This paper reports on the use of out-of-school everyday contexts in Namibian science classrooms. This use is portrayed against the backdrop of an explicit educational philosophy of learner-centred teaching. Data were collected through audio-taped teacher-learner interactions and non-participant field notes in 29 junior and senior science classes taught by 12 teachers in six schools. An existing typology was applied to classify episodes of use of everyday contexts and identify teachers' pedagogic strategies for their use. The results show that more everyday contexts are used in junior secondary than in senior secondary classes, that only a limited range of types of everyday contexts are used at both levels, and that their use often follows theoretical exposition or teacher questioning. These findings are related to three interpretations of learnercentred teaching. Recommendations for a fuller implementation of learner-centred teaching are made.

There has been a high failure rate of Grade 10 learnersin the year end examinations in the Caprivi Education Region of Namibia over a number of years. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the use of mother tongue in English medium classrooms enhanced learners' academic achievement.The study investigated 12 teachers at 12 schools in the Caprivi Education Region. The study found that teachers perceived Code Switching as enhancing academic achievement because it enhanced learners' learning of the English language, improved the way learners answered questions, and that it enhanced teaching and learning of English as a second language. It is believed that learners would be actively involved in their learning, understand the subject matter better and the difficult English concepts would be better interpreted by learners in the language that they fully understand.

Incidences of prescnbed textbook usage in science classrooms in 1Vamzbia have been analysed using an approach adapted from linguistic analysis. Aspects of pedagogic purpose, text genre, and the social interaciions between teachers and learners were used to characterise teacher and Ieamer engagement with textbooks, and thus caregon' se their usage in relatioN to a national policy of learner-centred edu(anon. Results ind1cale a reacher dominated textbook use and a low Jr�qwuc_ 1' and resrncrt•d range of texrbook references per lesso11, u.1ith some 40% of the Semor Se(,mdwy dasws obsen•ed mahng no use of their uxtbook in class. The major uses of textbooks in class w.:re for diagrams and daw, and to venfy factual information Occasionall y, questwns m textbooks were used as homework to rest and/or co11solidate knowledge. Pupill-rarely mitiated a reference ro a rexrboa!?. It is suggesred that if lear11ers are ro benefit fully from the mvestment m textbooks then their teachers need to be helped to use the resource in more construaic;e ways.

One of the challenges of education for sustainable development in Namibian higher education institutions concerns the practice and linkage thereof to other initiatives in education and learning. This paper reports on research into barriers to the implementation of the interdisciplinary model of education for sustainable development in Namibian higher education institutions. The collected data were analysed by means of Microsoft Excel spread sheets and consistent observation of qualitative data. The results show the main barriers to be dispositional, situational and institutional. The members of management in Namibian higher education institutions must be convinced about the importance of education for sustainable development and urged to develop a policy that can be used as an extension for on-the-job training of lecturers. It is necessary to learn from other higher education institutions around the world how they implemented education for sustainable development in their respective institutions. Lecturers should be urged to use this experience to develop resources for implementing education for sustainable development in Namibian higher education institutions.

Local knowledge about natural resources that may be of use to communities, including medicinal plants, is becoming increasingly important globally. This knowledge is important for the participation of indigenous peoples in the conservation and maintenance of indigenous forests (Gazzaneo, de Lucena, & de Albuquerque, 2005) in addition to the frequent use of these resources in the treatment of common ailments and diseases.Knowledge about the use of local fauna and flora, nowadays, is minimal. To ensure the preservation of indigenous knowledge, this state of affairs needs to be rectified. In fact, Teklehaymanot, Giday, Medhin and Mekonnen (2007, p. 272) note that 'traditional knowledge is rapidly eroding', hence, there is real danger that if something is not urgently done, this knowledge might be lost for good. This is due to the fact that often indigenous knowledge is passed on from older to younger generations orally, and is not documented. According to Kambizi and Afolayan (2006), it is essential to make an effort to avoid the loss of this important knowledge in order to conserve medicinal plants, especially in rural communities. There is an increasing advocacy for the integration of indigenous knowledge into mainstream science curricula.School can play an important role in ensuring this knowledge is not lost. The school is thus seen as a conduit through which this knowledge could be passed from one generation to the next. One way of doing this is to integrate indigenous