Classroom Discourse

The Role Played by Contextual Challenges in Practising Inquiry-based Science Teaching in Tanzania Secondary Schools

“…The competence-based curriculum suggests that the activities planned by teachers in science lessons should give students opportunities to ask questions, to be involved in critical thinking and to develop new ideas (MoEVT, 2005, p. 29). Previous studies have noted that students' active involvement in learning is compromised in Tanzania as a result of insufficient competence in the foreign language of instruction (Brock-Utne, 2007;Vavrus et al, 2013;Wandela, 2014;Webb & Mkongo, 2013). Both teachers and students face language problems during teaching and learning (Wandela, 2014), which act as a hindrance for learnercentred teaching.…”

“…The use of a foreign language in teaching (Vavrus et al, 2013) and fact-based examinations (Vavrus et al, 2013;Wandela, 2014) in Tanzania were also factors which were mentioned as limiting inquiry-based teaching. According to Webb and Mkongo (2013), the use of English in teaching limits interactive approaches to teaching and students' acquisition of critical thinking skills. These studies from Tanzania indicate that inquiry-based science teaching is inadequately practised owing to the contextual challenges, such as language barriers, factbased examinations and limited resources.…”

“…The overall findings from this thesis have indicated that the use of English in science teaching is a major contextual challenge for students' involvements in critical thinking skills, such as problem solving, application of science and drawing conclusions. Previous studies have also disclosed the difficulty of practice of inquirybased science teaching (Vavrus et al, 2013) and students' involvements in critical thinking skills (Brock-Utne, 2007;Webb & Mkongo, 2013) while using an unfamiliar language of instruction (English) in Tanzania contexts. This implies that learning science in an unfamiliar language makes student involvement and development of critical thinking skills difficult.…”

“…Students can hardly be involved in critical thinking skills and be able to connect what they learn from the classroom to their daily life if they are also trying to overcome the problems of an unfamiliar language of instruction (Webb & Mkongo, 2013). For students to be involved in learner-centred approaches in Tanzanian contexts, which can nurture students' critical thinking skills such as open-mindedness, application of science and drawing conclusions, the use of familiar languages for instruction is essential.…”

Transversing the Vertical Case Study: A Methodological Approach to Studies of Educational Policy as Practice

“…A member of the research team noted that at one school a young woman was sitting, isolated, in a burlap shirt printed with the words “I am dumb. I spoke in Swahili.” Nonetheless, classroom observations revealed that teachers frequently, and strategically, used Swahili in the classroom in order to manage behavior or routines, translate difficult concepts, and check for understanding (see Webb and Mkongo ). Several teachers commented on the contradictory pressures created for them by the language, curricular, and assessment policies.…”