Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The exclusion of girls who fall pregnant while attending school has long been a contentious issue in the literature as it normally ends their schooling. Namibian school-going girls who become pregnant while attending school are no longer excluded from continuing with their education, as new policies in education prevent such exclusion. This qualitative research explores teachers’ experiences of and support practices for school-going teenage mothers in Namibian secondary schools, given this policy context of inclusion. The study was framed within Bronfenbrenners’ bio-ecological system theory focusing on teachers’ interactions with teenage mothers. Eight participants were selected purposively from two secondary schools in the Oshikoto region, Namibia, provided that they were secondary-school teachers and had taught teenage mothers in the past three years. Data were collected in the form of semi-structured focus groups, follow-up individual interviews and field notes. Each focus group was represented by four teachers from the same school, two males and two females. Qualitative content analysis was used as a method of data analysis. The themes that emerged included the following: teachers’ responses to the inclusion of teenage mothers in schools, unpacking teachers’ perceptions on the policy of inclusion of teenage mothers, and support practices. The results revealed that there was a lack of resources and teachers’ felt burdened, not only in the classroom but generally in the school. Teachers, nevertheless, did have empathy for mothers as learners. They also felt both satisfied and dissatisfied, often blaming the inclusion policy for their difficulties in managing classroom dilemmas when teenage mothers were present. They displayed conditional caring and raised concerns about gender and care, as well as expressing a need for comprehensive information. The key finding was that teachers made a distinction between pregnant and parenting learners when thinking of support. The physical appearance of a pregnant learner played a role. Therefore teachers cared for a pregnant learner because they feared that something might happen to the pregnant learner while in their care in the classroom. This resulted in teachers seemingly providing “strategic caring” based on the condition of the pregnant learner. From the findings, it is recommended that pre-service and in-service training of teachers should pay attention to the practise of inclusion of teenage mothers in schools. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die uitsluiting van meisies wat tydens hul skoolloopbaan swanger word, is lank reeds in die literatuur ʼn netelige saak aangesien dit gewoonlik die einde van hul skoolloopbaan beteken. Namibiese skoolmeisies wat swanger word terwyl hulle nog skool bywoon, word nie meer verbied om hul skoolloopbaan voort te sit nie aangesien nuwe onderwysbeleide sodanige uitsluiting voorkom. Hierdie kwalitatiewe navorsing ondersoek onderwysers se ervaring van en die ondersteuningspraktyke vir skoolgaande tienermoeders in sekondêre skole in Namibië gesien uit die hoek van ʼn beleid van inklusie. Die studie val binne die raamwerk van Bronfenbrenner se bio-ekologiese sistemiese teorie en fokus op onderwysers se interaksie met tienermoeders. Agt deelnemers is deur middel van doelgerigte steekproefneming uit twee sekondêre skole in die Oshikoto-gebied in Namibië gekies met die voorbehoud dat hulle aan ʼn sekondêre skool onderwys gegee het en in die voorafgaande drie jaar tienermoeders onderrig het. Data oor onderwysers se ervarings is versamel deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde fokusgroepe, opgevolg deur individuele onderhoude en veldnotas. Elke fokusgroep is verteenwoordig deur vier onderwysers van dieselfde skool waarvan twee manlik en twee vroulik was. Kwalitatiewe inhoudsanalise is gebruik as metode om data te analiseer. Die temas wat te voorskyn gekom het, sluit in: onderwysers se reaksie ten opsigte van die insluiting van tienermoeders in skole, hul opvattings oor die beleid van inklusiwiteit van tienermoeders asook ondersteuningspraktyke. Die resultate het openbaar dat daar ʼn tekort aan hulpmiddels was, dat onderwysers gevoel het dat ʼn las op hulle geplaas is, nie net in die klaskamer nie, maar ook in die algemene skoolopset en ook dat onderwysers empatie getoon het teenoor leerders wat moeders was. Hulle het terselfdertyd tevrede en ontevrede gevoel en het dikwels die inklusiwiteitsbeleid blameer vir die probleme wat hulle ondervind het om dilemmas in die klaskamer te hanteer waar tienermoeders teenwoordig was. Hulle het voorwaardelike sorg aan die dag gelê, besorgdheid oor geslag en versorging uitgespreek en het ʼn behoefte aan omvattende inligting gehad. Die belangrikste bevinding was dat onderwyses ʼn onderskeid getref het tussen swanger leerders en leerders wat reeds ouers was wanneer ondersteuning ter sprake gekom het. Die fisieke voorkoms van ʼn swanger leerder het ʼn invloed gehad. Daarom het bevindings veronderstel dat onderwysers besorgd was oor ʼn swanger leerder wat in hul klaskamer was omdat hulle bang was dat iets met die swanger leerder kon gebeur terwyl sy in hul sorg in die klaskamer was. Dit het tot gevolg gehad dat onderwysers selfgerigte of strategiese sorg verleen het op grond van die toestand van die leerder. Na aanleiding van die bevindings word aanbeveel dat voordiens- en indiensopleiding van onderwysers aandag moet skenk aan die praktyk van inklusiwiteit van tienermoeders in skole.

HIV and AIDS are still among the world's most significant public health challenges. Education is widely regarded as an effective response to the pandemic - a “social vaccine” that can increase young people’s awareness of the dangers of HIV infection and thus decrease their vulnerability to HIV and AIDS. Integrating HIV and AIDS awareness across the school curriculum is therefore one of the strategies being implemented to educate learners about the pandemic. There are challenges; however, related to the central goal of integrating HIV and AIDS education and also to the form – in particular, the pedagogical practices - that this might best take. This qualitative case study research investigated teachers’ perspectives, experiences, and levels of preparedness with regard to integrating HIV and AIDS information in the main carrier subjects, mathematics and geography, in some junior secondary schools in Namibia. The study situates debates on curriculum integration and draws on Fogarty’s (1999) models of curriculum integration as a conceptual and analytic tool to examine the nature, form and content of integration. It includes a questionnaire on curriculum integration completed by 53 teachers as well as a component consisting of observations and interviews with four teachers from two schools. The results reveal patterns that also emerge in earlier studies on curriculum integration. This approach is already widely recognized as challenging and problematic in the context of general education. However, this and other studies show that when HIV and AIDS are brought into the arena, additional factors come into play and further complicate the process, because of the sensitivity of this topic. In addition, the task of integrating HIV and AIDS education has been added to an already overcrowded curriculum. Teachers have not been provided with adequate (or any) training with concrete examples that might facilitate their efforts to integrate HIV and AIDS information into subjects like the ones under scrutiny in this study. The picture that emerges from examining the evidence on HIV and AIDS integration against Fogarty’s (1991) 10 models of curriculum integration is one in which teaching practices are ad hoc, opportunistic and haphazard right across the sample. The choice of integration models for implementation of the HIV and AIDS component in these subjects has been largely left to the opportunity, ability and personal inclinations of individual teachers. The results point to a range of responses, with many teachers not teaching HIV and AIDS at all or some hesitantly experimenting with different approaches; all to limited effect in realizing the intended national goals of this curriculum project. The overall pattern also reveals a degree of frustration among the teachers in the sample, who acknowledged and were concerned at the enormity of the HIV and AIDS challenge facing the country. They recognised the motive behind the policy to have the education system play an important role in response to the HIV challenge, but felt frustrated with the social, personal and practical difficulties of actually implementing the policy within the context of poor (or no) training, knowledge, and support.

Namibia is one of the countries with distinct historical education systems that shifted from the traditional teacher-centred approach to learner-centred approach to improve learning outcomes. Despite for the call upon secondary school teachers in Namibia to adopt the learner-centred approach, the pass rates for Grade 10 Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) in Namibia remains very low with about 50% of the Grade 10 JSC learners failing to make it for senior secondary level. Therefore, this study sought to explore science teachers’ knowledge, practice and perception of learner-centred approach. This study employed a pragmatic approach using an explanatory sequential mixedmethods design to collect quantitative data first and then explaining the quantitative results with in-depth qualitative data. The structured questionnaire, interview protocol and observation protocol were used as research instruments to collect data from a sample of 20 participants. The quantitative data analysis was used for the data collected by the questionnaire while qualitative data analysis was used for the data collected by interview and the observation protocols. The results showed an understanding of learner-centred approach and most teachers use a mixed approach to teaching that incorporates both learner-centred approach and teacher-centred approach. Furthermore, results showed that teachers view learner-centred approach as effective but its effectiveness is reduced by poor participation of learners, large class sizes and inadequate instructional materials. Following the results, it was recommended that the Ministry of Education and education policy makers must consider strategies to reduce challenges to the effectiveness of learner-centred approach to improve learner performance. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

Abstract in English, Xhosa and Venda / Open educational resources (OER) is a new innovation coined to bridge the educational divide by way of providing free quality learning resources. Consequently, this study explored the perception of the faculty members of the Namibian open and distance learning institutions on the use of OER as a pedagogical approach. This study was prompted by the presumption that if ODL institutions adopt open educational resources to replace costly textbooks, an increased number of the Namibian population could access education in the equitable manner. The study focused on faculty members from the three public ODL institutions in Namibia, namely, the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL), University of Namibia (UNAM)-Centre for Open, Distance and eLearning (CODeL) and Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST)-Centre of Open and Lifelong Learning (COLL). The following integrated theories were adopted to underpin this study: Transformative Learning Theory, Heutagogy Learning Theory, Cognitive Learning Theory and Social Learning Theory, Constructivism Learning Theory, Connectivism Theory and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. The theories were compared to the findings to assess their applicability. This is a qualitative case underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm. Data were collected through interviews, non-participant observations and document analysis, and analysed through the inductive approach. The results of this study showed inconsistency between the perception of the faculty members and the use of OER within the ODL institutions in Namibia. Although the faculty members displayed positive attitudes towards the use of OER, very little has been achieved in the use of OER within the institutions for the benefit of the Namibian ODL students. The study identified challenges that impede the adoption of OER at institutional level, such as lack of institutional policies, lack of awareness, technological factors, as well as management support. The study further crafted strategies to address challenges, including the OER design based on the Diffusion of Innovation Model. The study advanced recommendations for consideration by the institutions and the faculty members as well as suggestions for future research. The knowledge contribution made by this PhD is the proposed OER design for adoption by the ODL institutions to facilitate the use of OER by faculty members. / Ubuchule bokufunda ekuthiwa yiOpen Educational Resources (OER) licebo elitsha lokunikezela simahla ngemithombo yokufunda esemgangathweni, nelenzelwe ukukhawulelana nobunzima bokushiyashiyana emfundweni. Esi sifundo siphonononge indlela abacinga ngayo abahlohli bamaziko emfundo aseNamibia avulekileyo nafundisa abafundi bekude (iiODL), ngokusetyenziswa kweOER njengendlela yokufundisa. Esi sifundo sisuswe kukucingela ukuba xa amaziko emfundo avulekileyo nafundisa abafundi bekude enokusebenzisa izixhobo zokufunda ezivulekileyo endaweni yokusebenzisa iincwadi ezibiza imali eninzi, linganda inani labantu abanokuxhamla imfundo ngokulinganayo. Esi sifundo sigxininise kubahlohli bamaziko amathathu kawonkewonke, angawemfundo evulekileyo nafundisa abafundi bekude eNamibia, angala - iNamibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL), iUniversity of Namibia (UNAM) - Centre for Open, Distance and eLearning (CODeL) kunye neNamibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) - Centre of Open and Lifelong Learning (COLL). Kusetyenziswe ezi ngcingane zihlangeneyo zilandelayo njengezisekelo zokukhokela esi sifundo: Ingcingane Yokufunda Okuhambelana Nenguqu (Transformative Learning Theory), Ingcingane Yokufunda Ngokuziqhuba Komfundi (Heutagogy Learning Theory), Ingcingane Yokufunda Ngokuqiqa Neyemfundo Esekelwe Kwezentlalo (Cognitive Learning Theory and Social Learning Theory), Ingcingane Yokufunda Ngokuzakhela Ukuqonda (Constructivism Learning Theory), Ingcingane Yokufunda Ngoncedo Lobuchwepheshe (Connectivism Theory) kwakunye nengcingane Yokufunda Ngokunwenwa Kobuchule (Diffusion of Innovations Theory). Ezi ngcingane ziye zathelekiswa nokufunyanisisweyo ngenjongo yokukhangela ukuba zingasebenziseka kusini na. Kusetyenziswe indlela yophando ngokuzathuza nokutolika izimvo ezahlukeneyo. Iinkcukacha zolwazi okanye idatha yaqokelelwa ngokuqhuba udliwano ndlebe nabathatha inxaxheba, ukuqwalasela abangathathi nxaxheba nokuphengulula imibhalo ukuze kudalwe ingcingane entsha. Iziphumo zesi sifundo zivelise ukungahambelani phakathi kwengcinga yabahlohli nokusetyenziswa kweOER kumaziko emfundo avulekileyo nafundisa abafundi bekude eNamibia. Nangona abahlohli bebonakalisa uthakazelelo ngokusebenzisa iOER, kuncinci kakhulu okwenziweyo malunga nokusebenzisa iOER kumaziko emfundo ekuncedeni abafundi baseNamibia kumaziko avulekileyo nafundisa abafundi bekude. Esi sifundo sichonge imingeni ethibaza ukusetyenziswa kweOER kumaziko emfundo, mingeni leyo ifana nokungabikho kwemigaqo nkqubo, ukungabikho lwazi, imiba yobuchwepheshe kwakunye nentswela nkxaso yabalawuli. Kuqwetywe amacebo obuchule okulwa nemingeni, macebo lawo aquka ukuqulunqwa kweOER esekelwe kwingcingane Yokunwenwa Kobuchule. Kunikwe iingcebiso nezimvo ezinokuqwalaselwa ngamaziko emfundo nabahlohli ngophando olusenokulandela olu. Igalelo lolu phando luyilo olucetywayo lweOER olunokwamkelwa ngamaziko emfundo avulekileyo nafundisa abafundi bekude ukuze kukhuthazwe ukusetyenziswa kweOER ngabahlohli. / Zwiko zwa nnyi na nnyi zwa pfunzo (OER) ndi vhubveledzi vhuswa ha u ḓisa khethekanyo ya pfunzo nga u ṋetshedza wo vhofholowa zwiko zwa u guda zwa ndeme. Ngudo heyi yo wanulusa mbonalo ya miraḓo ine ya funza yunivesithi kana magudedzini a Namibia ya zwiimiswa zwa pfunzo yo vulelwaho nnyi na nnyi ya u guda u kule (ODL) nga ha u shumisa OER sa nḓila ya pfunzo. Ngudo heyi yo ṱuṱuwedzwa nga u humbulela ha uri arali zwiimiswa zwa ODL zwo ṱanganedza OER u thivha bugu dza u gudisa dzine dza ḓura, tshivhalo tshi re nṱha tsha vhathu vha Namibia vha nga swikelela pfunzo nga nḓila i linganaho. Ngudo yo sedza kha u bva kha zwiimiswa zwa nnyi na nnyi zwa ODL zwa Namibia, zwine madzina azwo avha Gudedzi ḽa Namibia ḽa u Guda ha Nnyi na nnyi (NAMCOL), Yunivesithi ya Namibia (UNAM) – Senthara ya Nnyi na nnyi, u Guda u kule na nga Lubuvhisia (CODeL) na Yunivesithi ya Saintsi na Thekhinoḽodzhi ya Namibia (NUST) Senthara ya nnyi na nnyi ya u Guda ha Tshoṱhe (COLL). Thyeori dzo ṱanganelaho dzi tevhelaho dzo shumiswa u tikedza ngudo iyi: thyeori ya u guda ine vhagudiswa vha ṱalutshedza na u tshenzhela zwipfi zwavho, thyeori ya u ta u guda ha iwe muṋe, thyeori ya u guda ya kuhumbulele na thyeori ya u guda ya matshilisano, thyeori ine ya dzhiela nṱha nḓivho na kupfesesele kwa vhagudiswa kha tshenzhemo yavho phanḓa ha musi vha sa athu u ya tshikoloni, thyeori ya u pfesesa u guda nga didzhithala na thyeori ine ya ṱalutshedza phimo ya mihumbulo miswa na kuphaḓalele kwa thekhinoḽodzhi. Thyeori dzo vhambedzwa na mawanwa u gaganya u tea hadzo. Heyi ndi ngudo ya khwaḽithethivi yo khwaṱhisedzwaho nga tshiedziso tsha saintsi ya matshilisano. Data yo kuvhanganyiwa nga kha inthaviwu, u sedza hu si na u dzhenelela na u saukanya maṅwalo, na u saukanya nga kuitele kwa u humbula. Mvelelo dza ngudo heyi dzo sumbedza u sa vha na thevhekano ya zwithu vhukati ha kuvhonele kwa miraḓo ine ya funza yunivesithi kana magudedzini na u shumiswa ha OER kha zwiimiswa zwa ODL ngei Namibia. Naho miraḓo ine ya funza yunivesithi kana magudedzini yo sumbedza vhuvha ha vhuḓi kha u shumiswa ha OER, ho swikelelwa zwiṱuku kha u shumiswa ha OER kha zwiimiswa hu tshi itelwa u vhuelwa ha matshudeni a ODL a Namibia. Ngudo yo topola khaedu dze dza thithisa u ṱanganedzwa ha OER kha ḽeveḽe ya tshiimiswa, u fana na ṱhahelelo ya mbekanyamaitele dza tshiimiswa, ṱhahelelo ya tsivhudzo, zwiṱuṱuwedzi zwa thekhinoḽodzhi, na thikhedzo ya ndangulo. Zwiṱirathedzhi zwo bveledzwa u amba nga ha khaedu, hu tshi katelwa na nyolo ya OER zwo ḓi sendeka nga muanḓadzo wa nḓisedzo ya tshiedziso tsha vhubveledzi. Themendelo dza u dzhiela nṱha nga zwiimiswa na nga miraḓo ine ya funza yunivesithi kana magudedzini na khumbudzo kha ṱhoḓisiso dza tshifhingani tshiḓaho zwo itwa. U shela mulenzhe ha nḓivho ho itwaho nga ngudo iyi ndi u kumedza nyolo ya OER uri i ṱanganedzwe nga zwiimiswa zwa ODL u thusa u shumiswa ha OER nga miraḓo ine ya funza yunivesithi kana magudedzini. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum and Instructional studies)