The Dyke

Psychological and social impact of the coronavirus disease on girls in a marginalised Odzi community in Zimbabwe.

Memory Matsikure, Innocent Sifelani, Sifikile Songo, Maurice Kwembeya — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The study explores the psychological and social impact of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19)among girls aged between 14 and 19 years in the Odzi community of Mutare District, Zimbabwe. The qualitative research methodology was used and 20 participants were selected using the purposive sampling technique. Hytner's adapted phenomenological data analysis method was employed and the four dominant themes from the analysis were: Psychological impact of Covid-19 on girls from a marginalised community; Social impact of Covid-19 on girls from a marginalised community; girls’ vulnerability in the Covid-19 era; and lessening the impact of Covid-19 on girls from marginalised communities. The psychological impact of Covid-19 on the participants was experienced through excessive worry, symptoms of depression, fear, symptoms of anxiety, and helplessness. The social impact of Covid-19 was experienced in the form of child pregnancies and marriages; lack of basic necessities; child labour and vending, disrupted education, child-headed families, and death of loved ones. The research revealed that girls from marginalised communities were highly vulnerable during this Covid-19 era. Research findings further suggest psycho-education for parents and caregivers of girls, psycho-social support, provision of virtual learning gadgets, furniture, and stationery; food and other basic necessities, the establishment of low-cost boarding facilities, intensification of awareness education campaigns on sexual and reproductive health; sustainable income generating projects funding for parents and caregivers of girls from marginalised communities; and aid in the form of amenities, disinfectants, buckets, and soap.

Experiences and coping strategies of school heads implementing Competence Based Curriculum: A case study of ten primary school heads in Chirumanzu Rural District, Zimbabwe

Shepherd Shoko — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This case study explored how school heads’ experienced and managed the implementation of a Competence Based Curriculum. School heads of ten rural primary schools in Chirumanzu District in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe participated in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data after seeking consent from participants. The findings of the study were that school heads were surprised by the announcement to introduce a Competence-Based Curriculum since they saw no need to introduce it. The school heads expressed ignorance about the Competence-Based Curriculum. The demands of the Competence Based Curriculum were a burden on their poor schools already struggling to keep afloat in a sinking and declining economy. Threats from the minister to hastily implement the Competence-Based Curriculum disoriented, overwhelmed, and left school heads very insecure. The school heads coped with the implementation of the Competence Based Curriculum under these conditions; managing educator emotions, providing leadership and stress management, empowering educators, involvement, rational persuasion and using legitimate authority. To manage resource constraints, school heads reprioritised school budgets and encouraged improvising where possible and the use of the local environment as well as encouraging innovations.

Developing effective study sheets as a vehicle for learning in museums

Simbarashe Chitima — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The study sheets are a popular medium of content delivery in museums. This study examines how study sheets being employed by national museums in Zimbabwe, promote effective learning of curriculum content among primary school pupils. The study employed the socio-cultural learning framework as the theoretical framework. Qualitative research and phenomenology research design was deployed as a research methodology. The study was undertaken from 2015-2019. Data was solicited from 230 primary school pupils from Grades 3-7, 12 school teachers, two museum directors, two museum curators, and seven tour guides. The study reveals that study sheets that are in multiple-choice format have been found to promote lower-order thinking and guess responses while study sheets that involved drawing, open-ended questions, and employing indigenous languages promoted higher-order thinking, synthesis, and critical thinking. It is concluded that museum study sheets in Zimbabwe mainly promote general and museum-based knowledge as compared to curriculum-based knowledge. This study established pillars that needed to be considered when developing effective study sheets that facilitate the learning of curriculum content. This study contributes to the promotion of effective heritage education programming in museums.

Making sense of depression within the Shona culture: Perceptions of tertiary students in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe

Songile Mhlanga, Ennie Manyumwa — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This research paper sought to provide a deeper understanding of the conceptualisation of depression and its symptoms in students of the Shona Culture in a higher education institution. Vulnerability to depression is increased as students adapt to the university culture and the Shona Culture provides a unique template for the conceptualisation and expression of depressive symptoms. A constructivist worldview was adopted facilitating a qualitative approach to gather in-depth data from a non-random sample of students and their lecturers at a university in Zimbabwe. Results indicate that Shona students understand depression as stress; ‘kufungisisa’, thinking too much; madness; ‘kusuruvara’, sadness, and as something which was spiritually oriented. In some cases, it was difficult for the students to come up with a Shona word that directly translates to depression. Students believed depression was caused by failure to cope with the demands of college life, chronic illness, relationship problems, financial challenges, and as hereditary. The study, therefore, recommends that mental health practitioners in educational institutions adopt problem-solving strategies to enable students to cope with challenges emerging in their socio-economic environment. Research and mental health intervention programmes should incorporate Shona cultural syndromes of depression such as ‘kufungisisa’, ‘kusuruvara’ and any other terms that are suggestive of depression in order to facilitate a better understanding and diagnosis of depression. Mental health practitioners and traditional healers should collaborate to foster the development of tailor-made intervention strategies that considers both the scientific and spiritual pathology of depression.

Mediation of the Black African identity through social media humour

Hugh Mangeya — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The paper engages the intersection between social media humour and the construction of toxic Black race identities through social media humour. Social media humour is a cultural text that offers discursive spaces for the construction of racial identities, amongst a plethora of other identities. It unpacks how viral social media humour is implicated in the construction, amplification and perpetuation of toxic racial attitudes at a time in which race issues are dominating global identity discourses. More so, in an unstable and combative social milieu marred by Afrophobia and other forms of ethnic violence. These attitudes are discursively constructed and perpetuated through a plethora of spaces, referred to as the battlefield of history, including on social networking sites. Humour is not an innocent text. It is critical to unpack the multiple ways in which viral race-based humour circulated through WhatsApp groups is implicated in shaping how black people conceptualise themselves vis-à-vis the white race. Its point of departure is that race identity, and its self-conceptualisation is by no means natural. The race-related humour is, therefore, an entry point into African people’s appreciation of what it feels to be African, vis-à-vis what is naturalised as the hegemonic white identity. In the process, the humour highlights the problem of participation on social networking sites.

Adverse impacts on mental and physical health, work and economic burden during the coronavirus pandemic – farm workers

Ross Cooper — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Prof. Ross G. Cooper, reacts and provides some insights into the adverse impacts on mental, and by default physical health the Covid-19 pandemic caused to sections of the population such as farm workers. In a world where life has been reconfigured economically and socially, farm workers, among others, have also become an important social group deserving attention against the ravaging aspects of Covid-19.

Turning around university paralympics in Zimbabwe

Kaves Zvapano — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study establishes the challenges in the implementation of sports programmes for physically challenged students in Zimbabwean universities and ways of turning around these games. A mixed methods approach was used. The research design was a survey. The target population was the physically challenged students and sports managers in universities, including Sports Directors. For the survey, the purposive sampling technique was used while for interview respondents, the researcher adopted the judgemental sampling technique. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences and excel while thematic data presentation and analysis was done for qualitative data. Data presentation was done using tables, figures and themes. The key findings are that there are several challenges in the implementation of sports programmes for physically challenged athletes in universities in Zimbabwe. Running university Paralympics was found to be more complex and expensive than the mainstream university sports programmes leading to a number of challenges. In order to turn around university Paralympics in Zimbabwe, technically qualified officials from the National Paralympics Committee should be consulted during the planning and managing of sports programmes for the physically challenged athletes. The investment was necessary for the acquisition of adapted sports equipment and sports facilities for use by the physically challenged athletes. The use of emerging technologies in training and managing sports programmes was found to be quite critical in turning around the university paralympics in Zimbabwe. In addition, there is a need to widen the sports programmes, and enacting policies that will make it possible to develop university Paralympics.

Perceptions towards sustainable conservation and wildlife resources in protected areas: The Tuli Circle, Zimbabwe

Robert Muzvondiwa — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Tuli Safari Area or Tuli Circle has a spatial extension of 416 km² set aside for sustainable wildlife conservation. The area is surrounded by Shashe, Dibilishaba, Machuchuta, Masera, and Maramani communal areas. There is evidence of illegal harvesting of wildlife resources by the local community from visual data collected by Zimparks officers on patrol in the field, hence the need to appraise the nature and cause. The research employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Triangulation of data collection tools was employed to ensure the reliability and validity of the results. Data collection tools, which encompass field observation, questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to solicit data from informants. Judgmental and non-probability sampling technique was used to come up with the subjects of the study which includes Village Heads, Senior Village Heads, Headmen, and Councilors. A sample of 50 subjects was chosen on the basis of the researcher’s knowledge and judgment of the subjects as office bearers and the positions they hold in the community. Prevalence of domesticated animal encroachment, arson, human-wildlife conflicts, and illegal harvesting of wildlife and wildlife products by adjacent local communities is common in and around TC. High demand for grazing pastures and water resources for domesticated animals and people is the main cause of conflicts between wildlife, wildlife custodians, and adjacent communities. Law enforcement coupled with environmental awareness assists in the minimization of conflicts between humans and wildlife, poaching, and domestic animal encroachment.

Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on international trade in the SADC region

Davidzo Hope Mapuvire, Victor Kudakwashe Mapuvire — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

International trade within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region has witnessed a significant level of growth within the past few years. This phenomenon has been mirroring what has been occurring within the African continent at large, and it indeed shows great economic growth prospects for the continent. However, the coming of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted international trade and created a lot of uncertainty. Therefore, this paper focused on the global trade inter-connectedness in the SADC region before and after the Covid-19 outbreak. The main objective of this research was to find out how the Covid-19 global pandemic has affected international trade within SADC. This study was qualitative in nature and the research employed secondary data collection methods. Secondary methods involved documentary review where journal articles, academic books, newspapers, and research articles were examined to gain insights into the issues relating to the effects of global pandemics (Covid-19) on trade in SADC. The research revealed that the global economy, including the economy of SADC countries, was facing some challenges even before the Covid-19 outbreak. It was noted that as a result of the pandemic, the governments within SADC introduced a raft of measures in attempts to address the challenges emanating from the disruptions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, the pandemic posed a serious threat to international trade for SADC as a region and thus eroded any gains made towards trade liberalisation over the past few decades with its impact on trade being more severe than those of 2008 to 2009 Global Financial Crisis.

Gendered Constructions of school headship: The case of Chivi District of Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe

Clemence Dzingirai, Efiritha Chauraya — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article reports a study on gendered constructions of school leadership in Zimbabwean schools. Gendered constructions perpetuate inequality between females and males in educational leadership. The study uses an interpretive phenomenological analysis to establish the lived experiences of 15 senior women in Chivi district secondary schools. Of the 15 senior women leaders who participated in this research, ten were subjected to semi-structured interviews and five were subjected to a focus group discussion. Findings indicated that female teachers were hesitant to advance into school leadership because of gender stereotypes, female teachers, perceived idealised leaders, extrinsic normative constraints, and difficulties in managing women’s bodies when performing leadership roles. To involve senior women to change and go for leadership in education, the researchers recommended procedures to counteract the female teachers’ conscious and subconscious dispositions created by gendered constructions.

Emerging online pedagogical needs of university lecturers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic: The voices from Zimbabwe

Godfrey Jakachira, Pfuurai Chimbunde — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This qualitative multiple case study was undertaken to establish the online pedagogical needs of university lecturers following the sudden Covid-19 induced transition from face-to-face to online teaching and learning. From a population of 25 universities, a purposive sample of two universities and 16 lecturers was studied in-depth. Data was generated through in-depth interviews and Focus Group Interviews and analysed thematically. Theoretically, the study employed van Dijk’s (2005) Resources and Appropriation Theory (RAT). The abrupt shift to online pedagogy created an online pedagogical skills vacuum that undermined the effective implementation of online teaching and learning. Most lecturers found themselves incapacitated to facilitate online teaching and learning without training in online pedagogy. They also failed to effectively implement online pedagogy due to limited or no access to digital devices, internet connectivity challenges, incessant electricity load shedding, and high data bundle tariffs. The principal emerging pedagogical needs of lecturers are digital resources and online pedagogy.

Concerning mobilising transport for accessing maternal health care and how impactful strategies are in low resourced settings: A scoping review

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

There is very limited research examining the impact of transport mobilisation strategies across different geographical domains. This scoping review explores information holes on strategies for mobilising transport to maternal healthcare, and how strategies potentially impact women’s care-seeking behaviours in Low-Income Countries (LICs) and Lower Middle-Income Countries LMICS. The scoping review employs a multi-database search approach retaining 59 articles after a full article review. Three themes were identified; efficient coordination between several institutions; paying attention to key proximal and distal factors as well as strengthening sustainable local solutions to interventions. However, initiatives would generally thrive through (i) Integrating health promotion into organised maternal healthcare programs equipped with requisite infrastructure; (ii) improving capacity, autonomy, and participation within and across social/ community structures, and (iii) maternal healthcare regionalisation addressing barriers due to physical and socio-economic geographies through the use of approved/secure facilities (iv) addressing cases of endemic poverty (v) subscribing to socio-cultural, and religious identifications in transport mobilisation. There is a significant variation in scope, context, legislative regulation, and relevance across environmental-societal dynamics making the transferability of transport mobilisation strategies problematic. Strategies for mobilising transport for maternal care ought to be approached within the spatiotemporal confines of this variation. Successful interventions must integrate place-specific approaches, holistically integrating Women/Maternal Health policing, financing schemes, and geographically aware transport mobilisation strategies.

Direct or indirect teacher written corrective feedback: Zimbabwe junior secondary school English composition learners’ preferences beyond Covid-19 era

Hannah Mudenda, Stella Muchemwa — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The ‘new normal’ caused by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way school learners can be taught and assessed. What used to work in the recent past may have currently ceased to be effective and there is no turning back. This qualitative study examines the Zimbabwe Junior Secondary School English teachers’ beliefs and learners’ preferences regarding teachers’ written corrective feedback in composition writing. The choice was made between direct and indirect feedback. The study is underpinned by Vygotsky's Social-cultural Theory of Cognitive Development. This is a suitable theory for this study because the feedback interaction between the teacher and the learner is social while valuing the teacher’s feedback by the student, is cultural. The study employed a case study research design focusing on one school in Gweru District, Zimbabwe. The researchers used the purposive sampling technique to select four Zimbabwe Junior Secondary School English teachers and 48 learners, in order to pick on the rightful participants who were able to give relevant information, thus, achieving the objectives of this study. Open-ended questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used for data gathering. The researchers reduced large volumes of data from the questionnaires and interviews by coding and drawing themes from these codes. Findings showed that both students and teachers viewed direct feedback as more effective in improving learners’ English composition writing skills than indirect feedback, especially during the Covid-19 era, and beyond, where technology can be effectively manipulated for teaching and learning purposes. The study concluded that, for improvement to take place in learners’ composition writing skills, teachers need to know and provide the preferred type of written corrective feedback regularly. They also see to it that learners attend to the given feedback. This study recommends effective communication between the teachers and the learners so that learners’ feedback preferences and teachers’ expectations are shared, understood, and applied by the involved parties. Local teacher workshops are also recommended for they can aid teachers in this written corrective feedback issues as well as related learning theories for the smooth teaching of composition writing in the schools.