Impact of teaching methods on the attitude of secondary school students toward learning of history in Malawi: a case study of some schools in Shire Highland Education Division (SHED)

Abstract

The study aims at examining the impact of teaching methods on attitudes of secondary school students toward learning of History in Shire Highlands Education Division of Malawi. Its main objective is to explore the influence of traditional and participatory methods of teaching on the attitudes of students towards learning of the subject. The study also suggests other factors that need to be considered in order to improve the interest of students in the subject. The theoretical framework underpinning it is that of Vygotsky’s social constructive learning theory which maintains that there is effective learning when students are actively involved in lesson activities. On the empirical side, data for the study, which is qualitative in nature, was gathered through semi-structured interviews, class observations and document analysis; and analysed using the thematic approach in relation to the research objectives. Two study sites and 18 research participants were selected using purposive sampling techniques. The findings of the study show that most students have negative attitude towards studying History in secondary schools. The reason for this include the fact that student-centred methods are not commonly used in teaching the subject. On contrary, the findings of the study clearly reveal that teaching of the subject is largely dominated by traditional teaching methods, that invariably lead to boredom and negative attitude toward it. The study furthermore establishes that the choice of teaching methods is partially influenced by vaailability of teaching and learning resources, which are generally in short supply. The study also establishes that limited time for the subject, organisation of the syllabus and nature of the national examinations in History contribute to consistent use of traditional methods of teaching, leading to students’ poor attitude toward and loss of interest in thesubject. In the light of the above findings, a number of recommendations are suggested for improving the situation. These include: the inclusion of in-service training of teachers on new curriculum innovations, reorganising the nature and structure of the national examinations in History to highlight both mastery of the content and application of knowledge; and reducing the length of the syllabus and scope of the topics so as to match them with spaces that are provided on the timetable.