Vocational education and training curriculum responsiveness to the learning needs of A1 farmers in post-2000 Zimbabwe.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.The study explored vocational education and training curriculum responsiveness to the learning needs of smallholder farmers (commonly known as A1 farmers after the Fast Track Land Reform Programme) in Masvingo province of Zimbabwe. The study was a qualitative comparative study of two colleges in Masvingo province. Of the two, College A was government owned and administered while College B was a non-governmental organisation initiative. The study utilised Bhaskar’s Critical Realism (CR) as an under-labourer for this qualitative case study. Bhaskar’s seven laminations of social phenomenon as well as the position-practice system provided analytical lenses for the study. CR was complemented by Ian Moll’s stratified model of curriculum responsiveness the latter of which provided an organising framework. Moll’s model works well with both the laminations of reality as well as position-practice system. The critical realist ontology works well in studying complex open systems such as vocational training institutions as was the case in this study. CR works well in studies that seek to understand the often hidden aspects of causality, which cannot be reached at empirically. It also influenced the choice of the comparative case study design that was adopted in the study. Twenty-eight purposively selected participants took part in the study. Data collection was done through multiple methods which included semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, document analysis and observations. Data were analysed using critical realist modes of inference, abduction and retrodiction as well as thematically through a data matrix. The study noted that both VET colleges were responsive to the learning needs of A1 farmers but their responsiveness was not uniform. Responsiveness to the learning needs of A1 farmers was mediated by a number of factors or causal mechanisms that were unique to the colleges. CR as applied in the study provided a useful theoretical lens for analysing the causal mechanisms of VET curriculum responsiveness. The reasons for variations were located at the different levels of the VET system as supported by Bhaskar’s scalar laminations of reality which linked to Moll’s model of curriculum responsiveness. Bhaskar’s position- practice system was used to explain the influence of power dynamics on VET curriculum responsiveness at the different levels in which research participants operated. The VET curriculum at both colleges showed greater inclination towards non-market responsiveness whereby A1 farmers were taught various agriculture related skills to enable their participation in the non-formal market as well as for community development. The thesis suggests that VET curriculum responsiveness to the learning needs of A1 farmers in the two colleges in Masvingo province is a feasible alternative to labour market responsiveness that could be adapted by other rural-based colleges in Zimbabwe and beyond