Teaching in Tension : International Pedagogies, National Policies, and Teachers’ Practices in Tanzania / edited by Frances Vavrus, Lesley Bartlett.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Vavrus, Frances.

Bartlett, Lesley.

Series:

Pittsburgh Studies in Comparative and International Education ; 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education.

Local Subjects:

Education.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2013.

Place of Publication:

Rotterdam : SensePublishers : Imprint: SensePublishers, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In recent years, international efforts to improve educational quality in sub-Saharan Africa have focused on promoting learner-centered pedagogy. However, it has not fl ourished for cultural, economic, and political reasons that often go unrecognized by development organizations and policymakers. This edited volume draws on a long-term collaboration between African and American educational researchers in addressing critical questions regarding how teachers in one African country—Tanzania—conceptualize learner-centered pedagogy and struggle to implement it under challenging material conditions. One chapter considers how international support for learner-centered pedagogy has infl uenced national policies. Subsequent chapters utilize qualitative data from classroom observations, interviews, and focus group discussions across six Tanzanian secondary schools to examine how such policies shape local practices of professional development, inclusion, gender, and classroom discourse. In addition, the volume presents an analysis of the benefi ts and challenges of international research between Tanzanian and U.S. scholars, illuminating the complexity of collaboration as it simultaneously presents the outcome of joint research on teachers’ beliefs and practices. The chapters conclude with questions for discussion that can be used in courses on international development, social policy, and teacher education. “This volume, written by a multi-national team of scholar-practitioners, makes an important contribution to our understanding of learner-centered teaching and collaborative educational research. Based on an intensive investigation in Tanzania of a professional development program and teachers’ efforts to conceptualize and implement a globally-promoted pedagogical approach, the authors illustrate – and critically analyze – how these practices are enabled and constrained by cultural lenses, power relations, and material conditions. Importantly, they alsoexamine refl exively how cultural, power, and resource issues shaped their struggle to engage in a collective praxis of qualitative inquiry. The tensions referenced in the title sparked valuable insights, which will be useful to educators, researchers, and policy makers.” — Mark Ginsburg, FHI 360 and Teachers College, Columbia University.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / Frances Vavrus and Lesley Bartlett

Introduction / Frances Vavrus , Lesley Bartlett and Victorini Salema

The Emergence of an International Teacher Education and Research Collaboration / Frances Vavrus

Learning to Teach in Tanzania / Maria Jose Bermeo , Zikani Kaunda and Dorothy Ngarina

Teachers’ Understandings and Implementation of Learner-Centered Pedagogy / Lesley Bartlett and Emmanuel Mogusu

Working Lives of Teachers / Frances Vavrus and Victorini Salema

Testing and Teaching / Lesley Bartlett and Frances Vavrus

Teachers’ Conceptualizations and Practices of Inclusion / Allen Rugambwa and Matthew A. M. Thomas

Gendered Aspects of Classroom Practice / Matthew A. M. Thomas and Allen Rugambwa

Classroom Discourse / Tamara Webb and Sarah Mkongo

International Collaboration / Lesley Bartlett , Maria Jose Bermeo , Theresia Boniface , Emmanuel Mogusu , Dorothy Ngarina , Allen Rugambwa , Victorini Salema , Matthew A. M. Thomas , Frances Vavrus and Tamara Webb

Notes on Contributors / Frances Vavrus and Lesley Bartlett

Index / Frances Vavrus and Lesley Bartlett.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9789462092235

9462092230

9789462092242

9462092249

OCLC:

849513540