Investigating The Styles Of Teaching And Learning In The RE Curriculum In Botswana Secondary Schools

Abstract

This is part of a larger study that investigated the impact of democratic pedagogy in the Religious Education (RE) curriculum in Botswana secondary schools. It investigated the teaching and learning styles in the RE curriculum in Botswana secondary schools. This was intended to explore how far the democratic space has been appropriated in the Botswana RE classroom.

The literature review focused on some studies that focused on the need to promote democratic pedagogy in the classroom. The research methodology employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data generated for this study, as projected by graphical analysis in Table 1 and Figure 1, indicate how in most of the 4-minute observation intervals the teacher tallies on the rate of class participation exceeded those of students. This provides evidence that RE teachers tend to restrict participation of learners. RE teachers, therefore, might need to vary their classroom roles from being dominative to emphasize facilitation of more learners’ active classroom participation.