The Influence of the View of Nature on Biology Education in Zimbabwe, a Minor Field Study
The purpose of this thesis is to look into the teaching methods and content in Zimbabwean biology education, and the possible influences that the teachers’ view of nature have on this education. The study was performed in and around Mutare in eastern Zimbabwe with eleven observations and six interviews in primary and secondary schools, corresponding to years four to nine in the Swedish compulsory school. My study shows that the teachers’ view of nature is in many parts similar to the Swedish view of nature, but differ in a closer connection to religiosity and in a more every-day-life relation to nature. This is reflected in several of the concepts that view of nature consist of. The view of nature is influencing the content in biology partly. Since science hold universal concepts which are the same all around the world, the view of nature does not influence the scientific parts of biology, but have influence on where the emphases in the education is put. The results show no direct influence of the view of nature on teaching methods, but indirectly influenced by the choice of content.
A Preliminary Survey of Environmental Awareness in Some Secondary School Pupils in Zimbabwe
For sustainable development to be effective there must be appropriate environmental education strategies which provide people with the necessary knowledge and attitudes and skills. This paper is based on exploratory research to establish the level of environmental knowledge, attitudes towards environmental issues, environmental activities and problem-solving skills of secondary school pupils in determining appropriate strategies for sustainable development. The methods used to obtain information include a questionnaire, a review of secondary sources including policy documents and the various syllabuses which contain aspects of environmental education, and interviews with officials at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. The questionnaire was administered to 555 Form 1 and Form 4 secondary school pupils at 8 secondary schools, 4 rural schools in Chirumanzu District, Midlands Province, and 4 urban schools in Harare. The questionnaire was designed to ascertain the knowledge, attitudes, activities and problem solving skills of pupils as regards a wide range of environmental issues in Zimbabwe. The research attempted to identify differences, if any, between Form 1 pupils and Form 4 pupils, and between those living in a rural environment and those living in an urban environment. The results revealed that although there was a relatively high level of environmental knowledge amongst the pupils, understanding and analysis of this knowledge was considerably lower, as were skills of solving environmental problems. Environmental activities such as tree planting were quite widespread. Form 4s scored much higher than Form Is, and generally, rural pupils did better than urban pupils. The interviews confirmed that there is no official policy on environmental education in Zimbabwe. The research concludes with a series of recommendations to enhance the status of environmental education, especially in secondary schools, in Zimbabwe, and to ensure that future generations possess the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills to enable them to participate effectively in the sustainable development of Zimbabwe's natural resources.
Initial Teacher Training: the French view
ABSTRACT This paper, against the background of trends in the development of initial teacher training in Europe as a whole, identifies and explains some of the recent, radical reforms which were introduced in France by a socialist government. These include the need to raise the status and the competence of the teaching profession; the creation of new teacher‐training institutions of university status (Instituts universitaires de formation des maitres); the introduction of common entry qualifications at degree level for both primary and secondary levels; the harmonisation and the extension to 2 years of the post‐degree teacher‐training course and the increase in emphasis placed on professional training, both theoretical and practical. These reforms provoked a storm of protest and an examination of the reasons for this reveals a multiplicity of crucial questions which have far‐reaching implications.