Pre-Independence Kenya in Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o’s Trilogy: A Postcolonial Reading of Weep Not, Child, The River Between and A Grain of Wheat

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Colonization is one of the most topical issues in the African Literature of the sixties. Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o like many other African intellectuals, restores and exalts the African past not only for the enlightenment of the Africans’ detractors (the settlers) but, above all, for the education of his own people (the Kikuyu). His trilogy made of Weep not, Child, The River Between and A Grain of Wheat is surely appropriate space in which pre-independence Kenya are depicted. As a hierophant of his times, Ngũgĩ shows, how the Kikuyu community, taken as the microcosm of any other people under a colonial power, collapsed with its exposure to the West and cracked with the pressure of an alien force embodied by the British settlers. They lost the precious values that held them together: family life, human dignity but above all, their ancestral land. Ngũgĩ, as a writer in a new nation, appeals this dehumanized people to an awareness in order to understand the real meaning of ‘uhuru’ (independence) and the sacrifices made to achieve it. Yet, he suggests them some necessary strategies for reaching this goal.

Doctrine of ‘Human Nature is Evil’ – The Fundamental Basis of Xunzi’s Socio-Political Thought

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Xunzi 荀子 (third century BCE) was a great Chinese thinker during the Spring and Autumn – Warring States period. He is seen as being represented the last significant figure of Confucian thoughts during the era of Confucius and Mencius. In his works, he critically summarized the intellectual conclusion of pre-Qin scholars and formulated the Confucian and Legalist (Fǎjiā 法家) ideologies to a new paramount, on the basis that Confucianism was as the core. Xunzi’s philosophical doctrine is well-known with idea that “human nature is evil.” The article focuses on analyzing the doctrine of the evil nature to highlight its fundamental role in Xunzi’s political and social thought.

Assessment of School Heads’ Management Practices on Teachers’ Professional Development

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Teachers’ professional development is crucial for fostering a high-quality educational environment. It equips teachers with the latest pedagogical skills, enhances their knowledge base, and ensures they remain effective in delivering curriculum content. School heads’ management practices for teachers’ professional development are vital for significantly enhancing educational quality and outcomes. Mentoring, facilitating training attendance, and making strategic teacher assignments are all effective management practices that can foster a supportive and growth-oriented environment. This study aimed to assess the school heads’ management practices on the professional development of elementary teachers. The study utilized a descriptive survey method, collecting data from 21 school heads and 186 teachers through a validated researcher-made questionnaire and unstructured interviews. Statistical analysis, including a weighted mean and an independent t-test, was employed to interpret the data. The study revealed that school heads view their management practices in mentoring, training attendance, and teacher assignments as highly effective, whereas they perceive monitoring as moderately effective. However, teachers generally rated these practices as moderately effective, highlighting a discrepancy between the two groups’ perceptions. Significant differences were noted in their perceptions of mentoring, training attendance, and assignments; however, both groups are aligned in their perceptions of the effectiveness of monitoring practices as moderately effective.

The Relationship between Political Image and Voting Behavior in First-time Voters: Demographics of Generation Z Voters in the 2024 Election in Indonesia

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Purpose: This research aims to determine the relationship between voting behavior and political image as well as the demographic characteristics of the voting behavior tendencies of Generation Z in the 2024 Election in Indonesia.

Methods: Data collection uses a questionnaire that has good validity and reliability, the questionnaire contains a measurement scale for voting behavior and political image. The measurement of voting behavior variables uses a scale that includes aspects of knowledge, attitudes and actions. Meanwhile, the measurement of the political image variable uses a scale that includes aspects of competence, benevolence, integrity, fairness and reliability. Respondents are given alternative answers to choose one of the four answers provided starting from the options Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. Scoring for each answer choice for each variable is 1-4. Apart from that, the questionnaire also contains descriptive questions regarding respondents’ voting tendencies. The number of samples that met the criteria for first-time voter respondents was 453 respondents taken using a purposive sampling technique. The data analysis technique uses the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Test (r) which aims to determine the level of closeness of the relationship between variables which is expressed by the correlation coefficient (r).

Results: The research results show a significant positive correlation between political image and voting behavior. The findings also show that the categorization of respondents’ political image is medium and the categorization of voting behavior is in the high category. The majority of respondents chose candidates based on their track record, ethnicity and religion, having a nationalist and religious image, and looking cool and trendy.

Conclusion: The political image and voting behavior of Generation Z can be concluded to be correlated with each other. This research also shows how the candidate’s political image is desired by first-time voters.