Challenges Encountered in the Teaching and Learning of Civic Education: A Case of Selected Secondary Schools in Solwezi District of North-Western Province, Zambia.

This study assessed the challenges encountered in teaching and learning of Civic Education in Zambian Secondary Schools in Solwezi district of North-western province, Zambia. Four research objectives were addressed namely: (1) To assess the various teaching and learning methodologies used in teaching civic education. (2) To analyze the challenges encountered by teachers of civic education in using different teaching and learning methodologies. The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect, analyze and report the research findings. The study was conducted in Solwezi district. Data was obtained through interviews, questionnaires and focused group discussions, from the selected secondary schools. The sample involved a total of 180 respondents which included four (4) Head teachers, four (4) deputy head teachers, four (4) heads departments for social sciences, twelve (12) Civic Education teachers and one hundred fifty-sixty (156) pupils. The respondents were obtained through purposive and simple random sampling. Data were collected using the questionnaire, interview and focus group discussions. Data collected were analyzed by using Special Package for Social Science (SPSS) and presented in frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations while qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. Results from the study revealed that teachers of Civic Education encountered methodological challenges in teaching and learning of the subject in the classroom. Findings also revealed absent of study tour for civics subject in the secondary schools. Furthermore, the findings indicated lack of utilization of various teaching/learning materials in Civic Education was among the challenges as well. Therefore, the study recommended that School head teachers should provide all necessary assistance to the civic education teachers in order to cultivate positive outlook in teaching the subject. Also, there is need to make use of various teaching and learning methods by civic education teachers in their lessons.