This article reports on a study conducted in five primary schools in Namibia during teaching and learning in the mother tongue classroom. The aim of this study was to investigate how 30 pre-service teachers used the learners’ home language during their curriculum delivery. The study took place during lessons that included work-integrated learning (WIL) during which the pre-service teachers were assessed by the two lecturers as researchers. The study followed a qualitative approach where data were gathered from classroom observations and semi-structured interviews of pre-service teachers. The data were analysed thematically. This study was guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development which identifies language, society, and culture as the primary aspects of the development of a child. The social interactions that a child has with people living in a particular environment with particular languages strongly shapes the development of cognitive abilities in the child. The findings showed that pre-service teachers lacked sufficient competencies in the teaching of mother tongue literacy. Additionally, the classroom arrangement and teaching approaches that were used by the pre-service teachers were ineffective for learning. Furthermore, the learning materials and pedagogical practices were likely to inhibit successful learning. The implication of this is that the quality of education and learning was compromised. This paper recommends that pre-service teachers should be equipped with skills to teach the mother tongue programme while using relevant and appropriate teaching strategies and learning resources to enhance mother tongue learning of the Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama dialects.

Some Sepedi authors perceive women as having to be confined to the home to only perform maternal duties, and women are ridiculed for not being able to fulfill the responsibilities of womanhood. This perception extends to community members who criticise women for not living up to ethnic and cultural expectations. Some books which portray women negatively are still prescribed and read in schools and universities, thereby perpetuating these stereotypes among the youth. This article aims at establishing whether or not laziness is a hindrance to maternal duties and to compare it with modern society's expectations of married women. The ethnographic design and comparative analyses were used in which Moelelwa, as a character, served as a guide for understanding the issue of stereotyping women and laziness in the past and in the modern era. The cultural theory which discusses how cultural values and rituals play an important role in acculturation and enculturation processes has been employed for comparison between Sepedi, seSwati and modern cultural ways of being. The findings show that women in traditional settings are subjected to this labelling, whereas modern career women avoid this criticism by making use of helpers in their homes. The study illustrates that women are not necessarily lazy if they do not perform their domestic roles. The recommendation is that some of the Sepedi classics could be revived by being used in comparative studies as was done with Moelelwa.

Research has identified the underdevelopment of perceptual skills as a cause of lifelong learning struggles and the restriction of developmental progress in learners. The literature also indicates that early intervention is one strategy that effectively mitigates the long-term effects thereof through learner support. However, the inadequacy of in-service teachers’ skills to assess perceptual skills development, coupled with the implementation of the teaching and learning language policy, are issues for concern, particularly in South African schools.This article reports on a module-aligned community engagement project conducted with 87 pre-service teachers to assess the perceptual skills development of Foundation Phase learners as part of their work-integrated learning (WIL). The two selected schools used English as their language of teaching and learning. Two lecturers and eight Grade 2 and Grade 3 in-service teachers from Pretoria East schools participated in the project. Play-based pedagogy was used as a resource for assessment as a qualitative approach, thus inspiring in-service teachers’ and learners’ creativity and enjoyment at the schools.Kolb’s cyclic theoretical framework consisting of four cycles underpinned the project. Firstly, the project confirmed literature findings of teachers’ lack of skills to assess perceptual skills development using English in Foundation Phase learners. Secondly, the use of non-mother tongue language as a medium of instruction in early learning centres affected learners’ knowledge acquisition. Thirdly, the use of the foreign medium of instruction affected the learners’ speaking and listening skills, thus impacting language and cognitive development essential for learning.