title: Impediments to Effective Enactment of Early Childhood Education Curriculum and Pedagogy in Tanzania: Issues and Experiences of Teachers in Urban and Rural Pre-Schools

authors: Mligo, Ignasia Renatus

subjects: Early childhood curriculum enactment

abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate experiences, possibilities, and issues encountered by teachers in the enactment of early childhood education and care curriculum and pedagogy in the Tanzanian context. Worldwide, the concept of early childhood education and care does not refer to a single entity; rather, the term covers a variety of programmes for young children between birth and eight years. It is theorised in the literature that improving human development in the early years in good quality early education, is definitely a way to break out of poverty because early investment has a very high economic rate of return.
The government of Tanzania formalised pre-school education for children aged 5 and 6 years old under the Tanzania’s Education and Training Policy in 1995 and placed it under the direction of the Ministry of Education. Having formalised pre-school education, the government in partnership with parents, community, and non-governmental organisations agreed to support this education. However, anecdotes suggested that all activities to implement the policy were left to parents, communities, and non-governmental organisations. Hence, it was suspected that there might be challenges, experiences, and possibilities arising when teachers enact the current pre-school education curriculum developed in 2005, and associated pedagogies in the classroom context.
This study within an interpretive paradigm took a case study approach to investigate participants’ views on the enactment of the Tanzanian pre-school education curriculum and associated pedagogies. Views on the curriculum enactment were elicited from 28 participants; six from government educational officials (national level) and 22 from the local level (six teachers, four parents, and 12 pre-school children) in the one rural and the one urban pre-school. Multi-methods were used to generate data through individual interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, documentary review, informal conversations, and the researcher’s reflective journal. Data were analysed thematically by NVivo 10 software developed by QSR International.
Ecological systems theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005), and sociocultural theories developed by Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) were used as lenses for framing the study, data analysis, interpretation of findings, and drawing conclusions.
The findings revealed that there was a mismatch between the intended pre-school education curriculum and the curriculum enacted by teachers in the field. The data analysis indicated that this ineffective enactment of the curriculum and associated pedagogies in the field was influenced by lack of clear policy guidelines as to how pre-school education would be funded and conducted (i.e. structural and quality aspects), limited human and physical resources, lack of involvement of the key users on curriculum development, lack of awareness of parents and community regarding the importance of early education investment, and detrimental cultural beliefs and traditions practiced in relation to young children. Hence, in public pre-school settings studied, parents and the community were not able to provide quality pre-school education. Quality pre-school education in the international literature indicates the importance of learner-centred pedagogy.
However, few studies conducted in the Tanzanian context have written on the importance of learner-centred pedagogy in teaching and learning. Moreover, those studies that have been carried out have not indicated how learner-centred pedagogy could be enacted in the Tanzanian context. So, this study has provided a number of suggestions to inform government policy makers of ways to implement learner-centred pedagogies for quality early childhood education and care.
To that end, the study concludes that for the better enactment of pre-school education curriculum and pedagogical practice, there is a need for the government to prioritise in early education. It needs to involve parents and community to work with qualified teachers and local experts to develop child-centred pedagogy. Together with this, the study contributes to knowledge by developing an early childhood education and care model aiming at promoting capacity building for parents, community volunteers, teachers, and children for quality early education provision.

text: Impediments to Effective Enactment of Early Childhood Education Curriculum and Pedagogy in Tanzania: Issues and Experiences of Teachers in Urban and Rural Pre-Schools The purpose of this study was to investigate experiences, possibilities, and issues encountered by teachers in the enactment of early childhood education and care curriculum and pedagogy in the Tanzanian context. Worldwide, the concept of early childhood education and care does not refer to a single entity; rather, the term covers a variety of programmes for young children between birth and eight years. It is theorised in the literature that improving human development in the early years in good quality early education, is definitely a way to break out of poverty because early investment has a very high economic rate of return.
The government of Tanzania formalised pre-school education for children aged 5 and 6 years old under the Tanzania’s Education and Training Policy in 1995 and placed it under the direction of the Ministry of Education. Having formalised pre-school education, the government in partnership with parents, community, and non-governmental organisations agreed to support this education. However, anecdotes suggested that all activities to implement the policy were left to parents, communities, and non-governmental organisations. Hence, it was suspected that there might be challenges, experiences, and possibilities arising when teachers enact the current pre-school education curriculum developed in 2005, and associated pedagogies in the classroom context.
This study within an interpretive paradigm took a case study approach to investigate participants’ views on the enactment of the Tanzanian pre-school education curriculum and associated pedagogies. Views on the curriculum enactment were elicited from 28 participants; six from government educational officials (national level) and 22 from the local level (six teachers, four parents, and 12 pre-school children) in the one rural and the one urban pre-school. Multi-methods were used to generate data through individual interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, documentary review, informal conversations, and the researcher’s reflective journal. Data were analysed thematically by NVivo 10 software developed by QSR International.
Ecological systems theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005), and sociocultural theories developed by Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) were used as lenses for framing the study, data analysis, interpretation of findings, and drawing conclusions.
The findings revealed that there was a mismatch between the intended pre-school education curriculum and the curriculum enacted by teachers in the field. The data analysis indicated that this ineffective enactment of the curriculum and associated pedagogies in the field was influenced by lack of clear policy guidelines as to how pre-school education would be funded and conducted (i.e. structural and quality aspects), limited human and physical resources, lack of involvement of the key users on curriculum development, lack of awareness of parents and community regarding the importance of early education investment, and detrimental cultural beliefs and traditions practiced in relation to young children. Hence, in public pre-school settings studied, parents and the community were not able to provide quality pre-school education. Quality pre-school education in the international literature indicates the importance of learner-centred pedagogy.
However, few studies conducted in the Tanzanian context have written on the importance of learner-centred pedagogy in teaching and learning. Moreover, those studies that have been carried out have not indicated how learner-centred pedagogy could be enacted in the Tanzanian context. So, this study has provided a number of suggestions to inform government policy makers of ways to implement learner-centred pedagogies for quality early childhood education and care.
To that end, the study concludes that for the better enactment of pre-school education curriculum and pedagogical practice, there is a need for the government to prioritise in early education. It needs to involve parents and community to work with qualified teachers and local experts to develop child-centred pedagogy. Together with this, the study contributes to knowledge by developing an early childhood education and care model aiming at promoting capacity building for parents, community volunteers, teachers, and children for quality early education provision.

year: 2015

title: Life after Stroke: A Comparative Study

authors: Thomson, Kirstin Marie

subjects: Stroke

abstract: Stroke is a chronic illness and is the leading cause of disability globally in the adult population. The effects of stroke are wide ranging and impact on the stroke survivor’s daily functioning and quality of life. To date, most research has focused on short-term outcomes in a clinical setting, rather than examining the longer term consequences of stroke in those who live in the community. To address this, the current study explored daily functioning and participation in a community based stroke sample aged 55-85 years (>2 years post-stroke), compared to a control sample of the same sex and age. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, (modified Rankin Scale, Barthel Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, EuroQol-5 Dimension, and the Short Form-36), and two brief cognitive screening tests (Mini Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment ). A semi-structure interview was also conducted with participants, and a qualitative data analysis was carried out and findings integrated with the quantitative results.

Stroke survivors reported greater disability and reduced health related quality of life across all measures, and they also demonstrated higher rates of anxiety and depression. In addition, they showed higher levels of cognitive impairment. Findings from the qualitative interview revealed that stroke survivor participated in fewer activities both inside and outside the home, and activities were less physically demanding.
The results obtained from this study demonstrated the long term effects of stroke present challenges for stroke survivors which impact on their HRQoL, significantly more than difficulties experienced from the ageing process. Finally, the MoCA is more sensitive and detecting cognitive impairment in both a stroke and non-stroke population. Implications of the research are discussed.

text: Life after Stroke: A Comparative Study Stroke is a chronic illness and is the leading cause of disability globally in the adult population. The effects of stroke are wide ranging and impact on the stroke survivor’s daily functioning and quality of life. To date, most research has focused on short-term outcomes in a clinical setting, rather than examining the longer term consequences of stroke in those who live in the community. To address this, the current study explored daily functioning and participation in a community based stroke sample aged 55-85 years (>2 years post-stroke), compared to a control sample of the same sex and age. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, (modified Rankin Scale, Barthel Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, EuroQol-5 Dimension, and the Short Form-36), and two brief cognitive screening tests (Mini Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment ). A semi-structure interview was also conducted with participants, and a qualitative data analysis was carried out and findings integrated with the quantitative results.

Stroke survivors reported greater disability and reduced health related quality of life across all measures, and they also demonstrated higher rates of anxiety and depression. In addition, they showed higher levels of cognitive impairment. Findings from the qualitative interview revealed that stroke survivor participated in fewer activities both inside and outside the home, and activities were less physically demanding.
The results obtained from this study demonstrated the long term effects of stroke present challenges for stroke survivors which impact on their HRQoL, significantly more than difficulties experienced from the ageing process. Finally, the MoCA is more sensitive and detecting cognitive impairment in both a stroke and non-stroke population. Implications of the research are discussed.

year: 2012

title: Kaupapa Māori Science

authors: Stewart, Georgina Marjorie

subjects: Kaupapa Maori

abstract: This thesis investigates how Māori knowledge and language articulate with current discourses of Pūtaiao education, and possible alternative articulations. A Kaupapa Māori version of critical discourse analysis methodology is developed and applied to discourses relevant to Pūtaiao, or Māori-medium science education. This topic represents an intersection between language, science, education, and culture - fields which are all highly politically charged. Therefore, it is essential that a politically robust Kaupapa Māori position be taken in relation to the research topic. Not only the issues being investigated but the underlying research paradigm must be interrogated using Kaupapa Māori theory at each stage of the project.

The goal is to study the range of possible meanings for the notions of 'Pūtaiao' and 'Māori science' by exploring the relevant dialectical issues, critiquing the assumptions and positions taken on language, knowledge, identity and ethos, in order to inform further Pūtaiao curriculum development. The research project is a narration of the larger story of Pūtaiao education: what is the current situation, how did it come about, what theoretical issues have been influential in this process, and what possibilities are there for further development of Pūtaiao curriculum and pedagogy? 

The thesis research consists of a series of discourse analyses of varying levels of focus and intersection with Pūtaiao:
Wāhanga 1: Translated NCEA L1 science and mathematics examinations, and a traditional Taitokerau oral text;
Wāhanga 2: Māori science curriculum policy;
Wāhanga 3: Multicultural science education research;
Wāhanga 4: Curriculum politics, preventive linguistics, language of science;
Wāhanga 5: Mātauranga, rationality, philosophy of science.

Each analysis takes the form of a narrative history, based on a selected corpus of previously published scholarship (in Wāhanga 1, including numerical data and oral tradition) on the issue under examination, from a Kaupapa Māori perspective. Mainly in the first two chapters, analysis at times also draws on 'personal narrative' accounts of previously unpublished details relating to Pūtaiao.
 
Additionally, an investigation of various qualified notions of 'science' is undertaken, beginning in Wāhanga 2, concluding in Wāhanga 5, in order to explore the nature and boundaries of science as a system of knowledge, and its relationship to other types or systems of knowledge. 

Synopses are included of the following concepts and theoretical issues impacting on the discourses under analysis: 
Wāhanga 1: Ethnicity, 'race', critical theory, Kaupapa Māori theory. 
Wāhanga 2: Science, scientism, science ideology and anti-science.
Wāhanga 4: Identity, linguistic purism, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Informed by this research, in Wāhanga 5 an original model for the relationship between mātauranga and science is proposed, and the notion of Kaupapa Māori science/epistemology is explored. An analogy between the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and multicultural science is used to draw together the cultural debates in language and knowledge, which are surmised to intersect at the level of discourse. 

The final chapter presents a re-articulation of Pūtaiao as the notion of Kaupapa Māori science education, and some recommendations for language and content knowledge in further development of Pūtaiao curriculum policy.

text: Kaupapa Māori Science This thesis investigates how Māori knowledge and language articulate with current discourses of Pūtaiao education, and possible alternative articulations. A Kaupapa Māori version of critical discourse analysis methodology is developed and applied to discourses relevant to Pūtaiao, or Māori-medium science education. This topic represents an intersection between language, science, education, and culture - fields which are all highly politically charged. Therefore, it is essential that a politically robust Kaupapa Māori position be taken in relation to the research topic. Not only the issues being investigated but the underlying research paradigm must be interrogated using Kaupapa Māori theory at each stage of the project.

The goal is to study the range of possible meanings for the notions of 'Pūtaiao' and 'Māori science' by exploring the relevant dialectical issues, critiquing the assumptions and positions taken on language, knowledge, identity and ethos, in order to inform further Pūtaiao curriculum development. The research project is a narration of the larger story of Pūtaiao education: what is the current situation, how did it come about, what theoretical issues have been influential in this process, and what possibilities are there for further development of Pūtaiao curriculum and pedagogy? 

The thesis research consists of a series of discourse analyses of varying levels of focus and intersection with Pūtaiao:
Wāhanga 1: Translated NCEA L1 science and mathematics examinations, and a traditional Taitokerau oral text;
Wāhanga 2: Māori science curriculum policy;
Wāhanga 3: Multicultural science education research;
Wāhanga 4: Curriculum politics, preventive linguistics, language of science;
Wāhanga 5: Mātauranga, rationality, philosophy of science.

Each analysis takes the form of a narrative history, based on a selected corpus of previously published scholarship (in Wāhanga 1, including numerical data and oral tradition) on the issue under examination, from a Kaupapa Māori perspective. Mainly in the first two chapters, analysis at times also draws on 'personal narrative' accounts of previously unpublished details relating to Pūtaiao.
 
Additionally, an investigation of various qualified notions of 'science' is undertaken, beginning in Wāhanga 2, concluding in Wāhanga 5, in order to explore the nature and boundaries of science as a system of knowledge, and its relationship to other types or systems of knowledge. 

Synopses are included of the following concepts and theoretical issues impacting on the discourses under analysis: 
Wāhanga 1: Ethnicity, 'race', critical theory, Kaupapa Māori theory. 
Wāhanga 2: Science, scientism, science ideology and anti-science.
Wāhanga 4: Identity, linguistic purism, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Informed by this research, in Wāhanga 5 an original model for the relationship between mātauranga and science is proposed, and the notion of Kaupapa Māori science/epistemology is explored. An analogy between the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and multicultural science is used to draw together the cultural debates in language and knowledge, which are surmised to intersect at the level of discourse. 

The final chapter presents a re-articulation of Pūtaiao as the notion of Kaupapa Māori science education, and some recommendations for language and content knowledge in further development of Pūtaiao curriculum policy.

year: 2007