Teaching in Tension: International Pedagogies, National Policies, and Teachers' Practices in Tanzania

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