The National Framework for Quality Education in Rural Areas (DoE, 2006) draws attention to education in rural ecologies and scrutinises the role of HEIs in developing teachers who understand the diverse contexts and who are able to facilitate quality teaching and learning in such contexts. Drawing from the project ‘New teachers for new times: Visual methodologies for social change in rural education in the age of AIDS’, this article explores how the use of participatory and visual arts-based methodologies at a rural school can lead to sustainable teaching and learning environments that promote transformative and emancipatory classrooms. We draw on the focus group discussions held at the end of each school day as debriefing sessions with the six Intermediate Phase pre-service teachers 4 reflecting on their experiences of professional development and what was learnt about using ‘new’ methodologies in a rural farm school. We argue that when a cohort of pre-service teachers work together with in-service teachers using emancipatory pedagogies in a rural context, classrooms can get transformed into enabling and democratic spaces conducive for teaching and learning for all.

In Kenya, English is the medium of instruction in schools and the official language of the country, although the majority of the learners are first additional language speakers of English. The study on which this article is based aimed to assess grade 10 Kenyan learners’ proficiency in English by examining their performance in comprehension and vocabulary on the basis of three tests incorporating multiple choice and interpretative questions. The data were collected from 422 grade 10 learners representing 16 schools in four provinces of Kenya. Learners were assessed on three comprehension passages which were selected from different genres. The results revealed that a large percentage of Kenyan learners encountered challenges with comprehension and vocabulary which impacted on their English language proficiency. The implications of the study is that there is a need for a reading skills development programme incorporating word analysis, recognition of the purpose of the text and tone, and the enhancement of inferential as well as predictive and interpretive skills. Journal of NELTA, Vol. 17 No. 1-2, December 2012, Page 1-13 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v17i1-2.8088

In this paper I provide a detailed account of how drama-in-education was used to engage third-year university students in an education module entitled Issues and challenges in education. The aim of the research was to introduce aspects of decolonisation in South Africa through the module and to implement drama-in-education strategies, such as the use of tableaux, improvisation, and role plays to enhance the understanding of these issues. The data collection method I implemented was based on students' written reflections on their experiences of drama-in-education as pedagogy in this module. The findings indicated that although students were initially resistant to engaging with the drama-in-education process, through their embodied participation they became more involved in their learning. They felt that, since the strategies provided a context for learning, the issues that led to enhanced learning, engagement, and reflection could be interrogated more critically. I argue that as a decolonising pedagogy in the university lecture room, drama-in-education contributes significantly to an enhanced understanding of teaching and learning and the development of students' critical and creative skills.

The sociocultural perspective maintains the view of understanding literacy as a social and cultural practice to describe reading and writing in multiple and evolving language activities. It means that literacy development is related to actions and beliefs which a student creates to define him or herself in particular cultural settings or circumstances. These circumstances further describe what resourceful individuals like teachers would offer or create in terms of language tasks or events to help students be identified as readers and writers. This qualitative study aimed at gaining deeper insights into teachers’ pedagogical practices to support functional literacy through mother tongue languages. Based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and classroom observations, this phenomenological study examined literacy instructional practices which offer a pedagogically grounded and positive learning environment where teachers use mother tongue as a medium of instruction to support learners’ early literacy acquisition processes. Thus, the study provides substantial findings which depict the role of children’s previous language experiences and teachers’ constructive classroom engagements as a basis for functional literacy development.

The study aimed to establish the effect of secondary school guidance programs in preparing students for successful transition to university. Mixed methods research design was used which included the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods to generate data using a concurrent triangulation approach. Purposive sampling was applied to sample first year students in Moi University and proportionate sampling together with simple random sampling was used in the selection of 375 participants comprising both male and female students. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics by means of SPSS (Pearson Correlation Coefficient), followed by linear regression to test the hypothesis. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that high school guidance programs do not support learners adequately in preparing them to transition to university. The study recommended the implementation of more enhanced collaboration between schools and universities for successful transition.