FEATURES
EDUTIMES
Science and technology from a
teacher’s perspective
By Rodrick Mulenga
T
eaching is a profession that
is concerned with impart-
ing knowledge and skills and
moulding the character of learners.
A teacher of science and technolo-
gy is like any other teacher, except
that he or she had to take intensive
science courses at University or Col-
lege level, to prepare for the task.
Teachers nurture human resource
to take up various careers, such as
lawyers, politicians, engineers and
so on.
The teacher has many tasks, in and out of school:
a teacher prepares for lessons, tests and examines
learners, makes and provides progress reports to
pupils, caregivers and school administration. They
plan, implement, monitor and evaluate remedial ac-
tivities to enable learners to learn better. They de-
velop the cognitive, affective and psychomotor as-
pects of the pupils, to ensure holistic child growth
and development.
Teachers should have good academic ability, and be
able to communicate their knowledge clearly, and in
an interesting and captivating manner. They must
be able to establish a good relationship with their
learners and be prepared to take on considerable
responsibility, to mould the learners according to
the acceptable norms of the community they are
working in. They must be patient and have a good
sense of humour.
I trained in teaching because of the love I had for
the profession, especially science and technology. I
love working with children and I love helping them
to achieve what they want in life. I think that is what
really motivated me to become a teacher. I was born
In Lundazi District where I did my primary and sec-
ondary school, up to Grade 12. After migrating to
Kitwe, I did my Secondary teaching course. I have
been the head of Kakolo secondary School, in Kitwe,
since 2008. (Jacob Manda)
I have found teaching science subjects an interest-
ing part of my teaching career. However, it is evi-
dent that some pupils are not keen on taking sci-
ence subjects and had sciences been optional, many
pupils would not take sciences as part of their sub-
ject combinations. I have found that the majority of
5
Sciences are practical subjects, which means the
teaching must go beyond the classroom, into the
field. We are encouraged as science teachers, to
take science and technology students into the field,
where we have to ensure that pupils get to experi-
ence science first hand, in the field. And this I guess
is the most successful teaching method of science.
There are varying reasons why schoolchildren drop
out of school or fail in some or all subjects. Although
statistically pupils are performing well in school
nowadays, compared to the past, the school drop-
out and failure rate is still high. The dropout rate
varies among the two categories of boys and girls,
depending on age and grade. When children start
school, the performance of boys and girls is initially
equal. It happens to be 50-50. However, things start
to change as children grow up. At first, the dropout
rate is highly prevalent among boys. This trend is
attributed to the fact that boys happen to be play-
ful during these periods and mostly the boys have
free time on their hands as some are socialised not
to participate in home chores. For girls on the other
hand, their performance tends to be good because
pupils who are not interested in sciences are girls. A at that time in their lives, home chores are not so
few girls enjoy sciences but others do not, arguing much dependent on them.
that the subjects are tough, even before they try
them out. This negative attitude can be attributed
Academic performance starts to
to many things: Firstly, some pupils are just lazy,
and the laziness has instilled fear in them, which has change usually when girls become
caused a resentment of science subjects and sec- teenagers. At this time, the girls as-
ondly, some teachers do not encourage the pupils sume much bigger tasks at home.
to work hard. You need to know that sciences and
technology subjects are not like social sciences. Sci- They start doing a lot of work--
ence subjects contain calculations mostly and that from cleaning to almost running the
scares many pupils, particularly girls. If teachers do household. This contributes to under
not spot such weaknesses, pupils will perform poor-
performance by girls in the sense
ly. Thirdly, practice is critical. Pupils must know that
science and technology subjects are to be put into that if they are overworked, or are
practice every day. You must solve something daily, overburdened with work, they get so
just like in mathematics. If you do not do so, you tired that they cannot concentrate
will start failing. Once you fail, discouragement sets
in, a pupil starts to dislike the subjects and eventu- on school, resulting in poor results
and eventually failure.
ally performs badly.
How can pupils be helped in such a way that they
start craving and enjoying science subjects? Role
modelling can be used as one of the ways to encour-
age pupils to enjoy science. We can point to figures
in society who have used science to become who
they are. We can also highlight the social status that
comes with having a science background, like being
a Medical Doctor, a Pilot, and Engineer among oth-
ers. We can also talk about the financial benefits as-
sociated with these jobs and the social contribution
that such professionals render to society, besides
the economic benefits that our country derives from
them.
Science cannot be taught only in the
classroom. Although primarily that
is what we do (teaching science
subjects in class like any other sub-
jects), we do take initiative to em-
ploy different teaching methods.
For boys mainly, I cannot give a single reason why
they would drop out of school or fail. Girls have a
higher progression rate but boys have a higher com-
pletion rate compared to girls. So, what this means
is that we have more boys graduating high school
compared to girls, meaning girls are failing more
than boys in secondary school.
So, what can we do to correct this? You may ask. We
need to take a holistic approach in helping children,
for them to enjoy science and technology subjects.
If we want them to love school and eventually com-
plete their studies and become what they want to
become in future, they need our constant guidance
and commitment.
Everyone has a role in the journey--parents, teach-
ers and the pupils themselves. We all have to make
sure that the learners’ dreams become a reality.
Author of ‘How To Succeed Without Being a
Genius In School.’