The educational reform policy in Namibia adopted the principles and practice of learner-centred education, a policy based on constructivist epistemology. This approach emphasises that learners are constructors of knowledge and that they must discover information and construct their own learning. Constructivist techniques require the use of critical thinking through learners’ active involvement in the learning process. The aim is for learners to use critical thinking to identify problems, ask questions, reason, examine and solve problems in real situations and make sound decisions. This approach provides learners with activities and experiences that stimulate them to learn to think for themselves and to ask questions. Therefore, teachers need to design activities that require learners to think critically and act independently through mastering these various modes of inquiry. The purpose of this study was to explore how the selected Grade 10 Life Science teachers understand and implement critical thinking in their teaching practice. I conducted the study in two secondary schools from the Omusati region in Namibia using a case study to gain insight into the implementation of critical thinking. Three data collection instruments: interviews, document analysis and class observations were used. The reason for conducting this study was to gain a better understanding of how teachers use various strategies to foster critical thinking skills in Life Science and the challenges they experience in teaching in secondary schools. The results of the study revealed that teachers have a theoretical understanding of what critical thinking implies and the role it plays in learning. They are also aware of the strategies used to develop critical thinking skills. However, these theoretical perspectives do not reflect in their teaching in that some of the strategies that the teachers used did not bring about meaningful learning. Learners are still required to recall factual knowledge, thus active involvement of the learners is limited. The study also revealed that there are specific issues that hamper the implementation of critical thinking, which include superficial understanding of learner-centered education, teacher-tell approach, overcrowded curriculum, inexplicit syllabus, lack of good examples from the textbooks and examinations, too short lesson periods, lack of language proficiency and lack of professional development. The findings indicate that despite the theoretical understanding of the teachers in this study, their actual practice of developing critical thinking skills is problematic. The study concludes that teachers should be encouraged to design better-structured activities in order to involve learners beyond just being listeners. In light of these findings, the study recognizes a need for ongoing in-service professional development to support teachers in modelling critical thinking to their learners and to teach them to think critically. The findings of the study will serve to inform both my and my colleague’s professional practice as advisory teachers with regard to what to focus on when advising and supporting the teachers in schools.

This study sought to investigate teacher, learner and parental perceptions and understanding of a whole school approach in environmental education (EE). There were five schools piloting environmental education through a whole school development approach in the Oshana Region of Namibia. The study was conducted in two rural schools in the Oshana Region. The schools were selected because they participated and piloted the infusion of environmental education themes in the curriculum through the whole school approach during the Supporting Environmental Education in Namibia (SEEN) project piloting phase from 2001 to 2005. This study was shaped and informed by international theories, practices and perspectives of a whole school approach as cited in chapter two of this study. In other words a whole school approach has provided theoretical background information and a practical framework on which this study was built. A whole school approach provides a theoretical understanding of how the school community, the biophysical environment, as well as the curriculum can benefit from EE projects through a whole school development approach. The whole school approach, discussed in this study, provides an opportunity to see the link between the whole school approach and ESD in order to understand the role a whole school approach plays in the implementation of ESD in Namibia. The research took the form of an interpretive case study focusing on a study of two teachers, two learners, and two members of the community. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and site observations. This study was undertaken two years later after the Supporting Environmental Education Namibia (SEEN) pilot project phased out. The findings indicate that despite the training and support received by the schools during the operation of the Supporting Environmental Education Namibia (SEEN) pilot project, schools are still experiencing problems with the application of a whole school approach. The findings revealed that the curriculum should provide guidelines and examples to support teachers on how to integrate environmental education in the teaching and learning process. The results of the study indicate that teachers, learners and members of the community have a limited understanding about how a whole school development approach in environmental education is linked to Education Sustainable Development (ESD) and the four dimensions of the environment.