Perceived Roles of Teachers of Agricultural Science in the Implementation of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Measures in Secondary Schools of Botswana

Letlamoreng S,Hulela K

doi:10.22158/asir.v2n3p102

Abstract

<p><em>The study is to determine the roles played by teachers of agriculture in senior secondary schools in the fight against the spread of Human Immune Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). This was a descriptive research which used a simple random sampling technique to select 127 out of 191 Agricultural Science teachers in senior secondary schools. A questionnaire was mailed to gather data. A factor analysis was conducted for data reduction and clustering the underlying constructs in the variables that measured the effectiveness of the strategies in schools. The study found that the roles perceived to be highly played by agricultural educators included direct counselling and guiding the children that are going to school (Mean = 2.67; Standard deviation = 0.74) and discussing and teaching (Mean = 2.63; SD = 0.73) HIV/AIDS. There was a positive relationship between the three underlying factors and selected demographic characteristics of respondents, like gender and level of education.</em></p>

Highlights

The purpose of this study is to determine the roles played by agricultural science teachers in senior secondary schools in the fight against the spread of Human Immune Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS)
In the last stage a national multi-sectoral framework was established to guide the response from the society and is coordinated through the National AIDS Co-ordinating Agency (NACA), a department established to deal with the disease
It was found in a study conducted by Lockaby and Vaughn (1999) in the US, that the Agricultural science teachers agreed on the identified twenty-one values which were the important characteristics to be taught to the young people studying agriculture in high school, of which responsibility, honesty, courtesy, and respect were perceived as the most important values

Summary

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to determine the roles played by agricultural science teachers in senior secondary schools in the fight against the spread of Human Immune Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). From the Marlow’s theory of education, it is clear that the role and responsibilities of a teacher is to develop, boost, inspire, enhance, and sustain motivation in the student learning environment (Burleson & Thoron, 2007) In this perspective where students are affected by HIV/AIDS, a teacher is an individual in a social organization such as a school who is seen to provide an environment for students’ socialization. The roles played by theories of sociology and social psychology are important as they are used to explain activities carried out or conducted by teachers in the classroom Such teachers act out of socially defined categories to ensure each role is a set of rights, duties, expectations, norms and behaviors that a teacher has to perform and fulfill in the career of teaching

Objectives

Methods

Results