A Child-Centred Discourse in Zambian Kindergartens?

Elisabeth Almaz Berger Eriksen

doi:10.7577/njcie.4148

Abstract

This article aims to identify and discuss the existence and strengthening of a child-centred teaching discourse in Zambian kindergartens. The article is based on the understanding that the teacher-directed approach to teaching is a historically based hegemonic discourse within Zambian kindergartens. This means that the teacher-directed teaching discourse dominates thinking in many ways and is translated into institutional arrangements (Hajer, 1995, in Svarstad, 2005, p. 243). Several studies have pointed to the challenges posed by the teacher-directed teaching discourse in kindergartens in Sub-Saharan Africa as a hindrance of pedagogical quality in such institutions, pointing to a child-centred teaching discourse as an important path towards development (EFA, 2015, p. 208, Temba, 2014, p. 110; Mwaura et al., 2008; 2011). This article includes a positive discourse analysis of the Zambian Education Curriculum Framework[1] and a small-scale qualitative study, based on observations from four classrooms in four kindergartens in the Copperbelt province of Zambia. The article focuses on conducting a positive discourse analysis of the elements of child-centred teaching discourse observed in one of the four classrooms. The findings point to the existence of a child-centred teaching discourse in the Zambian Education Curriculum Framework. However, only one of the four Zambian kindergarten teachers seemed to implement teaching practices that could be identified as a child-centred teaching discourse. he elements of a child-centred teaching discourse identified through the positive discourse analysis were: the kindergarten teachers’ professional decisions, good interaction with children, use of a variety of materials, and children’s participation. The findings are discussed in light of the Zambian Education Curriculum Framework as well as theoretical perspectives on child-centred teaching discourse, argumentation theory and children’s right to participation. Finally, the article includes a critical discussion of how the findings may strengthen a child-centred teaching discourse in Zambian kindergartens.

Highlights

According to the Ministry of General Education in Zambia, the country’s Copperbelt province has a 39 per cent estimated enrolment rate in kindergartens (MoGE, 2018)
Elements of a child-centred teaching discourse in the Zambian Education Curriculum Framework In 2013 the Zambian government launched a revised national Education Framework (ZECF), which included the education of children from zero until secondary school, as well as the curriculum for Teacher Education for these schools
The national curriculum was partly issued as a tool to help deal with challenges related to quality issues in the decentralised model of Early Childhood Education after the 1960s (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, 2013, p. 5)

Summary

Introduction

According to the Ministry of General Education in Zambia, the country’s Copperbelt province has a 39 per cent estimated enrolment rate in kindergartens (MoGE, 2018). EFA described the need for schools to develop from teacher-dominated instructional practices to learner-centred approaches, as a vital part of developing the quality of the pedagogical processes in kindergartens While the terms learner-centred and child-centred have much in common, the latter may be more fitting when addressing the youngest children, as it emphasises the important role of play and warm relations in addition to children having an active role in kindergarten settings The term encompasses various meanings which may be divided into three main categories; the Fröbelian origins emphasising the value of play, the progression notion that children should guide their activities and the developmentalist notion, emphasising more instrumental approaches to children, learning, curriculum and assessment (Chung & Walsh, 2000; Wood 2007). In the following study the term kindergarten is used as a common term for the institutions that provide early childhood care, development and education (ECCDE) for children age 0–6 in Zambia (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, 2013)

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