Student empowerment in Botswana education

Abstract

This paper discusses the extent of secondary school students’ empowerment in education. Although the exposition is paper-based, we collected data from two secondary schools to provide recent evidence on students’ empowerment. The paper started with some history of students’ empowerment in schools and compared this with the later years. The paper concludes that during both periods the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ schools, in different ways influenced by changing times and circumstances, involved students in decisions that empowered them.

Background

Botswana has enjoyed peace and democracy particularly following its political independence in the mid-1960s (Botswana and UNESCO Report, 2005). The late development of education in general and of secondary education in particular, has meant that early secondary education teaching was dominated by expatriate teachers mainly from the West. Botswana had been a British ‘colony’ from the 19th century till the 20th century in 1966. Cultural differences that existed between the expatriate teacher and the student would have influenced the relationship between the two in the classroom teaching and learning activities. The English language, which is a second language to most of the students, was the medium of instruction. The students were not fluent and confident in expressing themselves in a foreign language (although their written English was not bad) the same way they would with a local teacher. The student did not speak much English even outside class let alone at home. These circumstances and others denied students freedom of expression and therefore empowerment in school issues. More students now can speak English with little difficulty because they are exposed to material written in English, they interact with people who can reasonably speak English, they are now more exposed to the different media, and so on. Prior to 1966, children started primary education at a late age. They would therefore be much older, more mature and more responsible at the secondary school level than the present day students. Also, school enrolments were smaller then.

Democratic leadership empowers

There has been a shift from leadership that created a distant power between the leader and the subordinate with the assumption that the further the two are apart, the more productive the subordinate will be to leadership that encourages participatory decision making (Handy, 1993; Cummings & Worley, 2001). The latter leadership argues Cummings and Worley, enables subordinates to ‘gain greater participation in relevant workplace decisions’ (p. 313). Democratic education now emphasises the student’s voice in school and classroom experiences. It is defined as the planning and carrying out together of activities by those involved in the process (Hoy & Miskel, 2001; Harber & Davies, 2001). Involving others in decision-making instils a sense of fulfilment and belonging to them (Steel, 2000). Organisations that empower their members genuinely place them at the heart of the organisational thinking. Management in such organisations does not independently formulate what the subordinates need and telling them they need it. Rather, it takes into account their understanding, their reality and their needs (ibid). The same can be truly said of the relationship between schools and their students.

Empowerment is defined as giving power or authority to do something, Steel, (2000). It also means to enable or permit someone to do something. The idea of empowerment is not new, although the concept has not always been normally applied in some schools. Empowering others can take some creative work on the part of the leader. While some people like the idea of seeking approval for every minor step, some leaders fear they will look unqualified, weak or indecisive if they seek inputs from other members. Sometimes, leaders for their own reasons just do not feel comfortable relinquishing control to others, no matter how much they trust them. One of the visions of preparing students for the new millennium is that students should be enabled and empowered in the present and for the future. Empowering students to participate in making decisions that affect them helps them to have a sense of fulfilment and belonging in the school community. Three conceptions of power are useful for examining the concept of empowerment: power over; power- with; and power- to. In order to create a conducive and positive learning environment in schools, ‘power- with’ and ‘power- to’ approaches should be used in fostering students’ empowerment.

Student empowerment in the ‘old’ school (1950s-1980s)

Students’ empowered leadership is not a new feature in the Botswana education system. For a long time, students have been empowered, albeit in different degrees, to take leadership responsibility in school activities. This was particularly more the case in extracurricular responsibilities and less in the academic activities of the school and especially in boarding than in day schools because in the former, students need to be usefully engaged most of the time to keep them away from mischievous acts. The school prefect system played a crucial role in this regard. Through their elected administrative representatives (prefects), the students organised and ran entertain sessions, rotationally supervised manual work, assisted teachers on supervision duty at the gate, organised and coordinated internal ball sports activities at weekends. At a remote boarding school, though there was a boarding master and mistress, the prefects took a significant lead in the organisation of the boarding houses. For example, significantly they organised students’ movement (trips ferried by trucks) from the train station to the school at the beginning of the school term and from the school to the train station when school closed. These the students managed with a high sense of organisational skill and responsibility. However, except in study supervision, students had little say in what went of in the classroom. The classroom teaching and learning activities were almost exclusively the teacher’s domain. The teaching was highly teacher-dominated. This situation portrayed to the students wrong assumptions that in teaching the teacher was expert in all aspects of the academic curricular. This assumption was reinforced by the fact that most of the teachers were from the developed world and also by the fact that most of them were from a country that had ‘colonised’ Botswana. Teacher-dominated lessons were not necessarily because teachers were dictators. Rather the societal and global circumstances dictated this. The acute shortage of teaching resources including limited library and laboratory material encouraged this. The country was still recovering from economic hardships experienced during the colonial era.

Student empowerment in the ‘new’ school (1980s to date)

All secondary schools still have the tradition of a prefect system that performs similar roles as in the old system. The difference today is that there is no significant age difference between the prefects and the other students. This is because the same age cohort starts primary schooling at the same time. This partly explains why the ‘new’ school prefects are not as revered and respected as the ‘old’ ones. In Moswela’s (2008) study entitled Democratisation of the classroom, that involved secondary school students and their teachers, the following findings were reported:

• students are  involved in selecting class monitors
• teachers involve students in drawing class rules
• teaching is student-centred in the majority of cases
• students are very open with their teachers

The democratic atmosphere that exists in the classroom has helped place the student in a co-leadership position with the teacher.

We carried a small study in two secondary schools: one from a town and the other in a village, in order to bolster our paper. The aim of the study was to find out the extent to which the schools empowered their students in decision-making in school governance generally. Informants of this study were the heads; heads of department (pastoral); head boy; head girl; two students from each school and two teachers from each school. The findings are reported under the headings:

Involvement of students in school management

In both schools, the mission statements emphasise the importance of incorporating various ideas, beliefs and values of the different groups in the school, including the students, in the decision-making processes in order to empower them.

• The students are encouraged to meet on their own, discuss issues that affect their schooling and present their views to the school management through their elected representatives.
• Feedback on these is made through the same route in which the views were presented. This democratic approach is consistent with the country’s policies that seek to promote unity, social harmony and social justice contained in the 1977 Report of the National Policy on Education.
• The initial selection of prefects in both schools is made by the students and the final selection ratified at a joint meeting between the teachers and the prefects.
• The prefects who represent the interest of the other students sit in meetings that discuss students’ affairs with teachers.
• Prefects perform supervisory roles such as: sanitation, labour, gate duty, dining, conducting of assembly, and study supervision.

The classroom learning environment

At the two schools, students are free to select their class monitors and prefects with little or no intervention from the teachers or school management. The monitors and prefects act as administrative representatives of the main school administration. They help maintain discipline and order in the absence of teachers. They have the power to caution and write down the names of offenders and submit them to the teachers. Monitors also help teachers maintain class attendance registers. The students are, however, not very much involved in academic matters such as teaching methods. One teacher remarked: ‘We don’t directly involve students in decisions on teaching methodology because we are the experts. However, we offer remedial lessons to those who need it’.

Clubs and committees

The findings revealed that students are empowered to belong to different clubs or be representatives of different committees. For example, there is the school council which is made up of representatives from each class, usually a boy and a girl. They discuss issues such as food, security in the school, student-relationship in class and school, and some management issues. Sometimes students are involved in staff meetings as well, especially when issues pertaining to the welfare of the students are being deliberated on. One of the greatest innovations in the area of empowerment of students in Botswana secondary schools is the establishment of a club called Peer Approach to Counselling by Teenagers (PACT). Members of this school club are encouraged to counsel their peers on important issues such as teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide and negative peer pressure. Members of this club have a teacher in charge who lays down the rules and regulations of the club; the most important being the maintenance of confidentiality between the student counsellor and the student client. This important club helps to empower students and prepare them for future responsibilities, especially in their service to the nation in various capacities.

The pastoral system

The pastoral system was introduced in Botswana secondary schools in 2006. According to the interviewees, it was one of the best things that had happened in the area of students’ empowerment in Botswana schools. With the pastoral system, students are encouraged to voice out their opinions. The school is divided into sub- schools called houses. Each school has representatives from all the streams of the schools such as Form ones, twos and threes. The houses are headed by senior teachers and school prefects. Other teachers are assigned to the various houses to assist the senior teachers, while the HoD (pastoral) acts as the general overseer. Members of the auxiliary staff are also attached to these houses. The pastoral system encourages students to air their views and participate in taking decisions on issues concerning them. Important issues such as teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, discipline, academic and social activities are also normally discussed. Apart from creating self-confidence in the students, this system helps promote their self esteem and consequently democracy and unity would be upheld.

The point to be understood here, however, is that students should be accorded the right to participate in decisions appropriate to their level in the school without necessarily converting them to teachers and principals (for they are not), the same way decision-making is differentiated between teachers and principals. Whoever has a say in the final decisions, but the students must be understood and involved in one way or the other.

Conclusion

The ’new’ teacher is a proponent of the new thinking that the student is an equal partner in the decision making, notwithstanding, however, the fact that students’ involvement is limited by lack of expertise and the level of maturity in certain areas of decision making. The importance of empowering students in education cannot be over-emphasised. Botswana is a shining example of democracy in Africa and the national principles of democracy, unity, development, self-reliance and later botho (respect for oneself and respect and consideration to others) are embedded in the school curricular and extra-curricular activities. The educational activities in Botswana are geared towards the practicalisation of these principles. Democracy encourages people to participate in making decisions that affect them. By empowering students in education, the principles of democracy, unity, development, self-reliance and even botho are being promoted. Establishing an empowering classroom and school environment could facilitate enabling students to fulfil their need for power and belonging. Empowerment is about students satisfying their need for power so that they can gain a sense of sharing power with peers, teachers and school administration, rather than the school administration gaining power over them. In Botswana, students are empowered in education through activities such as good school management, conducive learning environment, selection of class monitors and prefects, Peer Approach to Counselling for Teenagers and the Pastoral System. The writers also argue that to a large extent, democratic practices in schools have been influenced by pressure from human and children’s rights movements such as ‘child line’. Overall, the study concludes that at least the few schools that were consulted to enhance this paper practise democratic management that is consistent with what happens at the macro level.

References

Botswana, Republic of (1977). Education for Kagisano. Report of the National Policy on Education. Gaborone: Government Printer.
Botswana and UNESCO Report (2005). 7th ed.
Cummings, TG & Worley, CG (2001). Organization Development and Change 7th ed. California: South Western College.
Handy, C (1993). Understanding organizations. London: Penguin Books.
Harber, C & Davies, L (2001). School management and effectiveness in developing countries.
London: Continuum.
Hoy, WK & Miskel, CG (2001). Educational administration: theory: research, and practice 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill
Moswela, B (2008). Democratization of the classroom. Unpublished Conference Paper presented at the 2nd African Conference on Basic Education.
Steel, M (2000). Oxford dictionary for learners of English. Oxford: University Press.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr Bernard Moswela is a senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Botswana. Prior to joining the university in 2002, he was a school head of senior secondary schools from 1982-2002. Dr Moswela’s research interest include among others, school effectiveness, educational law and student discipline. Mrs Jane E. Iloanya is a full-time doctoral student at the University of Botswana. Prior to this, she was a lecturer in education at Colleges of Education in Nigeria and Botswana. Her research area is in educational management and philosophy of education.

 

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