School Climate and Opportunities for Physics Learning in Resource-Constrained Schools

This descriptive mixed-methods case study examined how school-climate conditions were perceived and observed to shape opportunities for learning Physics in a Community Day Secondary School in Area 25, Lilongwe, Malawi. The study involved 43 participants: 40 students, two Physics teachers and one head teacher. Student questionnaire responses were summarised using frequencies and percentages (n = 40), while the research report also drew on school observations and focus-group discussions. A 25-item, four-response-option questionnaire covered infrastructure, learning resources, safety, rules and regulations, and interpersonal relationships. In the four reported quantitative figures, disagreement response categories comprised the plotted totals for infrastructure (22/40, 55%), learning resources (25/40, 62.5%) and safety (30/40, 75%), whereas agreement categories comprised the plotted total for interpersonal relationships (27/40, 67.5%). For school rules and regulations, the reported distribution comprised 28 agreement-category responses (70%) and 12 disagreement-category responses (30%). These results describe respondents' perceptions of school conditions and do not demonstrate a statistically significant effect on Physics achievement. The qualitative account described constraints on practical work, independent study and classroom interaction, and identified school rules and management as relevant contextual conditions. The study did not report analysed individual Physics test scores or inferential tests; therefore, its findings describe perceived learning conditions rather than demonstrate a statistically significant effect on achievement. The contribution is a Physics-specific account of how material, relational and organisational conditions jointly shape opportunities for practical STEM learning in a resource-constrained school.