Dispelling Myths And Misconceptions About Streaming: A Case Of Zimbabwe

This study examines the myths and misconceptions aboutstreaming on pupils’ academic performance in four Masvingo secondary schools. In Zimbabwe, and indeed many other countries in Southern Africa, streaming has been a much used and sometimes misused approach, in meeting the diverse needs of pupils. In this study, the qualitative survey design was adopted for use and data was collected using questionnaires, observation checklists and interviews. The study established that low ability pupils received low quality instructions, few text books, less attention from teachers and were also taught by negatively labelled teachers, temporary and student teachers. On the contrary, high ability classes were labelled positively, receiving maximum support from teachers and were taught by more experienced teachers. In some instances, mixed feelings on streaming were recorded. The initial differences between pupils in high ability and low ability classes were however exacerbated by streaming. Subsequently, in the way forward, the research study proposed that heterogeneous grouping be adopted, that schools allocate experienced and positively labelled teachers to low ability classes and that teachers use positive labels to stimulate interest among pupils at the same time building pupils’ self-concepts.