of communities to co-operate and the political will by political office bearers. This research revealed that the methods used to implement environmental legislation in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe are ineffective. Poverty is the main reason for activities leading to environmental degradation. Communities in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe are ignorant of environmental legislation which govern their activities. Environmental education and environmental awareness programmes are rarely carried out. The political office bearers in the Mutasa district lack the political will to ensure that environmental legislation are enforced. / Public Administration / MPA (Public Administration)

The study sought to establish the quality of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes. It was therefore important that the researcher investigates whether the ECD programmes were meeting the expectations of the quality indicators and consequently the holistic needs of ECD children. The qualitative design methodology was used in this study. Self-constructed observation checklists and in-depth interview guides were used. The participants in the study were 10 school heads, 10 ECD teachers and 10 ECD parents, one from each of the ten schools under study from Harare low and high density suburbs. The data were content analysed. The findings of the study revealed that school heads incompetently managed the ECD curriculum. It was also revealed in the study that ECD policies existed in schools but some were not adhered to which impacted negatively on the quality of ECD programmes. Findings of the study also revealed that the components of a quality ECD programme which included; nutrition, health and safety, parental involvement, stakeholder involvement, guidance and counselling in ECD were compromised. The study showed that ECD personnel qualifications were varied. The study also revealed that teaching methods in ECD were all child-centred though some ECD parents and school heads criticised the play-way and child-centred method of teaching. Findings revealed that material, financial and human resources were scarce. It was concluded that the quality of ECD programmes in Harare primary schools was compromised. It was recommended that training of all stakeholders on ECD management and organisation would bring about a better understanding of ECD programmes, mounting staff development workshops on practical skills training in guidance and counselling of ECD children for ECD teachers, school heads and counsellors and, inviting parents as resource persons when teaching certain concepts would improve the quality of ECD programmes. Recommendations for further study were made / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Lecturers’ research output in higher education in Zimbabwe is low in general and at Mentors University (pseudonym) in particular. Although lecturers at Mentors University are expected to publish to avoid career stagnation, most lecturers are not tenured due to lack of publications in peer refereed journals with an aggregate impact factor of 0.5. The study aimed at formulating a model for developing lecturers’ research skills and its empirical testing to address the problem. A literature review examined theories of competency development and mentoring models. The informal group mentoring strategy was structured for application in a qualitative participatory action research design. A questionnaire captured factors influencing lecturer research output from a purposive sample of 260 lecturers at Mentors University. Another purposive sample of five lecturers participated in implementing the informal group mentoring intervention for model empirical testing. All participants had failed to publish, were available volunteers and committed to the intervention. The intervention comprised determining qualities of publishable papers through desk research; an evaluative reading of published and rejected papers; peer discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of papers; practice of research; the oral reporting of findings; peer evaluation of papers and the incorporation of peer critique into papers to improve quality prior to paper submission to journals. Survey findings indicated that research output was affected by a lack of both research and publishing skills and mentoring by research supervisors. Participants in the intervention entertained misconceptions of problem formulation, research design and application of probability sampling concepts. Computer skills for data analysis and oral presentation were poor. Further, the university had no policy for lecturer research skills development. As a result of the intervention, all five participants published a paper. The study concluded that lecturers can develop research skills for publication by forming informal mentoring groups; obtaining the services of a mentor; and applying the informal group mentoring model. It was recommended that the universities include development of research skills in their policies and train mentors for the application of the informal group mentoring research skill development model in new universities in Zimbabwe. / Educational Management and Leadership / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Child sexual abuse is a widespread problem in schools globally. Learners are at risk of sexual abuse by teachers. This study set out to explore the perceptions of learners, teachers and educational psychologists on child sexual abuse by teachers in schools. Literature relating to child sexual abuse was reviewed with the aim of obtaining a solid theoretical foundation for the study. The study is informed by the systems theory. In an attempt to provide acceptable answers to the research problem the qualitative phenomenological design was employed and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Purposive sampling was used to select schools and participants in the Masvingo district in Zimbabwe. The schools selected are one rural day, one rural boarding, one urban day and one urban boarding. A total of 8 learners, 2 from each school, 8 teachers, 2 from each school and 3 educational psychologists from the district offices were selected bringing to a total of 19 participants. Accepted ethical measures were adhered to during the study. Tesch’s open coding method of data analysis was used to identify themes and categories. The study indicated that child sexual abuse in schools is rampant and that teachers are among the perpetrators of this abuse. Child sexual abuse in schools is defined by the study as the unwelcome contact or non-contact sexual behaviour by a teacher on a learner. Findings from the study reveal that girls are more vulnerable to sexual abuse than boys and male teachers sexually abuse learners more than female teachers do. There are physical, behavioural, emotional and educational indicators of child sexual abuse. According to the results of the study multiple factors cause teachers to sexually abuse learners. Some of these factors include abuse of power by teachers, poverty of learners, lust on the part of the teacher, and disregard of law by teachers. Students were said to sometimes be contributors to their own sexual abuse through their seductive behaviours and dressing. It emerged from the study that child sexual abuse by teachers has a host of negative physical, emotional, psychological and educational repercussions on the sexually abused learner. It results in serious health effects such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), unwanted pregnancy and psychological trauma. Poor academic performance and failure to complete education are consequences of sexual abuse. Findings from the study revealed that child sexual abuse by teachers in schools should not be tolerated and thus it should be prevented. In light of these findings recommendations are made with regards to how various stakeholders in the school namely the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Zimbabwe, policy makers, school heads, teachers, parents and learners can help fight this scourge. Areas for further research are proposed. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The study is a gender critical investigation of the implementation of gender policy programs in student admission in Zimbabwe state universities. The study locates itself in the student admissions section of these institutions, acknowledging the potential contributions of the practices and procedures in this section towards achievement of gender equality. The study focused on the nature of the implemented programs, the gender equality model pursued and how the programs are made part of the mainstream. The study employed a multi-pronged theoretical frameworks approach as its theoretical framework to determine feasible strategies in analyzing the research problem, choosing the research approach, deciding on the research methods, formulating the research questions and in drawing the conclusion to the study. A mixed method inquiry used the multiple case study survey, documentary analysis and interviews to gather data in two state universities. The study found that in spite of the state universities implementing gender policy programs as required by the Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2004), gender inequalities persisted, and in the process the study revealed more barriers than successes encountered on the road to gender equality. This concurred with some of what was predicated from literature on the use of the adopted approaches to gender mainstreaming and models of gender equality pursued. The chief factor responsible for the inequalities was found to be the pervasive, deeply entrenched patriarchal conservatism, cultural stereotypes, biases and discriminations held by some actors in student admissions which marginalized gender equality and consequently, rendered the gender equality agenda elusive. The study identified the need for adoption of a wider conception of gender and gender equality and of a radical transformative approach in order to resuscitate the paralyzed gender equality mandate in student admissions. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory, the study is also of value at an applied level: serving to support programs and sustainable plans for gender equality implementation in student admissions in universities. The main recommendation of the study is the need for a new shift in policy program implementation, and the study outlined the main cardinal points of this new paradigm. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The decentralisation of power in education is part of a global process that has become part of the education reform policies of most countries. Decentralisation, which is typified by the redistribution of power to local levels, is claimed to serve a variety of ends from democratization to efficiency, empowerment of stakeholders to improved quality of education. It is, however, a complex process that is difficult to capture as power is seen to manifest in multiple ways. During the nineties Zimbabwe, against the background of a massive increase in enrolments, for a variety of reasons including the improvement of the quality of education, embarked on the re-distribution of administrative and financial power in the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture. The implementation of this policy revealed major discrepancies between the intentions of government and the way it translated in educational sites. The aim of this study is to explore how the intentions of decentralisation in education as a policy aimed that the improvement of the quality of education is experienced by school principals. An interpretative methodology with in depth interviews, focus groups, some observations and document analysis were employed to engage in the debates about decentralisation. Although this was a small study the findings concurred with studies of decentralisation in other countries where it was found that the re-distribution of power in education manifests differently in different contexts in the same country. In countries such as Zimbabwe where resource limitations and restructuring concomitantly took place the experience of principals revealed that conditions arose that could not be seen to be conducive to the improvement of the quality of education such as the ambiguity of the meaning of who is responsible for what, the power struggles as government was seen to recentralise crucial roles, increased workloads of principals due to the devolving of administrative and supervisory functions to school level, loss of teachers and other specialist functionaries conducive to a drop in standards and the challenge to parents who had to contribute increasingly to enable schooling of their children. These findings are indicative of the claims from studies in other countries that decentralisation as a policy for whatever reason is seldom more than political rhetoric to decentralise conflict. Exploring the intersection between the literature on decentralisation and parental involvement of education, however, revealed the opening up of other spaces that enabled local power relations to develop in creative ways as parents got increasingly involved in schools. Apart from the challenges related to the redistribution of power as authority delegated, devolved or deconcentrated from government, this study revealed that power manifests in relations and interactions not necessarily ascribed to the intentions of policy, neither as a substance or function only. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die desentralisering van mag in die onderwys maak deel uit van ʼn wêreldwye proses van onderwyshervorming. Desentralisasie, wat deur die herverspreiding van mag na plaaslike vlakke gekenmerk word, is veronderstel om aan ʼn verskeidenheid doele te beantwoord – van demokratisering tot die verhoging van doeltreffendheid, die bemagtiging van belanghebbendes, en die verbetering van onderwysgehalte. Desentralisasie is egter ‘n komplekse proses waaraan moeilik uitvoering gegee kan word, aangesien mag in verskeie gedaantes voorkom. In die negentigerjare het Zimbabwe, teen die agtergrond van ʼn drastiese toename in inskrywings, die herverspreiding van administratiewe en finansiële mag in die Ministerie van Onderwys, Sport en Kultuur onderneem. Dié stap is aan verskillende redes toegeskryf, waaronder die verbetering van onderwysgehalte. Die toepassing van die beleid het egter groot teenstrydighede aan die lig gebring tussen die regering se voornemens, en hoe dié voornemens uiteindelik prakties in onderwysinstellings ten uitvoer gebring is. Die doel van hierdie studie is om skoolhoofde se ervaring van onderwysdesentralisasie as beleid te ondersoek. Die studie is vanuit ‘n interpreterende benadering gedoen met diepte-onderhoude, fokusgroepe, ʼn paar waarnemings sowel as dokumentontleding. Ongeag die beperkte omvang van die studie, stem die bevindinge ooreen met dié van navorsing oor desentralisasie in ander lande, waar bevind is dat herverspreiding van mag in dieselfde land in verskillende kontekste verskillend realiseer. In lande soos Zimbabwe, waar herstrukturering te midde van hulpbronbeperkinge plaasgevind het, het skoolhoofde bepaalde omstandighede ervaar wat nié die verbetering van onderwysgehalte sou kon bevorder het nie. Dít sluit in onsekerheid oor die onderskeie partye se verantwoordelikhede; die magstryd toe die regering kernrolle sentraal beheer; swaarder werklaste vir skoolhoofde nadat administratiewe en toesigfunksies na skoolvlak afgewentel is; ʼn verlies aan onderwysers en ander spesialisamptenare, wat op sy beurt standaarde laat daal het, en ouers se groter verantwoordelikheid om al hoe meer by te dra ten einde hulle kinders se opvoeding te verseker. Hierdie bevindinge strook ook met dié van studies in ander lande, naamlik dat desentralisering as ʼn beleid om watter rede ook al selde meer is as politieke retoriek ten einde konflik te desentraliseer. Nadere ondersoek van die verband tussen navorsing oor desentralisasie, en dié oor ouerbetrokkenheid by onderwys het egter daarop gedui dat desentralisering wel nuwe moontlikhede kan ontsluit vir die skeppende ontwikkeling van plaaslike magsverhoudinge namate ouers al hoe meer by skole betrokke raak. Buiten die uitdagings met betrekking tot die herverspreiding van mag namate regeringsgesag gedelegeer, afgewentel of gedekonsentreer word, dui dié studie daarop dat mag soms ook in verhoudinge en wisselwerkings geopenbaar word wat nie noodwendig met die voornemens van die beleid verband hou nie, en dit mag voorts nie as net substansie of net funksie tot uiting kom nie.

The challenge in most developing countries is lack of funding in education. This leaves no option for most learners except to drop out of school. Even when safety nets are provided for by governments, this does not fully address the issues of access, equity and retention in secondary education. Education for All, as pronounced in the Dakar Declaration (2000) calls on governments to address access, retention and equity in basic education, overlooking the provision of secondary education. Many policies were adopted by governments in post-colonial rule in Africa and Asia to address the colonial disparities in education. This had a tendency of drowning the budgets in educational matters, notwithstanding the issues of fully addressing access, equity and retention in secondary education. In the developing world, the bulk of the population lives in rural areas where infrastructure for teaching and learning still has to catch up with the urban setting. In view of the global economic meltdown in the 1980s, 1990s and mid-2008, education has seen a squeeze on its budget. It is in this context that funding for secondary education has to be analysed in order to establish policies and programmes which are most suitable and sustainable to enable access, equity and retention of learners in secondary education. Models of funding in various countries are carefully examined in this study, in order to draw on the best practices in funding secondary education as applicable to the Zimbabwean case, and possibly to other countries in a similar situation. The research was carried out in three administrative districts of the Manicaland province of Zimbabwe. Using a mixed methods approach, this study examines the safety nets for the provision of secondary school education in Zimbabwe and proposes better ways to finance secondary school education. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This research was conducted from the perspective of a positive human behaviour paradigm in the context of human resource management. It investigated the interrelationships between work stress, work engagement and service delivery of academics in a changing distance-learning environment in Zimbabwe, for which there is a paucity of research. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey design was applied to a sample of 83 academics at the largest distance-learning university, against the background of their ever-changing roles. A sample of 101 students was also included, so that the students provided balanced data for analysis regarding their perception of service delivery by academics. Confirmatory and exploratory analysis revealed a four-construct measurement model for work stress, a three-construct measurement model for work engagement and a four-construct measurement model for service delivery. Correlational analysis and structural equation modelling revealed some significant relationships between these constructs. Tests for significant differences among different groups of academics and students based on socio-demographic variables were revealed and showed some interesting differences among these variables. The t-test did not reveal significant differences in service delivery perceptions between the academics and the students on the dimensions of responsiveness and assurance. The study makes a valuable contribution to the organisational behaviour literature in terms of how work stress and work engagement influence academics’ service delivery in a distance-learning university. On a theoretical level, the study did well to expand on available literature on the constructs of work stress, work engagement and service delivery provided by higher education distance-learning universities. The statistical techniques that were utilised expanded previous empirical studies by studying the interrelationship dynamics andoverall relationship dynamics between work stress, work engagement and service delivery provided by distance-learning universities. On a practical level, this study should bring new knowledge to managers at distance- learning universities by improving their understanding of how academics are affected by increasing, new job demands, which in turn increase their workload. Distance- learning universities thus should adapt their people management practices accordingly. Provision of adequate resources at both individual and organisational levels should be prioritised in order to minimise work stress and improve work engagement, and subsequently service delivery. / Hierdie navorsing is vanuit die perspektief van ’n positiewe menslike-gedragsparadigma in die konteks van menslikehulpbronbestuur uitgevoer. Dit het die onderlinge verhoudings tussen werkstres, werksbetrokkenheid en dienslewering van akademici in ’n veranderende afstandsleeromgewing in Zimbabwe, waaroor daar ’n gebrek aan navorsing is, ondersoek. ’n Beskrywende, deursnee-ondersoekontwerp is op ’n steekproef van 83 akademici by die grootste afstandsleeruniversiteit, teen die agtergrond van hulle voortdurend veranderende rolle, gedoen. ’n Steekproef van 101 studente is ook ingesluit sodat die studente gebalanseerde data vir ontleding rakende hulle persepsie van dienslewering deur die akademici kon verskaf. Bevestigende en verkenningsontleding het ’n vierkonstruk-metingsmodel vir werkstres, ’n driekonstruk-metingsmodel vir werksbetrokkenheid en ’n vierkonstruk-metingsmodel vir dienslewering aangetoon. Korrrelasie-ontleding en strukturele vergelykingsmodellering het betekenisvolle verhoudings tussen hierdie konstrukte uitgewys. Toetse vir beduidende verskille tussen die verskillende groepe akademici en studente, gegrond op sosio-demografiese veranderlikes, het interessante verskille tussen hierdie veranderlikes aangetoon. Die t-toets het nie beduidende verskille ten opsigte van diensleweringspersepsies tussen die akademici en die studente oor die dimensies van gevoeligheid en gerusstelling aangetoon nie. Die studie het ’n waardevolle bydra gelewer tot die literatuur oor organisatoriese gedrag en oor hoe werkstres en werksbetrokkenheid akademici se dienslewering by ’n afstandsleeruniversiteit kan beïnvloed. Op ’n teoretiese vlak het die studie ’n goeie viii bydra gelewer tot die beskikbare literatuur wat betref die konsepte van werkstres, werksbetrokkenheid en dienslewering wat deur hoëronderwys-afstandsleeruniversiteite verskaf word. Die statistiese tegnieke wat gebruik is, het voortgebou op vorige empiriese studies deur die onderlingeverhoudingsdinamika en algehele verhoudingsdinamika tussen werkstres, werksbetrokkenheid en dienslewering wat deur afstandsleeruniversiteite verskaf word, te bestudeer. Op ’n praktiese vlak behoort hierdie studie nuwe kennis verskaf aan bestuurders by afstandsleeruniversiteite deur hulle begrip te verbeter van hoe akademici deur toenemende, nuwe eise by die werk, wat op hulle beurt hul werkslading verhoog, beïnvloed word. Afstandsleeruniversiteite moet dus hulle mensebestuurspraktyke ooreenkomstig aanpas. Om voorsiening te maak vir voldoende hulpbronne op individuele sowel as organisatoriese vlakke, moet prioriteit daaraan gegee word om werkstres te verminder en werksbetrokkendheid, en uiteindelik dienslewering, te verbeter. / Lolu cwaningo lwenziwa ngokohlelo lomqondo wokuziphatha kahle komuntu, lokhu kwenzeka ngaphansi kohlelo lwezokuphathwa kwabasebenzi. Ucwaningo luye lwaphenya izinhlelo zobudlelwano obuphakathi kwengcindezi yomsebenzi, ukusebenza ngokuzikhandla kanye nokuhlinzeka ngemisebenzi yezifundiswa mayelana nesimo esiguqukayo sohlelo lokufunda ukude eZimbabwe, naphezu kokwentuleka kocwaningo. Idizayini yesaveyi echazayo naleyo yohlobo lwe-cross-sectionalzasetshenziswa kusampuli yezifundiswa ezingama-83 yezifundiswa enyuvesi enkulu yohlelo lokufunda ukude, phakathi kwezindima zenyuvesi ezihlala ziguquka njalo. Kuye kwafakwa isampuli yabafundi aba 101, ukuze abafundi banikeza uhlaziyo lwedatha elingene mayelana nomqondo wezokuhlinzeka ngezinsiza wezifundiswa. Izinhlelo zokuhlaziya eziqinisekisayo kanye nalezo ezihlolayo ziye zaveza imodeli elinganisayo yokwakha embaxa-zinne, okuyimodeli yokuhlinzeka ngezinsiza. Izinhlelo zokuhlaziya, phecelezi (correlation analysis) kanye nohlelo lokumodeli, phecelezi, (i-structural equation) ziye zaveza ubudlelwano obusemqoka obuphakathi kwalezi zakhiwo. Kuye kwavezwa izinhlelo zokuhlola ezahlukahlukene hlangana namaqembu ahlukahlukene ezifundiswa nabafundi, lokhu kususelwe phezu kwezimpawu zedemogilafi yezenhlalakahle yabantu, kanti lokhu kukhombise umehluko ohehayo hlangana nalezo zimpawu. Uhlelo lokuhlola, phecelezi i( t-test) aluzange luveze izimpawu ezehlukile ezimayelana nemiqondo yokuhlinzekwa ngezinsiza phakathi kwezifundiswa kanye nabafundi mayelana nemikhakha yendlela yokuphendula kanye nokuqinisekisa. Ucwaningo lwenze umsebenzi omkhulu omuhle mayelana nombhalo wokuziphatha kwenhlangano, mayelana nokuthi ingcindezi yomsebenzi kanye nokusebenza ngokuzikhandla kunomthintela muni phezu kokuhlinzeka ngomsebenzi kuzifundiswa enyuvesi yohlelo lokufunda ukude. Ngokwesigaba esiphathekayo, lolu cwaningo kufanele lulethe ulwazi olusha kubaphathi emanyuvesi ohlelo lokufunda ukude ngokuthuthukisa ulwazi lwabo mayelana nokuthi izifundiswa zithinteka kanjani ngokwengeza, izidingo ezintsha zomsebenzi, eziphinde zingeze umthwalo womsebenzi. Wazo. Ngalokho-ke, amanyuvesi ohlelo lokufunda ukude, kufanele ajwayele izingqubo zawo zokuphathwa kwabantu ngendlela efanele. Ukuhlinzekwa ngemithombo eyanele ezigabeni ezimbili, somuntu ngamunye nesigaba senhlangano kufanele kuqalwe ngakho ukuze kuncishiswe ingcindezi yomsebenzi kanye nokuthuthukisa indlela yokusebenza ngokuzikhandla, kanye nangokuhlinzeka ngezinsiza. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)