Theory, policy, and practice: bridging the gap between teacher training and classroom practice in language of instruction in Zambia

Abstract

This participatory action research project conducted through the USAID-funded Transforming Teacher Education activity examined how two pre-service teacher education programs in Zambia prepared teachers for primary reading instruction. College and university lecturers and in-service primary grade teachers participated in focus groups and interviews. We identified gaps between training and practice within the framework of Zambia’s language of instruction policy. We find that pre-service teacher preparation was generally theoretical and not practical. Opportunities for practice were limited, leading to teachers lacking required competencies and using outdated approaches in schools. We suggest strategies to improve the alignment of pre-service teacher education and classroom instruction.

Keywords:

• Literacy
• primary grades
• language of instruction
• teacher education
• Zambia

Introduction

In the context of sustained donor and government attention on early grade reading outcomes, language of instruction (LOI) policies have received increasing attention over the last decade. In linguistically diverse countries, mismatches between children’s mother tongue (MT) and the LOI at their school can be one of the factors contributing to poor learning outcomes (Hungi et al. 2014; Tambulukani and Bus 2012). Across Africa, more than half of children are not learning in the language spoken in their home (Ouane and Glanz 2010). In Zambia, where 46 languages are spoken (Eberhard et al. 2021), more than half of children in the first and second grades cannot read more than one word in the Zambian language designated as the local LOI (Matafwali and Bus 2013).

Much of the early literature on language skill transfer and LOI was conducted in the U.S. and other high-income countries. However, a body of evidence is emerging from empirical studies in sub-Saharan Africa that LOI policies that require MT instruction can be effective in improving learning levels (Brunette et al. 2019; Piper et al. 2016; Sailors et al. 2010). While studies have examined the broad implementation of MT LOI policies and student outcomes, however, there has been little attention to teachers’ understanding of these policies and how those understandings and approaches are developed in pre-service teacher training. Teachers are the connection between Ministry of Education policies and students’ classroom experiences, and therefore greater attention to their experiences is warranted.

This participatory action research project was conducted by Zambian and American researchers, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Transforming Teacher Education activity. Transforming Teacher Education aims to improve the quality of Zambia’s pre-service teacher education (PSTE) system, with a focus on primary grades literacy. PSTE faculty participating in the activity identified LOI as a weakness in the primary grades teacher diploma curriculum and chose to study this topic in order to identify action points for their institutions.

Background and context

Mother tongue language of instruction policies

Research on literacy development has established that children learn to read most easily in their MT (Mackenzie and Walker 2013; Ouane and Glanz 2011; UNESCO 2016). This body of research aligns with Cummins’ interdependence theory (1979, 2000), which argues that skills mastered in their first language can transfer into additional languages. A large body of research supports the interdependence theory, particularly when languages were similar, with generally stronger associations between lower-level literacy skills across languages, such as decoding, than higher order skills like reading comprehension (Bialystok et al. 2005; Branum-Martin et al. 2015; Branum-Martin et al. 2012; Kim and Piper 2019; Melby-Lervåg and Lervåg 2011). While the vast majority of this literature focuses on European languages (Melby-Lervåg and Lervåg 2011), recent research has found similar support for language interdependence in Uganda (de Galbert 2023).

The body of empirical research on MT LOI policies in sub-Saharan Africa has grown over the last 15 years. Studies in Uganda (Brunette et al. 2019), South Africa (Sailors et al. 2010), and Kenya (Piper et al. 2016) have all found positive associations between learning in a local language—with that definition context-specific—and student outcomes. In Senegal, the lack of a strong MT LOI policy has been linked to the country’s persistently poor outcomes (Fall 2020). Recent analyses using data from Zambia suggest that instruction in the home language could help to close achievement gaps and improve learning, with evidence from grades one, two, six, and seven (Delprato 2021; Hungi and Thuku 2010; Tambulukani and Bus 2012).

Despite this evidence, implementation of MT LOI policies is often inconsistent in sub-Saharan African countries (Okebukola et al. 2013; Piper et al. 2016; Trudell 2007). Parents often have strong preferences for their children to learn in English, French, or other non-indigenous languages for a variety of reasons, including concerns over children’s long-term academic performance and employment outcomes (Laguarda and Woodward 2013; Muthwii 2004; Naom and Sarah 2014; Trudell 2005). This is often connected with the mistaken belief that language learning is a zero-sum game, and more time spent learning in the first language will negatively impact the learning of additional languages (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004). In some countries, language is connected to social prestige (David-Erb 2021). Practical and logistical issues are also barriers. In Zambia, teachers have difficulty teaching in local languages in which they are not fluent (Thomas et al. 2014). This issue is well documented in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya and South Africa (Begi 2014; Cekiso et al. 2019; Jones and Barkhuizen 2011; Mackenzie and Walker 2013). Frequently, schools lack appropriate and sufficient materials published in the MT to support instruction (Gacheche 2010; Kamwendo 2008; Nyaga and Anthonissen 2012).

Pre-service teacher education: initial teacher preparation for literacy instruction

New teachers need a variety of skills in order to become effective teachers. According to Shulman, these skills can be categorized into three areas: content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman 1986). A recent literature review of PSTE research in low- and middle-income countries found that PSTE programs generally spend most of their instructional time on content knowledge—for example, lecturing trainee teachers on grammar rules, rather than teaching them how to teach those skills to children (Zuilkowski et al., In press). A number of studies have shown that many PSTE students enter their programs with poor academic preparation at the secondary level, meaning that instructional time must be allocated to fill gaps (Alemu et al. 2021; Barnes et al. 2019; Malambo et al. 2019).

The attention paid to content knowledge means that less time is available for pedagogical training or developing an understanding of the local school context through spending time in schools. PSTE lecturers generally do just that—lecture—rather than model appropriate instruction for early grades reading (Barnes et al. 2019; Buckler 2020; Pryor et al. 2012). The required practicum periods are often too short for PSTE students to develop their independent pedagogical skills (Masaiti and Manchishi 2011; Mutemeri and Chetty 2011; Wohlfahrt 2018). Additionally, PSTE students often receive little feedback (Abie 2019), sometimes being left alone with a classroom of learners with no mentorship or supervision (Makamure and Jita 2019; Wohlfahrt 2018).

It is critical to examine the capacity of teacher educators when considering PSTE program quality and effectiveness. PSTE lecturers vary widely across countries in their ability to model research-based pedagogical practices for early grades reading. Professional development is generally localized and sporadic, where it exists at all (Barnes et al. 2019; Gemeda and Tynjälä 2015). In many cases, including Zambia, teacher educators are not required to have teaching experience or certification at the level which they are teaching. This means that a PSTE lecturer with secondary school science classroom experience could be lecturing primary grades PSTE students on reading pedagogy; an area in which the lecturer has no training or experience (USAID 2021). This issue is one of the reasons why this study focused on both lecturers and new teachers—teachers cannot be expected to teach reading according to current practices if they have not been exposed to them by their lecturers.

Zambian context

Zambia’s current LOI policy came into effect through the 2013 Zambia Education Curriculum Framework. Seven languages—Chitonga, Cinyanja, Icibemba, Kiikaonde, Lunda, Luvale, and Silozi—were named official languages for instruction in early childhood education and grades one through four (Ministry of Education, 2013). English instruction should begin in grade two and continue alongside local language until grade five, when English becomes the LOI. Some students continue to study one of the seven Zambian curricular languages through secondary school, as an option, but this is not required after grade nine. The policy, in which the LOI is determined at the provincial, district and zonal levels—does not guarantee that an individual child has the opportunity to learn in their own MT. This is particularly the case in cities and border regions between language zones. Also, teacher deployment policies and practices do not ensure that teachers are fluent or even familiar with the primary grades LOI in their district (Thomas et al. 2014).

Research questions

The evidence presented here demonstrates that well-implemented MT LOI policies are an important policy lever that may improve children’s learning outcomes. However, there is little evidence available from Zambia, or from sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, on how pre-service programs prepare their students to teach in multilingual settings with MT LOI policies in place and how primary grade teachers understand and apply these policies in the classroom. Therefore, this PAR study focused its attention on the following research questions:

• RQ1: How do COEs/Universities in Zambia train primary grade teachers to teach early literacy within the LOI policy?

• RQ2: What approaches do Zambian primary grade teachers use to teach early literacy?

The findings related to these questions will inform PSTE policy and practice, with the goal of better preparing Zambian teachers for the realities of a complex, multilingual setting.

Methods

Research design

This qualitative study used a participatory action research (PAR) approach (Kindon et al. 2007). According to Smith et al. (2010, 407–408), in PAR projects researchers ‘form partnerships with community members to identify issues of local importance, develop ways of studying them, collect and interpret data, and take action on the resulting knowledge’. As one of the aims of the USAID Transforming Teacher Education activity is to produce relevant research related to PSTE and early grades reading, while developing local research capacity, the team adopted this stakeholder-led research design.

The research team was comprised of faculty from two teacher training institutions—Mongu College of Education and Chalimbana University—supported by researchers from the University of Zambia and Florida State University. Throughout the process, the team members worked in an integrated way to allow the teacher training faculty to lead the study, while providing capacity development where necessary. The PAR approach placed practitioner leadership at the forefront of the study, helping to avoid some of the power imbalances that can occur in collaborations across universities and in the context of development projects. Analyses of north-south collaborations have generally found that decision-making power and authorship of research publications favor the northern partner (Adriansen and Madsen 2019; Asare et al. 2022; Craveiro et al. 2020; Gonzalez-Alcaide et al. 2020; Walsh et al. 2016), a situation we aimed to avoid. The study received approval from the Ministry of Education.

Sites

Data was collected at two sites for this study, Mongu College of Education and Chalimbana University. While both institutions offer primary grades PSTE programs that are guided by the same government-approved curriculum, they differ in a number of ways. Chalimbana University offers four-year Bachelor’s degree programs in addition to Master’s degree and Ph.D. programs, while Mongu College of Education offers a three-year primary teacher’s diploma (PTD). There are differences in the academic qualifications of faculty as well in the entry requirements for PSTE students. This variation provides opportunities for comparison across the two sites, which represent the range of pre-service teacher preparation programs available in Zambia.

Mongu College of Education is located in Mongu, a city of approximately 180,000 people in Western Province, 620 kilometers from Lusaka. Silozi is the most common Zambian language spoken in this region and is the official LOI for the early primary grades. Mongu College of Education enrolls 436 students.

Chalimbana University is in Chongwe District, approximately 50 kilometers outside of Lusaka. Given its location outside the capital, language diversity is greater in Chongwe District than in Mongu. The official language of schools in the district is Cinyanja, though many schoolchildren speak Soli and other languages at home. Chalimbana University enrolls 1,835 students, with 400 enrolled in the literacy and language education program.

Sample

This study sampled college and university lecturers as well as in-service primary grade teachers. Nine lecturers responsible for teaching early grades language and literacy courses were purposively sampled to ensure rich data—five at Chalimbana University and four at Mongu College of Education. The sampled lecturers had either a master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree in Languages. 56% of the lecturers were male. All nine had primary grades teaching experience, with five of the nine having seven or more years of classroom experience.

The teacher sample was purposively sampled from lists of graduates of each institution. These were traced through the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS)’s Office to their respective primary schools. Homogeneous sampling was used; we sampled teachers with primary teaching qualifications who were teaching grades one through four. After applying those restrictions to the lists, we randomly selected teachers to participate. Fifty teachers participated across the interviews (40) and two focus groups (10). All teacher participants had either a primary teacher’s diploma or a bachelor’s degree in education. 44% taught in urban schools and 56% in rural schools. Approximately two-thirds of the teacher sample was female, in alignment with the overrepresentation of women in primary grades teaching in Zambia. The teachers’ years of classroom experience varied, with 28% having three years or less of experience, 43% having four to six years, and 30% having seven or more years.

Procedures

Given the participatory action research approach, the team began the research process by engaging in open discussions regarding the most important issues related to primary grades PSTE and early grades literacy in Zambia. This process allowed the concerns of the pre-service institutions’ faculty to take precedence. After a list of possible research questions was developed, the team reconvened to rank order them. The team members unanimously agreed to examine student policy and practice related to LOI, through the teacher lens. Subsequently, the team worked collaboratively to make design decisions, including the sampling frame and data collection methods. The final design included focus groups, interviews, and observations.¹

Focus groups were conducted in person with lecturers and teachers. One teacher focus group was held at each institution. The lecturer focus groups were conducted at each institution by University of Zambia faculty using team-developed protocols. This decision was made to avoid any potential bias related to having a colleague facilitate the discussion. The semi-structured focus group guides for each category of participant included six questions, including questions about LOI policy knowledge and how and to what extent lecturers used local LOIs in their college/university classrooms.

Teacher interviews (40) were conducted via phone, as participants were teaching at schools across the country. The semi-structured teacher interview guide included seven questions, including questions about participants’ knowledge of the LOI policy, reflections on how they were trained for reading instruction at their college/university, and what gaps they saw between PSTE and classroom practices. Prompts and follow-up questions were also used as necessary. All focus groups and interviews were recorded, with participant permission, and subsequently transcribed for analysis.

Data analysis

Our data analysis process aligned with the Braun and Clarke approach: familiarizing with data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, and reviewing themes (Braun and Clarke 2006). We discuss each of these steps in this section. The analysis was conducted jointly during an in-person analysis workshop. The team began by familiarizing themselves with the data, reading and re-reading each transcript. Using hard copies of the transcripts, the team used an open coding approach, which entailed examining the data in order to understand patterns in the text (Saldaña 2013; Strauss and Corbin 1998). During the first round of coding, the team came together frequently to discuss emerging issues in the data. Open coding helped the research team to identify and name patterns or categories of expression. The team then proceeded into reviewing and narrowing the codes. After a codebook was developed, the team engaged in a second round of coding, with team members exchanging transcripts to ensure consistency of code application. Any divergences in code application were discussed by the team.

After coding, the team wrote thematic analyses related to each research question, which guided the presentation of the findings (Birks et al. 2008). The thematic analyses were then discussed by the full team to enhance the trustworthiness of the findings—reviewing the themes, in the Braun and Clarke approach. Throughout analysis, the perspectives and concerns of the faculty from the two sites were the central focus. The PAR team’s makeup, including lecturers from these PSTE institutions, enhances the trustworthiness of the analysis process.

Results

How COEs/universities in Zambia train primary grade teachers to teach early literacy within the LOI policy

This study aimed to establish how colleges of education and universities prepared their students to teach early literacy within the framework of the 2013 Language of Instruction policy of the MoE. We found that colleges and universities currently primarily use a phonemic awareness approach in the training of teachers to teach early literacy. Trainee teachers are introduced to the five competencies of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading fluency and comprehension. This is in alignment with the MESVTEE (2013) in the LOI policy.

However, looking beyond the surface commitment to this approach, we found that some teachers were trained in older methods of teaching literacy such as New Break Through to Literacy (NBTL), Step In To English (SITE) and Reading On Course (ROC), which were introduced to the colleges under the Primary Reading Programme (PRP), a predecessor of the Primary Literacy Programme (PLP). While the MOE designed an intensive training to equip serving teachers to move to the PLP (MESVTEE, 2013), college and university lecturers were not systematically included in the training, and hence lacked knowledge and skills related to the PLP methodology. Lungowe, a female teacher, said that she was frustrated by these differences: ‘You know when you are at college, you think that… the content and context that they are teaching you is what is available in the actual field’.

Turning specifically to issues related to LOI in literacy instruction, it was clear that the national LOI policy and its implications for teaching were not clearly stressed in initial teacher preparation. Most knew that ‘the language of instruction from grade 1 to 4 should be a local language’, as one teacher expressed. Mushe, a male teacher, said, ‘You have to teach in local language of that particular area, let’s say here I will be teaching in Silozi’. Chikopa, a male teacher, added, ‘Learners have to be taught in the familiar language which is either Icibemba or Cinyanja’. However, most teachers used these surface-level descriptions rather than interpreting the LOI policy fully and correctly, in that they had no explicit knowledge of the phonemic awareness approach and how it would be implemented in Zambian languages as opposed to English.

Both teachers and lecturers reported that Zambian languages were used only sparingly in college and university classrooms. Lessons were conducted primarily in English, and a local Zambian language familiar to the trainee teachers was used for examples, illustrations, peer teaching, and demonstrations only. While one teacher noted that they had been able to use the local LOI during peer teaching occasionally in college, it was ‘not often’. Hence, many teachers had challenges in their first few years of classroom practice in teaching early grade reading skills.

We found mixed perceptions on how well COEs and universities prepared teachers to teach early grade literacy. Some participants believed that right approaches and methods were offered, while others felt they were not adequately prepared in the literacy education. Those who felt were ready for classroom practice indicated that colleges and universities had done their best in training by giving the trainee teachers fundamentals of literacy through use of phonemic awareness approach. Both lecturers and teachers attested to this idea, as expressed by Mukumpa, a male teacher:

Well, we were prepared adequately, it is only that at university you will not be taught in the actual language that you will be using at the school, but in the whole area of literacy we were prepared adequately. We were taught in a method that we can use to help the learners to understand but some lessons you need more of practical things; things that they can see and you relate them to what you are supposed to teach for the particular day. Yes, the time I went to [Chalimbana University], I think I learnt quite a lot from there.

Two other teachers, Chikopa and Mate, had similar feelings about their preparation at college.

Why I say I’m adequately prepared? It is because of the training that I received which was practical and from the look of things even the way I’m delivering my lessons is much of the training I received. Trying to teach learners to read and write in the local languages.

Yes, colleges do their best to prepare teachers about the literacy program through practical experiences. I can say that I was adequately prepared to teach. I say so because from time I started teaching grade ones, by the end of the year I’m able to produce learners who can read and write in Silozi.

However, not all teachers reported feeling well prepared for the classroom. Some teachers said they had been completely ignorant about literacy pedagogy during their pre-service program. They reported being taught general methods of teaching language, but not literacy pedagogy specifically. In the interviews, teachers said that their training in literacy education was limited by insufficient exposure to PLP methodology, failure to complete the PLP syllabus, inadequate PLP resources available in the colleges, and limited practice time. Further, it was reported that there were few interactions with practicing teachers using PLP methodologies. It was also noted that lessons were too theoretical, in that lecturers did not practically present lessons for them to emulate. Monde, a female teacher, explained,

At college level, we were taught only methodologies on how to go about with teaching of language and not literacy. For example, the use of whole class discussions, pair work, and similar kind of methods. We were not really well prepared. It was not all that effective because when I started working, I found something different from what I was taught at the college.

In support of these findings, Kakuhu, another female teacher, said, ‘No. They don’t fully prepare us. What they teach us there is something else… What you are taught at college is not what you are expected to teach at school level’.

For trainee teachers in PSTE programs, opportunities to practice teaching are crucial. This includes both the school experience (practicum) and peer teaching throughout the program. Several participants spoke about these opportunities as being too limited. Mushe, a male focus group participant, said that his training program was tilted too far toward theory, rather than practice:

I think colleges should concentrate much on practice because when we were that side most of the things were theory related.… the practical part is not very much emphasized mostly it was theory because even the peer teaching we were doing it in groups where one would present and the rest observe and act as learners so the experience is not as much. I think we learnt a lot in-service (through CPDs) as the colleges were too theoretical, while teaching itself should be practical and lecturers should be demonstrating lessons to students.

Lungowe expressed similar thoughts, specifically in relation to teaching reading: ‘The practical experience part is missing. They should include it, especially practical on teaching literacy, because it is very difficult’.

In contrast to our hypotheses, the data does not point to differences in the type of preparation provided across the two institutions—one of a college of education and the second a university. In both cases, college and university preservice graduates felt more grounded in the content and theory of literacy education than in the methodology of teaching literacy. Though the university-level teacher education program is a year longer than the college program, that extra year does not provide extra methodological training, just additional content and theory courses. However, as discussed above, even the college program had a heavy focus on theory over methodology.

In summary, the primary grade teachers and lecturers in the study concurred that teacher pre-service programs were overly theoretical, focused on the language of the LOI policy rather than its implementation, and sometimes included training using outdated approaches to literacy.

Approaches primary grade teachers use to teach early literacy

In this study, we aimed to establish the pedagogical approaches used by primary grade teachers in schools to teach early grade reading. The study revealed that teachers use an eclectic mix of pedagogical approaches. When asked how they approach early literacy instruction, teachers’ responses included phonemic awareness, audiolingual, word attack, paired work, picture study, communicative language approach, whole language approach, phonics and language experience approach. Lungowe, a female teacher, said,

When I use individual approach, I invite a pupil to come and read a story, or underline a syllable or a sound of the day to work…… that way the pupil will not forget that sound. Sometimes, it is very useful to teach them in small groups. They will work as a group and me as a teacher, I will help the pupils in groups. They can use communicative approach, whole language approach, syllabic methods, situational, …cognitive, … audiolingual and direct method.

Mushe, a male participant, explained, ‘Teachers choose which one is suitable for their situation depending on the lesson they are teaching. They will be able to choose one of those… two to three of them incorporated in one lesson’. This mixing of broad theories of literacy pedagogy—phonemic awareness and whole language, for example—indicates a lack of clarity in both pre-service and in-service training, and could lead to misaligned instruction and poor learning child outcomes.

Teachers expressed a strong inclination toward interactive methods for literacy instruction, when possible. Tinalesa, a female teacher, explained,

When we use individual methods, you invite a pupil to come and read a story or underline a syllable or a sound of the day. That way the pupil will not forget that sound. It is very useful to teaching. And then when using group work, when you put pupils in groups, other pupils that do not know how to read, they will learn from other pupils. They will work as a group and me as a teacher, will help the pupils in groups.

Teachers said that they selected methods according to the needs of their students, to improve concentration among pupils in large classes, enhance free participation and encourage use of discovery methods in early grade reading. Additionally, some teachers used peer tutoring, which they believed yielded better learning outcomes and enhanced student retention. This approach was especially useful in large classes, where it was difficult for the teacher to spend one-on-one time with each child daily.

Teachers reported diverse experiences regarding their use of Zambian LOIs in literacy classes. The use of a local LOI made communication during learning easier and facilitated parental involvement in education. Pupils could easily express themselves during the learning process and felt more confident, according to teachers. As one said, the LOI policy has ‘motivated learners because they know and understand what you are telling them’. Mwalumina, a female teacher, said, ‘When it comes to Silozi it is very easy for them to communicate. They are not afraid to make any mistakes because it’s what they use at home as well’.

However, some participants also had negative sentiments or challenges related to the use of familiar Zambian languages in schools. Some teachers and learners who transferred from different language zones had difficulties adapting to the new zonal language. Differences in orthography and sounds, for example, posed challenges for teachers, as colleges do not prepare their trainees to teach reading in multiple languages. Teachers acknowledged challenges in learning phonemes in Zambian languages, especially using phonological awareness approaches. One female teacher admitted, ‘When teaching sounds, I mostly run to my colleagues for pronunciation of sounds because of challenges related to zonal languages’. Teachers in some cases felt incompetent at the beginning, but adapted with time and practice. In some cases, teachers had to cope with not only their own unfamiliarity with the LOI, but also their students.’ Mayugo, a male teacher, explained:

It is difficult for children to pull through because their local language here is Soli, so they know Soli, and then they learn in Cinyanja so it’s like they are now learning and transitioning in three languages (MT, zonal language and English), no wonder our literacy levels are very low and some teachers fail to teach in non-native language zone.

When new teachers arrived at their assigned schools, they reported finding that there were far more instructional materials for literacy available at the school than they had had at their college, particularly in local LOIs. Schools had, for example, resources such as teacher’s guides, pupils’ books, word charts, flip charts, and other resources supporting early literacy which were not readily available in teacher training institutions. While this is a positive sign and speaks to the MOE’s investments in early grade reading in recent years, the new teachers did not know how and when to use these materials and instructional aids, slowing their adaptation. A female teacher, Inonge, said,

For me it was a bit difficult at first because most of the content and illustrations we were taught and used at college were in English, now when it came to the real situation we are using Silozi to teach and materials are in the local language. It took time to settle.

Primary schools were better resourced and equipped in terms of literacy materials than colleges and universities. Due to the disparities in resources, trainee teachers are exposed to many basic instructional resources in early grade reading only when they go out for school teaching practice in their second and third years.

In summary, new primary grade teachers found that their schools were well equipped for early grade reading instruction in local languages. However, they noted significant gaps in their own preparation to teach in these schools, particularly when deployed to a school in a zone where the teacher did not speak the LOI. Additionally, we note that primary teachers’ reported pedagogies reflected a mix of approaches to early literacy, some current and evidence-based and some not. As Monde, a female teacher, said, ‘When I started working, I found something different from what I was taught at the college’.

Discussion

Literacy training in pre-service teacher education versus classroom practices

This study explored the training of primary grades teachers in early grade reading teaching and compared those approaches to what teachers reported doing in the classroom. Research from Ghana found that PSTE programs provide a foundation that new teachers rely heavily on when they teach in their own classrooms (Akyeampong et al. 2013). Therefore, it is important to understand how well pre-service training aligns with classroom and school practices and expectations. The findings of this study largely align with those from previous studies in Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa more broadly.

We examined how students in two primary grades PSTE programs in Zambia are trained to teach literacy competencies and skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension within the LOI policy. We found that the institutions expressed a commitment to teaching literacy using a phonemic awareness approach. This approach is supported by studies from Zambia showing relationships between phonological awareness skills and children’s later reading and spelling abilities (Matafwali and Bus 2013). However, this approach was taught unevenly, with varying degrees of emphasis on different stages of literacy development. For example, the oral language skills that are important to support literacy development in the early grades (Castro et al. 2011; Suggate et al. 2018) were less emphasized than more advanced skills during training. Trainee teachers were given only limited opportunities to practice and develop their teaching of literacy skills in early grades teaching during their training program. These findings align with previous studies on issues in PSTE (Masaiti and Manchishi 2011; Mutemeri and Chetty 2011; Wohlfahrt 2018).

During the study, participants expressed varied opinions on the quality of the pre-service training offered in early grade reading. While some teachers felt that they were inadequately prepared, others felt that they had received the baseline knowledge and skills they needed for the classroom. Some of the shortcomings cited by teachers were insufficient exposure to PLP methodologies, the lack of resources in colleges and universities, limited opportunities for practice, and little interaction with and mentorship by practicing teachers. In general, initial teacher training was more focused on theory than practice; a finding which echoes the summary findings from the body of literature on PSTE (Zuilkowski et al., in press).

Turning specifically to issues related to the instruction of literacy in local languages, in accordance with the LOI policy, we found that the teaching of sounds was not explicitly addressed by the lecturers at COEs/Universities. The primary grades teachers we interviewed indicated that they were not knowledgeable about the production and teaching of speech sounds. They expressed concerns that phonetics and phonology instruction was not part of their PSTE. Teachers said that the instruction they did receive in this area was mainly done in English, with little opportunity for practice, and rarely done in Zambian LOIs.

Regarding the implementation of the LOI policy, our study revealed that lecturers at the institutions sometimes attempted to use a familiar language spoken in the region where the institution was located as a vehicle for responding to the needs stipulated in the Curriculum Framework policy document (MESVTEE, 2013). In a few cases, lecturers used languages from other regions. Students were given the opportunity to practice using a local LOI occasionally, during peer teaching or activities. However, instruction in the pre-service programs was largely in English.

When teachers finished their initial training programs and were assigned to primary schools, they found quite different approaches in place. Participants reported that teachers are at liberty to make innovations in their delivery of lessons. While this level of teacher autonomy can be positive, for a well-prepared and experienced teacher, it can also be challenging for new teachers. When exploring the approaches teachers in our sample used to teach literacy, we heard a variety of responses, including the phonemic approach and the whole language approach, mixed in with a variety of skill-specific strategies and general pedagogical methods. In sum, we found that practicing primary grades teachers were using a blend of approaches to teaching reading, which they picked up in schools to fill gaps from their theory-based pre-service training. Using approaches that vary widely in their theoretical underpinnings, such as phonemic awareness and whole language—can lead to poor student outcomes.

Several other gaps were identified between initial training programs and actual teacher practice. The participants stated that there was more of learner centered approach at the primary school level than at the COEs/universities, where instruction is primarily through lectures. This reliance on lectures is common in the region (Barnes et al. 2019; Buckler 2020; Pryor et al. 2012). Lesson practice is done with a theoretical lens in the studied colleges and universities, rather than the more practical approach needed to be successful in the classroom. The teacher participants felt that they were inadequately prepared by their lecturers in terms of practice as they had few opportunities to engage in peer teaching and demonstrations by the lecturers were rare. The indication is that there was less exposure to practice during their training than teachers would have liked. Teachers also noted that they were inadequately prepared to teach literacy in a local LOI, due to the heavy use of English in the colleges and universities, as discussed above.

Implications for institutions, the teacher training curriculum, and policy

The findings of this study have implications for policy and practice at several levels. The curriculum in the pre-service institutions must be aligned with what teachers actually need to be able to do in their classrooms. Shifting pre-service curricula to be more practical and hands-on should be a priority in Zambia. One way to do this is to improve the mentorship trainee teachers get, both from lecturers and from practicing teachers. This could be done through closer relationships with nearby schools, starting at the beginning of pre-service training, as well as in the school experience terms in the second and third years of the primary teachers’ diploma program. Successful teachers are best placed to help new teachers bridge the gaps between their theory-based programs and the responsibilities of independent teaching (Ellis et al. 2020; Ronfeldt et al. 2020).

One of the key barriers to enhancing the curriculum is the lack of current instructional materials, children’s books, and curricular materials in Zambia’s pre-service institutions (USAID 2021). The primary grade teachers and lecturers we interviewed reported that schools were better equipped than colleges and universities in terms of teaching/learning materials. The findings indicated that materials available in schools were not readily available at teacher training institutions. The only available resource in many education colleges and universities is the national syllabi for the courses. Teacher guides and pupils’ books used in primary schools are not available to support practical activities in literacy education. Provision of relevant and adequate training resources is important in ensuring effective training of teachers in early grade reading (Zuilkowski et al. in press). Therefore, there is an urgent need to restock colleges and universities to make reading instructional materials available. The MOE should equip all colleges of education with the literacy instructional and teacher training materials provided to primary schools, so that trainee teachers can have extended interaction with the materials while in training. Without them, lecturers cannot teach in a more interactive and practical manner.

Another specific area of concern is the lack of materials supporting the instruction of sounds—including videos, audio clips, and other electronic resources. In a complex multilingual context like Zambia, primary level trainee teachers should be prepared to teach basic literacy skills in more than one language. However, as we found that lecturers themselves often lack an understanding of how to do this in an applied sense, supporting materials are needed.

At the policy level, there are several steps than can be taken to improve early grades literacy instruction in Zambian languages. Teachers and lecturers alike spoke about the inconsistencies in the official literacy programs and language policies over the last several decades. Lecturers and teachers emphasized the need to have a stable policy on LOI in the education sector. Some of the participants were of the view that the many policy changes or lack of consistency in LOI policy in the MOE were partly to blame for the gaps that existed between pre-service teacher training on early grade reading and practices in primary schools. One male teacher, Kabeleka, expressed his frustration with the policy changes:

We need to come up with a serious policy to look at language because we have dragged this over and over and that affects the way literacy is taught because there are so many changes in a short time, we need to be consistent.

Participants pointed to the unevenness of policy implementation across various parts of the education sector as a challenge for initial teacher training. The LOI policy was only partially implemented in colleges and universities, yet was fully implemented in primary schools. Lecturers’ confusion over the implementation of the LOI policy has been documented in previous studies in Zambia (Kelly and Kanyika 2000; Mulenga and Luangala 2015), where the language policy has undergone frequent changes (Banda and Mwanza 2017). Similarly, some participants—both teachers and lecturers—indicated that they were not adequately trained to teach the Primary Literacy Program (PLP) to learners. The solution to this issue is clear, according to one lecturer—’when they introduce these policies let them begin with training institutions so that they train everyone to have effective implementation’. College and university lecturers should participate alongside in-service teachers whenever they are trained, to ensure tight correspondence between lecturers’ understandings of classroom practices and reality.

The second area for policy focus highlighted by this study is college and university lecturers—their selection for specific positions and capacity development. We found that lecturers without relevant qualifications and experience in primary classroom practice are often placed at colleges and universities. These are deployed to train teachers in literacy education despite having no relevant experience in teaching literacy (Kombe and Mwanza 2019; USAID 2021). For example, lecturers with training in secondary English language teaching methodologies are assigned to teach pedagogy skills for early grade reading. This negatively affects the quality of the training offered to trainee teachers. Some lecturers have no early grades teaching experience at all (USAID 2021). Such lecturers cannot provide the grounded, realistic modeling of instruction that trainee teachers need. The MoE, therefore, should develop a staff recruitment framework that favors the selection of candidates with the appropriate qualifications and primary classroom experience in early grade reading to prepare teachers for school early grade classroom practice. Additionally, professional development opportunities should be offered to both to fill gaps in lecturers’ individual knowledge and experience, for example on phonological awareness in Zambian LOIs, as well as to keep lecturers up to date on changes in primary schools.

Conclusion

The aim of this study was to examine how pre-service primary grades teacher education programs prepare trainees to teach early grade reading, to explore how early grade reading is actually taught in Zambian classrooms, and to identify gaps existing between the two. We found that the two pre-service programs studied were highly theoretical, offered few opportunities for practical learning, and did not substantively engage with the LOI policy and its implications. Upon entering the classroom fulltime, teachers used a variety of approaches, strategies, and materials to fill gaps in their preparation. This led to an eclectic array of classroom practices, rather than focused, theory- and evidence-based approaches to teaching early grades reading. PSTE programs and schools must be reformed together, or reforms are likely to fail (Musonda 1999).

The issues identified can be addressed by the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders. The inclusion of college and university lecturers in all national teacher trainings, the provision of primary grades teaching and learning materials to pre-service institutions, and more specialized assignment of experienced primary grades teachers to related lecturer positions will help to close the gaps between theory, policy, and practice in early grades reading in Zambia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, through Cooperative Agreement No. 72061120CA00006 to Florida State University.

Notes

1 Due to restrictions on school visits in place during the COVID-19 spike during the study period, the observations were limited to two, and the data is not included in this analysis.