Music as instrument of diversity and unity : notes on a Namibian landscape
This report explores the interface between recent socio-political changes in Namibia, and the way they are reflected in emergent musical practices and identities within the country. The potential tension between unity and diversity is investigated within musical landscapes in traditional and contemporary frames. Sadly, diversity is often seen to be the precursor of divisiveness rather than a product of human creativity and ingenuity. Based on a decade of field research undertaken mainly in the north and central areas of Namibia since 1993, this report poses questions about fundamental purposes of music-making, and the conscious response of people to the contemporary Namibian socio-political situation. It provides a broad overview of music emanating from different cultural practices in Namibia, and relates this to the State's political strategies for ensuring unity and nation-building through policy-making, education and broadcast media. The changes that occur in musical practices are seen as strategic cultural choices and ongoing identity-formation.
Minette Mans
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:241400/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
2003
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
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English
Valentina, The Exile Child: An Autobiography by Rachel Valentina Nghiwete
"On the dawn of Namibia's independence from South African rule in 1990, around 43,000 exiles were repatriated to the country formerly known as South West Africa. Of these, many had left their country of birth to flee the brutality of South Africa's apartheid regime, and/or to join the struggle (political and armed) for Namibia's liberation, waged primarily by the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). But included in the 43,000, were about 20,000 children who had never set foot in or fully experienced the country to which they were being repatriated, having been born to and/or raised by exiled soldiers and refugees of the struggle. In Namibia, these children are often referred to simply as 'exile kids', though the country's Government officially recognizes them as "The Children of the Liberation Struggle". Rachel Valentina Nghiwete, is one such 'exile kid', born in the SWAPO camps of Kwanza-Sul, Angola, in 1979, to Namibian soldiers fighting under SWAPO's banner. Set against the background of Namibia's liberation struggle, Valentina: The Exile Child details the author's experience growing up in exile, her 'repatriation' to Namibia in 1989 on the eve of the country's independence, and her life outside the country in London and Washington DC, as the daughter of an Ambassador, as a businesswoman, and as an individual in pursuit of financial freedom. The Exile Child also explores the challenges of establishing a Namibian identity after an early life in exile, and looks at how children of the liberation struggle - at home in Namibia and abroad - have struggled to adjust. Read this book for a historical account of Namibia's road to freedom from the perspective of an exile kid, and for an inspiring tale of a Namibian exile child's painful and joyful journey to finding and living a life of meaning and purpose."
Rachel Valentina Nghiwete
V.E.E.M Publishing House
2010
© 2010 by Rachel Valentina Nghiwete
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English
Children Tell about Skin Colour – Small Stories from Namibia and Finland
M.A. Thesis (Education) - "The aim of this research is to find out what kind of perceptions Namibian and Finnish children have on skin color. Previous research indicates that children actively use skin color –related vocabulary and are able to see differences amongst themselves. They are also aware of the power and meanings attached to different skin colors. I hope this research can offer early childhood educators and other people working with children new ideas and practical examples on how to discuss the topic with children. The research question is: what do Namibian and Finnish children tell about skin color? The foundation of the research lays on an interdisciplinary approach, which combines elements from cross-cultural and narrative research as well as childhood research. Two theoretical approaches, post-colonial theory and Critical Race Theory (CRT), form the theoretical framework for this research. The research data consists of 59 short, semistructured interviews of 5-6-year old children from Namibia and Finland. The interviews were partly based on pictures and storytelling. The data was analyzed inductively but theory-guided using modified content analysis. Part of the data was examined closer with a narrative approach to produce re-told small stories which were then examined together with the whole data by the means of dialogical re-telling. The results indicate that children talk about skin color if they are given the opportunity to do it. Finnish children in this research used more color-related vocabulary than Namibian children. Finnish children also linked together skin color, language and nationality, especially Finnishness with whiteness and nonwhiteness with foreign language. Children from both countries expressed colorblind views in their answers. They also talked about skin color -related beauty conceptions. Stories about skin color -based discrimination were told by both Namibians and Finns, but Namibian children were more open than the Finnish children to the possibility to be friends with a child whose skin color was different from their own. Practical conclusions of the research emphasize the educators’ ability to recognize the possible unequal stuctures and discriminating practices of the daycare environment and the courage to talk about skin color -related issues with children. Read-aloud situations, Storycrafting and picture-based conversations would be good starting points for the discussions with the children"
Laura Ketonen
http://jultika.oulu.fi/files/nbnfioulu-201512082276.pdf
University of Oulu
2015
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Conceptions of Social Media and its Role in Supporting Networked Learning: A Global South Perspective through Student Teachers in Namibia
M.A. Thesis (Education) - "Social media are technologies that have been widely appropriated in students’ daily lives. This has resulted in increasing research interest in the potential supportive role that social media can offer in learning contexts. To date a lot of research in the area of technology in education in general and social media in particular, has concentrated in the global north. This thesis contributes to the discussion offering a global south perspective from a small-scale study, but still of insightful significance. The aim of the research was to investigate student teachers’ relationships with social media with the focus on their conceptions and uses of social media in their daily lives and how they perceive the potential of adopting social media to support their learning. This is a qualitative study using Phenomenography as a research approach. Data was collected through focus group interviews using open-ended questions. The theoretical framework employed in the study combined technology appropriation theory and learning theory from Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective as well as the concept of networked learning. Technology appropriation was used to conceptualise how social media was appropriated by students in their daily lives, while the sociocultural and networked learning theories provided the theoretical lenses for interrogating the adoption of social media in learning. The participants in this study were student teachers at a university in Namibia. They were identified using the purposive sampling method, and they represented two different teaching programmes and three different year groups. In total, 19 students participated through 3 focus group interviews. The research findings show that research participants conceptualise social media as mainly social platforms for communication, bridging social relationships and for expanding social networks. Their use of social media reflects their conceptions, while also showing tensions regarding online and real-life identities. There were variations in perceptions of online identities, with some participants viewing them as separate from real-life identities, and others considering social media identities to be direct representations of real-life behaviour. The findings also show that social networking sites like Facebook were the dominantly used types of social media, and mainly accessed through mobile phones. Students’ perceptions of social media as supportive learning tools show recognition of the learning affordances that the technologies offer, with evidence that students were already informally using social media to support their own and their peers’ learning. Futhermore, findings show how students recognise the supportive role of social media in lifelong learning and their professional development as teachers. They indicated how social media can be used to create learning communities and supportive professional networks to foster collaboration amongst themselves as teachers. Issues of appropriate usage of social media on the basis of exposure to and sharing of content were identified. Concerns about lack of control over content shared and about privacy were additional findings. The limitations of this research lie in the fact that it was limited to a small group of participants. The purposive sampling method used to identify research participants may also have led to bais in favour of only students who used social media and were interested in talking about it. However, this was necessary for methodological reasons since only participants with actual experience in using social media were in a position to share such experiences. Conclusions highlight how the research findings corroborate previous research, that students predominantly use social media for social purposes, and the popularity of the social networking site Facebook. Conclusions further suggest that decisions on the use of social media in formal learning should be guided by pedagogical goals and learning needs that the technologies can meet. Pedagogical interventions to articulate the learning affordances of social media are suggested and cautions about the conceptual tensions between the nature of social media and the practices of formal education are highlighted. Critical media literacy is recommended to equip students with competencies to critically deal with content consumption and sharing on social media. Future research is recommended to focus on pedagogical and learning appropriation of social media."
Erkkie Haipinge
http://jultika.oulu.fi/files/nbnfioulu-201306051490.pdf
University of Oulu
2013
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Implementing inclusive education in Namibian primary schools: from policies to practice
M.A. Thesis (Education) - "This study set out to explore the issues of inclusive education in primary education in Namibia. The specific research questions were: 1. How does Namibia address the issue of inclusive education in its educational policies and practices? 2. What are the main successes and challenges in the implementation of inclusive policies? The research is a qualitative study and the data consists of the analysis of current Namibian policy documents related to inclusive education and interviews of seven Namibian experts in the field of education. The data was analysed by applying content analysis approach. The theoretical framework consists of theories of inclusion and inclusive education as well as the concepts and aims of Education for All global approach. The findings show that Namibia has made relevant progress in universal access to education with the percentage of 99,6% in 2012. This is particularly significant taking into account the legacy of Apartheid, which ended after Namibia gained independence only twenty-five years ago. Another area of success is gender equality, which interviewees reported to have been achieved with the exception of two regions. At the moment it seems that more attention needs to be paid to boys, as girls seem to do better in school and stay in school longer than boys. Quality of education is a source of much concern in Namibia. The diversity of languages and ethnic groups as well as life circumstances makes it challenging to organize inclusive relevant education for all. The language of instruction is a debated topic and forms a different challenge in urban and rural areas. There is also a shortage of qualified teachers and relevant, culture-sensitive teaching materials in all the local languages. In principle education is free of charge but some other expenses cause difficulties for children from poor backgrounds. HIV has had dramatic effects on society increasing the number of orphans and children who are responsible for their younger siblings, which has an effect on school performance. Community involvement was emphasizes as a condition to increase inclusion. Namibian educational policies demonstrate commitment to educational development with a special concern regarding inclusive education. However, there are gaps between policy and its implementation. Interviews emphasised that efficient policy guidance and monitoring is needed to identify the bottlenecks in implementation and to plan concrete actions to develop inclusive education further."
Diego Martinez Madrid
http://jultika.oulu.fi/files/nbnfioulu-201506061809.pdf
University of Oulu
2015
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A narrative study of teachers' professional identity through the eyes of Namibian teachers
M.A. Thesis (Education) - "Teachers’ professional identity has been widely studied in the Western academic context during the last decades. This study is examining the stories of subject teachers’ professional identity in the context of Namibia. The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of teacher professional identity through a crosscultural perspective. The theoretical framework consists of two dimensions: teachers’ professional identity and the Namibian educational culture through a cross-cultural aspect. The first part of the theoretical framework scrutinises narrative identity and teachers’ professional development together with the main concept. The second part of the theoretical framework approaches the studied context by increasing information about it and by reflecting the significance of cross-cultural research and researcher’s position in the study. The aim of this study is to discover from which essential incidents the professional teacher identity of these Namibian subject teachers’ is constructed in the different phases of their career. Since identity is approached as a phenomenon, qualitative inquiry is applicable for researching the topic. Narrative approach is utilised in this study, since narrativity is linked to the construction of teacher identity in Sfard & Prusak’s (2005), Kaasila’s (2008) and Soreide’s (2006) definitions. The data was collected by using the semi-structures interviews and includes the stories of four Namibian subject teachers of their careers. All the interviewed teachers had gained professional experience before data collection. The analysis of data was performed by utilising Polkinghorne’s (2005) method analysis of narratives. The main categories that formed the results of this study are 1) The construction of teacher identity, 2) The development of teacher identity on a personal and societal level, 3) The dimensions of teacher identity in contemporary context, and 4) The ideal teacher and teachers’ thoughts of their future. Moreover, the main categories are divided into themes, by applying Polkinghorne’s (2005) method. The themes were construed from the data based on the stories teachers told. The conclusions show that teacher professional identity is constructed through significant people, events and educational environments in teachers’ lives. Moreover, the development of identity is constructed through evaluation on a personal level and by reflecting the changes in teachers’ profession on a societal level. In the contemporary context teacher identity is constructed via experienced roles, motivation in teachers’ profession, practical experiences, educational values and professional challenges. As Flores & Day (2006) point out, teacher professional identity is shaping constantly during the career. Furthermore, teachers in this study define their identity to the future by professional goals and constructing their image of an ideal teacher. In addition, this study supports Sfard & Prusak’s (2005) definition of teacher professional identity as constructed though stories. The conclusions of this study indicate that teacher professional identity has global and universal elements. From the perspective of conclusions cross-cultural research of this topic enriches the understanding of Finnish teacher professional identity."
Sari Annukka Lyttinen
http://jultika.oulu.fi/files/nbnfioulu-201512082269.pdf
University of Oulu
2015
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Effects of parental involvement in education - a case study in namibia
M.A. Thesis - Education - In my research, I endeavour to ascertain how parental involvement at Combretum Trust School in Namibia affects the academic achievement of students. In the educational literature it is often claimed that involvement of parents results in better academic achievement than if parents are not involved. The aim of the research is to see if this relationship exists at a school in Namibia, a developing country that faces many educational challenges. In this case study a qualitative research approach was used. Data was gathered by interviewing parents of seven students at Combretum Trust School in Windhoek, who all have achieved academically. The objective of the interviews was to learn if and how the parents are involved in their children’s education. In addition, I wanted to gain information as to the experiences and attitudes of those parents towards their children’s education and education in general. The main findings are that all the parents who were interviewed are highly involved with their children’s education. They have high expectations towards their children’s education and their future. In addition, they are all quite vocal about their expectations to their children. The parents all recognise the importance of staying involved with their child’s education and participate fully. All the parents want to know how their child spends his or her time outside of school and with whom their child spends his or her time. Most of the parents consider themselves to have a good relationship with their child’s teachers and the school. Homework is considered to be important by each parent and they all assist their child with homework if the need arises. Thus, it may be concluded that by staying involved with their children’s education in this way the parents do impact positively on the academic achievement of the students chosen for this study at Combretum Trust School in Namibia.
Guðlaug Erlendsdóttir
http://skemman.is/en/item/view/1946/6925
University of Iceland
2010
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English
Lähetyslääkäri Selma Rainio länsimaisen kulttuurin ja lääketieteen edustajana Ambomaalla vuosina 1908–1938
Trans: "Missionary Doctor Selma Rainio: Representative of Western Culture and Medicine in Ovamboland, 1908-1938" - Master's Thesis: University of Eastern Finland - Lähetyslääkäri Selma Rainio länsimaisen kulttuurin ja lääketieteen edustajana Ambomaalla vuosina 1908–1938 Tiedekunta/oppiaine: yhteiskunta- ja aluetieteiden tiedekunta, yleinen historia Sivumäärä: 79 Aika ja paikka: elokuu 2008, Joensuu Pro gradu -tutkielma tarkastelee Suomen Lähetysseuran lähetyslääkäri Selma Rainiota länsimaisen kulttuurin ja lääketieteen edustajana Ambomaan lähetyskentällä vuosina 1908–1938. Tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten kulttuurien kohtaaminen näkyi Rainion työssä. Tutkielma käsittelee Rainion suhdetta paikalliseen väestöön ja kulttuuriin, uskonnon ja sairaanhoidon suhdetta lähetyslääkinnässä sekä länsimaisen ja traditionaalisen sairaanhoidon suhdetta. Lähdeaineisto kattaa sekä painamattomia että painettuja lähteitä. Selma Rainion kokoelman kirjeet tarjoavat tietoa hänen työstään ja elämästään Ambomaalla. Lähettien kokousten pöytäkirjoista käyvät ilmi ajankohtaiset ja tärkeät asiat, joista lähetit kävivät keskustelua. Vuosikertomukset puolestaan antavat tietoa Rainion tekemästä sairaanhoitotyöstä. Näiden lisäksi lähteenä käytetään Suomen Lähetysseuran julkaisemaa teosta, jonka Rainio kirjoitti kahden sairaanhoitajan kanssa. Teos käsittelee lääkärilähetystä Ambomaalla. Selma Rainio asennoitui kaksijakoisesti ambokulttuuriin. Hän näki paikallisessa kulttuurissa paljon positiivisia piirteitä ja halusi säilyttää sen, mutta piti kuitenkin ambokulttuuria alempiarvoisena kuin länsimaista kulttuuria esimerkiksi uskomalla, että kehityksen ja opetuksen avulla amboista voi tulla samanarvoisia länsimaalaisten rinnalla. Samanlainen kaksijakoisuus ilmeni myös sairaanhoidon osalta: Rainio kunnioitti ambojen perinteistä parantamistapaa ja piti sitä taitavana, mutta katsoi heidän olevan tietämättömiä ja valistuksen tarpeessa. Uskonnollisuus ilmeni selvästi Rainion työssä, sillä hän piti ensisijaisena tehtävänään potilaiden käännyttämistä. Lähetyslääkinnän ja paikallisen parantamisen välillä esiintyi kilpailua, mikä ilmeni siten, että suuri osa lähetysaseman sairaalan potilaista oli kristittyjä, vaikka enemmistö Ambomaan väestöstä oli ei-kristittyjä.
Henrikka Halmetoja
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:joy-20090008
University of Eastern Finland (Joensuun yliopisto)
2008
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Finnish
The formalization and realization level in Namibian schools - an investigation of two countryside schools
Bachelor's Thesis: Teacher Education: Linnaeus University - "The aim of this thesis is to find out if there is a gap between the formalization level and the realization level in the Namibian school system. Moreover, our aim is to figure out how we, as visiting teaching students, interpret the relationship between steering documents and the teaching in the classroom. In turn, the aim was used to formulate three different research questions: What can we experience while observing in the class room/at school? What do the interviewed teachers express concerning our asked questions? What are the main differences between the two latest steering documents? The reason why we decided to do a study about the school system in Namibia is because it is a young country, it was proclaimed independent in 1990. Therefore we think it is interesting to study how the school system and its political steering documents have developed over the years. Our theoretical framework includes the concept of curriculum, reconceptualism and cultural issues. Our focal point has been on the following three perspectives, democracy, gender and learner centred education. The method we used in this study is triangulation, in this case analyzing political steering documents, interviewing teachers and other people connected to the school and finally class room observations. The attitudes to the three above mentioned perspectives vary amongst the interviewed personnel This study as come to the conclusion that there is a gap between the formalization level and realization level."
Fanny Herdin, Helena Nilsson
http://lnu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A311245&dswid=5124
Linnaeus University
2009
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Namibia Review (No. 27) Jan-March 1983
Articles included:
Present imperfect, Future Indefinite: Namibia in early 1983 - Kenneth Abrahams
An Investigation into the Socio-economic conditions of Khomasdal - Mrs. G. Holst & Mr. J.J.S. Alberts
Namibia review publications
"Namibia Today" A Report of the UCT Summer School - Ottlie Abrahams
Namibia Educational Forum
The Dobra Students Conference - Kenneth Abrahams
Towards the Decolonisation of Namibian history: Notes on Some recent works in English - Chris Saunders
The Month in Review - Jean Sutherland
The Namibian Review Group: Spånga, Sweden
Namibia Review: A Journal of Contemporary South West African Affairs
1983
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Newsletter
Empowering People : Collaboration between Finnish and Namibian University Libraries
"The success and strength of the university libraries are due to motivated, keen and skillful people. Today collaboration and knowledge sharing play a crucial role both within and between organizations. Empowering people: Collaboration between Finnish and Namibian University Libraries is about people and collaboration in the context of human resource development at the University of Namibia Library. Empowering people provides both practice-oriented and research-based approaches to important themes in the field of university libraries. It covers the information seeking behaviour of academic staff and students, collection and research support services, information literacy education, scholarly communication and scientific publishing. Staff competence management and evidence-based librarianship are introduced as methods for coping in the changing environment. Empowering people is the outcome of collaboration between three university libraries, those of the University of Namibia, the University of Tampere and the University of Helsinki." 978-951-44-8978-5
Mirja Iivonen, Päivi Helminen, Joseph Ndinoshiho, Outi Sisättö (eds.)
http://tampub.uta.fi/handle/10024/68105
University of Tampere
2012
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Relevance, Rhetoric and Reality: National Development at The University of Namibia
"This dissertation is the product of, first, an exploration of the history of the concept of the Development University in Africa, and second, analysis of documents and a series of interviews in Namibia. The dissertation has the following goals: To situate the University of Namibia's commitment to national development within the Development University tradition, as well as within the context of Namibia's unique domestic educational history and present climate; To describe and analyse the formulation and implementation of the vision for UNAM's role in national development to date, highlighting successes and pointing out shortcomings and problems; Finally, to raise issues which have not been adequately addressed thus far in the debate about higher education and national development in Namibia The first chapter deals with the notion of the Development University, first looking at the origin of the concept, then moving on to the ways in which universities have been expected to contribute to development in Africa and the problems associated with those expectations. A new perspective on developmentalism within African universities will be suggested, within which the traditional notions of relevance, autonomy, and academic freedom must be re-examined. In the second chapter, Namibia is situated within the context set forth in Chapter One. Although in many ways Namibia resembles other African countries in its experience of and need for university education, the ways in which it is unique will also be explored here. Because part of UNAM's commitment to national development includes a commitment to learn from the experience of other countries, the ways in which Namibia does and does not resemble her neighbours hold important lessons for the path UNAM will (and should) follow. Chapters Three and Four are the products of the Namibian research. Chapter Three examines the formulation of the 'vision' of UNAM's role in national development., and proposes a model describing the three-part process of consensus building. decision making. and administration involved in the formulation and implementation of the viGon. Chapter Four is concerned with the practical implications of UNAM's commitment to national development. In particular, the focus will be on UNAM's development goals, on its new and restructured faculties, and major outreach projects. The conclusion analyses the picture presented in Chapters Three and Four, within the context laid out in the first two chapters. Recommendations and observation - based on staff interviews, as well as on the new perspective on university developmentalism -are made here, with a view toward contributing to the ongoing debate on higher education in Namibia."
Brian Joseph White
http://www.cas.ed.ac.uk/research/publications/archive/show_paper?result_page=62
University of Edinburgh
1998
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Homecoming: The GDR Kids of Namibia
"Sometimes if you are fortunate, you have two or more places that you call home. Sometimes, conflicts arise in your allegiance to multiple homes, and your loyalties are divided. Young Namibians who spent the 1980s in exile in East Germany have had to face these issues since returning to Namibia after independence."
Constance Kenna
New Namibia Books
1999
© Constance Kenna 1999
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Contemporary Namibia : The First Landmarks of a Post-Apartheid Society
Ingolf Diener and Olivier Graefe (eds.)
Gamsberg MacMillan
2001
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Maria Mboono Nghidinwa (Full Interview)
Date: 2 February 2013 Location: Washington Time: ~ 45 Minutes Interview conducted by Bernard Moore & Matthew Ecker Topics: -Nyango Camp & everyday life -Her Family's Decision to go into Exile -Education of Namibians in Zambia -Transfer from camp to armed struggle -Life in Angola military camp (morale) -Namibian solidarity -Political Instructor life (& translation) -Life as journalist -Some Post-independence thoughts -More everyday life in camps (& fears of attack) -Diet in camps
Bernard C. Moore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcv52NZAG0U
Namibia Documentary Series
2013
Bernard C. Moore & Matthew Ecker, Namibia Documentary Series
CC BY-NC-SA
MPEG-4 Video File
English