Page 58 - EDUCON 2022 Book of Abstracts

Results: The findings revealed that learners sounded out isolated
letters or words based on teachers’ prompts. A whole class teaching
style that relies on a top-down transmission of knowledge was
commonly practiced without modelling syntax, and other related
structures to promote and engage learners in reading to enhance
fluency and meaning making.
Conclusions: This study recommends transformation of teaching and
learning processes, and a review of the curriculum of institutions of
higher education to mould teachers with specialised knowledge and
skills for the challenges of ESL and bilingualism in schools.
Contribution: The study contributes toward the knowledge base and
research of reading within multilingual contexts of Namibia.
Keywords: reading, teaching, bilingual, learners, multilingual

20. Tjazapi, U., Shanyanana-Amaambo, R.N, Learners’ voices in
Namibia’s teacher evaluations: implications for post-Covid-19
pandemic teacher evaluations
Background: In Namibia, teacher evaluations are the official
platforms through which in-service teachers receive mentorship and
coaching and, therefore, important components of teachers’
professional development. It is important to ensure that the feedback
provided to teachers because of these processes are credible and
capture comprehensive repertoires of teachers’ skills and classroom
practices. Learners spend more time with teachers than any other
stakeholder in education. They can therefore offer credible testimonies
relating to teachers’ classroom practices. However, analysis of
Namibian teacher evaluation policies and instruments reveal that high
school learners’ voices are marginalised or excluded.
Aim: Using the reality of educational settings during the COVID-19
pandemic, the paper demonstrates the counter productiveness of such
exclusory teacher evaluation policies and practices. The paper

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