This study investigates and expands learning associated with the co-management of fisheries resources to inform extension and training in the fisheries sector in two case study sites in Malawi. The study was located in the field of environmental education with a specific focus on community learning, agency and sustainability practices in co-management of fisheries resources. It focuses on how fisheries stakeholder learning can be mediated through expansive social learning processes to inform extension and training in the Malawi fisheries sector and aims at understanding learning as an emergent, agency centred process of change through social learning models that are said to have power to mobilise community agency for change. The empirical research for the study was conducted in two Malawian fishing communities: in Lake Malombe and the south-east arm of Lake Malawi using qualitative case study research design. The two sites were selected because they were the first sites in Malawi to implement fisheries co-management programmes following the failure of centralised management of fisheries resources. Data was generated through interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, observations and change laboratory workshops in both sites. The two sites fall under one administrative office based in Mangochi where the two important institutions of the sector – the Fisheries Research Unit of the Department of Fisheries and the Fisheries College (a government institution responsible for the training of extension services) are also based. Both sites have implemented new governance structures named Beach Village Committees which are community-based organisational structures that function in parallel with traditional authorities to manage the fishery. Contextual and literature review work showed that extension services and programmes over the past hundred years, as observed in the fisheries sector in Malawi and in extension services elsewhere, have co-evolved with approaches to natural resources management. Early approaches to natural resources management involved traditional management (associated extension services and programmes were community based); later fisheries governance practices changed to centralised management and associated extension approaches were mainly top-down involving command and control or technology transfer. These early approaches have been problematic as resource users were pushed away from their own resources and were viewed as poachers. This resulted in loss of ownership among resources users. Recently in Malawi, after the change of government to democracy in 1994, fisheries management policy focused on co-management and/or adaptive co-management approaches, an approach that has also been adopted in other African water bodies. This has implications for extension service programmes in the fisheries sector that are not yet well defined. The study’s literature review revealed that co-management approaches assume collaborative learning, or co-learning, also termed social learning, or approaches that promote the engagement of different actors who are working on shared practice. They also assume a new form of agency among co-management stakeholders and extension workers. However, the theoretical foundations for establishing co-learning or social learning approaches in support of co-management policies are not well established in the fisheries co-management sector in Malawi, nor are the practices of how to support co-learning amongst diverse stakeholders in the fisheries co-management in the Lake Malawi context. This study sought to address this gap in knowledge and practice.

M. Ed. (Educational and Learning Support) / Society has never before experienced a human tragedy of the magnitude caused by the orphan crisis. Life for the estimated 4 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa is often desperate where children attempt to care for themselves and each other without adequate adult· support. Orphaned children are not only traumatized by the loss of their parents, they then also lack adult guidance during crucial developmental stages of their lives, and educational concerns are usually neglected. The social costs that emerge are juvenile crime, reduced educational levels, unskilled workers and a general burden on the state. With the introduction of the School Based Support Teams (SBST) in an attempt to further the implementation of inclusive education, schools have become aware of the need to support all learners in their community, including orphans. This study investigated the nature of the role played by the SBST of a primary school in their endeavours to support orphaned learners. During their work with the orphans, the SBST encountered many challenges that emerged as diverse needs of the children were revealed.Initially, the focus was on meeting lower order needs such as food, clothing, shelter and school equipment. In meeting these needsthe SBST embraced a position of collaboration with local businesses and child welfare organisations in providing the necessary resources. Help was also given in the planting of a vegetable garden, with an irrigation system which was tilled by volunteers from the parent community. School uniforms were provided by the Department of Social Development and the Rotary club. With time however, the SBST, started taking an additional responsibility, such as obtaining identity documents, applying for child grants and arranging for social worker involvement in the management of foster parents and custody. Caregivers and foster parents were approached and aided in their applications for exemption from paying school fees and close collaboration with custody courts was maintained. Working more deeply with the orphans, higher order needs emerged regarding grieVing for lost parents, the need to re-establish social groups and family ties, and the need for spiritual guidance and a sense of hope for the future. Responding to this additional challenge the SBST established a link with the local church to provide counselling support for the orphans. The schools guidance department conducted a workshop for the teachers on basic counselling and bereavement counselling which serve to empower the staff to deal with the orphans' emotional trauma on a daily basis. Since the orphaned learners were now being physically and emotionally supported, learning problems emerged due to their previous interruptions in schooling. The SBST called on the expertise of remedially trained teachers to provide extra classes and supervise homework for these learners in an attempt to address their scholastic backlog. Selected orphans were loaned solar powered reading lamps for use at home where there is no electricity. Orphaned learners were also encouraged to participate in the school's sporting and extra-mural programme and the necessary sport gear and arrangements were facilitated by the SBST. As the nature of the SBST's involvement deepened, a sub-committee was established, the welfare portfolio, whose sole responsibility was the well-being of the school's orphans. In managing the growing orphan population in the school, they compiled a database of the orphans in the school detailing their specific problems, needs, home circumstances and the actions required by the school in supporting each child's individual needs. A workshop was conducted for the foster parents and caregivers on budgeting and using the child care grants wisely for the orphans. Since it was revealed that some caregivers were abusing the funds on alcohol and neglecting the orphans in their care. The welfare committee also negotiated half price transport fees with the local taxi service in the transportation of orphaned learners to and from school. Apartnership was established with the local police station to gain their support. Should any orphaned learners report physical abuse, they would be respectfully treated. The systemic and collaborative nature of the role of the SBST in this primary school is highlighted in this case study. Without the visionary focus and strategic planning of the SBST in supporting the orphaned learners, they would probably have dropped out of school. Thus the transformation of the SBST into a broad-based structure which networks with a myriad of sources is crucial in fostering inclusive educational practices in South African schools.