http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1215 Masters dissertations approved by the Faculty of Education Mon, 13 Jul 2026 05:10:53 GMT 2026-07-13T05:10:53Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2472 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. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2472 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2448 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. Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2448 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2445 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. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2445 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2442 Levels of Information and Communication Technology integration in Mathematics teaching and learning at Junior Secondary School in Mahalapye region Namasiku, Lesole Norah This study aims at finding out the levels of ICT deployment in Mathematics teaching and learning at Junior Secondary Schools in Mahalapye region, with the specific intent to explore the media used and how they are utilised by teachers during teaching and learning of mathematics. This was upon realisation that times are changing and ICT is at the forefront of various developments worldwide, hence the intention to carry out a study that draws a relation between the researcher’s field of work, Mathematics teaching and ICT. The study shall use a content analysis approach for data collection with interview, questionnaire and observations as the key data collection instruments. The population of the study will include all Mathematics teachers in Junior Secondary Schools in Mahalapye region. The study sample shall comprise of ten Mathematics teachers drawn from five Junior Secondary Schools in Mahalapye region. The ten teachers shall be purposively sampled. The collected data will be analysed using various techniques such as SPSS and content analysis techniques. The findings will be used to draw a conclusion on how and which media are deployed in the teaching and learning of mathematics and draw some recommendations on how ICT can be integrated in the teaching and learning of mathematics. A dissertation submitted to the Dept. of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Masters in Mathematics Education. Citation: Namasiku, L. N. (2020) Levels of Information and Communication Technology integration in Mathematics teaching and learning at Junior Secondary School in Mahalapye region, University of Botswana. Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2442 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z