EDUCATION - The African Mirror

Jan

04

2025

Kids should be encouraged to talk back – 5 tips for teaching them critical thinking skills

EDUCATION

WHENEVER school holidays loom, many parents find themselves caught in an emotional tug-of-war: on the one hand, relief at bidding farewell to homework battles, bedtime struggles, and the lamenting of lost lunchboxes; on the other, terror at the daunting prospect of a barrage of “whys” and “buts” from their relentless interrogators. To avoid logic-defying arguments and endless debates, it is often not long before they find themselves playing the ultimate parental trump card: “Because I said so”. As a parent, I can relate. But I’m also a moral philosopher with almost two decades of teaching experience. In philosophy classes, students…

Dec

13

2024

By JULES GAZEAUD and CLAIRE RICARD

Moroccan schools are fuller thanks to cash grants. The problem now is the quality of their education – study

EDUCATION

Reprinted by permission from VoxDev THE spread of conditional cash transfer programmes in low- and middle-income countries has been described as perhaps the most remarkable innovation of recent decades in welfare programmes. These programmes provide regular cash transfers to poor families contingent on specific behaviours. These include school enrolment and regular attendance. The programmes started in the late 1990s in Mexico and quickly became the public policy of choice to fight poverty and low enrollment. Today, more than 60 countries operate education-conditional cash transfer programmes, often at a national scale. There is plenty of evidence showing that conditional cash transfers…

Dec

12

2024

By PEDRO TABENSKY

Universities must teach students what freedom is – a South African course is trying to do just that

EDUCATION

A typical student wants a university degree as a ticket to a salary. For this young person, education is a journey towards “having”. And the way to complete the journey is mainly to remember, repeat or reproduce what the teacher says and does. This having-orientation is understandable given the often precarious realities of life, particularly in the global south, including South Africa, where I am based as a university lecturer. It is understandable, yet it fosters apathy in the classroom, for the monetary aims of students are not typically aligned with the aims of learning. In response to this situation,…

Dec

11

2024

By CHRIS SPELDEWINDE

The beach is an amazing place to teach kids about science. Here are 3 things to try this summer

EDUCATION

SUMMER is a wonderful time for families to go to the beach and for small children to get to know the water and the sand. However, aside from being a place to relax, my new research shows that the beach provides many ways to teach young children about science. My ‘beach kinder’ research I research science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning in bush kinders. These are programs where preschool children regularly go into the natural environment with their daycare centre or kinder/preschool, to gain an appreciation for nature. Educators do not take any toys, balls or games, so children…

Dec

03

2024

By ROLAND PAULSEN

Young people were becoming more anxious long before social media – here’s the evidence

EDUCATION

THANKS to bestselling authors like Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge, the public has become increasingly aware of the rapid rise in mental health issues among younger people in many Western countries. Their warnings about the destructive impact of social media have had an effect, reflected not least in a wave of schools across Europe banning smartphones. While it’s good to draw attention to the rising rates of depression and anxiety, there’s a risk of becoming fixated on simplistic explanations that reduce the issue to technical variables like “screen time”. In my book, Why We Worry: A Sociological Explanation, I aim…

Nov

23

2024

By ELISE KALOKERINOS and ELLA MOECK

Waiting for exam results can be awful. Our research shows how best to manage the stress

EDUCATION

IT'S that time of year when students are waiting for school and university results that could change the course of their lives. Uncertain waiting periods are among our most emotionally challenging experiences. In fact, research shows students are more stressed while waiting for their results than after finding out they have failed. This is because dealing with an uncertain situation is more stressful than dealing with a known negative outcome. In our new research, we investigated how students can best approach this often agonising time. Our research We followed 101 university psychology students in Belgium receiving results that determined whether…

Nov

20

2024

By CATHERINE DRAPER

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are crucial – there’s growing evidence that the next 1,000 are just as important

EDUCATION

THE first 1,000 days of a child’s life – pregnancy and the months leading to their second birthday – are a critical time. Expectant mothers need good antenatal care. The better their physical and mental health, the greater the likelihood of giving birth to a healthy baby and being able to nurture that baby through the first two years of life. There’s a large global body of evidence to show that what happens during this period has lifelong effects on a person’s health, growth and well-being. Less attention has been paid to the “next 1,000 days” when children are between…

Nov

07

2024

By RUSSELL H. KASCHULA and MBALI SUNRISE DHLAMINI

South Africa’s classrooms should have a ‘box’ of languages to help children learn: new bilingual education policy is a start

EDUCATION

LANGUAGE has always been used as a political football in South Africa. This can be traced back to the competing English and Dutch colonisers, from the 17th to the early 20th centuries, each group trying to assert linguistic as well as economic and social control. Later, language was used to divide and rule under apartheid. For instance, the racist regime created “homelands” – areas of self-determination for Black South Africans – that were linguistically bounded; all isiXhosa speakers, for example, were relegated to the same area where they were forced to live and study. Today the country has 12 official…

Nov

02

2024

By ABIODUN EGBETOKUN and ADEDAYO OLOFINYEHUN

Nigeria’s universities need to revamp their entrepreneurship courses – they’re not meeting student needs

EDUCATION

YOUTH unemployment has been a problem in Nigeria for decades. This is why policymakers are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship education as a solution. It is hoped that entrepreneurship will reduce reliance on formal jobs and create more opportunities for self-employment. The unemployment rate stood at 5.3% in the first quarter of 2024, representing a third consecutive increase since the second quarter of 2023. This is close to the 2023 global unemployment rate of 5.1%. Researchers and policymakers globally view entrepreneurship education as a key solution to youth unemployment. Nigerian universities have been required since 2006 to teach at least one…

Nov

01

2024

By JAMES RANSOM

Africa’s flagship universities have a proud history – but are they serving local communities?

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITIES play a number of crucial roles in society. They educate students, research solutions to problems and serve as spaces for national debate. This is especially true for large public institutions, often referred to as flagship universities. A number were launched with great fanfare around the time of a country’s independence from colonial rule. They were tasked with driving national development by training skilled graduates to fill workforce gaps and conducting applied research to address societal challenges. Many have done well in their historic national missions. But how are they performing today when it comes to serving their local communities?…