Abstract

The present thesis reports of a study on education for democratic citizenship in a cultural setting characterised by vertical relations between children and adults, and also an educational context where secondary schools belong to a hierarchy of categories with distinct differences in status, resources, and student abilities. Following the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in Malawi in 1993, the country introduced citizenship education in secondary schools through social studies to teach skills and values that would enable students participate actively as citizens of a democracy. Using the multiple case study approach, three schools belonging to different categories namely national, district, and community day secondary schools, were studied to establish whether classroom practices in social studies lessons and school practices are developing future citizens for democracy in Malawi after 15 years of education for democratic citizenship. The study collected data through lesson observations, observation of school practices, interviews, focus group discussions, and review of documents. School practices were compared to explore if the secondary education system, with its known hierarchical categorisation of schools, is developing similar citizens for one democratic country. Using the theory of critical pedagogy, the study found major variations in classroom and school practices. School type and school organisation influenced classroom practices in that these factors facilitated or hindered efforts for acquisition of participatory skills and dispositions. While all schools provided spaces for students to participate in school decisions and lead democratic lives, the participation was found to be problematic because it was mediated through various mechanisms specific to each school. The study found that the school is a site fraught with contradictions. In particular, education for democratic citizenship brought to the forefront various kinds of tension between the orthodox practices of social reproduction and democratic demands of social reconstruction. Further tension was manifested in a contest between students’ claims to their rights and maintenance of school discipline. The study argues that existing variations in schools result in students learning remarkably different lessons and getting socialised to distinct citizenship roles. Consequently, each school appears to be developing its own kind of citizen. The study raises questions about the rhetoric of education for democracy and citizen equality in Malawi when the country’s future citizens are socialised into a culture of segregation through an education system that privileges students in national secondary schools while marginalising their counterparts in community day secondary schools.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2017

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