The study is a critique of the adequacy of the foundations of education component of the preservice teacher education program at the University of Zambia. The problem of the study lies in Zambia's history of education.
Schooling was introduced in Zambia by missionaries during British colonial rule. However, the school institution remained alien to the local culture throughout this period. The education system was characterized by boarding schools which isolated children from their communities. This alienated school children from their culture.
When Zambia became independent in 1964 the African government expanded this system of education. At the apex of the expansion was the University of Zambia which opened in 1966. The system had many shortcomings because it had been designed to serve colonial purposes. The Ministry of Education and Culture therefore launched a national debate in 1974 aimed at reforming the inherited system of education. The debate resulted in the educational reform document which came out in October 1977.
However, the success of any education system depends largely on well trained teachers. A teacher education program has three components: general education, methodology and foundations of education. The purpose of this study was to explore the adequacy of the foundations of education component of the teacher education program at the University of Zambia.
The study reviewed the literature on foundations of education both as cultural patterns of a society and as a field of study in colleges and universities. Attention was given to the origin and historical development of the foundations of education, current definitions and major controversies. A rationale for including foundations of education in the preparation of teachers was also presented. The current cultural patterns of the Zambian society were discussed as one source of the foundations of education. These were classified into two broad categories, namely, nation-building and national development. Three criteria for determining the adequacy of a foundations of education component in a Zambian teacher education program were established. These were: content and method--both should come from the Zambian culture; the courses of the component should be organized interdisciplinarily because of the nature of the work teachers are required to do; and the teacher education program should have an adequate duration to allow student teachers to study the problems of their society in terms of education in depth.
The existing foundations of education at the University of Zambia were described, analyzed--course by course--and examined against the above criteria. Against these criteria, the existing foundations of education component of the teacher education program at the University of Zambia was insufficient.
The study recommended the re-examination of the present content of one course because it does not reflect the Zambian culture; the splitting up of the other two courses into three new ones which will be less broad; and organizing these courses in an interdisciplinary manner. The study also recommended the shifting of emphasis from lecturing to the use of research exercises as a teaching method, and the reorganization of the present duration of the teacher education program so that enough time will be made available for student teachers to study education courses.
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