1Educational Psychology, Sociology and Special Education, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
2Department of Psychology, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
3Director and Chief Executive Officer at the Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Zambia
4University of Stavanger, Norway
American Journal of Applied Psychology.
2022,
Vol. 10 No. 1, 31-39
DOI: 10.12691/ajap-10-1-5
Copyright © 2022 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Gabriel Walubita, Beatrice Matafwali, Tamara Chansa-Kabali, Sylvia Mwanza-Kabaghe, Gershom Chongwe, Sophie Kasonde-Ng'andu, Mubanga Mofu, Janet Serenje, Adriana Bus. Sex and School Differences in Executive Function Performance of Zambian Public Preschoolers.
American Journal of Applied Psychology. 2022; 10(1):31-39. doi: 10.12691/ajap-10-1-5.
Correspondence to: Gabriel Walubita, Educational Psychology, Sociology and Special Education, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia. Email:
gabriel.walubita@unza.zm, easygabby@gmail.comAbstract
Despite a great deal of research on the relations between preschool executive functions (EF) and demographic variables such as age, sex and school variables (classroom organization and teacher behaviours including quality of educational instruction, planning, organization and teacher-learner relationships), not much is known about these associations in Zambian preschoolers. This study was aimed at examining the relations of executive functions to age, sex and school variables in 133 Zambian preschool learners enrolled in urban public preschools aged 5 to 8 years. A between-subjects quasi-experimental research design was utilised. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank model showed sex and school differences were also observed to be significantly related to executive functions, no significant relationship was found for age. Key implications of the study for pre-primary policy, girl-child education (to discourage child marriage) and preschool teacher professional development in Zambia are discussed.
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