The Preprimary Grade as a Complete Learning Ecosystem: A Case of Two Schools in Zambezi Region, Namibia

Objective. This qualitative paper investigated ‘The Preprimary Grade as a Complete Learning Ecosystem’ in Zambezi region of Namibia. This is a loaded clause which is unpacked as the study unfolds. The crux of the matter is that if teachers work to view the preprimary grades they teach as complete learning ecosystems, their teaching will be effective as learners will benefit substantially from variables that build and constitute learning as an ecosystem. Materials and Methods. The study used Bronfenbrenner’s Learning Ecosystem Theory (EST) as the lens and collected data using interviews and lesson observation. Two preprimary teachers from two different schools were interviewed and were observed while teaching. Results. At the heart of this paper was the question, ‘Is Preprimary a complete learning ecosystem?’ To answer this question, the paper interrogated the following questions: 1. What should learning look like in a Preprimary Grade as a learning ecosystem/demonstrates that preprimary is a complete learning ecosystem? 2. What challenges are faced and how are they addressed? Conclusions. It was found that teachers understood and narrated elements that can transform preprimary grade teaching and learning into learning ecosystems, and thus settled on interaction, the brain child of group work, as key to realizing this noble goal. However, the participants maintained a rhetoric stance when it came to classroom practice.