Kurebwa mercy thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for doctor of philosophy



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4.5 SYNTHESIS OF EMERGING PATTERNS


As stated at the beginning of this chapter, the main purpose was to analyse, interpret and discuss data collected through observations, document analysis and interviews outlined in paragraphs 4.1. Each of the research questions contained in paragraph 1.5 was intended to address the research topic: Assessment problems in the Zimbabwe’s Primary Schools with special reference to Gweru District.The themes discussed in the various paragraphs of this chapter were influenced by the literature study and the sub-problems outlined in paragraph 1.5 as well as the interview questions contained in appendices 5, 6 and 7.
The findings of this study have revealed that assessment in Gweru District Schools was faced by a number of problems. They include:

  • poor motivation;

  • harsh economic environment;

  • power cuts;

  • shortages of financial and material resources;

  • lack of staff development;

  • lack of competence in assessment;

  • poor attitudes towards assessment;

  • high teacher pupil ratio;

  • poor remuneration

  • lack of interest;

  • work overload; and

  • assessment illiteracy;

In spite of the problems, it emerged that primary school teachers were aware of the important role of assessment and school head teachers were making an effort to make assessment effective. It also emerged from schools in Gweru District that the education system was heavily dependent on the empirical model whose thrust is on traditional standardised approach to assessment. Thus there was lack of a variety of assessment techniques where summative assessment dominated.


While teachers were aware of the importance of formative assessment, it would appear teachers mostly used summative assessment because of the pressure to produce excellent Grade 7 results. Summative assessment was also easy to apply on large classes and the education system concentrated on it, since it is used to make crucial decisions by many stakeholders in relation to a child, teacher or school’s performance. For the same reasons discussed above, teachers mainly concentrated on testing the cognitive domain and there was a tendency to sideline the other domains. In the cognitive domain, the documents revealed that most of the tests concentrated on the first and second level of the taxonomy which emphasized recall questions.
It appeared, from the discussion, that teachers did not get a thorough training on assessment and very little was also done by the schools and the districts to staff develop teachers on assessment.

4.6 SUMMARY


This section presented and discussed results from the qualitative analysis and interpretation of data collected on assessment problems in the primary schools. The theme that came out was that assessment was generally poorly done in Gweru District schools. As indicated in the sub themes there were various reasons that caused assessment problems. The next chapter focuses on summary, conclusions and recommendations.

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS




5.1 INTRODUCTION


The aim of the study was to investigate on assessment problems in Zimbabwe’s Primary Schools with special reference to Gweru District. This was done with reference to the objectives and research questions as outlined in paragraphs 1.4 and 1.5 as follows:

Objectives

  • determine classroom teachers perceptions on assessment;

  • establish what schools and colleges are doing to equip teachers with; classroom assessment skills.

  • determine whether any resources are put in place by schools to support classroom assessment efforts; and

  • explore the influence of public examinitions on classroom assessment.

Research questions

  • What sort of assessment skills do classroom teachers have to enable them carry out classroom assessment?

  • Do teachers’ perceptions influence their assessment procedures?

  • How do classroom procedures influence classroom assessment?

  • How do public examinations affect and influence poor assessment procedures?

  • How does lack of resources affect poor assessment procedures?

In the previous chapter, an attempt was made to analyse and discuss data obtained from observations, interviews and document analysis. Relevant information from Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture officers, ZIMSEC officers, Teachers’ college lecturers, head teachers and teachers were cited to provide defensible and scientifically valid and reliable arguments. Following the review of the related literature in Chapter 2 and the empirical findings reported in Chapter 4, assessments can be perceived as the use of a variety of techniques to collect information about the teaching and learning environment, so that decisions are made within the school situation. However, assessment in the primary school is bedeviled by an array of problems as reflected in Chapter 4. These as expected, affect decision-making on the teaching and learning.



5.2 SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS


The paragraphs below provide what is contained in each of the chapters of the research study.
Chapter 1 presented the research problem and its context. The chapter described the following aspects of the study; the background, the statement of the problem, specific research questions and objectives, the conceptual framework and the research methodology used. Finally the chapter gave the ethical considerations as well as an elucidation of the key concepts. A summary of the entire research study was also presented in this chapter.
Chapter 2 dealt with the literature related to the study to enhance understanding of the assessment concept as well as the theoretical framework of the study. The chapter went further to show that there were problems encountered by teachers in other countries the world over as evidenced by the different researches cited in the context. Some models of assessment were exposed in this chapter.

Chapter 3 described the research methodology and design used in the study to collect empirical data. This was a case study of Gweru District. The population consisted of teachers, ZIMSEC officers; Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture officers head teachers and Teachers’ college lecturers. A purposive sampling technique was used. Observations, interviews and documentary analysis were used to collect data (see paragraphs 3.4.5 and 3.4.6).


Chapter 4 presented, analysed and discussed the data that were collected during the empirical study. The data collected were then analysed and categorized according to themes (see paragraph 1.11.2)



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