Materials in agricultural education in Zimbabwe secondary schools.

Abstract

This study aims at providing materials in Agricultural Education for Zimbabwean secondary school teachers, who can teach students. Most of these students come from the rural areas where their parents are peasant farmers. It is hoped that students will pass the agricultural information to their parents since they help them in agricultural activities during their long vacation, the December/January school holidays, a rainy season. The materials were developed and then tried by teachers and extension officers (trained agriculturists employed by the Ministry of Agriculture). The materials were evolved from a pilot trial in five secondary schools to trials in fifteen secondary schools in the Masvingo (Victoria) Province. Most schools had mixed ability students, with age ranges between 15 and 22 years. Teachers pass the information to the peasant farmers through students, while the extension officers (agriculturalists) pass the information directly to peasant farmers since they work with them in their plots. In short, both the Ministries of Education and Culture and of Agriculture pass agricultural information to the peasant farmer, directly and indirectly respectively. Workshops were held in several centres in the Masvingo Province in order to train teachers on crop production. Maize, the main and cash crop of Zimbabwe, was chosen for this research study because it consists of about 75% of the crop production of Zimbabwe. After reading the materials on maize production, teachers produced materials on peanut production. They used the management teachers' guide formerly designed for maize production, when they tried the materials on peanut production. The history of Agricultural Education in Zimbabwe is considered from 1920 to the present, along with some future trends of agriculture. The 1981 pilot and the 1982 field studies an reported, including the data collected in Zimbabwe, the diffusion and dissemination of the materials amongst teachers, students and peasant farmers, a critical review and some recommendations based on the research. The materials used in schools included are the management teachers' guide, materials in the final version on maize production, the mastery tests on the final version of maize production and of peanut production. Also included are details on questionnaires and interviews conducted during the research in Zimbabwe. The thesis shows the development and evaluation of the materials which are now a basis for a Ministry of Education and Culture Curriculum in Zimbabwe.

Date of Award	1982
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath