Almon Shumba’s research while affiliated with Central University of Technology and other places

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Publications (66)


The Extent to Which the Provision of Mentor Support Services in Zimbabwe’s 2-5-2 Teaching Practice Enhances Continuous Improvement of Student Teachers’ Teaching Skills and Competences
  • Article

September 2014

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87 Reads

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3 Citations

Journal of Social Sciences

Reuben Tshuma

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Almon Shumba

The study sought to determine the experiences and perceptions held by mentors, teaching practice lecturers and student teachers on the extent to which mentors are provided with support services to enhance continuous improvement of teaching skills and competences of student teachers in Zimbabwe’s 2-5-2 teaching practice. The mixed methods design was used to collect data in two phases. The first phase used questionnaires to collect quantitative data while the second phase collected qualitative data through interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The researchers sampled 28 teaching practice lecturers, 100 mentors and 100 final year student teachers from the ten national primary teacher education institutions to participate in the first phase. Three teaching practice lecturers, three mentors and three focus groups of six students each were conveniently selected from neighbouring host schools for interviews in the second phase. The research findings revealed that mentorship was the mainstay of the 2-5-2 teaching practice yet mentors were not adequately provided with support services like in-service training, mentor handbooks, Department of Teacher Education (DTE) assessment/grading scale, regular communication and incentives. It also emerged that mentors were provided with assessment crit forms, though student teachers took the burden to photocopy them to facilitate their own assessment. The study recommended that Zimbabwe’s 2-5-2 teacher education institutions provide mentors with adequate support services to enhance continuous improvement of teaching skills and competences.


Conceptions of “Child” among Traditional Africans: A Philosophical Purview

March 2014

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2,357 Reads

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27 Citations

Journal of Human Ecology

In this paper, the researchers present a theoretical discussion of the notion of “child” in traditional African communities. The researchers’ premise is that different societies have unique conceptions of child and childhood hence each group of people have a peculiar philosophical outlook of a ‘child’ notwithstanding some similarities in places. While the researchers acknowledge that there is a multiple range of socio-cultural communities present in Africa, they submit that there are common threads that connect the African worldview. Their thesis is founded on their Shona background although they attempt to make comparisons with other African cultures. The researchers survey the different conceptions of the notion of child in traditional Africa from a historico-philosophical perspective.


Drug abuse by learners in South Africa: a replication and extension study

January 2014

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273 Reads

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1 Citation

Journal of Psychology in Africa

This study sought to determine the nature, extent and causes of drug abuse in South African township schools. Interview data were collected from a convenience sample of 24 participants from 4 schools (10 learners, 8 school personnel and 4 School Governing Board (SGB) members, a social worker and one Department of Education (DoE) official responsible for handling drug abuse by learners in the district. Document analysis was also conducted using the social worker's records. The study found that dagga, tobacco and alcohol were the most readily available, commonly used and abused drugs by learners in these schools. The study also found that learners tended to use cocktails of drug combinations.


Disabilities and Entrepreneurship in Makonde Rural Community in Zimbabwe

December 2013

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158 Reads

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14 Citations

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

The purpose of this study was to find out the level of community engagement of people with disabilities in entrepreneurship programmes in rural Zimbabwe. The study used survey methods to assess community engagement of people with disabilities in entrepreneurship programmes in terms of access to entrepreneurial activities, entrepreneurial education, effects of institutional, legal and policy relating to entrepreneurship, business networking and finance/credit lines. Questionnaires and interviews were used to solicit relevant information from 137 persons with various disabilities (46 physical disabilities, 24 visual impairment, 20 hearing impairment, 15 mental retardation, 10 emotional disorders and 22 other health related conditions) from a rural district of Zimbabwe. Respondents who happened to be people with disabilities were selected purposively from Makonde district. Quantitative data were analysed using bar graphs and tables; and qualitative data were analysed using themes. The respondents acknowledged existence of entrepreneurial activities in their communities but was meant for people without disabilities. The study also found that due to exclusionary nature of entrepreneurial activities in rural communities of Zimbabwe, people with disabilities were not having access to entrepreneurship education; found it difficult to negotiate against stringent entrepreneurial policies in the country; were being shunned by entrepreneurial peers without disabilities; and had little or no access to credit of lines from finance institutions in the country because of their condition. The study recommends intervention from the government to include the excluded population in entrepreneurship programmes in order to achieve the Millennium Developmental goal of reducing poverty by fifty percent in 2015.


Challenges Faced by Lecturers in Teaching Quantitative Courses at a Distance: A Case of Harare Region of the Zimbabwe Open University

May 2013

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47 Reads

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1 Citation

The Anthropologist

The thrust of the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is to produce graduates who, in addition to being specialists in their respective fields. In trying to develop these research capacities, the statist ics and basic mathematics courses become indispensible. The teaching of these quantitative courses poses both opportunities and threats to the successful delivery of these courses. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the challenges of teaching quantitative courses through distance learning. The study also sought to identify the perceptions of Statistics lecturers within the four faculties of the university and the challenges they faced. The study examined the challenges and strategies that can be implemented by the institution to overcome these challenges. Convenient sampling of lecturers currently teaching the courses was employed. Findings indicate that there are several challenges in teaching the courses due to a generalized fear of quantitative subjects by students, lack of motivation and attitudinal problems as well as inadequate preparation of students for examinations.


Mpezeni L, Mpofu, J. and Shumba, A. (2013). Challenges faced by Lecturer in teaching Quantitative Courses at a Distance: A Case of the Zimbabwe Open University. Anthropologist, 15(3) 255-263 (2013).
  • Article
  • Full-text available

May 2013

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341 Reads

The Anthropologist

The thrust of the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is to produce graduates who, in addition to being specialists in their respective fields. In trying to develop these research capacities, the statistics and basic mathematics courses become indispensible. The teaching of these quantitative courses poses both opportunities and threats to the successful delivery of these courses. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the challenges of teaching quantitative courses through distance learning. The study also sought to identify the perceptions of Statistics lecturers within the four faculties of the university and the challenges they faced. The study examined the challenges and strategies that can be implemented by the institution to overcome these challenges. Convenient sampling of lecturers currently teaching the courses was employed. Findings indicate that there are several challenges in teaching the courses due to a generalized fear of quantitative subjects by students, lack of motivation and attitudinal problems as well as inadequate preparation of students for examinations.

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Philosophy for Children in Africa: Is the Hermeneutic-Narrative Approach the Answer?

January 2013

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234 Reads

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3 Citations

The Anthropologist

In this conceptual position paper based on literature review, the researchers reflect on the place of the Hermeneutic-narrative approach in a Philosophy for Children in Africa. Their thesis is that if any act of philosophising is said to be "African" it is an undertaking by Africans in a specific type of intellectual activity and the critical examination of fundamental problems functional to the African reality. The researchers enter the dialogue by arguing a case for a Philosophy for Children programme that can be said to be African. They present a theoretical- philosophical proposition that an African perspective of Philosophy for Children is an approach to philosophising with children that starts from an interpretation of an African culture. They submit that Philosophy for Children in Africa should involve children in a creative and accurate interpretation of phenomena in the African context in order to understand their world.


Types of Sexual Maturation Information Received by Adolescents
Access to sexuality information by Zimbabwean school teenagers

January 2013

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32 Reads

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2 Citations

Journal of Psychology in Africa

This study reports on the findings on access to sexuality information by Zimbabwean school teenagers from a region with cultural rites of passage to adulthood. Participants were a convenience sample of 100 Shangaan speaking high school students (females = 50%). They responded to questions on the nature of sexuality information they perceived to receive from parents, teachers, traditional experts in cultural initiation rites and the mass media, including the quality thereof. The data were analyzed using theme identification methods and descriptive statistics. All culturally initiated teenagers reported that the initiation was useful as they received timely information on body changes, boy-girl relations and mood swings unlike most of their uninitiated counterparts. Both initiated and uninitiated teenagers reported parents as providing the least explicit and least useful sexuality information compared to teachers, mass media and traditional leaders.


An Exploratory Study of Corporal Punishment by Teachers in Zimbabwean Schools: Issues and Challenges

December 2012

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645 Reads

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10 Citations

International Journal of Educational Sciences

This study sought to explore the issues and challenges faced by teachers on use of corporal punishment in Zimbabwean schools. A case study design that is mainly qualitative in nature with some aspects of the quantitative approach was used in this study. Data were collected manually from the perpetrators’ files kept at the Masvingo regional offices. The study found 17 cases of unauthorised corporal punishment in schools reported to the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture in Masvingo region of Zimbabwe. Data were analysed using percentages and tables. The study found 17 cases of unauthorised corporal punishment were committed by teachers. These findings are merely a-tip-of-the-iceberg because most cases of corporal punishment are never reported to the authorities by the victims for fear of reprisals by the perpetrators. The implications of the findings were discussed in detail in the study.


Witchraft and Social Life in Zimbabwe: Documenting the Evidence

December 2012

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998 Reads

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6 Citations

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

This concept paper examines and documents the evidence of witchcraft and social life in Zimbabwe. The information contained in this article was largely derived from literature. However, oral data also formed part of the information used in this article. This paper reveals that beliefs in witchcraft are deeply rooted in Zimbabwe. The paper also reveals that in Zimbabwe, witchcraft is associated with power/politics, economic activities and sexuality. The paper concludes that since witchcraft, as an occult practice, is by nature secretive, it is difficult to substantiate empirically in most cases. For this reason, witchcraft beliefs are usually expressed in rumors and allusions. The paper calls for systematic, empirical and grounded studies on occult as it interacts with politics, economics and sexuality to get a better understanding of the phenomenon.


Citations (57)


... Furthermore, the study established that meetings and assemblies were the preferred ways for teachers to pass information to students. These findings align with the studies by (Musa & Martha, 2020;Maphosa & Shumba, 2010) which showed that providing regulations /rules through discussions is a strategic way of managing school discipline and that failure to implement rules and regulations leads to the collapse of discipline in schools. Kaman (2021) further argues that sufficient use of rules and regulations in terms of time management on the part of students and school administrators is directly associated with increased academic performance. ...

Reference:

School Leadership Support Towards Teachers' Management of Students’ Discipline in Uganda Secondary Schools in the Post Corporal Punishment Era-Northern Region
Educators’ disciplinary capabilities after the banning of corporal punishment in South African schools
  • Citing Article
  • August 2010

South African Journal of Education

... To develop critical thinking skills one has to be open minded, accommodating and transformational (Mulnix, 2012;Shpeizer, 2018). These revelations align with the findings of other studies in Ghana and Africa at large (Ndofirepi & Shumba, 2012;Nthontho, 2017;Nyamekye et al., 2024). Nyamekye et al. (2024) for instance found that several proverbs from the Ghanaian culture see childhood as a stage of life where the individual who is considered a child has no right to question established norms, authority, and the knowledge of adults, suggesting that a child too young physically and cognitively and, thus, is incapable of enlightening the adult. ...

Reasonable Children, Reasonable Citizens: The Contributions of Philosophy for Children to Post-apartheid South Africa
  • Citing Article
  • March 2012

Journal of Social Sciences

... Sibanda (2013) refers to it as experiencing sex via 'blue tooth' due to the mysterious sexual contact. Chireshe et al. (2012) posit that the term divisi could have been derived from the Shona word kutiva, literary meaning dipping, whose connotations are about having sexual intercourse in a metaphoric usually abnormal manner such as incest, bestiality and/or homosexuality or having unprotected sex with a woman who is on her monthly period. Thus, kutiva depicts the wickedness of the nature of the sexual encounter and is powered by the desire to accumulate more resources than others. ...

Witchraft and Social Life in Zimbabwe: Documenting the Evidence
  • Citing Article
  • December 2012

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

... Academic writing requires a variety of technical skills, which makes it a difficult task (Paltridge, 1997;Şaraplı, 2013). Trzeciak and Mackay (1994) stress that effective writing requires much more than just linguistic proficiency, general composition knowledge (Matoti & Shumba, 2011), and awareness of the intended audience and purpose. They assert that the following skills are necessary for producing appropriate writing: (1) the ability to accurately scan texts for pertinent content; (2) the ability to take notes and summarize; (3) the ability to synthesize information from a variety of sources; (4) the knowledge of written ethics and plagiarism avoidance; (5) the ability to cite and professionally refer to others; and (6) competence in arranging and presenting written material, table, graph, etc. ...

Assessing the Writing Efficacy of Post-graduate Students at a University of Technology in South Africa
  • Citing Article
  • November 2011

Journal of Social Sciences

... For example, many buildings do not have guiding rails, elevators lack recorded voices for persons with visual impairment, and elevators are too narrow to accommodate wheelchairs. Mpofu and Shumba (2012) conducted a study on challenges faced by students with special educational needs at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Chegutu, Zimbabwe. The study showed that 72% of the ECD centres were physically not suitable for students with disabilities. ...

Perceived Challenges Faced by Visually-impaired Students in Open and Distance Learning Centres in Zimbabwe
  • Citing Article
  • May 2012

Journal of Social Sciences

... Development agencies, practitioners, and human rights bodies recognize that regardless of where people with disabilities live, they are more likely to be poor, vulnerable, and marginalized (Eide & Ingstad, 2013;Lwanga-Ntale, 2003;Yeo, 2005;Mpofu & Shumba, 2013). Notably, Article 32 of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the rights of people with disabilities mandates that international cooperation and international development programs be inclusive of and accessible to people with physical and mental impairments (DFID, 2015;Wolbring et al., 2013). ...

Disabilities and Entrepreneurship in Makonde Rural Community in Zimbabwe
  • Citing Article
  • December 2013

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

... The responsibilities are assisting the student teachers to obtain competence in the various elements of the institution functioning, lesson planning, and classroom management (Maphalala, 2013). Furthermore, to gain effective mentoring process, adequate support service such as in-service training, mentor handbook, Department of Teacher Education assessment/grading scale, regular communication and incentives is highly recommended (Tshuma & Shumba, 2014). ...

The Extent to Which the Provision of Mentor Support Services in Zimbabwe’s 2-5-2 Teaching Practice Enhances Continuous Improvement of Student Teachers’ Teaching Skills and Competences
  • Citing Article
  • September 2014

Journal of Social Sciences

... The artificial dichotomy between childhood and adulthood, with a line drawn by the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the age of 18, is arguably culturally inappropriate in Global South contexts (Twum-Danso Imoh 2019). Consequently, childhood is subject to a constant process of negotiation in interpersonal relationships, as well as public discourse including the media, academia, and social policy (Twum-Danso Imoh 2019; Ndofirepi, Shumba, and Shumba 2014). If childhood, adulthood, and the transition between them are constantly re-negotiated, this may also be the case for the agency young people exercise and the vulnerabilities they experience (Twum-Danso Imoh 2019; Punch 2015). ...

Conceptions of “Child” among Traditional Africans: A Philosophical Purview
  • Citing Article
  • March 2014

Journal of Human Ecology

... Moving on, officials from HRC said that inadequate legal protection poses a significant challenge at the intersection of human rights and education. When legal frameworks fail to adequately safeguard individuals' rights to education, especially vulnerable groups such as minorities, girls, and those with disabilities, it perpetuates systemic inequalities (Shumba et al, 2012). Without robust legal protections, marginalized communities may face discrimination, exclusion, and barriers to accessing quality education (Johnson, 2009). ...

An Exploratory Study of Corporal Punishment by Teachers in Zimbabwean Schools: Issues and Challenges
  • Citing Article
  • December 2012

International Journal of Educational Sciences

... 55 However, there are also reports in which students negate poor academic performance as a consequence of alcohol consumption. [56][57][58] Notably, similar consequences amongst sexes for alcohol consumption were reported by Young and Mayson, 59 despite male students reporting higher levels of alcohol consumption. This suggests that females are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol consumption, even when consuming less than males, 60 although further investigation is warranted. ...

Aspects of Alcohol Use at a South African University Campus
  • Citing Article
  • January 2011

Journal of Psychology in Africa