WHAT COUNTS AS LITERACY IN WINDHOEK URBAN PRE- AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NAMIBIA? BY JOB UAZEMBUA HENGARI Town Thesis presented for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYCape of in the School of Education UniversityUNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN March 2019 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University DEDICATION I wish to dedicate this thesis to my family, Tekla, Ngaitjitue, Veueza and Ngauje Hengari, for their continuous support and understanding that I constantly needed to be away from home in order to work on this project. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am highly indebted to my three research children and their parents as well as their teachers at preschools and primary schools who allowed me to gather valuable data on which this thesis is based. With open hearts they allowed me to as the researcher enter their premises to collect valuable information on home-school literacy practices as they occurred in these social contexts. Thank you very much. To my supervisor, Professor Mastin Prinsloo, who directed my work over the past couple of years, your continuous support is highly appreciated. I wish to thank the University of Namibia for funding my studies. Lastly, to each and everyone in the Department of Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education and the entire Faculty of Education at the University of Namibia, who encouraged me to persevere, I say: ‘Okuhepa, onaua onao!’ ii DECLARATION I, Hengari, Job Uazembua, hereby declare that the work on which the thesis is based is my original work, both in concept and execution (except where acknowledgements indicate otherwise) and that neither the whole work nor any part of it has been, is being, or is to be submitted for another degree at this or any other university. I empower the university to for the purpose of research reproduce either the whole or any portion of the contents in any manner whatsoever. Signature: Date: 01 March 2019 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANC – African National Congress ECD – Early Childhood Development ETSIP – Education and Training Sector Improvement Program IALS - International Adult Literacy Survey IECD – Integrated Early Childhood Development LMS – London Missionary Society MEC – Ministry of Education and Culture MOE – Ministry of Education MGECW – Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare MWACW - Ministry of Woman Affairs and Child Welfare MOEC – Ministry of Education and Culture NAMCOL – Namibia College of Open Learning NECDC – National Early Childhood Development Committee NGOs – Non-Governmental Organizations NLS - New Literacy Studies SACMEQ – Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality SADAC – Southern African Development Community UN – United Nations UNGA – The United Nations General Assembly VCF – Veterinary Cordon Fence iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Population aged 0-4 years attending ECD by sex and area Table 2: School enrolment for school-going population aged 5-6 years Table 3: Population of 0-4 years attending according to type of ECD program and area vi ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate what counts as literacy in Windhoek urban pre-and primary schools in Namibia. Using an ethnographic-style research paradigm the study examines literacy practices in social contexts to answer the question as to what counts as literacy in these schools. As teachers and learners and parents/caregivers and their children occupy the classroom/home as a social space, they engage each other in literacy events, during which literacy development is scaffolded and encouraged as a culturally valued activity. The study focused on three children and studied their early literacy development in their classrooms and at home by observing them and recording them during those practices. The data was collected in two phases, each stretching over a six months’ period. The focus during phase one was on the preschool phase of early literacy learning, while phase two continued to collect the data at lower primary school phase. At pre- and primary school, the classroom is the place where teachers provide literacy practice and guidance to the learners. It is this ‘school literacy’ that defines what counts as literacy, a specific kind of literacy that is planned and offered to learners in a classroom setting. In Windhoek urban settings, the ‘traditional’ conception of literacy as a largely psychological ability – something true to do with our intellect, and thus a private possession – remains dominant. As some literacy is more dominant, visible and influential than others, the ‘school-based literacy’ in this study dominates and marginalizes the vernacular and techno-literacies that occur at home. I want to suggest that Namibia endorse the sociocultural approach to literacy learning by way of a paradigm shift in order to create room for other literacy practices outside of school, in homes and in communities, so as to become recognized and legitimized as they already are broadening what counts as literacy. I argue for a new curriculum that can account for similar variations in children’s home backgrounds. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii Declaration ..................................................................................................................................... iii List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... iv List of figures .................................................................................................................................. v Figure 1: Transcription conventions List of Tables ........................................................................ v Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii 1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the problem ...................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Objectives .............................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Research Question ................................................................................................................. 5 1.5 Significance and purpose of the study .................................................................................. 5 1.6 Conceptual background ......................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Chapter layout ..................................................................................................................... 20 1.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 21 2. CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 22 2.1 Pre-colonial education ......................................................................................................... 23 2.1.1 Land occupation .............................................................................................................. 23 2.1.2 Early childhood education ............................................................................................... 24 2.1.3 General education ............................................................................................................ 24 2.1.4 Concluding remarks ........................................................................................................ 26 2.2 Role of the missionaries in providing education ................................................................. 26 2.2.1 Land occupation .............................................................................................................. 27 2.2.2 Early childhood education ............................................................................................... 29 2.2.3 General education ............................................................................................................ 29 2.2.4 Concluding remarks ........................................................................................................ 30 2.3 Education under the German occupation ............................................................................ 31 2.3.1 Land occupation .............................................................................................................. 32 2.3.2 Early childhood education ............................................................................................... 33 2.3.3 General education ...........................................................................................................