PEDAGOGICAL AND ASSESSMENT CHALLENGES IN THE TEACHING OF CIVIC COMPETENCIES IN ZAMBIA: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF UNIVERSITIES AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study explored the pedagogical and assessment challenges faced by teachers and lecturers in teaching civic competencies in selected secondary schools and universities in Zambia. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a phenomenological design within an interpretivist paradigm. The participants comprised 30 individuals: twelve lecturers from three universities, eighteen Civic Education teachers from three secondary schools. Purposive sampling was used. Data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions, and classroom observations and analysed thematically. The findings indicated that teacher-centred approaches, particularly lectures, remained prominent, while group work, question-and-answer sessions, and presentations were used to a lesser extent. Assessment was dominated by tests, assignments, and examinations, with limited attention to the development of civic skills, values, attitudes, and dispositions. The study concludes that the continued emphasis on content coverage and examination performance constrained the development of practical civic competencies. It recommended the greater use of learner-centred and participatory pedagogies, authentic and reflective assessment, continuous professional development, and adequate institutional resources to support the implementation of competence-based Civic Education.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
KNUMJ uses Creative Common (CC) Attribution (BY) 4.0 International License which guarantees people (readers) and organisations unlimited rights to share, use, and build upon works published in this journal; all they need to do is to acknowledge the sources (authors).
References
Burke, D. 2020. Experiential learning theory. How Doctors Think and Learn, 3(1):29-37.
Cardinal, I.C.I.2017.A constructivist appraisal of Paulo Freire’s critique of the banking system of education. European Journal of Educational and Development Psychology, 6(1):1-13.
Claes, E., Schrooten, M., McLaughlin, H., & Csoba, J. 2022. Community service learning in complex urban settings: challenges and opportunities for social work education. Social Work Education, 41(6): 1272-1290.
Carretero, M., Haste, H. and Bermudez, A. 2016. Civic education. Handbook of Educational Psychology, 3(1): 295-308.
Chola, K.D. 2016. Assessment of Service Learning in the Teaching of Civic Education in selected secondary schools in Lusaka province Zambia. Unpublished MEd Dissertation. Lusaka: University of Zambia.
Creswell, J.W. 2012. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Boston: Pearson Education.
Creswell, J.W. 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach. London: SAGE.
Davy Mainde .(2025). Civic Education in Zambian Secondary Schools through the Lens of Competency-Based Curriculum. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science IX(X):6146 to 6151Fuentes-Moreno, C., Sabariego-Puig, M., & Ambros-Pallarés, A. (2020). Developing social and civic competence in secondary education through the implementation and evaluation of teaching units and educational environments. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7(1), 39.
Freire, P. 2020. Pedagogy of the oppressed. In Toward a sociology of education (pp. 374-386). London: Routledge.
Gurudeo, A.T. and Patrick, M. 2018. Traditional vs Non-traditional Teaching and Learning Strategies: The case of e-learning. International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning, 19(1): 129-158.
Kawashima-Ginsberg, K., Siegel-Stechler, K., & Faraci, N. (2025). Understanding and promoting civic skills: toward an integrated conception of civic competencies. In Research Handbook on Education and Democracy (pp. 102-124). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Knowles, R. T. 2018. Teaching who you are: Connecting teachers’ civic education ideology to instructional strategies. Theory & Research in Social Education, 46(1): 68-109.
Kolb, A., & Kolb, D. 2018. Eight important things to know about the experiential learning cycle. Australian educational leader, 40(3): 8-14.
Komara, E. 2017. Curriculum and civic education teaching in Indonesia. EDUCARE, 10(1):115-121.
LeCompte, K., Blevins, B., & Riggers-Piehl, T. (2020). Developing civic competence through action civics: A longitudinal look at the data. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 44(1), 127-137.
Magasu, O., Sakala, E., & Trinity, C. (2025). The 2023 Competence-Based Education Curriculum in Zambia: What does it mean to a Civic Education Teacher?. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 9(09), 87-92.
Magasu, O., Muleya, G. and Mweemba, L. 2020. Pedagogical Challenges in Teaching Civic Education in Secondary Schools in Zambia. International Journal of Science and Research, 9 (3): 1483-1488
Mainde, D., Mtonga, D. E., Sakala, E., Chola, D. K., Magasu, O., Chileshe, K. S., & Mpolomoka, D. L. (2022). Adapting Fadel’s Four-Dimensional Education Model in Teaching and Learning Civic Education In 21st Century Zambia. Journal of Education and Practice, 13(33), 140-147.
Mulenga, I. M., & Ng’andu, M. (2022). Civic education teaching resources and teacher preparedness for secondary school competency-based curriculum in Lusaka, Zambia. East African Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 3(2), 166-177.
Nanggala, A., & Suryadi, K. 2022, January. Realizing the Philanthropy Movement through Citizenship Education Learning at Independent Campuses. In Annual Civic Education Conference (ACEC 2021) (pp. 1-5). Atlantis Press.
Persson, M., Andersson, K., Zetterberg, P., Ekman, J., & Lundin, S. (2020). Does deliberative education increase civic competence? Results from a field experiment. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 7(3), 199-208.
Rafzan, R. (2024). Implications of Project-Citizent Based Civic Education Learning: The Key to Obtaining Civic Competence?. Abdimas Galuh, 6(2), 1769-1781.
Sakala, E. (2016). The resposivness of civic education teacher training curriculum towrads democratic citizenship in Zambia (Masters dissertation, University of Zambia).
Sakala, E., & Magasu, O. (2024). CONTEXTUALISING SERVICE LEARNING MODEL IN CIVIC EDUCATION TEACHER PROGRAMMES IN ZAMBIA. Kwame Nkrumah University Multi-Disciplinary Journal-Zambia, 1(2), 75-82.
Sakala, E., & Letsoaka, T. S. (2026). Exam-oriented Civic Education Learning and Its Influence on Pedagogical Innovation in Selected Secondary Schools in Lusaka. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5(1), 1-13.
Sakala, E. (2024). Civic Education Teacher Programme Towards Promoting Democratic Citizenship in Zambian Secondary Schools, With Special Reference TO Service Learning. Doctoral Thesis: University of South Africa.
Sakala, E., & Magasu, O. (2024). Contextualising Service Learning Model in Civic Education Teacher Programmes in Zambia. Kwame Nkrumah University Multi-Disciplinary Journal-Zambia, 2(2), 75-82.
Sakala, E., & Tshabalala, S. (2025). The Teaching of Controversial Issues in Civic Education in Secondary Schools in Kabwe, Zambia the Teachers Voices. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), IX (IV), 2682-2690.
Sakala, E. 2016. Responsiveness of Civic Education Teacher Training Curriculum towards democratic citizenship in Zambia. Unpublished MEd Dissertation. Lusaka: University of Zambia.
Shapiro, S., & Brown, C. 2018. A look at civics education in the United States. American Educator, 42(2): 10-16.