The Impact of Streaming Zimbabwean Secondary Schools – Learners Attributes

Abstract

In Zimbabwe, there is no policy that promotes the phenomenon of mainstreaming in schools, and yet the practice is widespread in most secondary schools. Mainstreaming is the act of grouping students by ability range that is those with high intelligence quotients (IQs) are placed in the same classroom and those perceived to be slow learners also grouped on their own. This study investigated the perceptions of pupils from three secondary schools in Bulawayo province of Zimbabwe. A qualitative methodology was followed in conducting the study. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with the purposively selected pupils. The major findings revealed that those pupils in high performing classes felt that streaming should be an on-going exercise as it promotes cooperation, hard-work and good results and yet those in the lower streams had negative attitudes towards streaming. Learners placed in low ability classrooms believed that teachers and learners in high ability classes discriminated them. The study recommends that since streaming is inevitable, the best and experienced teachers should be allocated to teach the lower stream classes so that they use their knowledge and expertise to help the students improve their performance. There should also be counselling and guidance offered to pupils to explain the positive aspects of streaming. Key words: Streaming, Ability grouping, Secondary schools, Pupils/students, Grouping Province