- Title
- Exploring rural parents’ attitudes and experiences towards teaching and learning of the topics of human reproduction in junior secondary schools: a Namibian case study
- Creator
- Kavila, Kornelius Embumbulu
- ThesisAdvisor
- Ngcoza, K M
- ThesisAdvisor
- Chikunda, C
- Subject
- Human reproduction -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia
- Subject
- Parents -- Namibia -- Attitudes
- Subject
- Sex instruction for teenagers -- Namibia
- Subject
- Sexual health -- Study and teaching -- Namibia
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MEd
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/13543
- Identifier
- vital:21836
- Description
- The Namibian school curriculum mandates that the subject of Life Science should be taught in all schools from grade 8-10. Among the main themes in this subject is Human Biology which covers topics of human reproduction. According to the Junior Secondary Certificate JSC Life Science Examiners’ reports (2010-2015), and my personal experience, learners perform poorly in the topics of human reproduction. Many of the parents in Namibian communities are not comfortable talking to their children about their sexuality, and some believe that communication about sexuality could influence adolescents to become more sexually active (Silas, 2015). Yet, there is agreement among educationists that parents’ involvement in their children’s education has an impact on the mediation of concepts, skills and attitudes. It is against this backdrop that this study explored rural parents’ attitudes and experiences towards teaching and learning of the topics of human reproduction being taught to their children in junior secondary schools (Grade 8-10). This study was informed by Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory with the focus on how adults and peers influence individual learning and how cultural beliefs impact on instruction and learning in science classrooms. The sociocultural theory was supplemented by the Feminist Standpoint Theory (FST) with the focus on how different knowledge systems and standpoints produced from a specific social community (that is, rural parents) in terms of who to say what and when, to whom regarding sex-related information. The study was located within the interpretive paradigm. Within an interpretive paradigm, a case study approach was employed. This case study used a mixed method approach, that is, both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to help understand the subjective nature of human’s attitudes and experiences. Data were collected using an administered questionnaire with twenty-two rural parents, workshop observation and semi-structured interviews with four of the twenty-two participated parents. Additionally, data from documents such as textbooks and curriculum documents were used to strengthen the context of this study. The study provided valuable information regarding issues around discussions about sex education. It revealed that the majority of rural parents regard sexual health education a taboo. However, the majority are of the supportive attitude towards sexual health education. The study provided some insights on the factors that influence rural parents’ attitude and experiences towards sexual health education. It was also found that parent-child communication is an essential skill, which needs to be developed either through parents’ workshops or other means to support and empower parents to understand the importance of teaching and learning about sexual health issues. It is also recommended to empower and support parents on how to talk to their children about sexual health issues.
- Format
- 95 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Kavila, Kornelius Embumbulu
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- Visitors: 1281
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Collections
Gender Action Forum (GENACT)
RU Department of Education
SDG 05. Gender Equality
SDG 04. Quality Education
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