INVESTIGATING THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE UTILIZATION OF THE STUDENTS’ CENTRED PEDAGOGIES IMPACT THE MALAWI NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY: THE CASE OF STRENGTHENING MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE IN SECONDARY EDUCATION TRAINED TEACHERS IN BALAKA DISTRICT

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which the utilization of the student centred pedagogies impacted the Malawi National Youth Policy. It further investigated the challenges teachers encountered in the implementation of the pedagogical approaches gained from the Strengthening of Mathematics and Science in Secondary Education (SMASSE). The study took a mixed research design. The sample size was sixteen (16) science teachers selected randomly. The data were collected using lesson observations and individual interviews. The study used SMASSE’s concepts of student centred pedagogies of Student Activities (A), Student Centred approaches (S), Experimentation (E) and Improvisation (I) of teaching and learning resources (ASEI), Planning of work (P), Doing the work (D), Seeing the work (S) and Improving (I) (PDSI), as a conceptual and analytical framework. The study found that teachers used student activities (A) and improvisation (I) in the classrooms. However, the activities did not appear to enhance student centredness (S) and Experimentation as much as it is desired by the Malawi National Youth Policy in creating the needed human capital for development through education. This finding showed that SMASSE has medium positive impact to the Malawi National Youth Policy in Balaka. With regards to PDSI, while all teachers planned schemes of work, only some teachers plan lessons while the majority just used lesson notes. The study was, therefore, necessary in that it has shown that teachers are contributing to the implementation of the Malawi National Youth Policy by developing students as future human capital for Malawi. With regard to the results, this study concludes that SMASSE trainings were positively impacting the pedagogical practices of the teachers thereby contributing positively to the Malawi National Youth Policy. Students need to be encouraged to communicate in English at all levels.