Effective teaching Strategies in the Learning of Pupils During a national Crisis-The Zimbabwean Experience: A Case Study of Three Schools in Matobo District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to expose effective teaching methods that can be adopted in low-income rural primary schools of Matobo district. Accordingly, the objectives of the study were to find out the teaching strategies that can be adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, investigate how COVID-19 has changed instructional delivery methods in primary schools and assess the challenges faced by the primary schools in implementing the new teaching strategies called for by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was qualitative in nature, and adopted a case study design. Data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis.A sample of 3 ECD schools, six teachers, three heads, one district supervisor and 6 parents from a population of 58 ECD district schools, 127 ECD teachers, 2560 ECD learners and all ECD parents all primary schools, all primary school teachers and all parents in Matobo district was used. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. The study concluded that COVID 19 had changed methods of instruction from the traditional forms to the online instructions that mainly use the internet and the social media platforms, the shift to use of online platforms in teaching instruction delivery has been faced with challenges that ranged from technophobia by teachers and parents, lack of smartphones and internet gadgets, lack of connectivity, expensive bundles and lack of constant power supplies and the ministry of primary and secondary education, the government and non-governmental organizations can assist provision of the vital resources for online teaching and learning, since both the teachers and parents need to be assisted to be online capable for the teaching and learning process to be effective. The study further recommended that ECD centers be provided with all vital resources for online learning before the schools adopt the strategy in the COVID 19 era, otherwise the learners will be short changed, government should ensure that the supply of the online resource is its sole responsibility because schools especially in the remote and rural areas do not have the capacity to fund the project, old teachers and old parents in the rural areas need to be enlightened on the use of online platforms if they can also be effective in assisting learners through the use of online facilities. The study further recommends that the study be carried out using a larger sample and a quantitative approach so that results can be compared with the current study.