A research project was conducted to develop a narrative description of the strengths and weaknesses of the distance education component of the Zimbabwean teacher education program. The Triad Perspective Model of Distance Education (TPMDE), which resulted from the study's emergent design, combines three theoretical perspectives on education:…

Education is a national concern in Zimbabwe because prior to independence in 1980, Africans were formally and informally prevented from sharing in the educational opportunities that were available to Whites. Zimbabwe is a young country that has made great strides since independence. They have touched large numbers of people with beginning…

To evaluate the Adult Literacy Organization of Zimbabwe (ALOZ), an organization whose aim is to achieve universal literacy in Zimbabwe, a study interviewed officials at ALOZ, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other institutions involved in literacy development; reviewed relevant literature and documents;…

This seminar paper explores research bearing on the provision of early childhood education in Zimbabwe. Initially, unresolved problems in the developmental literature are pointed out to support the view that those concerned with intervention in the developmental process can only proceed heuristically by basing their action on theoretical…

An important issue confronting newly emerging nations in Africa is the development of a new curriculum to reflect the changing norms and views of the past. Looking at nations that share a common British educational tradition, a study done in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe asked which topics and categories of cultural knowledge were essential…

This paper describes two programs in Botswana and Zimbabwe in which manual work forms an integral part of the educational program. It analyzes their objectives and structure and discusses constraints against the background of socioeconomic change in the two countries. Differences are identified and discussed. The first two sections deal separately…

The National Literacy Campaign of Zimbabwe was launched in July, 1983. The objectives of the campaign were to enable adults (1) to understand information about themselves, their localities, and their country; and (2) to become effective leaders and productive members of their cooperatives, village committees, management committees, and other…

This study examines the idea that a major aspect of improving the effectiveness of schools hinges on obtaining a better understanding of what it is that makes teachers effective. The researchers surveyed university students in Botswana (n=54), Zimbabwe (n=54), and the United States (n=70) who were training to be teachers and asked them what they…

This in-depth study of school curricula in Zimbabwe examines curriculum development and its relationship to state politics in postcolonial third-world nations. An important assumption of the research is that curriculum is a powerful political tool, particularly in newly independent African states; hence, radical curricular revisions were to be…

Educational policy in three southern African countries plus the "independent" South African homelands is reviewed in this paper. First, an introduction discusses how the significance of education as a factor in national development became an issue of growing concern in the 1960's (during the move toward independence), but also how…

The central theory of Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" is that all human beings are capable of engaging in a dialogical encounter with their world. Application of this theory to the bitter civil war that occurred in Zimbabwe from 1972 to 1979 leads to four conclusions. First, the lack of educational opportunity for the Africans…

When Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia, the education provided blacks was very different from that provided to whites. As more blacks passed through the school system it became obvious that for many young Zimbabweans the system provided education for unemployment and frustration. In 1966 African secondary schools were divided into F(1) academic and F(2)…

The debate about what constitutes good teaching in the industrialized countries of the world tends to be carried over into the developing world without examining ways in which social and cultural contexts of the originating countries differ from those of the receiving ones. This study explores differences in perceptions of elementary education…