Reflective practice is one of the concepts that the Aga Khan University-Institute for Educational Development, Eastern Africa values as essential for teacher learning and development. It is incorporated in the Certificate in Education Programmes that target practising primary teachers. Emphasis is given to journal writing as an approach to reflective practice. However, many teachers seem to find it challenging to sustain this approach. This was a small-scale study which was conducted in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to investigate why this might be the case. It is a qualitative study of a hermeneutic phenomenological nature. Semi-structured interviews were the sole method of data collection. The Miles and Huberman approach of qualitative data analysis was utilised. Findings indicated that teachers encounter a number of challenges that inhibit them from reflecting through journaling. These range from lack of time, the structure of the programmes and the way reflective practice is introduced to them, to teacher motivation and lack of structures to support the practice.

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A referral medical health institution is a critical center which is considered as a life saver of last resort in handling the human health medical problems. This depends more on the availability of the necessary medical supplies such as drugs, equipment and other related goods as well as adequate number of highly qualified medical staff. The provision of all these requirements other than medical staff is usually facilitated by the Supply Chain Management department. This requires a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness in the supply chain system of a medical institution or any other organization. However, reports have revealed that many Health Care Centers are highly affected by non-provision of the required medical supplies which has led to loss of lives and worsening of medical ailment of patients under their care.

This paper is a narrative of my personal experiences of conducting action research in Kenyan primary schools. It highlights the opportunities, successes, challenges and dilemmas I encountered during the process: from the school hunting period, to the carrying out of the actual research in two schools, with four teachers. This study reveals that although it may be challenging to conduct action research in schools/classrooms due to the stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes about teaching and learning in an exam oriented context, the researcher’s disposition in terms of how he/she relates and interacts with participants may, to some extent, determine the level of a study’s success