University Botswana Journals
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RESEARCH ON LANGUAGE AND LITERACY IN BOTSWANA: MAPPING FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA
Get PDFLiteracy is the foundation of educational attainment and quality of life. Botswana has been experiencing adecline in educational standards in recent years. However, this has been the case in some rural areas sinceindependence. This paper is a review of research on literacy in Botswana with a view to: find out thetheoretical frameworks underpinning the studies; if research has diagnosed the issues facing literacyeducation and provided solutions; whether research has informed action in closing the achievement gapbetween rural and urban education; and how research can best inform theory and practice to enhance literacyeducation. Findings indicate lack of theoretical frameworks guiding the research on literacy; problems havebeen identified with possible solutions. The achievement disparities have been minimally studied. Thepaper calls for a clear future research agenda on language and literacy, with a focus on policy-practiceconnections, curriculum, pedagogy, and equity to improve quality of life of citizens
VIOLENT MASCULINITIES IN BOTSWANA SCHOOLS: A CASE OF THREE SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Get PDFThis paper examines the connection between violence, dominant construction of masculinities and genderidentities, drawing on a study conducted in three senior secondary schools in Botswana. Nine teachers wereinterviewed about their experiences of school violence. Violence in these school resulted in massiveinfrastructure destruction and loss of lives and sights. The study found that violence is an important signifierof masculinity hence male students actively enacts it. Findings from the study suggest that circumstancesleading to violence in schools vary from one school to the other, but violence in all the sampled schoolsstemmed from issues pertaining to gender and power relations
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OR SUSTAINABLE LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS? DEBATING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN BOTSWANA
Get PDFThis paper explores the contested nature of sustainable human settlements in Botswana. Sustainable development has attained the status of a catchphrase for actors that include international financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Development Partners, Non-Governmental Organisation as well as international political organisations like the United Nations and its agencies. As a member of the United Nations (UN), Botswana affirms commitment to the sustainable development agenda within which the quest for sustainable human settlements falls. Despite the wide adoption by diverse actors, sustainable development is highly contested in its conceptualisation and on how it is to be attained. In debating sustainable human settlements in Botswana, there has been little attempt to interrogate the contested nature of the concept. The predominant concept inclines more towards the techno-ecological intergenerational definition associated with the UN’s Agenda 21 where the focus is on reconciling economic development with environmental impacts. The paper argues for a more political definition where the focus is on sustaining lives and livelihoods. We argue that there remain within the country’s normative development planning framework and liberal democratic political system, opportunities for sustainable human settlements models that privilege sustainability of lives and livelihoods. It is suggested that the ideal espoused herein can be reached through the utilisation of sanctioned spaces of participation within the country’s political system and a shift from conventional expert-centred knowledge production to co-production ethos of enquiry and practices.  
Sir Ketumile Masire’s Contribution to the Betterment of the African Continent
Get PDFMaster of Ceremonies, Your Excellency, Sir Ketumile Masire, Members of the Board of the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen: I would like to thank the Board of the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation for making it possible for me to be here this evening to participate in this important fund-raising dinner. I am certain that none of the distinguished guests present here need any convincing by me, or anybody else for that matter, about the need for all of us to do everything we can to help generate the means to enable the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation to carry out its important work. I am convinced that all of us as Africans should consider ourselves very fortunate that President Masire and his collaborators took the decision to establish the Masire Foundation
My Recollections of the Introduction of Botswana’s Pula Currency on 23 August 1976
Get PDFIn 1975, the government of Botswana set up a Monetary Preparatory Commission to oversee the introduction of Botswana’s first ever currency. This was under the overall guidance of Quett Ketumile Masire (later Sir Ketumile Masire), the then Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP). He in turn, was strongly supported by President Sir Seretse Khama
The Origins and Early Years of The Botswana Society and Botswana Notes and Records
Get PDFThe Botswana Society sprang to life at a well-attended meeting held in the British High Commission Reading Room on 10 June 1969 chaired by the then Vice-President of Botswana, Dr Quett Ketumile Joni Masire. The aims of the Society were to promote interest in and research on social, historical, geographical, scientific and similar cultural matters and to encourage the publication of scholarly articles –all related to Botswana
Sylvia Cooke (1930 - 2018)
Get PDFThis week (in November 2018) brought the sad news that Sylvia Cooke had died recently in the UK after a long stay in hospital. Sylvia was Executive Secretary of the Botswana Society from 1978 to 1990, a spell which coincided with much of its glory years when she formed, with the two heavy weights, Gobe Matenge and Alec Campbell, a remarkable trio. Sylvia, theoretically the junior partner, was the perfect foil for the other two. Alec was quiet and introspective; Gobe, particular and pedantic. Sylvia was outspoken, direct and jolly, a tonic. She was also a softie, generous and extraordinarily kind
HIV AND AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AMONG FORM THREE JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KWENENG AND CENTRAL DISTRICTS
Get PDFThis article explores HIV and AIDS knowledge and attitudes of students in their final year of junior secondary school. Though a lot of studies have been carried out about youth and HIV it seems a few have focused on the attitudes of Junior Secondary school students. This category of students is most problematic because of sex related hormones that are combined with the developmental stage (Austin, 1995; DiClemente, 1996) that make teenagers risk takers as they experiment with everything including their bodies. A closed questionnaire was administered to 602 students from which 450 questionnaires were valid. The findings were analysed using descriptive statistics. The AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM) and the Health Belief Models (HBM) are used to understand the current knowledge and attitude of form three students. The following are some of the findings: some students do not perceive themselves at risk of getting infected with HIV; most students still harbour negative attitudes towards HIV and AIDS as they want the status of a sibling who is HIV positive to be kept as a secret; despite evidence of stigma, a large percentage, 62% don’t think that HIV and AIDS is a punishment for an immoral life. These attitudes partially explain why pregnancy is still the leading cause of school-drop outs. The paper concludes that students are knowledgeable on HIV and AIDS issues but still harbour negative attitudes towards people living with HIV and AIDS. Therefore continued education to address stigma is necessary. The study recommends that the skills problem must be addressed in order to reduce the HIV and AIDS incidence rate
THE IMPACT OF AIDS STIGMATIZATION ON AFRICAN MECHANISMS OF COPING WITH BEREAVEMENT: THE CASE OF THE SOUTHERN SOTHO
Get PDFDifferent ethnic groups, the world over, have their own unique ways of coping with bereavement that are influenced by their shared worldview. This paper is aimed at giving an account of the way the Southern Sotho group deals with the issue of bereavement and how this traditional way of dealing with bereavement is negatively impacted upon by the on-going stigmatization of the AIDS epidemic. Adopting a conceptual analysis and informed by the idea of the narrative therapy, the paper argues that the on-going stigmatization of individuals and families that have lost lives and their loved ones to the AIDS epidemic is rendering some of the traditional mechanisms of coping with bereavement ineffective and irrelevant
FROM MAINSTREAMING TO INCLUSION: HAVE SHIFTS IN PARADIGMS IMPROVED THE PRACTICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA
Get PDFEducational placement for children with disabilities remains a controversial issue facing the world today characterized by paradigm shifts in the conceptualization and practice of education for learners with disabilities, ranging from ‘Mainstreaming’ and ‘Integration’ to ‘Inclusion’. One would have thought that through conceptualization shifts, learners with disabilities would have benefitted significantly. However, there seems to be no agreement as to which paradigm offers the best education for learners with disabilities. Botswana, as part of the global community is also caught up in this paradigm shift debate. Therefore, this position paper presents an overview of the evolution of special education policy and its associated practices in Botswana. It focuses on learners with intellectual disabilities as part of the Inclusive Education constituency in Botswana. It explores the challenges posed by continual paradigm shifts and practices as evidenced in the existing literature and from the findings of an exploratory study in Botswana. The paper makes several recommendations on the practice of Inclusive Education, including the need for clear legislation, a thoughtful and well researched transition involving entire school communities. Key words: Special Education, Inclusive Education, Mainstreaming, Intellectual disabilities, Botswan