Learning from students: Zambian multigrade community schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Tuesday IV)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Learning, curriculum & pedagogy

Proposal

Within the Zambian educational system, community schools have been established as a means of meeting the education needs of all Zambian children in accordance with the UN Millennium Developmental Goals (United Nations, 2000). Located in both urban and rural areas of Zambia, community schools often operate under a multigrade structure due to limited teaching staff and/or facilities. Previous research on multigrade education in Sub-Saharan African (including Zambia) have focused mainly on the challenges of the multigrade system, in particular, the lack of teacher training. Previous research has also primarily been conducted through teacher interviews. Based in a critical theoretical framework, this study examines the educational system in Zambia with particular focus on mutigrade school structures through the reflections of students.
Joyce (2014) acknowledges that “multi-grade education is recognized as the viable option for promoting access to basic education for disadvantaged children, especially those living in rural areas.” (p.1). Through her study of multigrade classrooms, she found that approximately 26% of all schools in South Africa operated some form of multigrade education. Kivunja (2014) echoes the findings of Joyce and adds that teachers lack the proper training in order to successfully teach in a multigrade classroom. In his study he found that, in Uganda and Zambia, despite have large numbers of multigrade classrooms, there is only one institution that provides training for teachers in this context. Furthermore, his research suggests that the educational systems in these and other Sub-Saharan countries will need to continue the practice of multigrade classrooms due to limited numbers of teachers and/or student in many areas. This, therefore, calls for a better understanding of the pedagogical strategies needed to successfully deliver instruction in multigrade classrooms.
This phenomenological study is one study in a series of research aimed at understanding the unheard student perspectives on education in Zambia. This paper will discuss the areas in which community schools are excelling as well as areas in need of improvement through the voice of youth who were attending these schools at the time of the study. Previous research (Imasiku, 2013) indicated that a multi-grade system may be an effective school structure used by many community schools. The purpose of this study was to explore the multi-grade classroom through student voice to understand what strategies and structures were effective and what schools operating this multi-grade design can learn from Zambian community schools.
For this study, 21 students in both rural and urban Zambian community school shared their experiences, perspectives, and hopes in regards to their education. Each student began their participation by drawing a picture of their classroom as they experienced it. This drawing became part of a semi-structured interviewed in which students explained their drawings and then shared their educational narratives. Teachers of each school were interviewed as well to provide basic contextual and supplemental understanding. The results indicate that some teachers in Zambia may have found a design model in which limited resources and teaching faculty can be overcome through peer-teaching.

Author

• Lori Imasiku, Andrews University