Staff Articles
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/75
2024-03-29T15:02:49ZSUBJECTIVE WELLBEING AMONG WOMEN WITH FATHER ABSENCE EXPERIENCE IN MASVINGO: DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND RELATIONSHIP STRATEGIES
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/297
SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING AMONG WOMEN WITH FATHER ABSENCE EXPERIENCE IN MASVINGO: DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND RELATIONSHIP STRATEGIES
Zirima, Herbert
Father absence is a developing trend globally and locally. Its impact is felt in the lives of
children at a very young age and even in adulthood. This quantitative study sought to ascertain
the impact of father absence on the subjective wellbeing of women who grew up in father absent
homes. This was achieved by making comparisons between women who grew up without fathers
against those that grew up with a resident father. The comparison was made in terms of their
anxiety and depression levels; sexual partner preference and relationship strategies. An
exploration of how the type and duration of father absence influences the adult life of fathers was
also done. The study was guided by the father absence theory and the psychosocial acceleration
theory. The ex post facto design was employed and a one stage cluster sampling strategy was
used to select 392 women who participated in this study. Of the 392 participants, 168 were
women who had grown up in father absent homes and the remaining 224 had grown up with a
resident father. This research made use of a combined standardized close ended questionnaire
that was adapted from three standardized instruments namely the Burns anxiety inventory, the
Burns depression inventory; and the Mate preference questionnaire. The study revealed that the
type or nature of father absence has an effect on anxiety and depression levels. This effect
extended to relationship strategies. Women who came from father absent homes due to
abandonment expressed more extreme forms of anxiety and ranked higher in divorce when
compared to other groups of women. The duration of father absence was also found to be
influential in anxiety and depression levels of father absent women. This study further
established that women who grew up without fathers expressed more anxious feelings, negative
thoughts and physical symptoms of anxiety than women who grew up with fathers (u = 15075.5,
p<.01). It was also found that father absence influenced depression symptoms among women as
depression levels of women who grew up in father absent homes significantly differed from those
of women who grew up with resident fathers (u = 12605.5, p<.01). Another outcome of the study
was that there were significant differences in the sexual partner preferences of women from
father absent homes as compared to those of women who grew up with their fathers. A number of
recommendations were proffered. Future research should explore the role of father involvement
in children’s lives. This is critical as father presence alone is not important without father
involvement. Moreover, this study proposes that a voluntary organisation that promotes
fatherhood programs be set up to raise awareness on the importance of fathering and drive
fatherhood programs. This recommendation was presented in a detailed form in a father absence
coping mechanism model presented in this thesis.
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZURBAN SCHOOL LOCATION AND PERFORMANCE: A COMPARISON OF HIGH ACHIEVERS IN FORMER P1 AND P2 SCHOOLS IN ZIMBABWE
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/285
URBAN SCHOOL LOCATION AND PERFORMANCE: A COMPARISON OF HIGH ACHIEVERS IN FORMER P1 AND P2 SCHOOLS IN ZIMBABWE
Nkoma, Elliottt; Mapfumo, John
The study sought to determine differences in achievement levels between
high achievers in P1 (Former group A) and P2 (Former group B) in
Mutare urban primary schools. Data was collected through achievement
tests to 5th grade pupils from six schools (three from each location). A
sample size of 179 (P1=89; P2=90) participated in the study. Tests
were administered to 112 girls (P1=56; P2=56) and 67 boys (PI=33;
P2= 34) high achieving pupils who were selected using grade 4 end of
year school examinations. In-depth interviews were conducted with
six teachers two from each school that participated. A t-test for
independent samples was used to determine achievement differences.
The result of this study showed academic achievement was dependent
on school location. There was highly significant difference between high
achievers in P1 and P2 schools at alpha 1%. (t= 11.09 for spelling and
t= 9.62 for mathematics). There are significant differences by gender
in both mathematics and spelling at alpha 0.05 with girls in P1 achieving
higher than boys in P2 schools. (t= 5.86 in mathematics; t= 0.31 in spelling).
2013-01-01T00:00:00ZPerceptions of Zimbabwean trainee/educational psychologists regarding the training on their support roles and responsibilities in inclusive education
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/257
Perceptions of Zimbabwean trainee/educational psychologists regarding the training on their support roles and responsibilities in inclusive education
Nkoma, Elliottt
The study used focus group interviews at three administrative
offices (provinces) that house trainee/educational psychologists in
order to explore their experiences on how they learn about their
support roles and responsibilities regarding the implementation of
inclusive education. 13 trainee/educational psychologists from these
provinces volunteered to participate in the study. The study used
a qualitative design based on a phenomenological perspective and
inductive thematic content was used to analyse data. The results
indicate that trainee/educational psychologists had known their
support roles through master's degree programmes, a single 2016
workshop, personally guided reading and collaborative work with
workmates. Their views indicated inadequate training and supervision,
and negative feelings towards internship after master's programme,
payment of supervisors, continuing professional development
points, lack of degree programmes inMaster of Science in educational
psychology, and location of conferences. The results provide
important information about educational psychology in Zimbabwe
with important implications for training and policymaking.
2018-03-21T00:00:00ZTracking Learner Achievement Gap: An Analysis of Mathematics Achievement in Manicaland, Zimbabwe
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/256
Tracking Learner Achievement Gap: An Analysis of Mathematics Achievement in Manicaland, Zimbabwe
Nkoma, Elliottt; Zirima, Herbert; Chimunhu, Jephias; Nyanga, Takupiwa
The socio-political and economic situation for the period 2007 to 2008 characterized subdued
teaching and regressed learning in Zimbabwe. The purpose of this study was to track the learning
achievements levels of primary and secondary school pupils in Manicaland. Data was collected
through mathematics achievement tests to pupils from Grade 4 to 6 in primary schools and Form 1
to 3 in secondary schools. A sample size of 18417 pupils in four districts in Manicaland
participated in the study. The tests were administered to 10727 pupils (male: 5291, female: 5436)
at primary level and 7690 (male: 3688, female: 4002) at the secondary level. In-depth interviews
were conducted with ten participants (three headmasters, 6 teachers and one psychologist). The
results of this study show a significant positive relation among the number of years in school and
the performance lag and the results were highly significant at alpha level 0,001(1%) (Chi-square
18,071) suggesting a strong correlation between performance lag and number of years school,
(r=0.99, significant at 1%). The performance gap widens with increase in the years in school. The
overall average performance lag is 4 years. Approximately, 1 year longer in school increased the
performance lag on average with a time span between 1 and 2 terms. The factors behind this lag in
performance include the absence of and lack of commitment among teachers and lack of teaching
materials in the period between 2007 and 2008. It is recommended that a programme should be set
up to specifically address the performance lag.
2013-05-01T00:00:00Z