Faculty of Education

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Academics’ job satisfaction in Tanzania’s higher education: The role of perceived work environment
(Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2021-04-03) Mgaiwa, Samson John
Employees’ job satisfaction is critical for better work performance, reduced turnover intention, enhanced organizational commitment, and decreased job burnout. In the last several decades, numerous studies have assessed the association between employees’ work environments and job satisfaction globally. However, little research has addressed academics’ job satisfaction in non-European countries, and studies of Tanzania are particularly scarce. Drawing on Lewin’s field theory, this study sought to fill this gap by examining the relationship between Tanzanian academics’ perceived work environment and their job satisfaction, as measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). The study was quantitatively driven, with a cross-sectional survey design. A convenience sample of 116 academics (men: N = 93; women: N = 23) from two universities in Tanzania responded to a newly self-designed Perceived Work Environment Inventory and the MSQ. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed using SPSS version 25 to detect significant predictors of academics’ job satisfaction. The results demonstrated that academic freedom, participative decisions, teamwork, supervision, and resources statistically significantly predicted academics’ job satisfaction over and above their marital status, gender, age, academic rank, and institutional type. This study has both practical and policy implications, and its findings contribute to the broader literature on the management and governance of higher education.
Educating students with disabilities in inclusive schools: Results from two schools in Tanzania
(KAD International, 2016) Milinga, Joseph
The quest for equal access, participation and success in education for persons with disabilities is paramount in today’s global education context, and Tanzania is no exception. Since the ages of “denial” to “full inclusion”, educating students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms has had been responded differently by teachers and students alike across countries. Confronted by different challenges in their education, students with disabilities are to devise mechanisms to excel in such restrictive learning environments. Informed by interpretive research traditions with 59 purposefully selected participants, this paper explores challenges that students with disabilities are faced with and coping strategies used by these students in their schooling in two inclusive secondary schools in Tanzania. The findings indicate that, students with disabilities are faced with challenges which are teacher and environment-related. Consequently, the students with disabilities use complaints, assistance seeking, self-initiatives, isolation and despair, and assertiveness to cope with the challenges. The study concludes that; educational stakeholders should work collaboratively in order to lessen the impact of the restrictive nature of learning environments for students with disabilities. The paper recommends on improved teacher preparation and continued professional development in order to cater for the learning needs of students with disabilities in inclusive schools.
Emerging Fundamental Issues of Teacher Education in Tanzania: A Reflection of Practices.
(Educational Process: International Journal, 2018) Mgaiwa, Samson John
Quality of teachers is recognized as one of the critical dimensions for promoting student learning in schools. However, in Tanzania there are several emerging issues that affect teacher education and teachers, and as a result affect students’ learning. The existing corpus of literature indicates a death of studies on the systematic understanding of issues that affect teacher education in Tanzania, especially at a time when education across the world is encountering a number of challenges. Employing documentary review and interviews as data collection methods, this paper attempts to analyze the emerging issues affecting teacher education in Tanzania. Employing the Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century, the paper identified five major issues affecting teacher education namely; lack of specific policies for teacher education, lack of continuing professional development, lack of an autonomous teacher regulatory body, inadequate ICT and teacher education, and poor quality of candidates joining teacher education. Generally, the findings indicate that teacher education is not effectively planned in terms of policy imperatives to meet the contemporary professional demands for 21st century education in Tanzania, and beyond. Finally, conclusions and certain recommendations which take a futuristic perspective in preparing 21st century teachers are offered.
Enhancing teacher preparation for inclusion in universities and university colleges in Tanzania through prosocial education.
(2016) Milinga, Joseph R
With the ever growing need for inclusive education, teachers’ prosocial attributes are considered important in facilitating students’ learning. Today, universities and university colleges are among core institutions entrusted with the responsibility of preparing teachers. While student diversity is significant in many classrooms today, little has been written about teacher preparation in Tanzania focusing on how universities and university colleges prepare teachers in both the academic and prosocial sides of education so that they can transmit the same to learners as they embark on teaching. Linked to both available literature and personal experience, the need to integrate prosocial education into teacher education programmes in universities and university colleges is emphasized in the paper, and suggestions to this end are provided. Along with shed lighting on some anticipated challenges to producing teachers with prosocial orientations, the paper concludes on areas that need to be researched for improved teacher preparation in Tanzania.
Fostering Graduate Employability: Rethinking Tanzania’s University Practices
(Sage open, 2021-04-13) Mgaiwa, Samson John
Globalization, partly spurred by technological innovation such as artificial intelligence and robotics, continues to disrupt not only economic trajectories and business models, especially in the developed world, but also the knowledge and skill requirements for graduates entering the labor market. A growing corpus of literature on graduates’ employability has identified barriers to employment ranging from skills mismatch to a lack of soft skills. Although the literature on graduate employability is informative and illuminating, the role of university practices in fostering graduate employability in sub-Saharan Africa, and Tanzania in particular, has been less studied. Drawing on the broader employability literature, this article provides a comprehensive analysis of the best university practices in an effort to address the unemployment problems of university graduates in sub-Saharan Africa and Tanzania in particular. Four critical university best practices for fostering graduate employability are of interest—developing effective university—industry partnerships, aligning university education with a country’s development plans, regular university curriculum reviews, and strengthening quality assurance systems. Therefore, this article contributes to the higher education literature on the role of university practices in fostering graduate employability.
Group-based assignments: Member reactions to social loafers
(Hipatia Press, 2019-02) Milinga, Joseph R; Kibonde, Ezelina A; Mallya, Venace P; Mwakifuna, Monica A
Understanding how student teachers undertake their group work may provide a solid foundation for developing essential skills required for the 21st Century teachers, and subsequently help improve group-based assessment in higher education. However, social loafing has been found to interfere with this assessment mode. This article reports on undergraduate student teachers’ processes involved in doing group-based assignments amid the existence of social loafing tendencies amongst group members. It focuses on how students organize themselves in doing the work and their reactions to social loafers. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews involving 18 purposefully and conveniently selected participants from Mkwawa University College of Education in Tanzania. The findings indicated procedures that students observe in doing their group assignments such as the formulation of own group norms and rules. Additionally, it was found that group members employed humanitarian, punitive and threatening approaches as they reacted to social loafers. The article concludes that proper planning for students’ group assignments is important, in which both instructors and students should play their roles accordingly to overcome the problem of social loafing when the use of group-based assessments is indispensable within higher education contexts.
How Do Chemistry Teachers Deal with Students' Incorrect/Undesired Responses to Oral Classroom Questions? Exploring Effective Feedback Practices
(springer, 2019) Kayima &Mkimbili
In this paper, chemistry teachers’ reactions/behavior or actions following students’ undesired, unexpected or incorrect responses/answers to the posed teacher oral questions are reported. This study which was carried out in Tanzania in Iringa Municipality involved three chemistry teachers teaching in three different secondary schools. Actual teaching situations of the three teachers were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed interpretively. We also performed semi-structured interviews with these teachers to bring forth the teachers’ inherent perceptions about their practice in relation to what was observed of the teachers’ individual actual teaching situations. Up to eight different forms of teachers’ responses or reactions to students’ undesired responses or incorrect answers are discussed with respect to how each is perceived to either positively or negatively affect students’ progressive learning. From the study, productive questioning is affected by teachers’ inability to effectively use classroom powers to trigger students’ thinking, as well as not being able to use students’ varied views to achieve the set learning goals. Instead of using their power strategies to facilitate students’ engagement with the scientific matter, the teachers used their classroom powers to guard themselves against classroom insecurities during the teaching process, such as preventing students from questioning their subject knowledge competencies.
The Hurdles to Fostering Research in Tanzanian Universities
(Higher Education, 2019) Fussy, Daniel
Universities across the world are normally called upon to be innovative and generate relevant knowledge to address context-related issues afflicting society. This central role of universities notwithstanding, the involvement in research by African universities and academics, has been minimal when compared with other universities and academics in other parts of the world. This raises the question of what is exactly happening in the region’s universities regarding the development of research. As such, this study establishes the hurdles of developing university research in Tanzania, which directly falls within the wider expectations of developing a research culture in developing countries. The study involved higher education policy makers, senior university leaders and academic staff members who were sourced from four universities and two non-university institutions which oversee the Tanzania’s higher education sector. Based on interviews and document analyses, the study has established various hurdles, ranging from cultural, political and structural to institutional. The study situates the hurdles and associated debilitating effects in the broader African and developing world context that share similar social, educational, political and economic characteristics to that of Tanzania. Additionally, the study adds to the existing body of knowledge on university research development in developing countries’ higher education systems.
Inquiry-based science teaching in community secondary schools in Tanzania: role played by the language of instruction.
(springer, 2020-10-30) Mkimbili & Ødegaard
Developing learners’ critical thinking skills through inquiry-based teaching has been an important aspect of science education. This is an exploratory study aimed at investigating the practice of inquiry-based teaching in schools that use a foreign language (English) in teaching science content. To address the issue, we conducted video observations of six teachers from four community secondary schools in Iringa municipality, Tanzania, for approximately 16 h. These six teachers and 18 students were interviewed after reviewing the clips. In our video study, we noted three major barriers to students’ development of critical thinking skills—teachers’ knowledge and beliefs regarding the nature of scientific knowledge, a classroom culture that does not support students’ development of critical thinking skills and the use of the language of instruction that is not well mastered by both teachers and students. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Institutional constraints affecting quality assurance processes in Tanzania’s private universities. Journal of Higher Education in Africa
(The Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 2017-11-01) Mgaiwa, Samson John; Ishengoma, Ishengoma Mchunguzi
Abstract The purpose of this study is to identify the institutional constraints of quality assurance processes in Tanzania’s private universities and colleges. The descriptive survey design combines qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Purposive, stratified, and random sampling procedures are used to select a sample of 486 participants in the study who comprised 191 academic staff, 291 students, and 4 quality assurance officials from four private universities. Questionnaires and interviews are used for data collection. The findings indicate that inadequate financing, lack of capacity in terms of adequate, qualified and experienced human resources to undertake quality assurance functions, lack of clear and viable quality assurance policies, lack of awareness on quality assurance issues, and lack of academic leadership were the identified major institutional constraints to quality assurance processes in Tanzania’s private universities. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are also discussed.
The Institutionalisation of Teacher Ethics in Tanzania’s Secondary Schools: A School Head’s Perspective
(Pakistan Journal of Education, 2018) Fussy, Daniel
This paper explores practices that school heads employ to institutionalise teacher ethics in Tanzania’s secondary schools. It draws on qualitative data, generated through in-depth face-to-face interviews and document analyses. Secondary school heads, teachers and students from Iringa Municipality were involved in the study. The findings demonstrate that school heads employed several strategies to institutionalise teacher ethics, which include staff induction, allotment of weekly virtue practices, supervising and counselling individual teachers, assembling staff meetings and posting ethics related placards on staff room noticeboards. The study has shown that most of the practices lacked a profound impact on shaping teachers’ professional conduct. The study adds knowledge to school leadership literature from Tanzania, particularly on the aspect of teacher ethics. Accordingly, the study recommends that school heads should institute mentoring programmes where by early career teachers are attached to veteran teachers to regularly enhance their professional knowledge and behaviour. School heads should exemplify ethical conduct within and outside school premises by serving as role models for the teachers to facilitate the promotion of teacher ethics. Furthermore, education officers at the regional and district level should provide professional development programmes for school heads to further raise the awareness and confidence of school heads’ professional obligations.
Leadership initiatives in response to institutional quality assurance challenges in Tanzania’s private universities
(Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2020) Mgaiwa, Samson John
Higher Education (HE) systems worldwide are undergoing multifarious changes due to pressure engendered by the global need for the knowledge economy. The demand for knowledge economy has created two demands: the need for quality HE education and the high social demand for HE which has resulted in the rapid emergence of private universities (PRUs). The quest for quality education has long been the main foci in HE reforms evident in universities putting in place quality management systems for assessment of university performance. Extant research shows that in Tanzania, PRUs have long been facing quality challenges ranging from lack of adequate and qualified academics to frail quality assurance(QA) systems. Although the existing research on QA challenges in private higher education are numerous and informative, the question on how university leadership responds to quality management challenges and whether or not such initiatives are significant in lessening the challenges remains largely unknown. Therefore, this paper examines the leadership initiatives aimed to respond to QA challenges in Tanzania’s PRUs and on whether such initiatives are useful in addressing QA challenges. The paper contends that private universities need effective leadership and governance to overcome the existing quality challenges.
Meaningful Science Learning by the Use of an Additional Language: A Tanzanian Perspective
(Taylor &Francis, 2019) Mkimbili Selina
Science education today focuses on preparing future citizens who are critical consumers of scientific knowledge and not merely recipients of scientific facts. Thus, meaningful science learning is important in the learning process. The aim of this paper is to explore approaches for facilitating meaningful science learning in a context where an additional language is used as a language of instruction. The findings of this article were drawn from a video study of six teachers in classrooms in Tanzania and group interviews with 18 of their students. The findings suggest various approaches that can support dialogue by the use of an additional language. From this study it was noted that the home language of the learners can be utilised as a mediating agent to facilitate meaningful science learning using an additional language. In addition, hands-on activities, the use of gestures and real-life examples emerge as strategies supporting meaningful science learning in a multilingual context.
Mentorship of early career academics in Tanzania: issues and implications for the next generation of academics
(Higher Education Pedagogies, 2021-03-31) Mgaiwa, Samson John; Kapinga, Orestes Seliverius
Mentoring has been pointed out as one of the strategies for early career academics (ECAs) preparation and support for smooth transition into academia. Although ECAs mentoring has been widely studied, and the findings have indeed been informative and illuminating, the issues facing ECAs have yet to be adequately addressed, particularly in Tanzania. Drawing from open-ended questionnaires, focus group dis cussions, and interviews, we examined the issues surrounding the mentoring of ECAs in selected Tanzanian universities. Academic exploi tation, isolation, and lack of support from senior academics were among the key issues facing ECAs. The findings further revealed that regular mentorship training, peer support, and institutional policy framework as strategies in place to subdue the mentoring challenges. We argue for universities to have policy framework on professional development through ECAs mentoring to fill out the gap on pedago gical, research and public engagement deficits for ensuring capable next generation of academics.
Operationalising Quality Assurance Processes in Tanzanian Higher Education: Academics’ Perceptions from Selected Private Universities.
(Creative Education, 2018) Mgaiwa, Samson John
The purpose of this research was to examine the extent of operationalization of quality assurance processes in Tanzanian Private Universities (PRUs). A descriptive survey design informed by a mixed research approach was employed to guide this research. Purposive and stratified random sampling procedures were employed to select a sample of one hundred and ninety-five (N = 195) participants in the study who comprised of 191 academics, and 4 quality assurance officials from four private universities. Questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used for data collection. The findings indicated that QA processes such as institutional self-assessment and external examinations were to a large extent conducted by PRUs. Unlike these findings, internal quality audits and tracer studies were not adequately carried out. Conclusively, the non-regular practice of these processes remains the main challenge in most of the surveyed Tanzanian PRUs because they are stipulated in the institutional policy documents without a will to adequately implement them.
The paradox of financing public higher education in Tanzania and the fate of quality education: The experience of selected universities.
(Sage open, 2018) Mgaiwa, Samson John
This article examines the sources of funding for public university education in Tanzania. The article also examines the trends in Other Charges and Capital Development funding for selected public universities in Tanzania taking a leap of years from 2010/2011 to 2015/2016 and their implications for quality issues in the provision of higher education. Results indicate that the sources of financing for public universities in Tanzania are unreliable and unsustainable. The findings further show that government approval rates for budgetary requests from universities decreased over the 6 years. At the same time, the proportion of government-approved funds and those released to universities decreased during the period under review. This article argues that given the unreliability of sources of higher education funding and decreasing budget approval rate and disbursed funds, the fate of quality higher education in the Country is questionable should the trend continue. Based on the findings, conclusions are drawn and recommendations made in light of the weaknesses identified and the review of the system of public university education funding in Tanzania.
Policy Directions for Promoting University Research in Tanzania
(Studies in Higher Education, 2018) Fussy, Daniel
This paper examines the influence of Tanzania’s higher education policy context on promoting research within Tanzanian universities. It focuses both on the prescribed mission of universities and the way in which the government provides funding for the universities in the country. Data were obtained through document analysis and interviews with national higher education policy-makers, as well as senior university leaders and academic staff members sourced from four leading universities. The findings show that the Tanzanian higher education sector operates under a homogeneous university model, wherein each university is prescribed as a research university. Indeed, direct institutional allocation has remained a dominant method of funding universities in general, and research in particular, since Tanzania gained political independence in 1961. The paper, therefore, recommends a reform of the national higher education policy to bridge the gap between policy articulations and implementation on the ground.
Public–private partnership in higher education provision in Tanzania: implications for access to and quality of education
(Bandung Journal of Global South, 2016-11-24) Mgaiwa, Samson John
Public–private partnerships (PPPs) in education are presented as capable of resolving several issues of education provision, financing, management, access and quality. This paper aimed at analyzing the impact of PPPs on access to and quality of higher education in Tanzania. Secondary research was used to gather data and critical review of the data and its analysis made. The focus of the paper was on higher education financing and on private higher education institutions. The findings indicated that PPPs have had a positive impact on increasing access to Tanzania higher education. However, although private universities and university colleges are many in number, enrolment has continued to be higher in public universities. It was further noted that an increase in higher learning institutions and subsequent increase in access to higher education has not meant an improvement in the quality of education provided by the institutions. As such, PPPs have had no significant impact on the improvement of quality of education. This is mainly accounted for by the number and qualifications held by academic members of staff in private universities, the infrastructure as well as the programmes they offer.
The Rationale of Continuous Assessment for Development of Competencies in Tanzania Secondary Schools
(2019) Mkimbili &Kitta
This paper attempts to illuminate the rationale of continuous assessment for competence development in secondary schools in Tanzania. Although, the curriculum for secondary schools in Tanzania has changed from content-based to competency-based, most teachers in secondary schools are still practicing traditional pen-and-pencil continuous assessment which is far from developing competence in students. There is a dire need for revising the assessment procedures, particularly continuous assessment to ensure the attainment of better competence level among students and realisation of high quality education in Tanzania. This paper examines the rationale of continuous assessment for competence development, as well as the challenges of implementing it. This paper recommends capacity building for secondary school teachers on competence-based assessment, so as to enable them to engage in authentic continuous assessment.
Reflections on the Historical Antecedents to Revitalize Higher Education Research in Africa.
(Educational Process: International Journal, 2018) Fussy, Daniel
A vibrant higher education sector is a cornerstone to the production and application of cutting-edge knowledge and human resources relevant to spearheading socioeconomic development. While this is true, Africa has a discouraging performance in research, as compared with other world regions. In raising its research performance, Africa is now receiving considerable attention to revitalize its higher education sector from both global and local forces. In a bid to enhance success of different local and global interventions that Africa is currently receiving, it is imperative to revisit the past to comprehend what has made Africa’s higher education research be where it is today. Informed by the postcolonial theory, this paper seeks to establish the historical antecedents that have undermined the development of research in Africa. Several antecedents are established including the role of colonial higher education policies, incompatible supranational donor policies, unstable political landscape, interrupted academic freedom and autonomy, and unfamiliar language of academic, research and scholarly communication. The paper argues that any initiative that aimed at revitalising research in Africa should place the present higher education research doldrums in its wider socio-historical context where Africa’s higher education sector had been hindered for decades by challenges, as discussed in this paper.

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