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AIDS ACTION PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS – ZIMBABWE
As discussed earlier, the AIDS Action Programme for Schools as a subject area in secondary schools provides information about sexually transmitted infections and HIV and AIDS (Chireshe, 2006:16; GoZ, 2005b). As a subject it facilitates the development of life skills to enable youth to make informed decisions regarding relationships and sexual behaviour (Katsinde & Katsinde, 2007; GoZ, 2006a:7; 2002b:12; O’Donoghue, 1996:1). The policy stipulates that the curriculum reform is mandatory in every secondary school where one 40-minute lesson per class per week is to be taught from Forms One to Six (GoZ, 2003c; 2002b:12; Moya, 2002:2). Specifically, paragraph 3.1 of the HIV and AIDS policy in schools stipulates that at least one period per class per week be allocated for the teaching and learning of HIV and AIDS and Life Skills education (GoZ, 2005b; 2000c).
Learners’ textbooks on the subject area include core and supplementary materials addressing four topics: relationships, life skills, health and human growth as well as sexual maturation development (O’Donoghue, 1996:5). Supplementary materials for the subject area include ‘body talk in the age of AIDS’ and ‘play scripts’ for use in school drama competitions. The book and supplementary materials support the main purpose of teaching HIV prevention (GoZ, 2006a:7; Moya, 2002:2). The Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Education10, is drafting policy guidelines for the institutionalisation of the AIDS Action Programme for Schools from early childhood development (ECD) at (preschool level) to high school (Chireshe, 2006:63; Nyanungo, 2005:1). The major goal of the AAPS is to assist learners and their communities to develop positive behaviour change and overcome the challenges of the AIDS pandemic (Maturure, 2004:2). Throughout its implementation phase, the AAPS consistently works to ‘meet the five UNAIDS criteria for best practices in school-based HIV and AIDS education and prevention: effectiveness, ethical soundness, relevance, efficiency, and sustainability’ (Moya, 2002:2). Since the AIDS Action Programme for Schools was instituted across the nation, the goal to maintain effective programme implementation uniformly has been a constant challenge. Philliber Research Associates (1997) and ActionAid (2004) revealed a constant need for additional training and support. The latter drew attention to the fact that long-term commitment and continuing technical input were crucial to ensure the success of this significant programme (Philliber Research Associates, 1997). Due to missing links in the implementation of the subject area, HIV infection among Zimbabwean youth remains a critical concern for teachers and policy makers (National AIDS Council, 2007). Levels of knowledge about HIV and AIDS and behaviour change among learners have been found to be still too low to curb the further spread of HIV in Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe Demographic & Health Survey, 2005-2006 (2007:222).
TEACHER CONCEPTUALISATION AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
A baseline study carried out in Zimbabwe when the school-based AIDS prevention curriculum was initiated, found some knowledge gaps on the part of the teachers (GoZ, 2003b). The levels of knowledge about HIV and AIDS and behaviour change remained too low to produce anything approaching an AIDS-free generation (GoZ, 2003c). Similarly, in Mozambique, Visser (2004a) in his study found that age, personal experience with HIV and AIDS and the level at which the subject matter was taught were some of the factors that impacted on teachers’ willingness to talk about HIV and AIDS. For the past ten years studies on implementation of school-based prevention programmes illustrate that teachers have been found to be a weak link in the implementation process (Education Policy Consortium 2001; O’Donoghue 1995). It was also found that while teachers were eager to participate in HIV and AIDS education, they tended to shun people with HIV or AIDS and in some cases they were uncomfortable about having social contact with people infected with HIV and suffering from AIDS (GoZ, 2003b). For teachers to be able to help learners develop positive attitudes towards people living with HIV and AIDS, the teachers as facilitators need to first develop positive attitudes themselves (GoZ, 2003b).
Policy implementation involves what Jansen (2001a) refers to as the relationship between ‘policy images’ and the ‘personal identities’ of teachers. To Jansen, ‘policy images’ are the official projections through various policy texts of what the ideal teacher looks like and what is expected of him. On the other hand, ‘personal identities’ are the understanding that teachers hold of themselves in relation to official policy images. Jansen (2001a) states that teacher identities mean teachers’ sense of self as well as their knowledge and beliefs, dispositions, interests and orientation towards work and change. Hence, teacher identities are the way teachers feel about themselves professionally, emotionally and politically, given the conditions and demands of their work. The professional basis of teacher identity involves the ways in which teachers understand their capacity to teach as a result of, inter alia, subject matter competence, levels of training and preparation, and formal qualifications. In other words, the formal and prior training that the teacher feels he has shapes his or her ability to understand and implement a particular policy reform (Jansen, 2001b:242). This is a cause for concern about how teachers conceptualise or understand their capacity to implement a proposed policy. Thus, of relevance to this study is how teachers as professional actors view their capacity in relation to the AIDS Action Programme for Schools, given how the policy initiative defines their mandate.
The emotional basis for teacher identity refers to the ways in which teachers understand their capacity to handle the emotional demands made on them by a new policy in the context of existing stresses and pressures. Such difficulties may be in the form of large classes, managing and disciplining learners and demands from school management for accountability on learner performance. In contemporary classrooms, the teacher also has to deal with the emotional trauma of learners with HIV and AIDS and students whose parents or siblings have died or are terminally ill due to the pandemic (Jansen, 2001a). This implies that the emotional disposition of teachers is expressed in terms of teacher response to a proposed policy based on the stresses and pressures in their operational environment – the school. The captivating questions is how teachers, as emotional actors, conceptualise, experience and respond to the AIDS Action Programme for Schools, given the definition of the subject area’s attributes to their role. the stresses and pressures in their operational environment – the school. The captivating questions is how teachers, as emotional actors, conceptualise, experience and respond to the AIDS Action Programme for Schools, given the definition of the subject area’s attributes to their role.
Teachers lacked resources and support for them to effectively implement the AIDS Action Programme for Schools
For the sake of clarity in reading this chapter let me state that in this study, although the issue of resources is a factor discussed on its own under this heading, it is apparent that lack of resources as a critical determining factor emerged very strongly across most of the preceding and subsequent themes. Teachers on the AAPS were perturbed by the lack of resources such as syllabuses and prescribed textbooks to teach the subject area as well as the lack of support from the school heads and the Ministry of Education to effectively implement the AAPS curriculum. Participants were dissatisfied with the lack of workshops and inservice training to capacitate them with the necessary knowledge and skills to teach HIV and AIDS education.
Most participants in this study revealed that besides the lack of in-service training, the teachers lacked support from the Ministry of Education, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and from school management. With regard to school support, there were no clear parameters set for teachers. Some participants reported that they were receiving minimal support from their school heads and Heads of Departments (HoDs) (TF-H2:9; TO-M3; TF-H3:9). The school management ensured mainly that the subject was time-tabled but no provision was made with regard to the training and support of teachers. Similarly, Bantwini (2010:86) in South Africa found that the absence of school management support and inspectors (supervisors) at schools resulted in a culture where teachers often went to their classes without preparation and proper lessons plans.
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND AND ORIENTATION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 RATIONALE
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.4 AIMS OF THE STUDY
1.5 BACKGROUND TO HIV AND AIDS EDUCATION IN ZIMBABWE
1.6 TEACHER UNDERSTANDING IN CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION AND CHANGE
1.7 META-THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS
1.8 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.9 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.10 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
1.11 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.12 DATA COLLECTION
1.13 DATA ANALYSIS
1.14 ETHICAL MEASURES
1.15 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS
1.16 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 RATIONALE FOR HIV AND AIDS EDUCATION IN ZIMBABWE
2.3 THE ZIMBABWE NATIONAL HIV AND AIDS POLICY FRAMEWORK
2.4 BACKGROUND TO AIDS ACTION PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS
2.5 POLICIES FOR THE AIDS ACTION PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS
2.6 IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN PREVENTING THE FURTHER SPREAD OF HIV INFECTION
2.7 TEACHER CONCEPTUALISATION AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
2.8 CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION BY TEACHERS
2.9 TEACHERS’ RESPONSE TO CURRICULUM CHANGE AND IMPLEMENTATION
2.10 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE TEACHERS’ RESPONSE TO CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION
2.11 BARRIERS TO CURRICULUM CHANGE AND IMPLEMENTATION
2.12 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 CONCERNS-BASED ADOPTION MODEL
3.3 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RESEARCH APPROACH
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
4.5 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
4.6 SAMPLE SELECTION
4.7 PARTICIPANTS
4.8 DATA COLLECTION
4.9 DATA ANALYSIS
4.10 CREDIBILITY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS CONSIDERATIONS
4.11 ETHICAL MEASURES
4.12 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 ANALYSIS OF QUALITATIVE DATA
5.3 ANALYSIS OF BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION OF PARTICIPANTS
5.4 THEMATIC DISCUSSION OF THE RESEARCH
5.5 SYTHESIS OF RESULTS ON TEACHER CONCEPTUALISAN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AAPS
5.6 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 6 OVERVIEW, SYTHESIS OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 OVERVIEW
6.3 SYNTHESIS OF FINDINGS IN TERMS OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
6.4 RECOMMENDATIONS
6.5 RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
6.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
6.7 CONCLUSION
