Critical Practitioner Inquiry in Namibia
Critical Practitioner Inquiry in Namibia
Lars Dahlstrom
The background to Critical Practitioner Inquiry (CPI) in Namibia is found in the so called school projects that student teachers in the Integrated Teacher Training Programme(ITTP) carried out in a refugee camp in Angola and in schools in northern Namibia, before and after independence 1990. The ITTP was organised by the Department of Education, Umea University, Sweden in cooperation with the liberation movement South West AfricaPeople’s Organisation (SWAPO) that after independence was transformed to the leadingpolitical party in post-independent Namibia. The ITTP started 1986 in a refugee camp forexiled Namibians in Angola called Kwanza-Sul and continued to operate inside Namibia afterindependence until the end of 1992 as a model for the national reform efforts to come as from1993.
The ITTP school projects were carried out by all student teachers as a major inquiry duringthe last year of studies as a way to demonstrate the integrated understandings, attitudes, skills, and knowledge developed during the three years of teacher education. All school projectshad a close relation to practice as well as educational thinking within a framework of political awareness as a way to develop a broad situational understanding of the conditions for andprospects of educational work. Even though never used as a concept during this period, theITTP school projects can today be characterised as early attempts to carry out criticalpractitioner inquiry or critical action research. The list of titles below shows both the broadscope of reports as well as its practical focus.
Authors and Titles of ITTP school projects
School projects from Kwanza-Sul refugee camp Education Centre, 1989
Linda InghanyenwaChildren with learning problems and how to solve them
Patricia Hausiku Language learning and learning to read
NdapewaMunashimweChildren’s imagination and cognitive development
MathildeAngulaSmall children and language learning
AnneliShaningiHow to support English as a communicative language
NelaoHaufikuLearn English through Stories
Betty Dickson The arrangement of the classroom and the use of teaching material
MarjamSimataaMethods and production of teaching material in Mathematics for grade 1
Jane-Mary EkandjoHow to arrange a Science corner in the classroom
Selma MutilifaA process related method in Science
Thomas IkuaChildren with special needs
Helen MaxuililiFocus on the silent child
Rebecca JuniasOn teaching History and Geography in upper primary
AlbertinaAmaamboThe role and functions of the teacher
School projects from northern Namibia, 1992
AlinaAmukushuCommunication in the classroom
Charles AmunimeCooperation among teachers
Dos Santos NghilihanyeMathematics for school and life
Esther HangulaShy and silent, neglected and forgotten
Helena IsackOver age children in class
HelviShombeScience integrated with other subjects
HilbertineMbasuvaWhy children fail to understand Mathematics in primary classes
Isaac NashumbaCreative language work for young learners
Maria AndimbaTraditional children’s songs and their use in the primary classroom
Martha David How to support children with learning problems
Milton HaihamboEnglish across the curriculum
Monica SheetekelaChildren’s creative production as a way to learn
NdafudaHomateniParents in school
NdapandaNewakaThe school garden as a resource for school work
NuusikuAntsinoIs there something wrong with my child?
SaaraMungunguDrop-outs in Namibian primary schools
Sarah AmukwahA way to develop second language vocabulary in upper primary schools
Simon Jeremiah What is the world like? Map work in upper primary
Sylvia KandangaHow to involve the community in school development
The ITTP was phased out as a separate teacher education programme, when a new nationalteacher education programme was developed and implemented as from 1993. This nationalprogramme was inspired by the ITTP and its practices. The programme, Basic EducationTeacher’s Diploma (BETD), was introduced at the four colleges in Namibia. The CPIconcept was used in connection with the development of the BETD and was introduced asone of the overarching professional themes in the programme and students were instructed tocarry out critical practitioner inquiries through the three years of study that culminated in anaction research report integrated with the school-based studies and part of the finalassessment.
A programme for teacher educators was developed in parallel to the introduction of the BETDas a way to strengthen the educational philosophy of the national reform based on notions ofsocial justice and democratic values in a country that was still haunted by the practical, socialand intellectual remains of apartheid thinking. The courses for teacher educators followed aCPI approach and were carried out during the period 1992 – 2000.The course wereboth at graduate and post-graduatelevels for one hundred (100) Namibian educators, mostly teacher educators. Statistically,around 70% of all teacher educators in Namibia volunteered to participate in the courses. Thereports from the last group of course participants are listed below.
Levels, authors, and titles of the critical practitioner inquiry reports carried out 1998 - 2000
Higher Diploma course for teacher educators, 1998 - 2000
LevelAuthor & title
Pre-primaryeducationTheresiaSiyave: Improving Art Activities in Pre-primaryEducation.
LowerprimaryLinda Inghanyenwa: Enabling teachers to use manipulatingteaching materials for grade 1 and 2 in Mathematics.
Helena Kayofa: Developing teaching strategies to teachreading in English at grade 1 and 2.
ScholastikaHausiku: Promoting Learner-centred education inlower primary
JuniorsecondaryMutafelaSimasiku: Teaching Mathematics in a learnercentredway in rural schools
Gertrude Maketo: Why is it difficult to develop learner-centrededucation beyond group work?
Maria Hanghuwo: Creating an improved school situation for agroup of blind learners in grade 8 - 10.
Abraham Nafine: Integration at Senior Secondary Level – anew dawn for visually impaired learners.
TeachereducationPopyeniAmushigamo: Group work as a teaching technique
Karolina Mbango: Teaching and learning of map reading skillsin teacher education.
AmramAmakali: Students' interest and performance in HumanMovement Education
Williams Newaka: Some student teachers' relationship withdesigning and making of teaching and learning materials
Masters course for teacher educators, 1998 - 2000
AreaAuthor & title
Language studiesLeona Compion: Mother tongue as subject in formal educationin Namibia - the case of Afrikaans
TeopolinaNegonga: Namibia's new language dispensation: past,present and future trends
BollenChataa: The perceptions of teachers and learners onEnglish as a medium of instruction in learner-centred educationin the junior secondary phase in the Caprivi region
Subject StudiesBornifaceMasule: Perceptions of Human Movement Educationat colleges of teacher education in Namibia
Moses Hidengwa: Low performance and lack of interest in ArtsEducation during teaching and learning process in the NorthWest regions of Namibia
Jan Nitschke: Concept development in Physical Science – inschooland out-of-school experiences of Physical Sciencelearners in grade eight and their ideas on density as a PhysicalScience concept
Assessment StudiesErica Shilongo: Tensions and anxiety in assessing students: thecase of the BETD course
Godfrey Tubaundule: Academic achievements of grade 10 inexaminations in the Caprivi region: reasons and functions.
Education ReformEhrensMbamanovandu: Critical Practitioner Inquiry: ananalysis of some of the attempts to establish a critical pedagogyin pre-service teacher education in Namibia
Miriam Hamunyela: Interpretation, understanding and practiceof reflective teaching - a study among BETD graduates inNamibia
Immanuel Shipena: The development of the concept of reflectiveteaching and learning in a teacher education college for basiceducation in Namibia, with particular reference to the BasicEducation Teacher Diploma (BETD) programme
LoideMbodo: Subject integration in Namibian colleges: anattempt to reconnect the disconnected connectors - its limits andpossibilities
Michael Mbudje: Learner-centred education in Namibia – itsconceptualisation and implementation at the University ofNamibia and Windhoek College of Education
Gender & administrationMarcelleNitschke: Challenging many cultures in one class
Raymond Simanga: The career patterns of women teachers inthe Caprivi education region, KatimaMulilo, Namibia
Immanuel Nambahu: The role of the school board in thegovernance of the school - a Namibian perspective.
George Simataa: Teacher education at a distance in Namibia
The professional development of teacher educators through CPI courses was an integratedpart of the national teacher education reform in Namibia during the first ten years afterindependence. This professional development played a significant role in the success of thereform and also drew a broad international attention to the efforts in Namibia.
Contact in Namibia:John
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