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Conflict is an integral part of school management and its existence must not be shunned as it stimulates creative and innovative ways of thinking which enhance organisational growth and performance. The purpose of the study reported on here was to investigate how education managers executed Thomas and Kilmann's model in managing and resolving conflicts in schools to avert chaos and anarchy with the ultimate intention of enhancing productivity. A constructivist, inductive grounded theory utilising a qualitative approach was employed. Qualitative data were generated using a semi-structured interview protocol from 4 information-rich education managers who were purposively selected. The inclusion criteria for the participants were age, experience, professional qualifications and the sample was determined by theoretical saturation. Data generated were thematically analysed. The study revealed that the conflict management and resolution model used by education managers in schools was contingent to their environment and perception. It also revealed that conflict was innovative and stimulated thought processes. As a result, schools must recruit education managers who are transformative, democratic and equipped with the appropriate strategies for managing and resolving conflict if teachers' morale is to be boosted and productivity enhanced.

In the study reported on here we investigated the impact of Ubuntu on learner behaviour and academic achievement in secondary schools in the Gweru district of Zimbabwe. The study participants comprised 38 learners and 7 teachers from 4 secondary schools in the Gweru district. Data were collected through focus-group discussions, semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analysis. We established that teachers and learners had a satisfactory understanding of how upholding values of Ubuntu contributed to academic achievement among learners. The findings reveal that in addition to other factors affecting academic achievement, like the school and home environment, learners who upheld the values of Ubuntu were disciplined, focused on their studies, and thus attained higher levels of academic achievement compared to learners who lacked Ubuntu and engaged in substance abuse, pre-marital sex, and lacked focus on their schoolwork. Based on the study we recommend that a course on Ubuntu be introduced in teacher training complemented by professional development workshops for teachers in the field to equip them with skills of integrating values of Ubuntu into the curriculum and thus foster the same among learners.

The research reported on in this article was mainly undertaken to determine the obstacles to the enhancement of critical thinking in the learning of history at Form 3 level in secondary schools in the Masvingo urban area of Zimbabwe, in terms of the rationale of developing the learners' critical thinking. The promotion of critical thinking abilities is vital in education, since doing so helps to improve the learners' academic performance, as well as aiding in producing graduates with a multiplicity of skills that are required in the 21st century job market and in society as a whole. We used semi-structured interviews and lesson observations to reach conclusions on what recommendations to make in addressing the research problem. Several factors were identified as hindering the learners' acquisition of critical thinking, including the learners' and teachers' lack of self-efficacy, motivation and the poor learning environment. In addition to reflecting on the possibility of improving the learning and teaching of critical thinking, we recommend that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Zimbabwe's Schools Examination Council, teacher training colleges and teachers should all work together to develop the learners' critical thinking skills within the parameters of the Zimbabwean education system.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations across diverse industries to redraw their business models globally. Businesses crumbled, downsized, laid off workers, streamlined and digitalized their workflow, and maintained skeletal staff to support integral business functions. Remote working and flexible schedules were institutionalized to manage service employees globally. The study compared the effects of work-life balance and employee remuneration on employee job satisfaction and loyalty intentions. The study targeted frontline staff at three public universities in Zimbabwe, and 327 valid responses were obtained. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that employee remuneration, remote working, and flexible scheduling positively and significantly influenced employee job satisfaction. Further, the analysis indicated employee preference for remote working and flexible work scheduling over more pay and benefits. The positive impact of job satisfaction on employee loyalty intentions was also confirmed. This study flags the significant contribution of work-life balance by bringing new empirical evidence on the relative significance of remote working, flexible working arrangements, and employee remuneration on employee job satisfaction and loyalty intentions in the post-pandemic normal. The study recommends that universities should harness digital technologies to promote sustainable remote working and enhanced employee autonomy.

Peer teaching is a valuable practice that helps pre-service teachers to acquire the knowledge and the expertise required for teaching as well as improving their pedagogical content knowledge. For that reason, this study focused on the pre-service mathematics teachers' peer teaching, with the intention of exploring their pedagogical content knowledge as mirrored in peer teaching. The participants were four pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Each participant designed a lesson plan and conducted peer teaching on a mathematics concept of her choice. The lesson plans and videotapes of the participants' peer teaching were the data collection instruments. The components of pedagogical content knowledge were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the pre-service mathematics teachers were knowledgeable about the subject content matter, but their knowledge of learners, understanding of instructional strategies and familiarity of context was inadequate about the topic of their peer teaching. The study recommends an amalgamated teaching of mathematics content courses and pedagogy courses.

This article examines the current thrust to digitalize higher education in Zimbabwe as the country strives to attain its vision to become an upper middle-income economy by 2030. In this regard, Innovation and Industrialisation have been added as missions of special emphasis at all education levels. This entailed that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) adopt the Education 5.0 model and accelerate digitalisation of their operations and curricula. Further impetus of the digitalisation drive emerged from the responses to the COVID-19, such as lockdowns and travel restrictions. This article examines the policy framework that was put in place to digitalise curricula and operation systems in HEIs. A desk review of literature was conducted to examine efforts underway to embrace digitalisation as a new feature and future of higher education. The study established that the majority of institutions have tended to adopt externally developed digitilisation models without adequately adapting them to local circumstances. The study recommends the need for distinct digitalisation policies at both Ministry and HEIs levels, to guide and prepare for the 'disruptive' effects of digitalisation.

Black African students are increasingly choosing the United States as their preferred destination, and many choose to study at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate reasons that may influence their identification and commitment to those PWIs. We interviewed 20 sub-Saharan Africans at two predominantly White Southeastern universities. Findings revealed that construed external image, overall satisfaction with the school, promotion of the institution, and willingness to maintain membership shape the extent to which Black African students are identified and committed to their university of choice. Furthermore, the study also found that prestige does not appear to influence Sub-Saharan African students' identification and commitment to a school in the United States, but race has mixed effects depending on how it gets interpreted by students. These findings suggest implications for research and practice for student affairs professionals to better serve and retain their international populations.

Background: Literacy is an important skill that is necessary for people--especially adolescents--to access electronic media, including mobile devices. The only way to develop competence in reading is by reading more. Young people who enjoy leisure reading are usually more successful readers. In this study, the authors did research into a group of adolescents' leisure practices by using mobile reading devices. Objectives: The objective was to identify the adolescents' leisure reading identities, as the authors wished to know whether one model of leisure reading support suits everybody. Method: A qualitative research approach was employed, making use of literacy practice interviews, the adolescent participants' mobile reading diaries, focus group discussions, and the researchers' personal field notes. Results: Three distinct leisure reading identities were identified: eager readers, 'fifty-fifty' readers, and non-readers. It was thus evident that leisure reading practices require different types of support and encouragement from teachers and parents. Three reading identities surfaced during the study and it is acknowledged that there could be more reading identities. Conclusion: The influence of certain systems and antecedents that could influence the leisure reading habits of the sampled group also surfaced. It became evident that there should be differentiation when groups of adolescents are supported to enhance their leisure reading and, eventually, their reading abilities. Contribution: The article contributes to a better understanding of literacy practices among adolescent learners regarding the use of mobile devices to encourage leisure reading. It could also contribute to language teachers' knowledge about factors in the education system that could influence learners' reading abilities and the necessity to make provision for different reading identities in their teaching.

This study explored implications of incorporating African epistemologies into psychometric testing to strengthen cultural relevance and accuracy of assessment. Focus group discussions were conducted with 20 specialist teachers in Marondera, Zimbabwe to qualitatively examine perceptions of intelligence and test constructs. Additionally, 5 educational psychologists participated in interviews regarding integrating indigenous knowledges. Discussions were thematically analysed to discern constructs meriting attention. Key findings indicated that psychometric testing exhibits limitations by often disregarding communalist epistemologies and prioritising of oral tradition, holism, spirituality and creativity in African worldviews. Participants highlighted risks of misrepresentation when such tenets remain unaddressed. Constructs were elucidated warranting respect in emic-valid assessments. While initial findings suggest recognising discussed, African epistemologies holds potential to help address core validity issues. Future mixed methodology research partnerships with experts are recommended. This includes qualitatively defining constructs, then quantitatively validating inclusion into standardised, culturally-sensitive composite measures upholding scientific standards. Ongoing refinement may help psychometrics authentically evaluate diverse populations' capacities in an inclusive, accurate manner.

In this article we offer a conceptual and practical contribution to the field of STEM education by investigating the concepts educators may include in Quantum Technologies (QT) outreach activities. We embed our approach in the discipline-culture (DC) framework, in which we consider the cultural nuances of QT as an important factor which must not be ignored in education efforts. To this end, a survey study by the pilot project Quantum Technologies Education For Everyone (QuTE4E), investigating key concepts for QT outreach, was conducted between December 2021 and June 2022. Here we present the results of the study, analysed through the DC framework, and consider the implications for designing QT outreach activities. The data hints at the perceived value of highlighting core concepts of Quantum Mechanics (QM), while also raising the question of whether QT sits as a discipline of Physics, Computer Science, or elsewhere. This calls for a reordering of the primacy of certain concepts (such as qubit and spin) for outreach purposes, where core concepts in QM might not be core concepts in QT, and vice versa. The results of this study provide valuable insights for those interested in learning more about this rapidly-evolving field.

While research into PhD programs and doctoral students' experiences has increased in recent years, fieldwork is overlooked as a source of learning and support. In education, the focus of this paper, fieldwork remains laced with notions of the anthropologist gathering data in a place that is not their own, which narrowly construct the role of the novice and their expectations around 'doing' research. To demonstrate the relevance of these issues and key ethical tensions that they underpin, we explored our recent PhD fieldwork experiences within classrooms in Australian and Zimbabwean schools. By analysing fieldnotes from our lived experiences, we identified similarities between conducting fieldwork 'out there' (in Zimbabwe) and 'at home' (in Australia). These similarities highlighted a multitude of roles and dynamics associated with the researcher presence, as well as the importance of balancing complex needs during fieldwork. Our analyses also revealed how daily in situ interactions with participants--and others--were crucial to the development of our identities and data gathering practices. We argue that ongoing efforts to demystify fieldwork experiences are critical for understanding that 'the field' is not simply 'out there' and offer practical suggestions for current and future doctoral students to consider.

While there is a substantial body of leaving care research, the theorization of care leaving has been more limited. Only a few studies have incorporated a life course perspective, mainly in Global North contexts where life course perspectives may differ significantly from those in the Global South, including Africa. Drawing on findings from a feasibility research study, this paper contributes to the emerging international literature on theorizing care leaving by applying a life course perspective to the experiences of youth leaving care in four African countries. The paper highlights how life course can be a useful conceptual framework for understanding the experiences of care leavers with an emphasis on four core concepts: biography, linked lives, waithood, and agency. Implications for policy and practice are outlined with a focus on interdependence, participatory practice, biography, and cultural transition planning alongside efforts to redress systemic, oppressive barriers facing care leavers in society.

The volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous future world has highlighted the importance of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation (4Cs) in today's classrooms. Framed by the Partnership for 21st-Century Learning (P21) Learning and Innovation theme, the study investigates the perceptions of the 4Cs by secondary school students from four schools in Zimbabwe. Two hundred and thirty-six (236) students participated in this quantitative study. Data were collected using online and paper questionnaires. Exploratory and first-order confirmatory analysis revealed a four-factor model with excellent fit indices. The second-order confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the individual 4Cs were sub-constructs of a higher latent factor, Learning and Innovation (4Cs), where the students strongly endorsed collaboration, followed by communication, critical thinking, creativity, and innovation in decreasing magnitude. Age has a significant influence on critical thinking. The findings highlight the need for teachers to embed critical thinking and creativity activities within collaborative and communication learning activities.

This study employed the Systematic Review (SR) methodology to examine the content and reasons for resisting the implementation of Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) in Zimbabwean Secondary schools. The Overcoming Resistance to Change (ORC) model was exploited as the analytical lenses. The study found that factors such as education, training, communication, participation, cost, motivation and resources determined the acceptance or rejection of the implementation of CALA. The shortage or absence of these elements has resulted in intensified resistance to the implementation of CALA. This study therefore recommends sustained effort in raising the level of education, communication, training, participation and motivation teachers, parents, and learners. In addition, the government of Zimbabwe should increase its support through cost bearing and resources supply as required to meet the demands of CALA.

This paper explored the link between information literacy (IL) and other factors that enable or inhibit the utilisation of research evidence in policymaking in Zimbabwe. The study assumes that if policymakers possess appropriate IL skills to access, assess, synthesise, and apply research evidence, they will naturally use the evidence to inform their policy decisions. Face-to-face interviews with 26 policymakers -- technocrats selected from the Parliament of Zimbabwe and two ministries, Industry and Commerce, and Youth, Sport, and Recreation -- produced evidence to inform the findings and conclusions. Data synthesis using thematic content analysis confirmed the findings. The results show that while IL skills are critical in enabling policymakers' use of research evidence, multiple other factors also influence the use of research evidence in policymaking due to the complexity of the process. The political and socioeconomic context plays a profound role because of the intricate and nonlinear nature of the policymaking process. Therefore, enhancing evidence use in policymaking revolves around strengthening IL skills at the individual level, including institutional and the broader policy ecosystem, by acknowledging and leveraging personal and institutional relationships. This insight illuminates the need to reorient IL programmes to link them to these other factors.

With the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in place, the quality of teacher education is a global concern. With so much talent mobility and brain circulation, any migration of low-quality educators from one region will affect the quality of education in the destination part of the global village. The study examined how the interplay in the aftermath of the cyclones, COVID-19, supervisors' quality, and student characteristics impacted student-teachers' experiences during the scrambled teaching practice supervision model. Thematic and content analyses of data from document analysis and semi-structured interviews from purposefully sampled Southern Africa Development Community countries revealed that relying on physical teaching practice supervision negatively impacts assessment, especially when even non-specialists are involved in the supervision. Educators' inadequate pedagogical content knowledge, space effect, and multiple exposures to assessment compromise teacher education amidst pandemics and natural disasters. The study recommends migration to computer-based online supervision strategies as a mitigation strategy. Recommendations for an educational policy, practicum, and architectural adaption are discussed.

Unprecedented COVID-19 lockdowns forced schools to close and to adopt online teaching and learning methodologies. In Zimbabwe, underprivileged schools were the worst affected by this directive. This qualitative study, carried out in one cluster of rural secondary schools explored the preparedness of geography teachers to adopt e-learning strategies. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. Findings indicate that teachers at day schools were not well prepared to adopt e-learning strategies while their counterparts at boarding schools were better prepared. Teachers stuck to their traditional classroom roles and failed to adopt additional online roles resulting in feelings of boredom due to lack of social interaction with students. A lack of teacher training and support and inadequacies in infrastructural facilities were the major impediments militating against teacher preparedness. WhatsApp emerged as the most popular application used to communicate with students. It is recommended that stakeholder support be mobilized towards teacher capacitation.

This bounded case study illuminates the planning, delivery, and evaluation of early childhood professional development sessions conducted by the educational experts with a Zimbabwean non-profit organization in response to a need for professional development for early childhood teachers. Ethnographic and grounded theory methods were used by participant observers to collect and analyze data, including observational notes taken during the planning, delivery, and evaluation of the training as well as professional development materials and exit surveys completed by the participants. Results include lessons learned by the non-profit organization, participating teachers and headmasters. The teachers and headmasters revealed that the professional development opportunity supported their daily work, made them think of other innovative approaches to teach with limited resources, and enhanced their capacity to create a quality classroom experience for students. For the non-profit organization, developing a curricula that is directed at continuous professional development of early childhood teachers in rural communities was seen as critical in order to bridge the divide between rural and urban preschool centers. These findings may help inform the planning, delivery, and evaluation of professional development conducted in partnership with international collaborators.

The article investigates four vulnerable learners and their histories of drug misuse in rural schools. The purpose of this study was to conduct a situational analysis with a view to understanding the current drug abuse situation in Zimbabwean rural schools and giving some recommendations on what needs to be done to lessen its effects. The study's mode of investigation was qualitative. As means of gathering data, focus groups and participatory research were used. The participatory research design employed by the study unearthed evidence that indicates that drug abuse has an adverse effect on a learner's cognitive optimal functioning both in the community and school contexts. The study's findings point to the necessity of teaching parents how to prioritise their responsibilities and liberate them from the mental poverty they currently experience, which is a societal construct that keeps them from finishing their work with their learners. The study further found out that the absence of guidance and counselling exposes learners to more drug abuse cases and culture, thus having a two-pronged impact on the optimal functioning of rural learners. The study makes some recommendations for how the school and the community should work together and coordinate their efforts to manage the experiences of vulnerable students in order to achieve cognitive optimal functioning for rural learners in Zimbabwe. [Note: The page range (155-175) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 155-174.]

This article reports on some of the findings from a doctoral research project that explored how the vocationally interested and vocationally disinterested pre-service teachers in selected teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe experienced transformative learning. Through multiple-site case study and qualitative approach within an interpretive paradigm, guided by Mezirow's ten-phase Transformative Learning Theory, the study sought to understand the pre-service teacher transformative learning experiences. The study employed a multi-modal approach which involved focus group discussions, individual face to face interviews and continuum drawing and discussions to generate data from a purposive sample of 40 participants. Findings suggest that, both vocationally interested and vocationally disinterested pre-service teachers experienced transformative learning through two avenues: disorienting dilemmas and learning experiences. The findings also suggested that while the majority of pre-service teachers experienced transformative learning, a few did not experience transformation. We argue that if vocationally disinterested pre-service teachers are to transform during teacher training, vocational supports should be built into processes and activities to purposefully cushion their transformative paths, given the lack of interest in teaching at the start of the course.

In this study I investigated the involvement of top management and teachers in the strategic planning process in 5 district schools located in the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province guided by the Take Stock Analysis (TSA) model. The constructivist/interpretivist paradigm was the qualitative methodology adopted for the study using a case study research method. The participants were 5 education managers and 5 focus groups of 4 teachers, each purposively selected from each school as an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon was sought through face-to-face interviews. Interview data were inductively and thematically analysed while strategic plans provided were inspected using content analysis and supplemented with interview data. The findings were reported following the concept of strategic planning, the formulation, monitoring and evaluation process. The results reveal that some schools used the centralised or decentralised strategic planning process while others hired strategists with minimal involvement from the teachers and the top management of the school. I recommend that stakeholders are actively involved in the entire strategic planning process to enhance ownership and commitment at the operational level. Most importantly, joint periodic evaluations are needed for modification purposes and relevance.

Children in sub-Saharan African countries face higher exposure to gender-based violence (GBV) compared to their counterparts in other world regions (United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], 2014). When GBV occurs in schools, it severely endangers access to education. Using the third round of data of the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) from over 60,000 Grade 6 learners across 14 countries, we examined the relationship between GBV in primary schools and learners' absenteeism. Findings indicate that sexual harassment perpetrated by teachers significantly increases learners' absenteeism. In contrast, effects were less clear when the perpetrator was a fellow learner. Effects found are similar in magnitude for girls and boys. Violence prevention education programmes and stricter punishment for offenders are needed to establish a safer school environment and overcome harassment-related barriers to learning.

The heterogeneous nature of African society has led to increased demand for transformational leaders rooted in African values and ideology necessary for Africans to thrive in the 21st Century. This study explored the role of post-colonial school leadership (SL) models in instilling African values among learners. The original African meaning and purpose of leadership and the extent to which African school leadership systems instil African leadership values in learners were re-considered. The study adopted a qualitative research approach underpinned by interpretivism. It compared the perspectives of fifteen (15) participants purposively selected from three former British colonies namely, Botswana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Interviews were used to collect data that were analysed thematically and presented using verbal utterances. Findings showed that leadership in the traditional African context was characterized by humanism, collectivism and moral virtues. Leaders guided their followers to achieve their goals for the effectiveness of the communities' excellence and integrity. It was established that, in addition to school leadership training which was rampant in pre-colonial Botswana, both Zimbabwe and Botswana gave the male and the female genders a shot at leadership while Nigeria paid lip service to gender balance issues. In the three countries, the current SL systems do not have properly designed and coordinated curricular models that develop African leadership values such as "Ubuntu" and "Botho." This study underlines the need to strike a balance between Eurocentrism and Africanism in the current SL systems in Africa.

This study aimed to understand how secondary mathematics teachers engage with learners during the teaching and learning process. A sample of six participants was purposively selected from a population of ordinary level mathematics teachers in one urban setting in Zimbabwe. Field notes from lesson observations and audio-taped teachers' narrations from interviews constituted data for the study to which thematic analysis technique was then applied to determine levels of mathematical intimacy and integrity displayed by the teachers as they interacted with the students. The study revealed some inadequacies in the manner in which the teachers handled students' responses as they strive to promote justification skills during problem solving, in particular teachers did not ask students to explain wrong answers. The teachers indicated that they did not have sufficient time to engage learners in authentic problem-solving activities since they would be rushing to complete syllabus for examination purposes. On the basis of these findings, we suggest teachers to appreciate the need to pay special attention to the kinds of responses given by learners during problem-solving in order to promote justification skills among learners.

Purpose: This paper evaluated the effectiveness of blended learning of business courses in higher learning institutions (HEIs) in developing economies. Design/methodology/approach: A survey, involving 215 learners, was used to collect data. A stratified sampling technique was used in this study. The data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. Findings: In the blended learning approach, student attitudes, social presence, IT infrastructure and flexible learning are all favorable predictors of learner satisfaction. The impact of blended learning on learner satisfaction is further mediated by IT infrastructure, social presence and learner attitude. Practical implications: HEIs need to invest in planning and resource mobilization in order to realize several benefits derived from the use of blended learning. For optimal learning outcomes, this should be combined with training on IT infrastructure usage for both facilitators and learners. In order to assist learners in developing competencies through consistent use, institutions should also invest in tailored blended learning technologies. In addition, emphasis should be placed on training all actors in order to better manage change. Originality/value: This paper presents and ranks several dimensions for blended learning success in low-budget universities. In addition, the study contributes to the understanding of intervening variables necessary for enhancing the potential of pedagogy in maximizing learner satisfaction.

Inclusive education initiatives have been endorsed globally, especially by international development agencies. This study sought to get the views and experience of both in-service and trainee teachers about inclusive education and teacher training in the aftermath of the implementation of the 'new' Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education 2015-2022 in Zimbabwe. This new curriculum is said to be grounded in "Unhu/Ubuntu" philosophy. I use "Unhu/Ubuntu" philosophy as an evaluative and conceptual framework to examine inclusivity issues within the new curriculum. Drawing on a qualitative study involving content analysis, two key informant interviews and four focus group discussions on teacher education and inclusive education conducted in Manicaland province in the eastern part of Zimbabwe, findings highlight challenges faced in realising the "Unhu/Ubuntu" philosophical value of inclusivity in education. These impediments are unsurprisingly similar to those reported in other studies, both in Zimbabwe and in other countries. The paper identifies and highlights some of the reasons why inclusive education has remained elusive and makes some recommendations. It calls for teacher education premised on the indigenous "Unhu/Ubuntu" philosophy. In doing this, the paper contributes to debates on inclusive education and discussions on decoloniality of education in postcolonial states.

Since the year 2000, most parents have emigrated en masse due to a deepening socio-political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, leaving their school-going children in the country. This paper assesses the experiences and challenges faced by these Left-Behind Learners (LBL), and ascertain the challenges faced by teachers in meeting the needs of these learners through inclusive education. The study followed a qualitative research approach with data collected at two high schools in Harare using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The results of the study indicate that LBL faced numerous challenges: excessive household chores, lack of help from guardians, inadequate representation at school meetings, and non-payment of school expenses. Teachers in the sample were not aware of the vulnerability of LBL, and were inadequately equipped to deal with this 'new' vulnerability. The study recommends the crafting of an inclusive education policy for the country so that new vulnerabilities are holistically dealt with, and that teachers be trained in inclusive education methodologies.

This study explored the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) attitudes and self-efficacy of secondary students identifying as Black South African, multi-racial or Afrikaans South African, or Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe nationals who participated in a non-formal STEM education camp programme. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory for self-efficacy and attitude, this study sought to document participants' STEM self-efficacy and attitudinal factors related to the camp experience. Survey data were collected before and after participants' participation in the camp and a delayed post-measurement after 18 months of exposure. Results indicated a significant increase in the self-efficacy concept of "conceptual understanding" over time between the pre-test and delayed post-test; however, there were no indicated differences over time for the other self-efficacy constructs of "Higher Order Cognitive Skills," "Practical Work," "Everyday Application" and "Science Communication." Analyses of the STEM attitude constructs showed differences between the "Twenty-first Century Skills" (increase over time from pre-test to delayed post-test) and "Your Future" (decrease over time from pre-test to delayed post-test) constructs with no differences for "Mathematics," "Science" and "Engineering and Technology." Furthermore, there were no detected differences of self-efficacy and attitudes from pre-test to post-test. These findings suggest that participating in a singular, non-formal STEM learning event may not be sufficient to document changes in self-efficacy and attitudes from the pre- to post-learning experience; however, the experience could have been one of many learning events that may have provided an opportunity for supporting South African students' self-efficacy and attitude growth, especially in "Conceptual Understanding" and "Twenty-first Century Skills."

This mini-ethnographic case study examined the enactment of the mother tongue (MT) medium of instruction policy in teaching information and communication technology (ICT) to preschoolers or early childhood development (ECD) learners in a Zimbabwean school. The study employed an eclectic cognitive sense-making, ethnography of language policy and planning (ELPP), and technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework to look into practices of one preschool teacher, Mrs K, in her quest to enact the mother tongue policy. Despite her 26 years of experience in teaching preschoolers, Mrs K had not received adequate training on teaching ICT, a new subject in the ECD curriculum. While at first glance, she appeared to be abiding by the policy, some of her lessons proved to be teacher-dominated, and the classroom dialogue formulaic thus undermining the all-pervading learner-centred pedagogy on which the new curriculum edifice was premised. The paper thus explores the complex interplay of knowledge of content, technology and pedagogy; experience; cognitive and other contextual factors in impacting teacher sense-making and enactment of the mother tongue policy in teaching ICT to pre-school learners. One major factor which appeared to be influencing teacher understanding of policy was lack of ICT content knowledge and knowledge of how to teach ICT using both English and MT. The policy reformers seemingly rushed to implement the curriculum without capacitating teachers on how to use the mother tongue to teach ICT at ECD level. The study thus proposes strategies for teacher professional development in ICT, particularly for resource-constrained environments.

Previous studies have paid considerable attention to the impact on a child's primary education of attending pre-primary school. Researchers have asserted that early educational intervention can compensate for the effects of poverty and inadequate learning environments on child development and school success. This study analyzes the relationship between pre-primary education and student reading and mathematics achievement in the sixth grade, focusing on disadvantaged children, in countries that participated in the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) III project. The results show that the achievement of children who attended pre-primary education is higher than that of those who did not. The achievement of children who have many home resources for learning is better than that of children who have a few such resources. In almost all countries, disadvantaged children's achievement is increased when they attend pre-primary education. However, the contribution of pre-primary education to ameliorating social inequalities is different in the various contexts of different countries. These findings contribute to the discussion on the importance of early childhood care and education, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

The aim of this study was to examine how sign language policies are being implemented in special schools for the Deaf in Zimbabwe. It employed in-depth interviews to solicit data from 29 participants who were four district school inspectors, four educational psychologists, four school heads and 17 grade one to three specialist teachers. Data were analysed using deductive thematic analysis at the semantic level. The study revealed inconsistencies in sign language policy implementation as consequences of ambiguity of policy goals and conflict of the means of achieving the policy goals. The study further revealed that government officers were not proficient in sign language and so could not monitor policy implementation. Several other factors influenced the implementation of sign language policies in the special schools. Policy implementers were not aware of the meaning of sign language policies and how the policies were supposed to be implemented. There were, therefore, misunderstandings regarding how policies were to be implemented. Schools used various forms of sign language as a way of implementing the policies. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that policymakers ensure that they formulate sign language policies whose goals and means are not ambiguous to avoid conflict in the way the policies are implemented. It was also recommended that the Ministry of Education provides capacity development opportunities to sign language policy implementers starting from those at national, provincial, district and down to school levels where classroom teachers need to be taught how the sign language policies can be implemented.

This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the decolonisation of higher education in Africa in the aftermath of the 2015 'Rhodes Must Fall' student uprising. An overview of the literature reveals a rich debate on defining 'decolonisation', starting from a critique of Eurocentrism to propositions of alternate epistemologies. These debates are dominated by the Global North and South Africa and their experiences of curriculum reform. Our focus is on the experiences of political scientists in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. These countries share the same Anglophone political science traditions but represent different political trajectories that constitute a significant condition for the discipline. The 26 political scientists we interviewed acted toward increasing local content and perspectives in their teaching, as promoted in the official strategies of the universities. They noted that what was happening in lecture halls was most important. The academic decolonisation debate appeared overambitious or even as patronising to them in their own political context. National politics affected the thematic focus of the discipline both as far as research topics and students' employment opportunities were concerned. Although university bureaucracies were slow to respond to proposed curricula changes, new programmes were approved if there was a market-based demand for them. International programs tended to be approved fastest. Political economy of higher education plays a role: dependency on foreign funding, limited national resources to conduct research and produce publications vis-à-vis international competition, and national quality assurance standards appeared to be most critical constraints for decolonising the curriculum.

With evidence of global climate change and ongoing ecological degradation, there is an urgent need to give more attention to sustainability within VET to ensure that VET does not remain complicit in reproducing the unjust and unsustainable trajectories of current economic and development pathways. At present, the VET literature does not adequately address these issues, hence the need for this special issue. In response, this paper offers a meta-reflective 'landscape view' of the sustainability within the VET 'field of knowledge' as it is emerging. Here, we use landscape review as a multi-dimensional, 'outside-in' view that provides a basis for understanding the broad context and helps to inform actionable next steps. This analysis we believe helps to highlight the key emerging priorities as well as what paths VET is taking on the journey to sustainability. The analysis shows that while some progress has been made in policy and practice related to the 'greening' of VET, much of the current response within VET to the environmental challenge reflects a minimalist reformist approach, characterised by 'bolt-ons' to existing institutional structures and curricula whilst leaving the fundamental beliefs in productivism, industrialisation and growth in place. Yet, as argued by researchers working on green economy, these beliefs are often complicit in co-creation of the environmental crisis.

With ever-increasing focus from policymakers on the potential of vocational education to provide skills for livelihoods and sustainability in the rural economy, this study set out to investigate attempts at curriculum reform by agricultural technical and vocational education and training providers in the context of the dual crisis -- 'climate and economic' -- in Zimbabwe. The question addressed is: How should the agricultural vocational education and training curriculum respond to the climate and economic crisis to ensure sustainability? The paper highlights enablers and barriers to curriculum responsiveness. Moll's model of curriculum responsiveness provided analytical lenses for the study. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, document analysis and observations, and analysed thematically. The study revealed that the climate crisis in Zimbabwe has affected both government and non-government vocational training centres in several ways. However, the curriculum was 'one-size fits all', focused on the needs of a formal labour market. Such a labour market has been decimated by the economic crisis and climate break down. Hence, providers of agricultural vocational education in rural areas ought to consider re-engineering the curriculum to be more responsive to a range of drivers, including climate change, especially within the rural context.

The article examines challenges faced by academics in Zimbabwe's universities. With a particular focus on university teaching and research, the article draws upon empirical evidence from a survey study and in-depth semi-structured interviews with academics from four public universities. The survey findings suggest that years of university teaching experience, area of specialisation, professional title, and education levels are not strong determinants on the academics' view towards political instability as one of the main issues impacting their work. The qualitative interview data provide further evidence on how all the different academics consider political instability as a factor negatively impacting university teaching and research. The most significant finding is that academics blame government policies. The article identifies the variegated market-oriented policies adopted in the university as the cause of the challenges and consequently calls for an interrogation of the policy from Zimbabwean academics and all other concerned stakeholders in higher education.

Purpose: Creating suitable learning conditions in university classrooms continues to be a topical issue in higher education. The above means that a continued search for innovative teaching and learning strategies in universities remains a priority issue. The study therefore investigated conditions that facilitate the effective implementation of cooperative learning (CL) as well as how CL influences the academic performance of students in universities in Zimbabwe. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopted a quantitative research approach located in the descriptive research design. A sample of 341 undergraduate students selected using a simple random sampling strategy from a sample frame of 701 undergraduate students participated in the study. The study first used a pre-test and later, a post-test to determine the initial and end of semester (EOS) academic performance levels of students, respectively, on a Calculus 1 course. A self-constructed structured questionnaire was also used for data collection on the views of students towards the use of CL with particular reference to the 5 dimensions of positive interdependence (PDI), promotive interaction (PI), individual and group accountability (IGA), social and interpersonal skills (SS) and group processing (GP). The questionnaire was validated using confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test proposed relationships. A total of 341 questionnaires were administered through an email survey. Of the total, 149 completed questionnaires were received from the students, giving a return rate of 43.7%. Findings: The results showed that positive interdependence, promotive interaction, social and interpersonal skills, individual and group accountability as well as group processing were important antecedents to the effective implementation of CL in universities. The results further showed that CL plays a significant role in improving the academic performance of university students; hence, academic performance was viewed as a significant consequence of CL. Research limitations/implications: This is the first study on the application of CL to enhance the academic performance of university students in the context of Zimbabwe. As a result, caution should be exercised when generalising the results as more studies to either confirm or disconfirm these results in the context of Zimbabwe may still be required. Practical implications: These results have implications on policy and practice with regards to active teaching strategies in universities. With regards to practice, the results demonstrated that the use of group activities that allow students to share knowledge and support each other while the teacher plays a facilitating role is important for enhancing students' academic performance. With regards to policy, the results showed that universities can enhance the academic performance of students if policies that promote student-centered teaching and learning approaches to ensure that teaching in universities is more student-led than lecturer-led are developed. Originality/value: While many studies have been conducted in other contexts, to establish the influence of CL on the academic performance of university students, there is no known study on the influence of CL that has been conducted in the context of Zimbabwean universities. The results of this study therefore are an eye opener on the role of CL in enhancing the academic performance of students in Zimbabwean universities.

Purpose: This study aims to examine academic staff's engagement with sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The triangulation, convergence model of the mixed methods research design was adopted as the strategy for inquiry. A total of 56 questionnaires and 25 interviews were used to collect the data, and this was buttressed by document review and use of secondary data obtained from Scival. Findings: The results show moderate levels of engagement of academic staff with the SDGs. However, SDGs familiarisation is not correlated with the rate of localisation. The lack of funding deflated political will by university management, demotivated academia and shrinking government support are the leading impediments to SDGs localisation. Research limitations/implications: The results could be improved by using a larger sample size equally distributed across disciplines. Triangulation of academics' views with those of students and non-academic staff could have improved the understanding of other dynamics involved in the localisation of SDGs by university teaching staff. Practical implications: The results point towards the need for a university-based framework that interweaves national, institutional, thematic, structural and personal aspects into the SDGs implementation matrix. The underlying determinants of successful localisation of SDGs by academia need to be addressed through a bottom-up approach. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first attempt in Zimbabwe to exclusively look at University teaching staff's engagement with SDGs.

In Zimbabwe, a range of actors are involved in education due to ongoing challenges of resourcing and funding schools. There are complex socio-political arrangements that result from private-public partnerships in the education system. Some schools are created and funded by individuals, and little is known about the tensions these funding structures create for school leaders and teachers. This qualitative study examined one school in Matabeleland North, using semi-structured interviews and observations across one term. It argues there are complexities created through the position of being a school 'founder' that shape a school's administration and leadership structures. Using the example of the school principal's role and two tensions that result from relationships between the principal and school founders, this paper argues that more attention needs to be made towards the arrangements of school funding and the conflicts and tensions that result from complex relationships of power between school founders and teachers.

This study analyzed the influence of resource availability on inclusion of children with various disabilities in rural early childhood development centers in Zimbabwe. A qualitative descriptive design utilizing questionnaires and interviews was used to collect data from 36 teachers, 12 school-heads and 24 parents of children with disabilities who were purposefully sampled. Deductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes emerging from open-ended questionnaire items and interviews. The study revealed that disability-friendly commercial resources were unavailable, and this negatively influenced the inclusion of children with disabilities who were unable to freely participate in play activities and so were isolated to a large extent. This is despite widely available indigenous resources that were not utilized as inclusive supports. The study's findings are utilized to build a case for a heritage-based model of inclusive education.

To understand the evolution and current status of qualitative research in School Psychology, we reviewed 4,346 articles published across seven school psychology journals between 2006 and 2021. The bibliometric analysis indicates that publication of qualitative research has increased over the years, but remains small (3%) when seen against the total volume of journal publications. Less than 5% of articles in all but one journal were qualitative. The most commonly explored topic was diversity, equity, and social justice accounting for 23% of the qualitative articles. In total, 55% of the studies were conducted in the United States. Although many studies did not specify participants' race and gender, the most commonly reported research participants were K-12 students, female, White, and from the United States. We discuss these findings and provide recommendations.

Given the flexibility and ubiquity brought about by mobile learning (m-learning), many learning institutions have adopted m-learning to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in teaching and learning. Catalysed by COVID-19 protocols such as social distancing and lockdowns, m-learning is gaining a lot of ground in Africa. As a result, several m-learning deployment models and strategies have emerged. Although many studies have been conducted in this domain, there are still no global models and best practices that guide implementation of m-learning especially in resource-constrained contexts. This study employs a systematic review and interpretive approach to collate the key body of knowledge in m-learning design and implementation over the past 10 years in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Comparison with m-learning practice in the developed world, as a barometer to ascertain the advancement of m-learning practice in the developing world, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa was also undertaken. The results show that m-learning research is predominantly undertaken in South Africa and Nigeria with only a few other countries engaging in such research. However, most of the studies were not grounded on solid theoretical frameworks and empirical findings. Moreover, this study found that the Technology Acceptance Model is the most used theoretical framework. Most studies on m-learning have relied on surveys as the most preferred data collection tool. These findings contribute towards knowledge creation at levels of theory and practice by highlighting the extant knowledge, and gaps that could inform future m-learning research.

Physics and mathematics are interrelated as part of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The learning of science is supported by mathematical skills and knowledge. The aim of this paper is to determine the cognitive obstacles of in-service undergraduate physics student-teachers' understanding of the concept of complex numbers which is part of linear algebra. A case study is presented involving 10 undergraduate student-teachers at a university in Zimbabwe studying for a Bachelor of Science Education Honours Degree in physics. Data were generated from the 10 participants' answers to structured activity sheets and interviews. Action, process, object, schema (APOS) theory was used to explore the possible ways that students may follow to understand the concepts of complex numbers and how they concur with the preliminary genetic decomposition. It was observed that most of the participants were operating at the action level, with a few operating at the process and object levels of understanding. Recommendations are made in this study that instructors should pay more attention to the prerequisite concepts and the "met afters" so that students can encapsulate processes into object understanding of division of complex numbers and polar form.

Breakthroughs in technology-based assessments recorded in the last decades have given impetus to the integration of technology in teaching practice supervision. This paper describes an electronic supervision (e-TP) model developed for the teaching practice component of the science teacher training program by one university in Zimbabwe. It further sought to determine how school Heads, Deputy School Heads, Heads of Departments and school based mentors from 5 purposively sampled Bindura Urban district schools embraced the electronic student teacher supervision and assessment (e-TP) model introduced (as pilot) by one science teacher education university in Zimbabwe. A qualitative case study research methodology was used to provide an understanding of the participants' experiences and acceptance of the e-TP process. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis procedures which helped identify common themes. Results of the study conclude that e-TP has great potential in improving student teacher supervision. It was observed that the university didn't do enough to disseminate and induct the schools on the implementation of the new model which on further exploration was the cause of the attitudes portrayed by the schools towards e-TP. It is recommended that the university should actively partner cooperating schools in the implementation of the innovation and offer training and support to both students and mentors regarding the acquisition and usage of the said technologies.

The closure of primary schools during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid shift to remote learning, placing more responsibility for learning on parents and guardians. This study sought to explore parents' experience while engaging in their children's remote learning during that period. The study is particularly timely in light of a dramatic growth in remote learning due to the continued disruption of face-to-face learning in schools. A study of parents' experience may yield useful data and identify trends to inform the development of programmes and policies targeting parental needs and support in this emerging form of learning. A descriptive qualitative design was used to conduct this study so that relevant responses could be sought to get insights into parents' experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Questionnaires and online interviews were used to collect data from a purposive sample of 25 parents, whose selection was based on their involvement in their children's home learning and access to internet connectivity in the home. The results revealed that parents found the sudden closure of schools extremely disturbing, and they were concerned about their children's routines. Parents highlighted that they had difficulties with balancing responsibilities, adjusting to remote learning, children's lack of motivation to learn, poor accessibility of learning material, lack of capacity to assist multiple children, and finding appropriate space for learning. The results of the study have important implications for policy, and generated strong recommendations for teachers, school authorities, and policymakers.

There is an increased demand to empower pre-service teachers (PSTs) with knowledge and skills regarding the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for teaching science. Using the technology acceptance model as theoretical lens, this paper explores the self-concept and views of PSTs in their final year of study regarding their competences to teach science with ICTs. A mixed methods design was used to collect data from 506 PSTs in two phases. In the first phase, all participants responded to a technological pedagogical and content knowledge questionnaire. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from a subsample of 28 participants. Results showed that PSTs still underestimate their competences to teach science with ICTs and the majority believe that different school situations and lack of use of ICTs by mentor teachers contribute to failure to build on their competences. Findings also revealed that PSTs have the highest perceived knowledge in technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and lowest in technological knowledge. We suggest that PSTs have opportunities to develop their technological content knowledge (TCK) through self-directed learning for it to be on par with their TPK. A linear relationship in the development of PSTs' TCK and TPK would ensure improved instructional quality in science classrooms. This paper suggests different strategies to build PSTs' independency in the use of ICTs to teach sciences.

Contemporary North-South research collaborations are fraught with power relations originating in colonialism. Debates about research ethics have tended to turn around the "procedural ethics" formal model and the "everyday ethics" practical model. We build on that to suggest a second debate that scrutinises ethics and power relations not only in the researcher-researched relationship but also in the relationships within research teams and ethics review boards. The research asked: how can we shift power in research to decolonise research and build more equitable partnerships? We explored this with data obtained through collaborative autoethnography in a multi-country development research programme, Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development (ECID). This included regular self-reflective meetings, visual methods, a self-evaluation survey, and blogs addressing power issues. Coordinated from London, the research had all the cards to adopt a 'colonial' gaze in which the North would 'research' the South. The case narrates the journey of the research team to decentralise power in the programme, which included sharing control over the selection of research topics, and the research design, budget, and publications. Drawing from the lessons learned from the research approach that was adopted in ECID, this paper offers an 8-step model towards decolonising research ethics.

The study focuses on peer and teacher educators' assessments in teacher education and the level of agreement between pre-service teachers' and teacher educators' assessments. The study employed a mixed-method approach using a lesson observation and assessment instrument and interviews to gather data. Seven conveniently sampled pre-service teachers and two teacher educators participated in this study. The findings showed statistically significant differences between pre-service teachers' and teacher educators' scores on ten items, and their scores were not statistically significant on five of the items. The pre-service teachers scored higher marks than the teacher educators. Their reasons for scoring higher marks were to maintain relationships and lack of content and pedagogical knowledge. Pre-service teachers need to know that peer-teaching and assessment are meant for long-lasting learning instead of simply scoring marks.