“The spirit is willing, but the content is weak?” Enacting the mother tongue policy in teaching information and communication technology to preschoolers in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This mini-ethnographic case study examined the enactment of the mother tongue (MT) medium of instruction policy in teaching information and communication technology (ICT) to preschoolers or early childhood development (ECD) learners in a Zimbabwean school. The study employed an eclectic cognitive sense-making, ethnography of language policy and planning (ELPP), and technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework to look into practices of one preschool teacher, Mrs K, in her quest to enact the mother tongue policy. Despite her 26 years of experience in teaching preschoolers, Mrs K had not received adequate training on teaching ICT, a new subject in the ECD curriculum. While at first glance, she appeared to be abiding by the policy, some of her lessons proved to be teacher-dominated, and the classroom dialogue formulaic thus undermining the all-pervading learner-centred pedagogy on which the new curriculum edifice was premised. The paper thus explores the complex interplay of knowledge of content, technology and pedagogy; experience; cognitive and other contextual factors in impacting teacher sense-making and enactment of the mother tongue policy in teaching ICT to pre-school learners. One major factor which appeared to be influencing teacher understanding of policy was lack of ICT content knowledge and knowledge of how to teach ICT using both English and MT. The policy reformers seemingly rushed to implement the curriculum without capacitating teachers on how to use the mother tongue to teach ICT at ECD level. The study thus proposes strategies for teacher professional development in ICT, particularly for resource-constrained environments.

Keywords:

• Enactment
• information and communication technology (ICT)
• language policy
• mother tongue
• preschoolers/ECD learners
• sense-making

Acknowledgments

This paper was generated from a doctoral thesis: Phiri, M. (2022). Implementing the mother tongue policy in teaching information and communication technology to infants in Zimbabwe (Unpublished PhD thesis).

Disclosure statement

There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to declare in this article.

Notes

1 In the Zimbabwean context, the ECD departments are mostly housed in primary schools, the departments cater for four to five year olds, known as ECDA and ECDB learners (preschoolers). Therefore, while Mrs K was an ECD or preschool teacher, she was operating from a primary school.

Additional information

Funding

This work was done under the auspices of the SANRAL Chair in Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology Education at the University of Free State in South Africa, and financially supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF).