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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 4
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.104.14448. Namonje, E., Halwiindi, H., Zyambo, C., Simui, F., & Muleya, G. (2023). Challenges Faced in The Application of Reflective Practice
on The Public Health Teaching and Learning Process by The Lecturers in Selected Universities in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces
of Zambia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(4). 176-188.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Challenges Faced in The Application of Reflective Practice on The
Public Health Teaching and Learning Process by The Lecturers in
Selected Universities in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of
Zambia
Elizabeth Namonje
Institute of Distance Education,
University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Hikabasa Halwiindi
School of Public Health,
University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Cosmas Zyambo
School of Public Health,
University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Francis Simui
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7199-2970
Institute of Distance Education,
University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Gistered Muleya
Institute of Distance Education,
University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
ABSTRACT
This study explored challenges faced in the application of reflective practice on the
public health teaching and learning process by the lecturers in selected universities
in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. The study rids on a case study design
to generate evidence on challenges faced. Data was collected from a total sample of
32 participants. The study found that too much workload by lecturers, large number
of students in class, limited time with a semester system, limited resources for
teaching staff and students, shortage of teaching staff and lack of teaching
qualifications and experience amongst teaching staff were among challenges that
affected lecturers’ ability to reflect on their teaching. Equally, it was found that
lecturers refusing to be evaluated, cultural lag among older lecturers and
differences in backgrounds among teaching staffs had a negative implication on
lecturers’ ability to reflect on their teaching. The study concluded that despite
reflective teaching practice being an important strategy for promoting quality
teaching and learning, higher learning institutions have not paid much attention on
impediments to reflective teaching. Therefore, the study recommends that
Education standards officers should continue to maintain standards in Universities
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Namonje, E., Halwiindi, H., Zyambo, C., Simui, F., & Muleya, G. (2023). Challenges Faced in The Application of Reflective Practice on The Public
Health Teaching and Learning Process by The Lecturers in Selected Universities in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. Advances in Social
Sciences Research Journal, 10(4). 176-188.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.104.14448
and Colleges to control over enrolments and overcrowding in classes so that the
lecturers can teach efficiently and effectively so that students can benefit fully from
the lecturers.
Keywords: Reflective Practice, Public Health, Teaching-Learning Process, Universities,
Zambia
INTRODUCTION
Education worldwide is undergoing radical change and one of the challenges facing Universities
is the demand for the provision of quality education. Research has shown that one of the factors
that can influence the quality of teaching and learning is reflective practice [1]. Reflective
learning is a type of learning in which one explores his or her experiences to become more
conscious, open-minded, and self-critical. The process of Reflective practice takes place when
an individual explores an experience; they have had to identify what happened, and what their
role in the experience was, including their thinking and behavior as well as emotions [2]. This
brings about the ability to come up with strategies that respond positively to similar future
occurrences. [3] also observed that when teachers reflect on their teaching practices, their
awareness of their teaching increases, and they can then unlearn the ineffective teaching
methods which may have undesirable effects on students’ learning experience. [4] also agrees
that asking teachers to reflect on their personal core qualities along with their teaching
competencies allows them to gain deeper awareness of their essence of the classroom
problems.
[5] postulate that reflective practice is essential to medical education and a career in medicine.
The use of reflection in education and training for professional development has been
prominent within the literature for nursing, teacher education and social care, and more
recently in the training of doctors [6] in courses such as public health and health promotion;
the use of reflection is relatively new. While no formal training or teaching of reflection takes
place, it is expected as part of continuous professional development [7]. The process of
reflection and reflective competency are powerful for maximizing deep and lifelong learning,
and for achieving higher levels of responsive professional practice.
Despite the importance attached to reflective teaching in public health, no formal training or
teaching of reflection has been shown to take place [8]. A study by [7] also reported that while
several approaches to reflection were found, none of these were linked directly to public health
practice. This paint a picture that there are no specific models currently recommended or
widely used in public health.
Similarly, to the above situation, a study by [9] revealed that primary school teachers were not
aware of the concept of reflective practice either pre-service teachers during their college time
or as serving primary school teachers. Equally, the study revealed that reflective practice was
still largely not practiced by primary school teachers in Zambian primary schools. Further, the
study revealed that there was no time allocated for evaluation of lesson plans within the school
time table and primary school teachers conducted their evaluation of lesson plans at home after
knocking off.
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Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
[10] attributes challenges associated with reflective teaching to inappropriate curriculum,
inadequate qualifications of academic staff; insufficient training materials and equipment; and
poor teaching and learning facilities. However, to avoid speculations, it was cardinal to carry
out an empirical study on challenges faced in the application of reflective practice on the public
health teaching and learning process by the lecturers in selected universities in Lusaka and
Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia.
Statement of the Problem
[11] explains that when lecturers are embedded in reflective practice, they will be able to
examine their practices, implement alternative methods and share the best practices with
colleagues for achieving quality education. This view is in line with the quality of higher
education and its relevance to industry as reflected in Educating Our Future Policy of 1996.
However, this goal remains elusive and unachieved going by higher education performance
reports of 2013-2014. When public health lecturers do not engage in the process of reflective
practice, teaching becomes haphazardly, accidental and superficial [12]. Additionally, [13] note
that when lecturers do not reflect on their practice, they would be more likely to teach in the
same way they were taught and this would result into the repetition of the same ineffective
strategies. Although reflective practice has been viewed by many scholars to be a beneficial
classroom instructional practice in the public health teaching and learning process, its
systematic practice and the challenges faced by lecturers in applying reflective practice on
public health teaching and learning process in Zambia, Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces in
particular is still unknown hence this study.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose was to explore challenges faced in the application of reflective practice on the
public health teaching and learning process by the lecturers in selected universities in Lusaka
and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia.
Theoretical Framework
This study was guided by [14] teaching framework. The Danielson framework for teaching
(2012) “is a research-based set of components of instruction grounded in a constructivist view
of learning”. The twenty-two components are clustered into four domains and include
descriptors of instructional practices toward effective teaching. The four domains include:
planning and preparation, classroom culture and climate, instruction, and professional
responsibilities. [15] emphasized, “Teachers’ professional learning to include self-assessment,
reflection on practice, and professional conversation”. Therefore, using a teaching framework
such as The Danielson framework for teaching can enable teachers to measure their own
teaching performance. This is supported by [11] who argued that following a framework is a
good practice as this can help teachers to generate and receive feedback without the
involvement of a supervisor. Thus, in view of the current study conducted, a teaching
framework can foster self-reflection, promote collaborative inquiry, and increase collegial
dialogue to support teachers’ improvement of their teaching.
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This was qualitative research with a case study design. This was targeted at selected
universities offering public health training in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. This
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Namonje, E., Halwiindi, H., Zyambo, C., Simui, F., & Muleya, G. (2023). Challenges Faced in The Application of Reflective Practice on The Public
Health Teaching and Learning Process by The Lecturers in Selected Universities in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. Advances in Social
Sciences Research Journal, 10(4). 176-188.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.104.14448
study design falls within the constraints of constructivist and relativist ontology worldview
whose argument paint a picture that knowledge generation and knowing a reality of a
particular phenomenon requires social interaction with people. This entails that the researcher
had an opportunity to interact with participants from the targeted universities as the cases to
generate evidence on the topic under exploration.
Study Sample
The study recruited 32 participants from four selected universities. The sample comprised of
Deans, heads of department and the lecturers from the four universities in the school of public
health and it was arrived at through data saturation.
Sampling Procedure
The study focused on generating deeper understanding of the challenges in the application of
reflective practice on the public health teaching and learning process by the lecturers in
selected universities. To achieve this within the constraints of the study, homogenous
purposive sampling was used by which the researcher decided who to include in the sample, a
decision which was made based on participants who possessed similar characteristics that
were relevant to the study [16] & [17].
Instruments for Data Collection
The study relied on primary data which was collected through interview guide with semi- structured questions and focus group discussion. The use of Semi-structured interviews
allowed the researcher to gather in-depth information which gave the researcher a complete
and detailed understanding of challenges faced in the application of reflective practice on the
public health teaching and learning process by the lecturers in selected universities
[18].However, before conducting this study and engaging participants in an interview, ethical
issues were followed starting with proposal clearance by the University of Zambia ethical
clearance committee, later with Ministry of Education , selected universities and individual
participants.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Challenges Faced in The Application of Reflective Practice on The Public Health Teaching
and Learning Process by The Lecturers in Selected Universities
Through face-to-face interaction with 32 participants, the study established the following
themes: Too much workload by lecturers, large number of students in class, limited time with
a semester system, limited resources for teaching staff and students, shortage of teaching staff
and lack of teaching qualifications and experience amongst teaching staff, lecturers refusing to
be evaluated, cultural lag among older lecturers and differences in backgrounds among
teaching staffs.
Too Much Workload by Lecturers
The findings of the study revealed that participants from the FGDs complained of having too
much workload of the courses which affects their ability to reflect on teaching. The participants
argued that having many courses to teach affects lecturers to update their notes for the students
because they do not have enough time to look up for new information and employing new
techniques for teaching. This makes the lecturers to be using the same notes that they have
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been using in the past academic years instead of making adjustments due to work overload.
Thus, some participants from the FGDs lamented as follows:
“And the other challenge with the overload of course might be that there isn’t enough time to
make adjustments to the notes that were produced earlier. So, you will find that you may be
giving out the same notes that you were using in the last academic year instead of making
adjustments because of the number of classes that have to be taught” (FGD P1, University D).
“The other challenge is too much workload. Sometimes you are required to teach big classes
but not only that the frequency of you appearing in class are too close where perhaps in a week
you may have three (3) or four (4) to cover in that way when you spread those hours it means
you are almost in class every day. So, when you reflect on your ways of teaching, I think it takes
you in researching more where you didn’t do very well but with such where you have lectures
that are occurring almost every day it becomes very difficult for me to have a proper reflection”
(FGD P4, University C).
Key informants also mentioned that course overload was the biggest challenge affecting
lecturers’ ability to reflect on their teaching. They stated that there are situations where one
lecturer teaches three (3) to four (4) courses and they do not have much time to reflect on their
teaching. One key informant narrated that:
“Yah one of the challenges could be some course overloads one of the biggest challenges that
we are facing what I mean is that you will find that this is a situation where one lecturer is
offering more than two courses. One lecturer is teaching three (3) to four (4) courses and when
it comes to that you will also find that the numbers of students in a class are more than 30 so it
becomes challenging to concentrate on that particular group or that particular course because
you know that there are still some other courses that are pending which you need to attend to.
(KII-HOD, University B).
Large Number of Students in Class
Large numbers of students were universally mentioned by all the participants from the four (4)
Universities as one of the major challenges affecting lecturers’ ability to reflect on their
teaching. The participants argued that large number of students in class makes it difficult to
employ some methods of teaching such as participatory approach because of the limited time
and not every student can be able to participate in answering questions during the lecture.
Explaining how large numbers of students affect lecturers’ ability to reflect on their teaching,
two participants from the FGDs had this to say:
“Sometimes challenge could be huge number of students. So, let’s say for example if you want
to use a method of group presentation like in this School of Nursing where you have one class
which has over 200 students and you want each one of them to participate that becomes a
challenge within a one hour or 2 hours class.” (FGD P4, University B).
One key informant narrated that:
“The number of students is a challenge on reflective teaching especially when it comes to
marking students’ papers. When you have too many students and you have a lot of scripts to