Abstract
Before Namibia’s independence, the education system in Namibia was segregated along ethnic lines and until then only a few Namibian children could access education. With independence in 1990, the future looked bright for many Namibian children because article 20 of the Namibian constitution provides that all persons shall have the right to education. In the Namibian context, education for all means equal access to quality education as based on the four major goals of education (access, equity, quality and democracy). The new government prioritized both pre- and in-service teacher education to help teachers develop the required expertise and skills for them to offer quality education. The investment of the Namibian government was evident especially towards the junior primary, mathematics and science, and languages teachers. Despite all the support to teachers, many studies continue to reveal that the majority of Namibian teachers especially in the fields of mathematics were unable to teach effectively. Studies (Ottenvanger, Macfarlane and Clegg, 2005; Ilukena & Schäfer, 2013) revealed that Namibian mathematics teachers were poorly trained and so lacked both subject content and pedagogical knowledge. In terms of the ability to use learner centered strategies, Van Graan & Leu (2006) argued that Namibian primary teachers were unable to use learners-center strategies effectively with the exemption of group work. Although in general, a great deal is known about instructional strategies which junior primary teachers use to teach the number concept to young learners, only a few studies have been conducted on junior primary (grades 1-3) mathematics in Namibia. The researcher is not aware of any study which focused on the teaching of the number concept in the junior primary phase in Namibian schools. This study therefore, examines the instructional strategies used by junior primary teachers to teach the number concept to grade one learners. Specific attention was also paid to the difficulties the grade one teachers experience while teaching the number concept and a manual on how they can be supported in this regard was developed. The study employed a qualitative case study approach. Fifteen teachers from ten schools participated in this study. Data was collected through pre-observation conferences, observation, post-observation conferences (as discussed in the clinical observation model), a questionnaire as well as document analysis.
Ph.D. (Education)