Reaching Quality Education in Malawi: A Qualitative Study of (Student)Teachers’ Views on Malawian Primary Education and on How to Improve It

Abstract

In order to gain insight on the views of Malawian (student)teachers toward the quality of primary education in Malawi, how the quality can be improved, and to what extent they perceive themselves as a component of educational quality improvement, thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with (student)teachers. In this study the definition of quality education as proposed by UNESCO is used, since internationally considerable agreement exists around the basic dimensions of quality education forming this definition; the quality of learners, processes, learning environment, content, and outcomes. The views of (student)teachers can provide useful information, since they are important stakeholders in the process towards quality education. Participants were asked about the quality of primary education in Malawi, what is needed to improve the quality, and how teachers can improve their competencies. The data was analyzed through qualitative data analysis and revealed an overall negative vision on quality of education. The participants perceive many barriers in the teaching environment, such as lack of resources and insufficient infrastructure. Although teachers did recognize their own importance for quality education, not many (student)teachers knew what they could do to improve the quality themselves. Based on the results some implications have been made for Edukans’ programs in Malawi, and for the cross-cultural adaptation of Edukans’ questionnaire to measure self-perceived competence of teachers.