LECTURERS’ PREPAREDNESS TO TRAIN TEACHERS OF LITERACY AND LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN ZAMBIA

Thumbnail Image
Date
2019
Authors
Mutolwa, Gwen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
The issue of literacy in Zambia has been the subject of concern due to the continued low literacy levels among Zambian pupils. Literacy should be the main focus if any improvement in the education system is to be done. The focus of literacy education is to improve the reading and writing skills of learners which should begin with teacher preparation. The purpose of this study was to establish whether Literacy and Language lecturers were adequately prepared to train teachers in literacy and language education in colleges of education in Zambia. The study sought to establish the preparedness of literacy and language lecturers to prepare teacher trainees in literacy and language education, establish whether the literacy and language teacher education programme adequately responds to the pedagogical needs of a teacher and establish challenges which literacy and language lecturers face in preparing trainee teachers in literacy and language education. The study employed a mixed method descriptive design which involved both qualitative and quantitative methods. A purposive sampling technique was used to come up with 49 respondents, that is, 45 college lecturers and four college administrators while simple random sampling was used to select colleges of education where data was collected. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. The study found that while all literacy and language lecturers were professionally trained either as primary school teachers or secondary school teachers, they were not fully prepared to train teachers in literacy and language education. This was due to the failure to interpret the literacy and language teacher education programme, the literacy and language teacher education curriculum not being totally in line with the school curriculum in most areas of literacy and language education and failure by the ministry to update literacy and language lecturers on the latest developments of the school curriculum and shortage of lecturers was among challenges. The study recommended that literacy and language lecturers need to be inducted and mentored upon appointment so as to prepare them to train teachers, the literacy and language curriculum should always be updated in line with the school curriculum in order for colleges of education to prepare students effectively, and there is need to engage literacy and language lectures in the formulation and /or revision of literacy policies.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Literacy and language , Lecturers-- train-- teachers , colleges of education
Citation
Collections