University of Botswana Graduate theses and dissertations http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1214 2026-07-11T06:37:19Z 2026-07-11T06:37:19Z Bolokwe, Glorious Kgalalelo http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2556 2025-09-27T00:00:23Z 2023-04-01T00:00:00Z

Cross-linguistic barriers and literacy instruction via breakthrough to Setswana in Botswana public schools: A case study of the early primary school years Bolokwe, Glorious Kgalalelo This study investigated the efficacy of Breakthrough to Setswana, one and the only method for teaching and learning of literacy in the Republic of Botswana public schools, using a monolingual approach in a multilingual setting, at beginner reader level. The research site was situated at one public primary school; Mantshwabisi. Mantshwabisi is also the name of a village where the study site was situated in the Republic of Botswana. I was motivated by the fact that Botswana recognises two languages of literacy of instruction amid more than 20 languages. I used qualitative approach case study and related techniques viz; class observation, interview, focus group discussion, document analysis to understand a phenomenon in a context-specific environment. Therefore, the study was of research methodology paradigm. Cases are created hence I created a case within cases. Mantshwabisi primary school had a number of cases, but I chose ‘literacy in the early years of primary school’ and what composed those years. These were among others: children, teachers, parents, language(s) and documents used to execute early literacy teaching and learning. The study was guided by conceptual framework that pivoted around the languages used at home, school, and teacher training programme. It was further grounded on three theories bilingualism and multilingual in education and pedagogy in language education. The three theories were used to verify how teachers offered early literacy teaching and the supportive systems they used such as documents, school material. Furthermore, how the theories complement one another. The other supportive systems were parents, and children were involved to find out if they benefitted from the way(s) early literacy was taught. The study was guided by four objectives: a) To examine the extent to which language of literacy teaching and learning facilitates early literacy when it differs with learner’s home language. b) To explore parents’ involvement in their children’s early literacy teaching and learning. c) To establish how teacher training prepares teachers for multilingual setting for early literacy instruction and learning. d) To ascertain why teachers used Breakthrough to Setswana to teach beginner-readers literacy. Against research, one becomes literate in formal schooling after four to five years using their home language. The practice at school was that Breakthrough to Setswana, a skill-based method, language experience approach based, and child centred was contrary to just the afore-mentioned principles. It was used interchangeably with English language to teach literacy in the environment where not all children were Setswana language speakers, where children’s Setswana proficiency was varied. Most of the documents were in English language except the vocabulary children were to learn. Therefore, children were seemingly taught literacy in rote learning method. They had to remember instead of comprehending. Most of the children’s parents were not involved in their children’s early literacy learning because children were at a boarding facility. In addition to that, the parents could have not been speaking the literacy teaching languages; Setswana and English. Consequently, they may have not been literate, more so that there were no schools in their areas hence children were sent to the boarding school. There was a teacher aide who was not trained in teaching profession. Her duty was to interpret between teachers and children. This was so because the teachers did not speak some of the children’s languages; Sekgalagadi and San/Sesarwa. The teacher-aide did not speak Sesarwa language. Still Sekgalagadi and Seswarwa varied and that could have raised communication challenges as well. There were three standard one classes, and the teacher-aide could not avail herself to all the classes at the same time since she took turns in the said classes. That resulted in teachers teaching in Setswana or English and at least the non-Setswana speakers were disadvantaged. Much as teachers and other management staff did not speak some of the children’s languages, they believed that literacy teaching was their job, and they could do it. They realised that those children could read but did not comprehend. Therefore, that confirmed that children remembered but did not understand. Few parents whose children were not boarders, helped their children with Setswana learning and teachers rarely gave children English language assignments to do at home. Even during end of term parent-teacher consultation, the teachers did not mention anything about English performance. That may confirm that children had to learn in their home language for four to five years to be introduced to a second language. The boarding children were supposed to be under the conduct and academic guidance of care takers who acted as loco parentis. The latter did not stay in the hostels and whose substantive job was to clean the hostels, wash for the children and bathe little ones. They did not and could not assist the children in early literacy learning because their job schedule clashed with time to help the children. There was that element that boarders did not trust care takers in assisting them with their homework; particularly in Mathematics. Parents and care takers believed in teachers’ ability to teach because the latter were trained to do so. The teacher training programme offered two languages for literacy teaching and learning as reflected at Mantshwabisi primary school. Teachers expressed that Breakthrough to Setswana was an imposed method and they could not compare its efficacy with any other because it was the only one used. They expressed that they needed more training on Breakthrough to Setswana, more so that what they were exposed to during their teacher training was inadequate, theoretical and did not help them to execute literacy teaching. The early literacy approaches used by teachers were not based on children’s ways of knowing, did not empower children because they did not tap from children’s background. As such, that alienated the children from school. The children’s background could not be accommodated by teachers because that was how the guidance from documents dictated. In conclusion, early literacy should be done in the child’s home language, his or her ways of knowing, his or her language proficiency as well as the child’s background. The instructional material should reflect the child’s home language. These children should be taught by teachers who speak their language, they should stay with their parents. There should be a programme for parents to make them aware that literacy is endowed in their homes, where it should start. Teachers should be trained at teacher training institutions to support parents in early literacy teaching. The teacher training should expose teacher -trainees to a variety of teaching early literacy approaches that will allow child-centred methods. There should also be in-service training for appropriate early literacy approaches. This study is an opportunity to all involved in preparation for early grade teachers and literacy teaching and learning in a typical school and literacy teaching and learning in general. There is a possibility that teachers can use effective methods to teach early literacy because they are eager to do so, and they believe in themselves. Also, parents believe in teachers. A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Language Education, University of Botswana

2023-04-01T00:00:00Z Mubonenwa, Karen http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2472 2022-09-22T00:02:07Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Factors affecting mathematics teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Katima Circuit Zambezi Region: teacher, learner, and administrator perspectives Mubonenwa, Karen This study was motivated by the ambition to find out the factors that are liable for the persistent poor performance of learners in mathematics at junior secondary schools, despite the government’s intervention. The study used a mixed methodology through the use of the survey design and a descriptive exploratory research design. In-depth face to face interviews with 16 participants who were teachers and learners in Katima Mulilo Circuit selected through purposeful sampling strategy. The study also made use of a close-ended questionnaire which was administered to 120 participants (teachers and learners) who were selected through stratified random sampling. This study revealed that misconceptions on the part of the learners are some of the factors affecting the teaching and learning of mathematics in Katima Mulilo Circuit. In addition, the study further established that lack of adequate teaching materials and resources also affects the teaching and learning of mathematics. The study also revealed that low teacher qualifications and low working experience in the teaching and learning of mathematics affects the success of the learners in mathematics in Katima Mulilo Circuit. The study revealed that there are several effects of the factors affecting the teaching and learning of mathematics in Katima Mulilo Circuit. The study found out that learners in Katima Mulilo are withdrawing from mathematics and from school as a result of not achieving any successes in mathematics. In addition, the study also found out that these factors are the leading factors of the currently faced negative emotional effects in mathematics teaching and learning. Furthermore, the study found out that these factors are leading to decreased learner enrolments in schools in Katima Mulilo and are also contributing to some of the currently experienced psychological impacts among the learners. The study recommended that the provision of the teaching and learning resources need to be done in Katima Mulilo Circuit in order to improve the teaching and learning of Mathematics. In addition, the study also recommended that the improvement of syllabus coverage would also make an impact in improving the teaching and learning of mathematics in Katima Mulilo Circuit. Apart from that, the study also recommended that improvement of parental involvement would also improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in Katima Mulilo Circuit. A dissertation submitted to the Dept. of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Masters in Mathematics Education. Citation: Mubonenwa, K. (2019) Factors affecting mathematics teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Katima Circuit Zambezi Region: teacher, learner, and administrator perspectives, University of Botswana.

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z Ugwu, Chikezie Ignatius http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2448 2022-07-27T00:01:08Z 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z

Ethical leadership for school governance: case study of four selected senior secondary schools in Gaborone Ugwu, Chikezie Ignatius One of the core characteristics shared by successful leaders is their ability to use effective leadership styles during governance. It has been shown that ethical leadership (EL), a leadership style that is grounded in ethical norms and practice, is a tool for achieving good governance (GG). Even with well laid down education policies on ethics, cases of unethical practices in schools abound. This study, therefore, examined the place of EL in promoting school GG. This was done by exploring the EL and GG perspectives of teachers and school leaders, the extent to which school leaders practice ethics, and the extent to which they ensure that ethics is embedded in their schools’ organizational culture. Using a post-empiricist paradigm, the study adopted a concurrent/convergent mixed method research design which involved collecting and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data at the same time. The population of the study was teachers and school leaders in four government senior secondary school (SSS) in Gaborone. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select 97 teachers for the quantitative part of the study while purposive sampling was employed to select 9 school leaders for the qualitative study. Questionnaires were used to obtain quantitative data which was analyzed using SPSS 22, while oral interviews were used to obtained qualitative data which were analyzed using codes to arrive at themes. The respondents’ understanding of rule of law, virtues for leadership, integrity and ethics showed clearly that their perspectives on EL and GG synchronize with what they stand for. The findings showed that school leaders are ethical in the course of governance as evidenced by both the qualitative and quantitative data. However, in triangulating the qualitative and the quantitative data, it was found that whilst the school leaders are of the view that they involved stakeholders in decision-making, 55% of the teachers concurred while 45% say otherwise. This raises concerns about the style of leadership applied by the school leaders. Furthermore, the majority of the teachers (76%) and school leaders argued that they are not faced with ethical dilemmas as instructional leaders and leaders respectively. This contradicts the available literature and therefore, calls for the need to organize EL training for educators in order to make them ethically aware to take the right decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas. Although there is no unified code of ethics used by the schools studied, the respondents indicated that there are some “unwritten” codes of ethics that are embedded in their schools’ organizational culture and generally implemented in their schools. This approach could be used to implement any code of ethics that will be enacted in future. Exactly 79% of the teachers admitted that ethics is embedded in their organizational culture, while 21% stated otherwise. This calls for swift action since the situation may deteriorate if proper actions are not taken. Overall, the study showed that EL leads to school GG. However, it is recommended that immediate steps should be taken to enact ethical code of conduct in Botswana using the blueprint presented in this study. A dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Masters in educational Management. Citation: Ugwu, C. I. (2021) Ethical leadership for school governance: case study of four selected senior secondary schools in Gaborone, University of Botswana.

2021-11-01T00:00:00Z Kabomo, Naledi Rose http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2445 2022-06-15T00:01:59Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Teachers' responsiveness to learners with learning barriers (visual impairment): a case study design Kabomo, Naledi Rose The United Nations mandate was to have all children of the world to be educated, no matter their social status, race or disability. Teachers have affirmed that they had an increased number of learners with visual impairment in their mainstream classrooms, most of these learners have been diagnosed with multiple disabilities and teachers` responsiveness towards them is essential. This research was a qualitative study which sought to investigate the responsiveness of teachers to learners with visual impairment. The main purpose of this research was to find out teacher responsiveness to learners with visual impairment and later suggested intervention strategies that could help teachers overcome inclusive education implementation challenges. The paper not only presented teachers` responses but learners and braillists were also interviewed as well to state their opinions on how responsive teachers are to the learners with visual impairment. The braillist and students were pivotal to the research as they work closely with teachers, so their views and observation were very important as it was free from bias. Suggestions and recommendations were also given that could assist teachers to positively assist learners with visual impairment. To carry on this work the data was obtained by interviews, focus discussions and observation done in the classrooms. This study employed qualitative method design; force field model was used as a theoretical framework. Data revealed that several teacher responsiveness affected the learners` attitude towards their schoolwork. Some teachers seemed to be very helpful to their learners and the issue of lack of training and brailed resource scarcity were outcries as most of the teachers in the school lacked the skills to assist learners with visual impairment. It was also revealed that teachers faced difficulties in handling challenges that learners with visual impairment face because of the language or communication barrier, as they are unable to read braille. This made successful implementation of inclusive education hard. A dissertation submitted to the Dept. of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. Citation: Kabomo, N. R. (2020) Teachers` responsiveness to learners with learning barriers (visual impairment): a case study design, University of Botswana.

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z