UNAM Open Access Journal University of Namibia
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The Savannas: An integrated synthesis of three major competing paradigms
Get PDFThe coexistence between trees and grasses in the savannas is a contentious issue. Al- though necessary scientific efforts have been done, unfortunately such efforts have given rise to contrasting theories and models. This review provides a synthesis of these theories how they influenced our understanding of the savannas over time. The review found that while the equilibrium theory predicts savannas as stable ecosystems regulated by natural mechanisms such as root niche partitioning, such ideas have been disputed in favour of non-equilibrium framework. The latter suggests that savannas are unstable ecosystems largely regulated by stochastic dynamics such as inter annual rainfall variations and episodic environmental shocks such as fire and overgrazing which result in an ecosystem oscillation between grass dominated and woody dominated phases in time and space. On the other hand the disequilibrium paradigm argues that savannas are unnatural ecosystems formed as a result of anthropogenic disturbances such as fire and grazing that buffer the ecosystem from complete domination by either trees or grasses. This review demonstrates that the savannas still lack a unifying theoretical framework. The current one is characterized by conflicting, contradictory, diverging ideas. Such revelations call for a need to develop a unifying theoretical framework for the savannas
Chinua Achebe and hybrid aesthetics
Get PDFThis essay examines the question of hybridity in Chinua Achebe’s fiction and essays with a view to bringing to fore the inherent contradictions, ambiguities and ambivalences that typify writing in the colonial language. It hinges on the premise that Achebe’s choice of English as a language of literary expression is fraught with rejection and acceptance, aporia and agony, and Anglophilia and Anglophobia. Therefore, in his articulation and projection of the postcolonial narrative, Achebe implicitly grapples with the issue of identity in trying to make sense of his world as well as the world of his fictional characters
Ujinsi wa nomino za mkopo katika lugha ya Kiswahili
Get PDFMasculine, the world languages are generally categorized into two categories; masculine language, feminine language and neuter language. Many Bantu Languages, Swahili inclusive is generally categorized as neuter language; meaning that objects have on its vocabulary like noun has no grammatical gender. However, if you underscore a close observation especially on the borrowed noun, you find something different. The aim of the current article therefore is to investigate how the borrowed noun that enters into Swahili from gendered language behaves. The questions raised by this article are: first, do really borrowed noun that come from gendered language into Swahili become neuter like other noun? Secondly, by looking those borrowed now from gendered language and the way they behaves in Swahili, is it correct to generalize that Swahili language is neuter. These questions and other of this trend are the ones addressed in this article. Data collected from through interview and observation is used to support the argument.
 
Flea market voices on literacy in Botswana
Get PDFThis paper presents the views of some flea market vendors and clients, especially those whose voices are never heard, on the literacy and education issues that affect Botswana. Although small, the sample of respondents used for this study is representative of the kinds of people that populate flea markets. However, a large percentage of the respondents are male, thus indicating that male voices are dominant even in this setting. The findings of the study, which are similar to those in the literacy literature on Botswana, include the following: children lack interest in reading; parents have not been involved in their children’s reading development; and there are inadequate library and other resources to support a reading culture in Botswana. Some respondents advocate direct teaching of reading to their children, procuring reading materials for them and sending them to good private schools as ways of improving their children’s reading. Overall, the study shows that there is need to complement the top-down approach with the bottom-up approach, as there are valuable lessons policy makers can glean from canvassing the views of those in non-traditional government structures such as the flea markets
The evolution of management theories: implications for supervisory practices on the early childhood development programme in Zimbabwe
Get PDFThis paper examines critically the evolution of management theories and how they have informed the supervisory practices of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme in Zimbabwe. The paper identifies a number of management theories that have influenced the supervision of the ECD Programme in Zimbabwe. Theories that have been found to have greatly informed the supervision of the ECD Programme in Zimbabwe include Scientific Management, Systems and Contingency. However, the Bureaucratic Management, Administrative, Human Relations, Total Quality Management, Learning Organisation and Re-engineering theories have had some influence on the supervision of the ECD Programme. The paper was a desk review. Unlike others, the study established that the Quantitative Theory of Management was not as influential in the supervision of ECD because of the view held by most supervisors that managerial decisions and the nature of the ECD Programme itself cannot be quantified. The paper concludes that supervisory practices at any given point in time are indicative of the influences of the management thought prevalent during such a period and the human element in place. An important issue that emerged is that, even when and where new theories tend to be more pervasive, the influences of the already existing ones remain visible and influential to some extent
Global simulation: fostering students pro-activism in the learning of Frech in Anglophone countries
No full textLearning and teaching activities evolve together with the didactics research progress. In foreign language teaching, the communicative approach, developed in the 1970s, positioned learners at the epicentre of the learning-teaching process, exposing them to realistic and authentic communicative situations. New teaching activities and practices developed in order to answer the learner-centred approach needs, and simulation techniques found interest among many French foreign language experts. In the early 1980s, role-play activities were implemented in French foreign language classrooms and they became unavoidable activities in textbooks. They were eventually introduced as testing instruments in official certifications such as the French International Language Certificates DELF and DALF. The global simulation teaching technique, which appeared together with role-play, was more ambitious as it required learners to create and interact in a collective world of reference, in which they had to simulate fictional characters communicating with each other in a specific realist environment, and according to the on-going events and incidents occurring in this environment. In a global simulation, learners embark on a “realistic illusion” where they are actors as well as decision makers of the storyline. Unlike role-play, the global simulation teaching technique constitutes the core of the teaching content. This paper aims to define the Global Simulation process and its technicalities, and to analyse its potential pedagogical advantages and limitations. The paper will attempt to present origins and concepts of the Global Simulation in FFL to value its pedagogical advantages from teachers’ and learners’ points of view, and to underline the possible obstacles and/or limitations of this communicative tool
The importance of Life Skills Education and counselling programme in the Namibian schools setting
Get PDFLife skills is a compulsory subject in Namibia.All schools with Grades 4 to 12 are required to fully implement the life skills education and counselling programme. This subject concerns developing in learners the ability and skills which will enable them to cope with important tasks in times of change. This paper used a documentary review approach to examine the aims of life skills education and counselling programs, groups of life skills, and the role of life skills teachers/teachercounsellors, and counselling services offered as well as the difficulties life skills teachers face with the implementation of the subject in the school settings. The review revealed that life skills education faces implementation difficulties such as little time allocation, inadequate teachers, overloaded syllabus, and shortage of textbooks. It is therefore recommended that school management ensure that life skills is an integral part of education and is implemented as per the Namibian curriculum guidelines
An exploration of existential needs and self-determination theory within an educational context
Get PDFIn this concept paper ideas of the psychology of motivation in the twenty first century are explored as an introductory study on motivation theory. Drawing from the work of Leontiev (2012 a, b) and Längle (1999, 2012), as well as Deci and Ryan (1985, 2000), an overview of existentialist motivation is presented. Längle (1999) proposes that the four fundamental existential motivations centre on having a place in the world, a valued existence, a shared existence, and a meaningful existence. This section is followed by an analysis of the more traditional and mainstream approach of Self-Determination Theory, which explores issues of self-regulation and self-determination from existential underpinnings. Further exploration of Self- Determination Theory and the needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness, as well as the conceptualisation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as a continuum, follows. Concluding comments are made as to the relevance of the overview for an educational context
The effects of antihypertensive drug therapies on blood glucose levels in maturity onset diabetes patients on oral hypoglycaemic drugs: The case of selected health centres in Lesotho
Get PDFBackground: Antihypertensive drugs may cause changes in blood glucose levels. The concurrent use of these medications with hypoglycaemic drugs in diabetic patients may contribute to inadequate control of blood glucose levels. Objectives: To describe the effects of prescribed antihypertensive agents on fasting blood glucose levels of non-insulin dependent diabetic patients on treatment with oral hypoglycaemic medications. Method: Descriptive data on fasting blood glucose levels of diabetic patients on hypoglycaemic and antihypertensive drug treatments were collected retrospectively for a six-month period. Data sources were medical records of patients attending diabetic clinics in five health centres in the Maseru Health Service A rea of Lesotho. There cords were categorised in to two basic patient groups, namely, patient groups treated with only oral hypoglycaemic agents and patient groups treated with same agents concurrent with Anti-hypertensive agents. Differences in the means of the initial and end of six-months Period fasting blood glucose levels of patient treatment groups were determined and compared. Results: Patients who received an anti-diabetic drug regime concurrent with antihypertensive medication tended to show improved fasting blood glucose levels at six months, whereas patients receiving only anti diabetic drugs did not show improvement. Partly owing to the small sample size (178patients), the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Hydrochlorothiazide prescribed singly or in combination with other antihypertensive drugs was implicated in increased blood glucose levels. Captopril showed better glycaemic control for patients on oral hypoglycaemic agents. Atenolol and nifedipine appeared not to have any effects on patients’ fasting blood glucose levels. A prospective case-control study would help clarify these findings in this study’s population
Relative importance analysis of the factors influencing maize productivity at Olushandja and Etunda irrigation Schemes of Namibia: a secondary analysis of data from farm household survey
Get PDFThe main objective of this study was to apply relative importance analysis to determine the main factors that affect maize productivity for smallholder maize farmers in the Olushandja Dam and Etunda Irrigation Schemes, north-central Namibia. According to the analysis the key determinants were labour, consultation with extension service providers, land under maize production, the type of seeds used (local or hybrid), access to credit facilities, the experience in horticultural farming. The results singled out labour as the most important factor in maize production, accounting for 16.4% of the farm level variations in technical efficiencies. Technical efficiency gains as the size of land increases. This probably means that those farmers with small plots applied too much of inputs with respect to the size of their land. Farmers who consult extension services and those trained in good horticultural practices were more technically efficient and credit facilities should be availed to farmers so that they can access farm inputs in time to boost productivity