Department of Educational Curriculum and Instruction

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Impact of faith based organisations in Public primary Education: a case of compassion international Tanzania In Arusha region
(Sokoine University of Agriculture., 2009) Mbiso, Allen Adam
The poor socio-economic background of many primary school pupils especially in rural areas is still one of the major challenges facing the country today. Holistic approach to addressing problems of vulnerable children that touches all aspects of children’s lives is required. This study was done in Arusha region in 2008 to student centres sponsored by Compassion International Tanzania (CIT). The study investigated the impact of CIT as an example of the faith based organisations in supporting public primary education. It employed multi-stage random sampling technique. The first stage was to select 10 student centres sponsored by CIT thereafter followed by randomly selection of 10 pupils, boys and girls, from each student centre. Purposive sampling was used to select key information providers who were: primary school teachers, student centres staff, and CIT head office staff. Data from questionnaires was analysed by computer using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 12.0 (SPSS 12.0 for windows). Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were employed to address the patterns of the findings. The results showed CIT’s support to public primary school pupils enhanced good environment for learning by addressing the socio-economic backgrounds of the children. Furthermore, they helped to retain pupils in schools, improve their social welfare as well as their ethical standards though many poor children are yet to be reached by CIT. In order to improve education in Tanzania the study recommended as follows; there is a need of direct measures on addressing the socio-economic background of the poor primary school pupils. Strong partnership between both public and private sectors be strengthened. The contribution of private sectors needs to be appreciated-by the government and integrated into the government strategies.
Impact of faith based organisation in public primary education: A case of compassion international Tanzania in Arusha region
(Sokoine University of Agriculture., 2009) Mbiso, Allen Adam
The poor socio-economic background of many primary school pupils especially in rural areas is still one of the major challenges facing the country today. Holistic approach to addressing problems of vulnerable children that touches all aspects of children’s lives is required. This study was done in Arusha region in 2008 to student centres sponsored by Compassion International Tanzania (CIT). The study investigated the impact of CIT as an example of the faith based organisations in supporting public primary education. It employed multi-stage random sampling technique. The first stage was to select 10 student centres sponsored by CIT thereafter followed by randomly selection of 10 pupils, boys and girls, from each student centre. Purposive sampling was used to select key information providers who were: primary school teachers, student centres staff, and CIT head office staff. Data from questionnaires was analysed by computer using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 12.0 (SPSS 12.0 for windows). Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were employed to address the patterns of the findings. The results showed CIT’s support to public primary school pupils enhanced good environment for learning by addressing the socio-economic backgrounds of the children. Furthermore, they helped to retain pupils in schools, improve their social welfare as well as their ethical standards though many poor children are yet to be reached by CIT. In order to improve education in Tanzania the study recommended as follows; there is a need of direct measures on addressing the socio-economic background of the poor primary school pupils. Strong partnership between both public and private sectors be strengthened. The contribution of private sectors needs to be appreciated-by the government and integrated into the government strategies.
Does it matter the type and nature of sports and games on developing students’ sense of belonging at school?
(International Journal of Education and Research, 2014-10) Makwinya, Noel M.
Children’s participation in extracurricular activities is associated with numerous positive outcomes, including fostering students’ sense of belongingness. The objectives of this study were firstly, to investigate the role nature of sports/games can play in influencing students’ sense of feeling part of the playing-teams; secondly to investigate whether presence of local-based and context-specific games in school can improve general sense of relatedness among students. Using 103 sixth-primary school graders, in a pretest-posttest design, results showed that relatedness among students improved when students were given chances to play context-specific games. Following these results, teachers and other educational practitioners are recommended to allow school-children to play African-based games together with those innovated outside Africa. Since context-specific sports improved students’ sense of belonging, in a long-run, it is expected that this will help to improve students’ daily school attendance.
Empowerment of school committees and parents in Tanzania: delineating existence of opportunity, its use and impact on school decisions
(University of Bergen, 2014-12-05) Masue, Orest Sebastian
Since the end of the twentieth century, public administration systems in developing countries have undergone significant transformation. This comes as a result of the global shift from centralized to decentralized political, fiscal and administrative systems. Through such transformation, governments seek to empower people at the grassroots level and to improve service delivery in all sectors. This dissertation examines the empowerment of school committees and parents in school governance, focusing on the sub-sector of primary education in Tanzania. In particular, it accomplishes three key goals: First, it delineates the empowerment of school committees and parents using Alsop and lleinsohn’s (2005) and Alsop et al.s' (2006) three-level framework for measuring empowerment. The three levels are the Degree of Existence of Opportunity (DEO) for people at the grassroots level to participate in decision making, the Degree of Use of the Opportunity (DUO) and the Degree Of Impact (DOI) that the use of opportunity has on the decisions made by a school. Second, the dissertation determines factors affecting the empowerment of school committees in Tanzania. As for the third goal, the dissertation suggests important policy issues to be addressed for increasing the empowerment of people at the grassroots level in school governance The study from which this work is written was carried out in 2012 and 2013 in seven purposefully selected districts/municipalities in Tanzania. The study employed a mixed methods approach. 214 members of school committees and 96 non-members from 101 schools answered a survey questionnaire. Additionally, 17 in-depth interviews with education officials, teachers and parents were conducted. As a follow-up to the emerging issues from the survey, the study also involved two focus-group discussions (one each) with parents and members of school committees. The survey data were analyzed quantitatively through the comparison of means, independent sample t-tests, correlation analysis and multiple-linear regression analysis, all of which are presented in the dissertation mainly through tabulation. The data from interviews and focus groups were analysed through content analysis and are presented here in narrative form. The results show interesting trends for the three levels of empowerment, that is, DEO, DUO and DOI. Measured on an index scale of 10 (the lowest) 60 (the highest), DEO had the highest mean index (42), followed by DUO (39) and DOI as the lowest (37). These trends suggest that people at the grassroots level often are unable to use existing decision-making opportunities. There are various reasons for this. Even when they are able to use the opportunity to participate, their priorities may not be taken into consideration when the final decisions are made. This explains the phenomenon of the perceived degree of empowerment declining along the continuum from DEO to DOI. The findings also indicate that gender, access to information and being a member of a school committee are significant for determining the degree of empowerment in decision making, not only for the members of school committees but for parents more generally. Respondents who reported a high degree of access to information also indicated a high degree of empowerment. This finding suggests that in order to play an active role in local education-development initiatives, parents and school committee members, in addition to being aware of their own local community interests, need to be well informed about issues of national interest for instance policy intentions, education priorities and curriculum content and direction. Regarding gender, the study reveals that men dominate the decision making process in school governance, and that this is due to constraints posed by the opportunity structure, especially the patriarchal culture of formal and informal institutions in society. The study therefore suggests the need for multisector efforts, not only to create awareness of educational issues amongst men and women at the grassroots level, but to address gender inequality in decision making, particularly regarding the control of schools and how children's schooling should proceed The findings of this study also indicate that being a member of a school committee is an important factor for individual empowerment. This confines the proposition that people at the grassroots level become more powerful and capable of exerting influence in decision making if they are well organized in groups. In accordance with the ‘local organization capacity thesis', this study suggests that the empowerment of individuals at the local level can achieved through self-organized neighborhood groups, and that such groups can significant role in school governance. In light of the findings, the study concludes, first, that while the empowerment of parents and school committees in Tanzania has convincingly been achieved, especially with regard to local people taking adequate responsibility in the construction and maintenance of school buildings, resource contribution and other fundamental aspects, there is insufficient progress in increasing their influence on critical issues such as the national education policy, the curriculum and pedagogy. Secondly, little attention has been paid to the important enablers of local empowerment. The study provides evidence of the insufficient training of school committee members at the local level. There is also inadequate information on the government's education policy and the curriculum. Financial matters pose another barrier for local empowerment. There is a lack of transparency about bank transactions on behalf of schools, and the schools are plagued by inadequate funding. This is due to the low income base of the population, insufficient allocation and delays in the disbursement of grants from the central government Based on the findings and the identified challenges, it is hereby suggested that the current empowerment efforts - that is, the efforts to empower people at the grassroots level to be involved in school-related decision-making processes - need to advance from the establishment of institutional frameworks for people's engagement to building those people's capabilities. In order for this to happen, the people need to receive adequate resources and training as well as increase their level of public awareness. Such goals could be obtained through a multifactor/network approach involving the state, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the local communities. This approach, in my view, can work better in addressing the currently identified resource and training gaps, and it could also improve accountability
Evaluating a curriculum using the same style and strategy across years: lessons gained from Tanzania
(American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 2015) Makwinya, Noel M.
Policy and practice in relation to curriculum evaluation systems are under review in many countries. Previous studies have indicated that, public examination system used in many countries, especially those using pen and paper to evaluate students’ mastery of the curriculum objectives can provide us with illusions regarding how best a curriculum is implemented at school. In this study, Public examination conducted by the National Examination Council of Tanzania were studied to see whether, the type and structure of exams, and coverage of such exams do not affect teachers’ curriculum implementation practice. Through content analysis of Grade twelve (form four) Public examinations offered since the year 2010 to 2014; and following an interviewing with students in grade twelve, results showed that: “what is measured” and “how it is consistently measured” through National summative examinations in Tanzania affect what is taught, what is assessed, and to a large extent, what is valued in the schooling process during curriculum implement ation.
Gender disparities in sciences: the question of parental influence on children’s self-concept and utility-value
(Journal of Education and Practice, 2015) Makwinya, Noel M.; Hofman, Roelande H.
Self-concept and utility-values are thought to influence differences in choices, participation and performance in schools-careers between students of different genders and ages. This study was investigating existence of gender differences in such constructs regarding science. Further, the study investigated whether development of such constructs is still influenced by how children feel their parents perceive them in relation to sciences. Using a 30- item, Lickert-type questionnaire, data were collected from a random sample of 184 second and third graders. Results showed that, students’ self perceptions and those of parents regarding science are positively related. Further, self-concept and utility-values were higher among boys than girls. Based on the result, it was concluded that, parents’ gender-based perceptions regarding science that are still communicated at home might be the reason for the development of children’s gender-based self-perceptions regarding sciences.
Managing science teachers’ adoption of the 2005 Tanzanian Inquiry and Student-centred curriculum: revealing schoolbased leaders’ practices and achievements
(Edith Cowan University, 2020) Makwinya, Noel Mark
Many countries have made considerable changes to their education systems in response to the forces of globalisation. Tanzania is no exception. The most recent educational change attempt in Tanzania relates to the introduction of the 2005 Tanzanian Inquiry and Student- Centred Curriculum. Sound change-leadership is a necessary condition for the realisation of change, particularly in influencing its adoption. Within the descriptive qualitative research paradigm, this study employed a Type IV (embedded and multiple) case-study design to examine and describe science teachers’ lived experiences in dealing with this latest Tanzanian curriculum and the role played by school-based leaders in influencing such experiences. The study was carried out in three case-study schools. Data regarding change leadership were collected from both teachers and school leaders by means of personal interviews, observations, and document reviews. Data regarding science teachers’ levels of adoption of this curriculum and related concerns, all of which helped to gauge the effectiveness of change-adoption leadership provided by School-Based Leaders, were collected using semi-structured interviews and a Stage of Concern Questionnaire and were triangulated through document reviews and in- class observations. The findings show that school-based leaders in all case-study schools guided adoption of change primarily using authoritarian strategies. Nevertheless, there was some evidence to suggest that school-based leaders in the high performing and the medium performing case- study schools tended to employ additional strategies that inclined towards collective and empowering leadership approaches. This difference appeared to covary with the science teachers’ levels of use of this curriculum and their concerns about it in the three case-study schools. Adoption challenges and those affecting leadership of change are also detailed. These findings extend the ongoing academic discussion about the leadership of adoption of educational changes in schools. The understanding of pedagogical change gained through this study has implications for both policy and practice, and these are discussed in the last chapter. Leaders of these and other schools in equivalent contexts may use findings of this study to reflect upon their change-leadership practices in schools and improve the way they enhance pedagogical transformations and the professional development of their teachers.
Massification in universities: are assessment tools still reliable? a reflection from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
(Journal of Education and Practice, 2021-08-31) Mayeka, James George; Kira, Ernest Simon
A tremendous increase of the number of students in universities has been experienced by almost every country all over the world including Tanzania. The Increasing number of students has greatly affected the instructors’ workload and general practices of student’s assessment and evaluation. This study aimed at determining the reliability of the assessment tools at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Retrospective record review was done on education undergraduate students who sat for an EDP 100 in 2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2017/2018 academic years where the course was selected through random procedures. A total of 214 scripts were systematically randomly sampled from each cohort. The results revealed a drop in internal consistency of the scores obtained from EDP 100 course across the three cohorts. Majority of the questions for the EDP 100 though were moderately difficulty, their discrimination powers were poor. However, the variation in difficulty and discrimination indices for the three cohorts was statistically not significant (p˃0.05 for MCQ and MIQ) except the discrimination index for MIQ which shows significant variations (p˂0.05). It is therefore recommended that similar studies should be done to determine both validity and reliability of the assessment tools for the other subjects at the University.
Depicting science teachers’ concerns regarding the Tanzanian inquiry-based science curriculum
(Tailor and Francis Group, 2022) Makwinya, Noel M.; McKinnon, David H.; Lummis, Geoﬀrey W.
Secondary school teachers in Tanzania have been attempting to implement the inquiry-based science curriculum since 2005. This study is descriptive and was designed within the realms of a Type IV case-study design (Yin, R. K. 2014. Case study research: Design and methods 5th ed. SAGE) to investigate their concerns in dealing with this curriculum. It employed the Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as its lens and collected data using the Stage of Concern (SoC) questionnaire. In addition, the study used background information of the participants themselves and their context collected using one-on-one interviews to enrich the interpretation of revealed concerns. The ﬁndings revealed variations in the nature and intensities of concerns amongst science teachers in the case-study schools. These variations were partly due to the diﬀerences in contextual and background characteristics of staﬀ of the three case-study schools. The implications of these ﬁndings for both policy and practice are discussed.
Cognitive and socio-emotional maturity of pre-primary pupils in Tanzania. a case study of some selected schools in Morogoro municipality
(SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE,, 2023) Mlaki S. R
It is important to note that every child develops at their own pace, and that socio-emotional and cognitive development are complex processes that are influenced by a variety of factors, including age, sex, and school experiences. Understanding how these aspects play role in developing social emotional and cognitive skills of Pupils and the relationship between these skills, is important so as to improve a nurturing and stimulating environment that supports their child's development, while also being mindful of each child's unique strengths and needs. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess cognitive and socio emotional maturity of pre-primary pupils. Specifically, the study sought to measure levels of cognitive and socio emotional maturity of pre-primary Pupils and determine whether statistically significant exists between pupils by type of school, age and sex. In addition, it determined whether there is significant correlation between socio emotional maturity of pre-primary school pupils and their cognitive development. The research utilized a cross-sectional design to evaluate the cognitive and socio-emotional maturity of 213 pre-primary school pupils. The pupils were selected from 10 randomly chosen pre-primary schools in Morogoro Municipality. The International Development and Early Learning Assessment tool (IDELA) was used to assess the cognitive and socio- emotional skills of the pre-primary school pupils. Descriptive statistics were used to measure the levels of cognitive and socio-emotional skills. The study used the Mann Whitney U test to analyze the difference in cognitive and socio-emotional maturity based on the type of school and sex. Additionally, the Kruskal Wallis H test was applied to evaluate the difference in cognitive and socio-emotional maturity of pre-primary school pupils based on age. To assess whether there was a significant relationship between the levels of cognitive and socio- emotional maturity of pre-primary school pupils, Kendal tau b coefficient was utilized. Findings of the study indicated that pre-primary school pupils’ levels of maturity in cognitive skills were high in all dimensions, with a mean of 92% in early numeracy, 80% in early literacy and 90% in executive function. Furthermore, the study found that there is statistically significant difference in all dimensions of cognitive maturity of pre-primary school pupils based on the type of school they are in, their age and sex. In addition, the study found that 60% of pre-primary school pupils have high maturity levels in emotional awareness and 81% in empathy. Moreover 83% of pre-primary school pupils have high maturity levels in solving conflicts and only 20% of pre-primary school pupils scored high in friendship. Moreover, findings indicate that there is statistically significant difference empathy, solving conflicts and friendship of pre-primary school pupils on the basis of type of school and sex. Only self-awareness was not statistically significant on basis of type of school and sex. Moreover, findings indicate that there is significant correlation in all dimensions capturing cognitive and socio emotional skills. This is in spite of the fact that the extent of correlation differed from one dimension to another. The correlation coefficients between early literacy and dimensions of social emotional skills; empathy, emotional regulation and solving conflicts were high. However, correlation coefficient between early literacy and friendship was moderate. Furthermore, findings indicate that correlation between early numeracy and all dimensions of socio emotional skills were statistically significant. Moderate correlation coefficient was noted on the relationship between early numeracy and two dimensions of socio emotional skills; emotional awareness and friendship. The correlation coefficient between early numeracy and empathy were high, while that of solving conflicts was very high. Also, the study found correlation coefficient between executive function and three socio- emotional dimensions; empathy, solving conflicts and friendship were high. On the other hand, correlation coefficient between executive functions and emotional awareness was very high. The study concludes that pre-primary Pupils are developing important socio-emotional and cognitive skills that will serve as a foundation for their future social and emotional growth. However, findings proved that the quality and learning outcomes differ by age, gender and setting in terms of delivery and teacher experiences in public and private pre- primary classrooms The study recommends to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to create pre-primary school teaching environment where socio emotional and cognitive skills of pupils will be developed equally despite of their differences in sex, age and school. The Ministry should administer professional training to educators, where the existing relationship between socio emotional and cognitive skills is brought into their awareness.
Imitation and innovation of practices in science and technology: lessons from Asia and Europe for Tanzania
(East African Journal of Science, Technology and Innovation, 2023-09-14) Nzunda, E.F.; Mayeka, J.G.
Imitation and innovation are often seen as opposing paths to advancement in science and technology. However, this paper argues that a balanced approach that combines both imitation and innovation could accelerate Tanzania's development in these areas. This study has four specific objectives, namely, to assess: (1) The role of imitation and innovation of practices in science and technology; (2) Challenges that Tanzania faces in imitation and innovation of practices in science and technology; (3) Lessons for Tanzania in imitation and innovation in science and technology from Asia and Europe; and, (4) Strategies that Tanzania may use to benefit from imitation and innovation in science and technology lessons from Asia and Europe. By reviewing the literature on the interplay between imitation and innovation in Asia and Europe, the paper demonstrates how these regions have used both strategies to achieve rapid development in their science and technology sectors. The study found that imitation and innovation are important drivers of economic development for countries. Asia and Europe adapted strategies such as copycat, frugality, social innovation, the role of knowledge and technology transfer, innovation ecosystems, strong institutions, adapted disruption, balancing exploration and exploitation, systems of innovation, and intellectual properties for steering their development. For Tanzania, the paper recommends learning from the success of Asian countries like Japan and South Korea in imitating and improving their technology, as well as European countries like Germany and Sweden in cultivating an education culture that values innovation while taking advantage of the latest technologies and best practices from other countries. However, shortage of funding in the education system, poor infrastructure, lack of skilled workforce, and limited research and development might hamper the imitation and innovation in science and technology in Tanzania. Current government efforts are geared towards removing these bottlenecks.
Genus Monanthotaxis: a review on distribution,ethnomedicinal uses and phytochemistry
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-01-23) Mayeka, James G.; Nyandoro, Stephen S.; Munissi, Joan J.E.
This article reviews the geographical distribution, ethnomedicinal applications, and phytochemistry of the genus Monanthotaxis Baill, tribe Uvariae of the family Annonaceae. The reviewed works of lit-erature were collected from various electronic databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, The International Plant Names Index (IPNI), and Research Gate. During this review, ninety-eight species of the genus Monanthotaxis were found to be widely distributed in tropical Africa. Some of those species are used in folkloric medicine by various communities to manage dis-eases and disease conditions such as fever, vomiting, headache, stomach-ache, malaria, helminthiasis, and hysteria. In the past 44 years (1979 to 2023), one hundred and nineteen secondary metabolites with different biomedical potentials have been reported from this genus. The reported compounds are catego-rised into flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, polyoxygenated cyclo-hexane, and cyclohexene derivatives, benzyl derivatives, cinnamic acid derivatives, and stilbenoids. Most of the reported compounds showed an array of bioactivities corroborating the use of some members of the genus in folkloric medicine.

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