Successful Transition to Secondary School in Tanzania: What Are the Barriers?

Abstract

Transition to secondary school is a problem internationally. Tanzanian students face an additional challenge as the medium of instruction changes from Kiswahili to English. An 18-item questionnaire (N = 383) and focus groups (primary standard 7, secondary forms 1 and 3, and primary and secondary teachers) were used in this study. Most students started secondary school with high expectations. These were qualified by experiences of bullying and punishment. Teachers recognised students losing hope as an explanation for truancy. However, they lacked both the training to teach English and knowledge of alternatives to punishment. Peer mentoring potentially addresses these challenges during transition.

The influence of language of instruction in the facilitation of academic activities: Nurse educators’ experiences

“…Such loss stops ESL nurse educators from demonstrating and modelling critical thinking processes to learners such as thinking aloud while solving a real-life patient's problem. Joyce-Gibbons et al (2018) and Kirui, Osman and Naisujaki (2017) state that to cope and protect their image, ESL educators opt to use safe talk that is highly limited to teaching only the learning content at hand which, sadly, limits learners' engagement in meaningful learning and construction of own knowledge within a learning environment.…”

“…They have a limited grasp of the subject matter because they do not engage with the learning content at a much deeper level but rote learn to pass the examination (Evans & Morrison 2017). This practice, in turn, does little to improve their knowledge construction and acquisition, which result in lack of meaning making (Joyce-Gibbons et al 2018). English-as-a-Second Language learners have challenges to adapt to the higher education demands that can be a challenge in developing their academic literacy, problemsolving, rational decision-making and communications skills and encouraging constructive engagement in their learning processes.…”

“…Globally, English is considered an international language (Abdallah & Gabr 2014), the language of commerce, technology, education and training which has become indispensable for economic emancipation (Coffi 2017). A language of written laws (Joyce-Gibbons et al 2018) that is 'rich in literature, humanistic and scientific approach and technical information' (Roy 2018:240) and viewed as the only language in which knowledge is useful (Ramachandran & Rauh 2016). However, according to Qorro (2006:4), these may be among many 'good reasons for teaching English, but not for teaching in English' because as a LOI to ESL learners it has huge impact on the quality of their education.…”

“…When nurse educators are proficient in the LOI, they use proper communication that facilitates deep learning, firm understanding of scientific nursing concepts and content knowledge, thus facilitating cognitive growth of learners. In facilitating understanding of the subject matter, these educators confidently use appropriate innovative and creative pedagogical and assessment strategies that assist in the development of learners' own innovative and creative skills needed in the 21st century (Joyce-Gibbons et al 2018;Purwaningsih 2018). That way they assist learners in developing a skill of applying the newly constructed and reconstructed knowledge in different healthcare contexts (Qorro 2013).…”

Knowledge mobilisation in sub-Saharan Africa: an impact evaluation of CPDL in improving primary school children’s performance

“…This diverts attention from the social aims of education, for example, creating a learning community with cooperation between children, between teachers and children and, logically, between teachers and between teachers and the head teacher. Such social aims are not likely to be achieved when the dominant method of classroom control in Sierra Leone is corporal punishment (Concern Worldwide, IBIS, CRS, and Plan Sierra Leone, 2010), as in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Joyce-Gibbons et al , 2018). Sierra Leonean teachers know that Western-funded NGOs disapprove of corporal punishment, yet they also know that their colleagues and the local community see it as necessary.…”