National and local sources of power: important considerations for teacher education reforms in rural Malawi

Abstract

The establishment of formal teacher training systems is a relatively new innovation in some parts of Africa. Formal training of secondary teachers in Malawi commenced when the government of Malawi opened the University of Malawi in 1965. The contribution of Malawi’s ruling parties to the development of teacher education in Malawi since then is an important consideration in understanding some of the actions and outcomes of this continuing process. This paper provides a brief overview of a current teacher education initiative, linked to the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) for the recruitment, training and deployment of quality teachers to schools in Malawi. It includes a discussion of Mann’s model of four sources of power (Mann, M. 1986. The sources of social power. Vol. I. Cambridge University Press) to offer insights as to why the some of the educational outcomes linked to the NESP are yet to be realised within rural school across Malawi. Insights on the potential impact of power groups other than the government may help to reduce the gap between the planned and realised outcome of educational reforms in Malawi and other least developed countries.

Keywords:

• rural teacher supply
• power
• teacher education policy
• least developed countries