This is a qualitative interpretive study undertaken through a case study design. The study was carried out to investigate the responsiveness of Social Studies teacher training curriculum towards democratic citizenship education (DCE) with two colleges of education (primary) in Botswana, and the University of Botswana. The following instruments were used as a means to gather data: individual interviews, group interviews, qualitative-questionnaire and document analysis. The participants for the study were drawn from colleges of education Social Studies lecturers and student-teachers with Social Studies as a major subject and the University of Botswana lecturers in the Faculty of Education. The study was inspired by the quest for democratisation of the school system in Botswana through a responsive curriculum. Botswana is dubbed a shining example of democracy, yet active participation of citizens in the national agenda is far to be admired. The best genesis for this enormous task is with teacher training because teachers play a pivotal role in transforming the society through the diffusion of requisite knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes. Thus, this argument positions this study to explore the responsiveness of teacher training curriculum at primary teacher training colleges towards DCE. This study was informed by the constructivist perspective on education and teaching. Constructivism is defined by Darforth and Smith (2005) as a broad set of interrelated theories that suggest that knowledge is human creation. This means that, the ideas, attitudes and practices referred to as constructivism are about how humans who learn by building knowledge cooperatively through social interaction and application of prior knowledge in a continual interpretation of ongoing experiences. Moreover, this explains that people explore events and environments, interact among themselves and confront situations and challenge they encounter. The findings of the study show that the teaching of DCE at colleges of education has not been successful as was expected. Firstly, according to the participants, the curriculum does not have adequate content on DCE. Secondly, the values of DCE which are capable of developing student-teachers to be effective citizenship education teachers are not well included in the syllabus. Thirdly, college lecturers believe in active methods of teaching for DCE but perform the opposite in their classes. Lastly, colleges have a lot of challenges that hamper effective transmission of DCE. These range from lack of appropriate educational material for DCE to college leadership that does not recognise the voices of the students in decision making. This study, however, recognises efforts made by colleges to train formidable Social Studies teachers for the transmission of DCE. The study elevates an argument that in-service teachers need support in their effort to transmit DCE to pupils in primary schools. Thus, in the light of the pervasive influence of findings from this study I recommend that policy makers and curriculum planners should consider updating lecturers about the type of Social Studies teacher they are expected to produce. Also I recommend that colleges should review their study materials to align them to the ideals of DCE, with a view to fill the gaps and deficiencies that exist in some topics. Lastly, the study concludes by raising an essential argument that with the current teacher training curriculum and classroom atmosphere in colleges of education, Botswana’s goal of training effective and functional citizenry is an illusion. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum studies)

The education reform efforts in Botswana have focused predominantly on teacher preparation, recruitment and compensation. Recruitment efforts have resulted in a significant number of expatriates working with indigenous teachers in many schools. However, as the schools are currently upgraded and restructured, the quality of the working relationships forged between indigenous and expatriate teachers represents one vital aspect in the reform effort that has gone almost unattended. Many teachers have become dissatisfied and concerned about these relationships, despite compensation and preparation. A decisive first step in attending to these relationships lies in understanding how they develop. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify and describe factors related to the development of working relationships between indigenous and expatriate teachers and illustrate how those factors contribute to the development of these relationships. The study employed a micropolitical perspective and through phenomenological interviews, observation and document analysis, indicated that cultural differences in language and communication, regard for time, handling of student discipline, work ethics and professionalism along with ambiguity and uncertainty, professional and interpersonal obligations, indigenous to expatriate teacher ratio and the interplay of micropolitics are related to the development of these relationships. Results, however, are specific to one school context and should not be generalized. The study recommends management strategies such as provision of programmes for cultural exchange, communication mode standardization, a dean of discipline system, faculty building and further research to redress the situation. / Further Teacher Education / M.Ed.

This research investigated the educational orientation of teacher educators in colleges of education in Botswana whether pedagogic or andragogic, and how they influence their educational practice. The methods of investigation were, a literature study of belief systems, andragogy and pedagogy as well as the nature of educational orientation, a survey of the educational orientation of teacher educators in Botswana using a structured Educational Orientation Questionnaire (EOQ) adopted from Hadley (Quam, 1998) and a semi-structured group interview to a stratified random sample of student teachers at two of the colleges of education. The results showed that most teacher educators in colleges of education in Botswana had a pedagogical rather than an andragogical orientation. They predominantly use educator-centred rather student-centred teaching methods. / Educational Studies / M Ed. (Didactics)

At every educational level reading is a powerful tool for academic success because it provides students with access to information. Comprehension is crucial to reading. Many students at Lobatse College of Education, Botswana, have problems comprehending L2 reading materials and thus struggle academically because English is the medium of instruction. To some extent, methods of teaching L2 reading contribute to students’ reading failure. It is said that how we teach is as important as what we teach. Thus, how L2 reading is taught is important for improving students’ understanding of texts and their L2 academic performance. This study focuses on teaching reading as a process which involves an application of reading strategies in order to facilitate comprehension of texts. The overall aim of the research is concerned with the improvement of methods of teaching L2 reading comprehension in Botswana Colleges of Education. The specific objective was to implement reading strategy instruction programme (RSI) to see what effect it would have on (i) on L2 students’ use of strategies during reading (ii) on L2 students’ reading comprehension, and (iii) on L2 students’ English academic performance. Using a quasi-experimental pre-posttest design, an explicit RSI programme was implemented over six-week period in a Botswana College of Education. Two intact cohorts of second-year teacher trainees were randomly assigned to a control and intervention groups. A reading strategy questionnaire and a reading comprehension test were used to examine the relationship between strategy use and level of comprehension. A discrepancy emerged between the self-reports responses of the participants and their actual performance in reading text. Although they claimed to be strategic readers the results suggested that they were not in fact reading strategically.The Cohen’s d analysis yielded a large effect size. This corroborates the significant differences that emerged between the two cohorts in their posttest comprehension results. The intervention group showed significant gains in strategy use and reading comprehension after the six-week intervention period. This suggests that even a short period of intervention can be beneficial to L2 students. However, these effects did not manifest themselves in the students’ English academic performance. This suggests that students need more exposure and more opportunities to practice applying strategies to texts that they read before the effect spill over into academic performance in general. The findings from this study have important implications for the teaching reading in Botswana in both L1 and L2 context. This research also point to further avenues for reading research in Botswana, and cautions against a reliance on questionnaire data alone in reading research; the triangulation of data is important to gain an accurate and deeper understanding of reading practices and reading performance. / Linguistics / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

Theological Education by Extension (TEE) for parishioners is the general area of study. However, focus is placed on the developing of a curriculum, particularly on the problems and challenges around developing of a relevant TEE curriculum. Four different TEE programmes in Botswana were studied. The findings showed that problems were experienced by respondents and others who are involved in TEEs in Botswana. The respondents could identify and describe some of such problems and challenges. Therefore the researcher could arrive at the following conclusion:- Students, staff and all other parties of a TEE must collectively and fully participate in the developing of the curriculum. Moreover, the socio-cultural context influences TEE curriculum; therefore, students need to be trained to respond to such influences in their life situations. Once again, it is important that the curriculum policy and the process of planning take into account of some basic concerns like the theological presuppositions, aims and objectives and basic commitments or foci behind the curriculum. If these concerns are well attended, a more relevant TEE curriculum can be developed. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / Th. M. (Practical Theology)

The state of moral decline has recently come under scrutiny in South Africa and abroad. Moral development is nurtured and developed by moral teaching. South Africa has put in place various avenues for moral education in order to curb moral degeneration. However, due to the continuing social ills that are experienced in the country further avenues of moral education ought to be explored. Due to the multicultural nature of the South African population, moral considerations should consider the strengths that cultural diversity in moral education can contribute toward a moral society. Moral teachings have been explored through education and religious chastity; however, the indigenous knowledge systems of South Africans have not been tapped in this regard. This is partly because the scientific world has not seen it fit to accommodate these knowledges in the knowledge production sphere. The study employed a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore the role of traditional teachings in Batswana female initiation schools and how the traditional teachings contribute to morality and the construction of womanhood. A decolonial epistemic perspective, the African epistemology and social constructionism were used as concepts that formed a framework to allow the critiquing of main stream theories and to allow a grounded theory to emerge from a Batswana female initiation context. Unstructured interviews with initiation instructors as primary data sources were conducted. Secondary data sources included initiation songs and dance; conversations with people who are involved in initiation schools, people who are knowledgeable in Setswana culture and the cultural celebration that the researcher attended were used. The textual data was analysed using the Attride Sterling model of thematic networks. Womanhood as a particular identity and female morality as mainly determined by context are the main themes in the study. Womanhood and morality are intertwined within this context that determines womanhood according to acceptable behaviours. An ethic of responsibility was the overarching theme when analyzing how female morality and womanhood is constructed in the context of initiation schools in Taung. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Consultation)

The education reform efforts in Botswana have focused predominantly on teacher preparation, recruitment and compensation. Recruitment efforts have resulted in a significant number of expatriates working with indigenous teachers in many schools. However, as the schools are currently upgraded and restructured, the quality of the working relationships forged between indigenous and expatriate teachers represents one vital aspect in the reform effort that has gone almost unattended. Many teachers have become dissatisfied and concerned about these relationships, despite compensation and preparation. A decisive first step in attending to these relationships lies in understanding how they develop. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify and describe factors related to the development of working relationships between indigenous and expatriate teachers and illustrate how those factors contribute to the development of these relationships. The study employed a micropolitical perspective and through phenomenological interviews, observation and document analysis, indicated that cultural differences in language and communication, regard for time, handling of student discipline, work ethics and professionalism along with ambiguity and uncertainty, professional and interpersonal obligations, indigenous to expatriate teacher ratio and the interplay of micropolitics are related to the development of these relationships. Results, however, are specific to one school context and should not be generalized. The study recommends management strategies such as provision of programmes for cultural exchange, communication mode standardization, a dean of discipline system, faculty building and further research to redress the situation. / Further Teacher Education / M.Ed.

This research investigated the educational orientation of teacher educators in colleges of education in Botswana whether pedagogic or andragogic, and how they influence their educational practice. The methods of investigation were, a literature study of belief systems, andragogy and pedagogy as well as the nature of educational orientation, a survey of the educational orientation of teacher educators in Botswana using a structured Educational Orientation Questionnaire (EOQ) adopted from Hadley (Quam, 1998) and a semi-structured group interview to a stratified random sample of student teachers at two of the colleges of education. The results showed that most teacher educators in colleges of education in Botswana had a pedagogical rather than an andragogical orientation. They predominantly use educator-centred rather student-centred teaching methods. / Educational Studies / M Ed. (Didactics)

At every educational level reading is a powerful tool for academic success because it provides students with access to information. Comprehension is crucial to reading. Many students at Lobatse College of Education, Botswana, have problems comprehending L2 reading materials and thus struggle academically because English is the medium of instruction. To some extent, methods of teaching L2 reading contribute to students’ reading failure. It is said that how we teach is as important as what we teach. Thus, how L2 reading is taught is important for improving students’ understanding of texts and their L2 academic performance. This study focuses on teaching reading as a process which involves an application of reading strategies in order to facilitate comprehension of texts. The overall aim of the research is concerned with the improvement of methods of teaching L2 reading comprehension in Botswana Colleges of Education. The specific objective was to implement reading strategy instruction programme (RSI) to see what effect it would have on (i) on L2 students’ use of strategies during reading (ii) on L2 students’ reading comprehension, and (iii) on L2 students’ English academic performance. Using a quasi-experimental pre-posttest design, an explicit RSI programme was implemented over six-week period in a Botswana College of Education. Two intact cohorts of second-year teacher trainees were randomly assigned to a control and intervention groups. A reading strategy questionnaire and a reading comprehension test were used to examine the relationship between strategy use and level of comprehension. A discrepancy emerged between the self-reports responses of the participants and their actual performance in reading text. Although they claimed to be strategic readers the results suggested that they were not in fact reading strategically.The Cohen’s d analysis yielded a large effect size. This corroborates the significant differences that emerged between the two cohorts in their posttest comprehension results. The intervention group showed significant gains in strategy use and reading comprehension after the six-week intervention period. This suggests that even a short period of intervention can be beneficial to L2 students. However, these effects did not manifest themselves in the students’ English academic performance. This suggests that students need more exposure and more opportunities to practice applying strategies to texts that they read before the effect spill over into academic performance in general. The findings from this study have important implications for the teaching reading in Botswana in both L1 and L2 context. This research also point to further avenues for reading research in Botswana, and cautions against a reliance on questionnaire data alone in reading research; the triangulation of data is important to gain an accurate and deeper understanding of reading practices and reading performance. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

Theological Education by Extension (TEE) for parishioners is the general area of study. However, focus is placed on the developing of a curriculum, particularly on the problems and challenges around developing of a relevant TEE curriculum. Four different TEE programmes in Botswana were studied. The findings showed that problems were experienced by respondents and others who are involved in TEEs in Botswana. The respondents could identify and describe some of such problems and challenges. Therefore the researcher could arrive at the following conclusion:- Students, staff and all other parties of a TEE must collectively and fully participate in the developing of the curriculum. Moreover, the socio-cultural context influences TEE curriculum; therefore, students need to be trained to respond to such influences in their life situations. Once again, it is important that the curriculum policy and the process of planning take into account of some basic concerns like the theological presuppositions, aims and objectives and basic commitments or foci behind the curriculum. If these concerns are well attended, a more relevant TEE curriculum can be developed. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / Th. M. (Practical Theology)