https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE The Journal of Adult Education (JAE) is a biannual journal-serial published twice a year. It covers contemporary issues in Adult education, community development education and Lifelong learning en-US zjae@unza.zm (Noah K. Sichula (PhD)) davies.phiri@unza.zm (Davies Phiri) Wed, 30 Jun 2021 16:43:31 +0000 OJS 3.1.0.1 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/556 This was a phenomenological study aimed at investigating experiences of women in sports management and leadership in Zambia given the limited numbers of women in sports administration and leadership positions. Thus, this study sets to find out the reasons for the low rate of female involvement in sports administration and leadership in Zambia. This involved finding out roles played by females in administration and leadership of sports, difficulties that they face and how they mitigate the challenges faced. Purposive sampling involved 13 coaches, 8 physical educators, and 20 sports administrators. Semi-structured interviews and documentary studies were used to collect data from participants. Findings indicate that the sports industry was male-dominated. Female sports leaders faced challenges including gender stereotyping, lack of education and other capacity-building opportunities and lack of gender-sensitive policies that impeded women from taking up administrative and leadership roles. Governments and their agencies should implement policies to provide access to opportunities like educational programmes, ensure a safe environment for females and promoting the appointment of females to senior positions in sports. Mbale G Tamela, Madalitso K Banja ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/556 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 09:44:31 +0000 https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/555 Although informal learning is an important way of modern adult learning, the experiences of distance students in informal study groups have remained unexplored. The theoretical framework that best informed the study is the informal learning theory. The purpose of the study was to investigate distance education students’ experiences of informal study groups. The study had four key objectives, namely to: identify interaction patterns of adult education distance students’ informal study groups, establish adult education distance students’ experiences of informal study groups, determine practices in adult education distance students’ informal study groups, and explore challenges faced by adult education distance students in informal study groups. A qualitative research paradigm was used, in particular a descriptive survey using an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design. Twenty-five participants were drawn from a class of 93 fourth year adult education students at the University of Zambia. Data was collected using a questionnaire. The study participants were asked about how they interacted within study groups chiefly in terms of age, gender and number. They were also asked to describe the activities and experiences they had in their respective informal study groups. Data collected was coded manually and analysed thematically and descriptively. The simple figures and statistics in this study are justified by the researchers who followed a sequential mixed methods approach. The extent to which gender was a factor in interaction patterns in informal study groups was not clearly established due to variations in the sample representation. However, the findings established that there was no significant variation in the manner informal study group were organised. The study revealed many benefits that accrued to students’ participation in informal study groups such as improved academic performance. The findings are in tandem with the informal learning theory which recognises the fact that learning among adults can be collaborative. Despite the many benefits, a number of challenges were identified such as the lack of suitable and sufficient study materials. It is, therefore, recommended that the integral link between informal learning and formal learning should be emphasised through professional development of lecturers so that in turn they can encourage students to form informal study groups. Further, lecturers should support students by providing them with links to various online resources so as to enhance learning in informal study groups. Musonda Luchembe, Peter C Sampa, Daniel L Mpolomoka ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/555 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 09:47:04 +0000 https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/557 The study aimed at investigating how community-based mediation can be used to promote the socio-economic rights of the elderly in the implementation of the social cash transfer scheme. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were adopted to collect comprehensive data from the participants. 10 Social Welfare Officers were interviewed on their role of administering the SCT and 102 elderly participants from the age of 65 years were aided in responding to the questionnaires by asking them questions. Participants were included based on their willingness and voluntary participation. Including that one was 65 years of age and above, and was a beneficiary of the SCT. Thus, the total number of participants who were available for the study were 112 distributed as 102 elderly recipients of the SCT and 10 social welfare officers. A semi-structured interview of 15-30 minutes was used as a research technique to collect the data from the social welfare officers. The findings show that the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme is key in mediating the social-economic inequalities faced by the elderly to other members of their community. It was observed that the mediation varied based on the level of formal education attained by the participants. Participants with tertiary education revealed better utilization of SCT and improvement of livelihoods. Serah Kabamba, Collins C Kayangula, Noah K Sichula ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/557 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 09:49:46 +0000 https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/563 This article is based on a study that sought to explore the utilization of theatre for development as a strategy for youth capacity building programmes in the Lusaka district of Zambia. This was from the background that several adult education strategies had been used to mitigate the problem of youth unemployment among them, was theatre for development. The study was necessitated by the persistent challenge of youth unemployment despite several interventions that included adult education strategies. The focus was on exploring the utilisation of theatre for development as a strategy for youths’ capacity building programmes. The article addresses two research questions which are: what forms of theatre for development are used to address the problem of unemployment among the youth? How are the youth unemployment programmes designed and implemented? Using an interpretive qualitative design, a non-governmental organization called Africa Direction was used to collect the data on how unemployment levels among the youth were addressed through the use of theatre for development. In-depth interviews were conducted with 8 programme officers, 30 theatre group members and 12 youths who had been with the institution for more than 1 year. Observations were done on 4 activities that were carried out in the community. Data were analyzed thematically through inductive thematic analysis. The study established three creative strategies for theatre for development which included community animation, forum theatre and educational theatre. These strategies were embedded with common micro strategies that included drama, poetry, dance and songs. These carried the messages to the participants for action. However, the design and implementation of the programme followed a top-down approach which was not the best for the participants. Brian Kombe, Emmy H Mbozi ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/563 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 11:59:42 +0000 https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/567 This qualitative exploratory article attempted to engage with the subject of youth and adult literacy in Zambia. The inspiration was based on the author's experience in the field including supervision and marking of post-graduate work on youth and adult literacy. Most of the reports on youth and adult literacy tend to focus on the problems and not the solutions. Underscoring the importance of literacy to both an individual, the community and society as a whole, this article presents possible interventions in youth and adult literacy learning programmes in Zambia. The interventions are in form of alternative strategies for financing, policy formulation, curriculum design, and monitoring of literacy programmes. The interventions on financing include the introduction of government grants to literacy providers and the development of sustainable self-financing based literacy programmes. Policy formulation to include research-based data, a decentralized and participatory process. Stakeholder engagement is crucial for enhancing political will in the formulation of adult literacy policy in this regard. Similarly, curriculum design would require a decentralized participatory process and give attention to the growing diversity of adult learners in terms of needs and also both the local and global context of adult learning. Where digital skills, collaborative learning, active engagement and knowledge construction, problem-based learning, and critical thinking are emphasized. The monitoring of literacy programmes includes the reorganization of literacy programmes to allow for effective monitoring mechanisms. Choolwe Kang'ombe, Noah K Sichula ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/567 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 16:40:59 +0000 https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/565 This article is based on the experiences of adult educators in the Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies at the University of Zambia in performing their different roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article was motivated by the relevance of adult education in responding to emergencies of any nature. Adult education takes up a leadership role in guiding the process and providing necessary information and education to bring a situation under control. Additionally, sharing experiences is an important aspect of adult education for bridging the gap between theory and practice. In achieving this objective, a qualitative research design was employed to conduct interviews with academic staff in the Department at the University of Zambia main campus and Resident Lecturers in the provincial centres. The interview protocols were emailed to the participants following the COVID-19 public health guidelines. The findings show that experiences were personal and affected their teaching and research activities. The participants attempted to teach online though the majority were limited in technological skills and knowledge. The majority of the participants did not engage in any research activity, including desk research. The article concludes that the participants underutilised the potency of adult education in dealing with emergencies and crises. Noah K Sichula, Moses Changala, Musonda Luchembe, Emmy H Mbozi, Michael Mulaisho, Mubiana Sitali Ngoma-Kaiko, Mubita Namuyamba, Flora Ngoma, Febby Finch, Stephen Salinyinga ##submission.copyrightStatement## https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JAE/article/view/565 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 11:46:28 +0000