Critical competencies for effective teaching : perceptions of home economics teachers

Home economics is a multi-faceted, inter-disciplinary, integrated field of study drawing from a multitude of disciplines including sociology, psychology, anthropology, chemistry, physics, architecture and the arts (Henry, 1995). As a school subject, home economics in Malawi is taught at primary school, secondary school as well as at university level. This study explores home economics teachers\u27 perceptions of competencies critical for teaching the subject. Data was collected from secondary school home economics teachers in Malawi. The study is a qualitative investigation of how experienced teachers describe effective teaching of the integrated home economics syllabus, and what they perceive as critical competencies for meeting the goals and objectives of the course. The research design included interviews, Observations and discussions of curriculum and teaching documents. Using the ETHNOGRAPH computer program, the data was analysed to identify significant patterns of meaning and behaviour which related to the teaching of home economics in Malawi. This study noted that home economics teaching in Malawi was faced with problems resulting from the conditions in the environmental context of the schools, These problems did not only affect teaching performance, but also the way teachers perceived competent practice. The findings of this stud) provide useful information to extend the understanding of the nature of home economics teaching in Malawi. The information can be useful for the planning of more effective preservice and inscrvice teacher education programs and for the development of curriculum support materials

Stated preferences for anti-malarial drug characteristics in Zomba, a malaria endemic area of Malawi

Background The evidence on determinants of individuals’ choices for anti-malarial drug treatments is scarce. This study sought to measure the strength of preference for adult antimalarial drug treatment attributes of heads of urban, rural and peri-urban households in a resource-limited malaria-endemic area of sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Discrete choice experiments were conducted with 508 heads of household interviewed face-to-face for a household population survey of health-seeking behavior in Zomba District, Malawi. The interviews were held in Chichewa and the choice experiment questions were presented with cartoon aids. The anti-malarial drug attributes included in the stated preference experiment were: speed of fever resolution, side effects (pruritus) risk, protection (duration of prophylactic effect), price, duration of treatment course and recommendation by a health professional. Sixteen treatment profiles from a fractional factorial design by orthogonal array were paired into choice scenarios, and scenarios were randomly assigned to participants so that each participant was presented with a series of eight pairwise choice scenarios. Respondents had the option to state indifference between the two profiles or decline to choose. Data were analysed in a mixed logit model, with normally distributed coefficients for all six attributes. Results The sex ratio was balanced in urban areas, whereas 63% of participants in rural areas were male. The proportion of individuals with no education was considerably higher in the rural group (25%) than in the urban (5%) and peri-urban (6%) groups. All attributes investigated had the expected influence, and traded-off in most respondents’ choices. There were heterogeneous effects of price, pruritus risk, treatment recommendation by a professional, and duration of prophylaxis across respondents, only partly explained by their differences in education, household per capita expenditure, sex and age. Individuals´ demand elasticity (simulated median, inter-quartile range) was highest (most responsive) to speed of symptom resolution (0.88, 0.80-0.89) and pruritus risk (0.25, 0.08-0.62). Conclusions Most adult antimalarial users are willing to use treatments without recommendation from health professional, and may be influenced by price. Future studies should investigate the magnitude of differences in price and treatment attribute sensitivity between adult anti-malarial drug users in rural, peri-urban and urban areas in order to determine optimal price subsidies