Are our Teachers Qualified and Motivated to Teach? Our Teacher Motivated and... · Are our Teachers Qualified and Motivated to Teach? ... 3.1.1 Background of schools surveyed ...

Are our Teachers Qualified andMotivated to Teach?

A research report on teachers’ qualifications, motivation and commitment to

teach and their implications on quality education

October 2011

Are our Teachers Qualified andMotivated to Teach?

A research report on teachers’ qualifications, motivation

and commitment to teach and their implications on quality education

October 2011

iv

Acknowledgements

This research study is a collaborative effort by HakiElimu and the Department of Education Psychology

and Curriculum Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. Alongside HakiElimu staff, Dr Kitila Mkumbo

of the Department of Education Psychology and Curriculum Studies designed the study, trained staff

on data collection procedures and oversaw the research process.

The following HakiElimu staff served as researchers, travelling to the study sites and collecting data:

Elizabeth Missokia, Daniel Luhamo, Charles Mtoi, Robert Mihayo, Glory Mosha, Naomi Mwakilembe,

Edwin Mashasi, Benedecta Mrema, Boniventura Godfrey, Lilyan Omary, Anastazia Rugaba, Frederick

Rwehumbiza, Nyanda Shuli and Esther Mashoto.

This report was written by Dr Kitila Mkumbo. Editing, feedback, and advice on the report was provided

by Elizabeth Missokia, Mtemi Gervas Zombwe, Fausta Musokwa and Tony Baker..

This report would not have been possible without the cooperation of the pupils, parents, school

committee members, teachers and district officials we interviewed in the course of this research. We are

extremely grateful for their contribution and willingness to work with us.

© HakiElimu 2011

ISBN: 978-9987-18-019-6

HakiElimu, P.O. Box 79401, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Tel: (255 22) 2151852/3, Fax: (255 22) 2152449

Any part of this document may be reproduced for education or non-commercial purposes, provided attribution

is made to source and two copies are provided to HakiElimu.

v

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Part I: Background to the study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Purpose and objectives of the study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Part II: Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.1 Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.2 Study sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.3 Participants and selection procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.4 Data collection tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.5 Data management and analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Part III: Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.1 Findings of the school mapping guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.1.1 Background of schools surveyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.1.2 Variation of student academic performance by school ownership . . . . . . . . 8

3.1.3 Relationship between teachers’ qualifications and students’ academic performance . . 8

3.1.4 Variation in performance by level of teaching and learning facilities . . . . . . . 9

3.2 Teachers’ motivation and commitment to the teaching profession . . . . . . . 10

3.2.1 Teachers’ background information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2.2 Teachers’ participation in professional development programmes . . . . . . . . 11

3.2.3 Teachers’ motivation and attitudes towards teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.2.4 Teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.2.5 Variation in teachers’ commitment by school ownership . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.2.6 Variation in teachers’ commitment to and satisfaction with the

teaching profession by sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.2.7 Variation in teachers’ commitment to and satisfaction with the

teaching profession by teaching experience and subjects . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.3 School administration effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.4 Summary: The relationship between teachers’ qualifications, commitment to the

profession and perception of school administration effectiveness and

school academic performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.5 Teachers’ views about the teaching profession: Findings of Focus Group Discussions 22

3.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.5.2 Why teachers joined the teaching profession? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.5.3 Teachers’ experiences of the teaching profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.5.4 Teachers’ perspectives about poor students’ performance and what should

be done to improve the quality of education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Part IV: Summary, conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.2 Conclusions and recommendaitons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

vi

List of Tables and Figures

TablesTable 1: Variation in Students’ Academic Performance by School Ownership . . . . . . . . . . 8

Table 2: Teachers’ Motivation and Attitudes towards Teaching Profession . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Table 3: Teachers’ Commitment to the Teaching Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Table 4: Variation of Teachers’ Commitment by Teaching Subjects and Qualifications . . . . . 20

Table 5: Percentage of Teachers Rating the Effectiveness of their School Administration . . . . 21

VielelezoFigure 1: 2010 National Form Four Examination Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Figure 2: Ownership of schools surveyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 3: Timing of establishment of schools surveyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 4: Timing of school establishment by ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 5: Variation in students’ academic performance by school ownership . . . . . . . . . 8

Figure 6: Proportion of teachers with degree qualification and above by school

ownership category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Figure 7: Proportion of schools with libraries and laboratories by school ownership category . 10

Figure 8: Distribution of respondents by location (region) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 9: Distribution of respondents by teaching subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 10: Distribution of respondents by teaching qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 11: Teaching experience of responding teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 12: Proportion of teachers indicating having attended in-service professional

development programmes in the past two years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 13: Teachers’ motivational factors for joining teaching profession . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 14: Variation of motivational factors by school ownership category . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 15: Percentage of teachers reporting their commitment to various aspects

of teaching profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Figure 16: Teachers’ commitment and satisfaction levels by category of teaching school . . . . 18

Figure 17: Proportion of teachers reporting being satisfied with the working conditions

of their schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Figure 18: Sex variation in teachers’ commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Figure 19: Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing and agreeing that their school

administration is effective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

1

PART I

Background to the study

1.1. IntroductionProvision of quality education is essential for spearheading socio-economic development. Indeed, many

writers have observed that quality education is the most effective way to shape the values, attitudes,

behaviours and skills which are important for individuals to function productively in an integrated society.

The third committee of the 61st UN General Assembly (GA/SHC/3847) highlighted the importance of

quality education in achieving social development, noting that quality education is critical to successful

democracy and employment. Similarly, the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 notes that quality

education is important if the country is to respond effectively to the development challenges it is

faced with.

There are several ways to measure the of quality of education. Two of these are critical and used in

many countries. The first one looks at students’ development of basic skills, namely reading, writing

and arithmetic. A recent report on the same in Tanzania (Uwezo, 2010) reveals that though there has

been a notable achievement in enrolment, construction of schools and teacher training, children learn

very little; by their final year of primary education, many do not have basic numeracy and literacy skills.

A second way to measure the quality of education focuses on performance in public examinations.

Public examinations are a powerful indicator of standards of education in a country and examinations

results are used to make judgement about individuals and institutions. Examinations are also useful

indicators of the extent to which children have learned and are a useful source of information for parents

on making decisions about their children’s learning. In Tanzania, national examinations are organised

and administered by the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA). Using this measure with

respect to Tanzania, it can be concluded that our standards of education have been falling consistently

in the past five years.

The 2010 National Form Four Examinations results sent shockwaves across the country following

massive failures (see Figure 1). Of the 354, 042 candidates who sat for the 2010 National Form Four

Examinations, 177,021 (50 per cent) candidates scored Division 0 and 136, 633 (38.6 per cent) scored

Division IV. Only 15,335 (4.3per cent) candidates scored Divisions I and II, while 88.6 percent of the

candidates scored division IV and 0! Strictly speaking, therefore, 88. 6 percent of candidates who sat for

the National Form Four Examination in 2010failed as they cannot proceed to join the any of the country’s

higher education institutions through formal system. The consequences of these failures are immense

and far reaching. This is a group that will find it very hard to secure employment because of a lack of

basic numeracy and literacy skills.

2

Figure 1: National Form Four Examination Results 2010

The poor state of the quality of education in the country has been attributed to several factors. Mosha

(2011) has summarised these factors and grouped them into two major categories, namely: contextual

factors and input factors. According to Mosha, contextual factors include political, economic, legal,

demographic, cultural and international conditions. Input factors include poor institutional leadership,

poor funding for the education sector, poor state of the teaching and learning infrastructure, poor quality

of teachers and curriculum problems. The relationship between the quality of education and teacher

supply and competence, as well as educational leadership quality has been discussed at length by

Oduro, Dachi & Fertig (2008). Oduro et al. have argued that education reforms in Africa have mainly

focused on expanding access to education with little attention on the quality of education offered.

Most of the factors that contribute to the poor quality of education as identifi ed by previous studies

mainly have to do with ineffi cient teaching and learning infrastructure. In particular, there have been very

few studies that have focused on the quality and commitment of teachers as affecting effective learning

and ultimately successful academic achievement. Indeed, a close examination of the various past and

present education reform programmes pioneered by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training

(MoEVT) shows, among other issues, very little focus on teachers as an important factor in transforming

the education system, particularly when it comes to improving their welfare and professionalism. For

example, of the 39 priority programme areas in the Secondary Education Development Programme

(SEDP) II, only two of these are distantly focused on improving teachers’ welfare and professionalism.

And yet, teachers are a key ingredient in determining the quality of education. The quality of education is

directly related to the quality of teaching and learning. There are many factors that determine the quality

of teaching, including teacher qualifi cations and experiences, their level of motivation, and working

conditions. Studies show that when teachers are motivated and love the teaching profession, students

are motivated to learn and they learn the content taught by their teachers more effectively (Caprara et

al., 2006). It is therefore important to foster teachers’ motivation as one of the measures to address the

problem of the deteriorating quality of education. Therefore, this study was carried out as an attempt to

address this gap in knowledge on the one hand, and to examine systematically measures and strategies

for increasing teachers’ motivation and commitment to teach, on the other.

Div I Div II Div III Div IV Div 0

3

1.2. Purpose and objectives of the studyThe purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers’ qualifications and commitment to teach

affects the quality of education as measured by students’ academic achievement. More specifically, the

study aimed to:

were related to students’ academic performance;

performance;

those subjects;

Tanzania.

This report documents the findings of the said study. It is organised into four major sections:

(i) Background to the study, (ii) Methodology, (iii) Findings and (iv) Summary conclusions and

recommendations.

4

PART II

Methodology

2.1. ApproachThis study addressed several aspects relating to the quality of education. First, the study assessed teachers’

qualifications in three types of schools, namely government schools, private schools and community schools.

Secondly, the study examined teachers’ commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession and

how this relates to students’ performance. Teachers’ commitment was measured using a questionnaire

that was adapted from instruments that have been used and validated internationally, as well as engaging

teachers in focus group discussions (explained below). Thirdly, the study broadly explored teachers’ views

about how the quality of education could be improved in schools.

In a sense, this research addressed the quality of education mainly from teachers’ perspectives. The study

used a mixed method approach and multiple sources of data collection that were grounded in both quantitative

and qualitative approaches. The quantitative approach was useful in gathering basic quantitative data

including teachers’ demographics and for scoring their attitude and commitment to the teaching profession.

Qualitative approach was useful in gathering teachers’ perspectives about the teaching profession, as well

as their views and opinion about the measures and strategies to raise the quality of education in the country.

2.2. Study sitesThis study was conducted in six regions, namely Coast, Mbeya, Kigoma, Singida, Dodoma and Mtwara.

These regions were purposively selected on the basis of their performance in the 2010 National Form

Four Examinations; two regions each were selected from clusters of high, medium and low performing

regions. Coast and Mbeya regions were the highest performing regions, while Kigoma and Singida

regions were medium performing and Dodoma and Mtwara were lowest performing regions.

In each region, six schools were purposively selected to participate in the study: two old government

schools, which were named as ‘public national schools,’ two community schools, which were named

as ‘public community schools’ and two private schools. The criterion for selection of the schools was

high-low performance and/or urban-rural locality.

For the purpose of this research, public national schools were defined as schools owned and managed

by the Government and that were established between independence and up to 2000, before the

government drive to build secondary schools in each ward. ‘Public community schools’ are defined

as schools that have been built by the communities at ward level by Government support, which are

owned by the Government. These are the schools that have been introduced in the 2000s as part of the

Government initiative to increase enrolment in secondary education.

2.3. Participants and selection procedures The study mainly involved teachers and heads of schools. Teachers were involved in questionnaire

completion and interviews/focus group discussions (details provided in the next section). The teachers’

sample was conveniently selected; all teachers present at the school on the day of the school visit were

requested to complete the questionnaire. Additionally, between six and nine teachers in each school

5

were requested to take part in the focus group discussions. All heads of participating schools and

districts were interviewed.

2.4. Data collection toolsFour main tools were used to collect data in this study. First, a questionnaire was administered to

teachers. The teachers’ questionnaire assessed five major areas, which are: teachers’ background

characteristics, working conditions, motivation and attitudes towards teaching, commitment to teach

and views on school administration effectiveness.

Second, interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with teachers and heads of schools.

These mainly focused on the reasons for falling standards in education and views and perspectives

about teachers’ effectiveness and commitment to the teaching profession.

Third, there was a school mapping guide. This tool was useful in collecting basic school data, including

number and qualifications of teachers, availability and quality of teaching and learning facilities, and

school performance in national examinations in the past three years.

2.5. Data management and analysisQuantitative data from questionnaires and school mapping guides were entered into SPSS Version

17.0. They were then cleaned and appropriate analyses ran. The analyses mainly involved descriptive

statistics, though a few inferential statistical analyses were also performed.

Interview and focus group discussion proceedings were conducted in Kiswahili and recorded verbatim

using tape recorders. They were then transcribed and translated into English. Both Kiswahili and

English files were stored on computer hard discs and flash disks as backup copies. Qualitative data

were analysed following a thematic analysis framework, in which themes were identified and illustrated

using participants’ quotes.

6

PART III

Research Findings

The findings are presented in four major sections. The first section presents the findings of the school

mapping guide, including key school data such as background information, the number and qualifications

of teachers, as well as the school performance in the 2010 National Form Four Examination. The section

also presents the relationship between teachers’ qualifications and students’ performance in the national

examinations. The second section presents findings on the teachers’ motivation and commitment to

teaching. The third section presents findings on teachers’ views about the teaching professions and

what measures should be taken to improve the quality of education in the country.

3.1. Findings of the school mapping guide

3.1.1 Background of schools surveyed

As stated earlier, a total of six regions were surveyed. In each region, six schools were sampled, making a

total of 36 sample schools from all the regions. A total of 30 schools effectively participated in the survey

(83.3% response rate). However, only 24 schools were included in the final analysis. The remaining

schools were excluded for various reasons, including the fact that some of them had only A’ Level

classes, while the study basically focused on ordinary level secondary schools.

Of the 24 schools in the study then, as Figure 2 shows, 29.2 per cent were public national schools,

37.5 per cent public community schools, 20.8 per cent private schools owned by Christian based

organisations, 4.2 per cent were private schools owned by Islamic based organisations and 8.3 per

cent were private schools owned by individual organisations.

A majority of the schools surveyed were established either between 1990 and 2000 or after 2000

(see Figure 3). As expected, and as shown in Figure 4, the majority (85.7 per cent) of public national

schools surveyed were established before the 1990s, while the majority (88.9 per cent) of the public

community schools surveyed were established after 2000. The majority (60 per cent) of private schools

owned by Christian and Islamic based organisations were established between 1990 and 2000, while

the majority of private schools owned by individual based organisations were established before 2000.

This implies that, in the recent years, the Government through community based initiatives has been the

main developer of secondary schools in the country.

7

Figure 2: Ownership of schools surveyed (N=24)

Figure 3: Timing of establishment of schools surveyed

Figure 4: Timing of school establishment by ownership

Private

-Indiv

idual

Organis

ation

s

Private

-Reli

gion

Islam

before 1990s 1990-2000 after 2000

Private

-Reli

gion

Christi

an

Public

Com

munity

Sch

ools

Public

Nati

onal

Schoo

ls

Private

-Chri

stian

Sch

ools

Private

-Islam

ic Sch

ools

Public

-Nati

onal

Schoo

lsPub

lic-C

ommun

ity

Schoo

lsPriv

ate-In

dividu

al Sch

ools

before 1990

1990-2000

after 2000

50% 50%

20%0%

8

3.1.2 Variation of student academic performance by school ownership

Analysis was conducted to examine variations instudent academic performance by school ownership.

A school’s academic performance was assessed on the basis of the performance of its students in the

2010 National Form Four Examination. The results are summarised in Table 1 and Figure 5.

When the results are analysed by ownership category, they showed that private schools owned by

Christian organisations performed far better than those owned by other institutions. Again, as would be

expected, overall, public-community schools were the worst performers in the 2010 Form Four National

Examinations. For example, 65.5 per cent of candidates in public community school scored Division 0,

while 29.3 per cent scored Division IV and only 5.2 per cent scored between Division I and III.

Table 1: Variation in Students’ Academic Performance by School Ownership.1

Division Public-National Public-Community Private-Christian Private-Individual

Division I & II 13.8 1.2 71.9 2.9

Division III 15.7 4 5 14.5

Division IV 37.5 29.3 13.7 66.7

Division 0 33.0 65.5 9.4 15.9

Figure 5: Variation in students’ academic performance by school ownership

3.1.3 Relationship between teachers qualifications and students’ academic performance

Teachers’ qualifications were measured at four levels. A school with between 80-100 per cent of graduate

teachers was rated as ‘highly qualified, while a school with 50-79 per cent of graduate teachers was

rated as ‘qualified’. A school with between 40-49 per cent of graduate teachers was rated as ‘average’.

Finally, a school with less than 40 per cent of graduate teachers was rated as ‘poor’.

As Figure 7 shows, the public-national schools had the most number of qualified teachers, followed

by private schools owned by Christian based organisations. Private schools owned by Islamic and

1 Schools owned by Islamic organisations were removed from this analysis due to a very small sample involved for

Public Schools Public Community Private-Christian Private-Individual

Division I & II

Division III

Division IV

Division 0

9

individual organisations had the least proportion of qualified teachers. For example, while 85.7 per

cent of teachers in public national schools and 40 per cent of teachers in private schools owned by

Christian based organisations were graduate teachers, none of the teachers in the surveyed private

schools owned by Islamic and private based organisations were graduate teachers. However, it should

be noted that, of the 303 teachers surveyed, only 11 (3.6 per cent), 21 schools (6.9 per cent) and 39

(12.9 per cent) came from schools owned by Islamic, Christian and individual organisations respectively.

The majority of teachers came from public national schools (116) and public community schools (116).

Figure 6: Proportion of teachers with degree qualification and above by school ownership category

3.1.4 Variation in performance by level of teaching and learning facilities

Two major teaching and learning facilities were considered in this regard, namely school laboratories

and libraries. According to national policy, every secondary school is to have three laboratories, one

each for physics, chemistry, and biology. However, only a few schools had all the three laboratories.

As such, the benchmark for analysis and for comparison purposes was the availability of at least one

laboratory and a library. As Figure 6 shows, only public national and private schools owned by Christian

based organisations had at least a laboratory and a library.

There was a statistically significant variation in students’ academic performance between schools that

had laboratories (X2= [N=24, 4] =18.80, p=.001, Phi=.89) and libraries (X2= [N=24, 8] =21.38, p=.006,

Phi=.94) and those that did not, with the implication that these two items were significant determinants

of students’ academic performance.

Private

-Indiv

idual

Private

-Islam

Private

-Chri

stian

Public

-Com

munity

Sch

ools

Public

-Nati

onal

Schoo

ls

10

Figure 7: Proportion of schools with libraries and laboratories by school ownership category.2

3.2. Teachers’ motivation and commitment to the teaching profession

3.2.1 Teachers’ background information

A total of 303 teachers completed the questionnaire, with 70.5 per cent of them being male and 29.1 per

cent female. Their mean age was 33.0 (SD=9.2) and their age ranged between 19 and 67 years.

The respondents were evenly distributed across the participating regions, though a slightly higher

proportion of respondents came from the Coast Region (see Figure 8). A majority (40 per cent) of

teachers who completed the questionnaire were teachers of Arts and Humanities; the rest were Science

and Mathematics (37 per cent) and Language (23 per cent) teachers (see Figure 9).

A majority of teachers were either diploma (38 per cent) or degree holders (42 per cent) in education

(Figure 10). Furthermore, as Figure 10 shows, the majority of the teachers who completed the

questionnaire had less than five (5) years of teaching experience.

Figure 8: Distribution of respondents by location (region)

2 Schools owned by Islamic organisations were removed from this analysis due to a very small sample involved for these schools.

Only one school qualified to be included in the final analysis.

Public-NationalSchools

Public-CommunitySchools

Private-ChristianSchools

Private-IndividualSchools

Coast

Library

Laboratory

11

Figure 9: Distribution of respondents by teaching subjects

Figure 10: Distribution of respondents by teaching qualifi cations

Figure 11: Teaching experience of responding teachers

3.2.2 Teachers’ participation in professional development programmes

To assess their level of participation in professional development programmes, teachers were asked

to indicate whether they had attended any in-service teacher training/development programmes in the

past two years.

or below

Less than5 years

5-9 years 10-20 years > 20 years

Diplomain Education

Degree in Education

Licensed Teachersor No Teaching

Science and Mathematics

Languages

12

The results show that only 15.3 per cent of teachers indicated having attended any professional development

programme in the past two years. The trend of responses was fairly consistent for all teachers regardless

of school ownership, though a slightly higher proportion of teachers in private schools owned by Christian

based organisations indicated having attended professional development programmes (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Proportion of teachers indicating having attended in-service professional development programmes in the past two years.3

3.2.3 Teachers motivation and attitudes towards teaching

To assess their motivation and attitudes towards teaching, teachers were provided with 19 statements

and asked to provide their opinion on a five-response option ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly

disagree.’ Table 3 summarises the results. A close look at these revealed four major reasons why

teachers may choose a teaching profession and remain in the service. These are ‘it’s easy to get a

teaching post,’ ‘because teaching offers more opportunities for continuing education,’ ‘desire to help

others’ and ‘desire to teach subject(s) I like.’ More than 60 per cent of teachers either strongly agreed or

agreed with these statements.

Factor analysis was conducted to examine the internal structure of the 19 statements with a view to

identifying the major factors that motivate teachers to join the teaching profession. Three major factors

emerged, namely interest and desire to help others, influence of significant others and better working

conditions. The results show that ‘interest and desire to help others’ is the major factor that may motivate

teachers to join the teaching profession, in which 45 per cent of respondents chose this as their main

reason for joining and remaining in the teaching profession. Four main statements fell under this

category. These are ‘desire to help others,’ ‘interest to work with children/teenagers,’ ‘desire to teach

subject (s) I like’ and ‘fitting my personality.’

Influence of significant others was the least motivating factor to join the teaching profession, with only

11.4 per cent of respondents indicating this as the reason that made them join the profession. Only 16

per cent of the responding teachers joined the teaching profession because it provides ‘better working

conditions’ (see Figure 13).

3 Note that only 11 teachers from one school participated in the Islamic school category

Public

-Nati

onal

Schoo

lsPub

lic-C

ommun

ity

Schoo

lsPriv

ate-C

hristi

an

Schoo

ls

Private

-Islam

ic Sch

ools

Private

-Indiv

idual

Schoo

ls

13

Figure 13: Teachers’ motivational factors for joining the teaching profession

Table 2: Teachers’ Motivation and Attitudes towards the Teaching Profession

% (N=)

Statement StronglyAgree

Agree Neutral Disagree StronglyDisagree

SA+A SD+D

1. It’s easy to get

teaching post

28.7 31.4 19.8 10.2 7.6 60.1 17.8

2. 2. It’s the only job

available given my

qualifications

8.6 20.8 12.2 34.3 21.1 29.4 55.4

3. Teaching

profession

provides better

job security

14.9 25.7 21.5 20.1 14.2 40.6 34.3

4. Due to higher

salary

1.7 3.3 11.9 26.1 53.5 5 79.6

5. Due to better

working hours

5.0 16.8 21.8 26.1 27.1 21.8 53.2

6. Due to higher

social status

4 17.5 20.8 28.4 24.1 21.5 52.5

7. Teaching offers

good career

prospect

8.6 29.7 21.1 18.8 16.5 38.3 35.3

Interest anddesire to help

others

Better workingconditions

Other factors

14

8. Because teaching

offers more

opportunities

for continuing

education

23.8 37 14.9 9.6 10.9 60.8 20.5

9. Due to govern-

ment’s regard for

education

9.6 19.8 26.1 24.1 15.8 29.4 39.9

10. Interest to work

with children/

teenagers

11.6 29.4 16.8 20.1 17.5 41 37.6

11. Fitting my

personality

13.2 27.7 25.7 15.5 13.2 40.9 28.7

12. Desire to help

others

30.7 37.3 13.5 7.9 7.6 68 15.5

13. Desire to teach

subject(s) I like

27.1 37 13.5 9.9 9.6 64.1 19.5

14. Influence of

teachers

6.6 19.1 21.5 29.7 18.8 25.7 48.5

15. Influence of family 5.9 16.8 22.1 29.7 21.5 22.7 51.2

16. Influence of peers 3.3 12.5 19.5 33.7 27.1 15.8 60.8

17. Influence of the

mass media

4.3 9.6 16.8 35 30.4 13.9 65.4

18. Reflecting my

religious beliefs

7.6 15.2 16.8 28.4 27.4 22.8 55.8

19. Challenging job

nature

10.9 22.8 24.4 18.2 20.1 33.7 38.3

When the results were analysed by school ownership category, it was revealed that ‘better working

conditions’ was the most important factor that motivated teachers in private schools owned by Islamic

based organisations, where as teachers in public national schools, public community schools and

private schools owned by Christian based organisations were mainly motivated by factors related to

‘interest and desire to help others’ (see Figure 14).

15

Figure 14: Variation of motivational factors by school ownership category

3.2.4 Teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession

Seventeen items were included in the questionnaire to assess teachers’ commitment to the teaching

profession. The results are summarised in Tables 4 and 5. Overall, commitment to teaching was low.

For example, only 40.6 per cent of teachers strongly agreed and agreed with the statement that ‘my

aspiration is to continue being a teacher,’ while only 45.2 per cent of teachers strongly agreed and

agreed with the statement that ‘I find teaching a very interesting task, full of satisfaction.’ Furthermore,

only 33.7 per cent reported that ‘I like school life and am willing to teach lifelong,’ while only 35.3 per

cent of teachers agreed with the statement that ‘If I am going to choose, I will still choose to be a teacher.’

Again, only 42.5 per cent strongly agreed and agreed with the statement that ‘ I am very satisfied with

the school I teach.’

Table 3: Teachers’ Commitment to the Teaching Profession

%

Statements SA A N D SD SA+A SD+D

1. My aspiration is to

continue being a teacher

12.9 27.7 22.8 17.5 17.2 40.6 34.7

2. I like teaching more than

before

12.5 30.7 21.5 17.5 14.9 43.2 32.4

3. I like to teach my elective

subject matter knowledge

to my students

30.0 47.2 13.2 3.3 3.3 77.2 6.6

4. I am willing to try my

best to help my school

development

38.6 46.5 5.9 3.0 2.6 85.1 5.6

5. No matter how bad students

behave, I am still trying my

best to teach them

38.6 37.0 8.9 6.6 5.0 75.6 11.6

Public

-Nati

onal

Schoo

lsPub

lic-C

ommun

ity

Schoo

lsPriv

ate-C

hristi

an

Schoo

lsPriv

ate-Is

lamic

Schoo

lsPriv

ate-In

dividu

al Sch

ools

Interest and desire to help others

Better working conditions0%13% 1%8%

16

6. I find teaching a very

interesting task, full of

satisfaction

16.5 29.7 18.5 17.2 14.2 46.2 31.4

7. To be a teacher was/

is one of my first three

career choices

22.1 36.3 15.5 11.9 10.6 58.4 22.5

8. Teaching is too hard and

there is no adequate

return

23.8 24.8 17.5 18.8 12.2 48.6 31.0

9. The students’ attitudes

and behaviours have

weakened my enthusiasm

to teach

11.6 22.1 17.5 31.7 13.2 33.7 44.9

10. The teaching load is too

much for me and I want

to give up teaching

7.9 12.2 20.8 35.6 20.1 20.1 55.7

11. I like school life and am

willing to teach lifelong

10.9 22.8 23.1 24.8 15.2 33.7 40.0

12. I am not frustrated; I

have a clear sense of

achievement in teaching

14.9 17.8 18.8 27.7 17.5 32.7 45.2

13. Even if there is a better

job, I will continue

teaching

29.0 19.5 18.5 17.5 12.5 48.5 30.0

14. The appreciation

displayed by the school/

principal made me work

harder

10.9 30.0 23.8 16.8 13.9 40.9 30.7

15. If am going to choose, I

will still choose to be a

teachers

10.2 25.1 24.4 18.2 18.2 35.3 36.4

16. I am very satisfied with

the school I teach

15.5 37.0 21.8 12.5 10.2 52.5 22.7

17. In general, I like teaching

my students

32.0 46.5 11.2 4.0 3.6 78.5 7.6

Average score 19.9 30.2 17.9 16.7 12.0 50.0 28.8

A factor analysis was conducted to examine the internal structures of the teachers’ commitment scales in

which the 17 items were subjected to principal component analysis. Three main components emerged

reflecting three aspects of the teachers’ commitment level. These were named as ‘commitment to and

17

satisfaction with the teaching profession,’ ‘commitment to helping students’ and ‘commitment to and

satisfaction with the school.’ The results are summarised in Figures 15 and 16. Figure 15 shows the

overall commitment level in the three aspects and Figure 16 shows the commitment level on the basis

of the school ownership category.

As Figure 15 shows, teachers reported strong commitment to helping students, with 80.1 per cent of

teachers reporting being commitment to helping students. Commitment to teaching was very low with

only 36.6 per cent of teachers reporting being committed to and satisfied with the teaching profession.

Similarly, commitment to school was low, with only 42.4 per cent of teachers reporting being committed

to the school they were teaching at.

Figure 15: Percentage of teachers reporting their commitment to various aspects of teaching profession

3.2.5 Variation in teachers’ commitment by school ownership category

Analysis was done to examine variation in teachers’ commitment by school ownership category by

comparing the level of commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession among teachers

in public and private schools. The results are summarised in Figure 16. Overall, teachers in private

Christian based schools expressed strong commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession

compared to teachers in other schools. For example, while 73 per cent of teachers in private Christian

based schools reported commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession, less than 55 per

cent of teachers in other schools reported commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession.

Commitment to schools teachers worked at was lowest among teachers working in private schools owned

by individual organisations and those working in public community schools, but it was exceptionally

high among teachers working in Private Christian schools. For example, while 71 per cent of teachers

working in private Christian schools reported being committed to and satisfied with the schools they

were working at, only 32 per cent of teachers in private schools owned by individuals reported as such.

Only 36 per cent of teachers in public community schools and 46 per cent of teachers in public national

schools reported being committed to and satisfied with the schools they were working with. There was

also a relatively strong commitment to schools among teachers in private Islamic owned schools, with

56 per cent of teachers in these schools reporting being committed to and satisfied with the schools

they were working at.

Commitment to andsatisfaction with

teaching profession

Commitment tohelping students

Commitment to andsatisfaction with school

18

Figure 16: Teachers’ commitment and satisfaction levels by category of teaching school.4

Overall and on average, only 58.6 per cent of teachers surveyed reported being satisfied with the

working conditions in the schools they were working. When the analysis was done with respect to

school category, as Figure 17 shows, the results showed that a statistically significantly (X2=[N=297,

12]=49.9, p<.0005) higher proportion of teachers working in private schools owned by Christian

organisations (95 per cent) and those owned by Islamic organisations (82 per cent) reporting being

satisfied with the working conditions of their schools than teachers working in public national

schools (59 per cent), public community schools (51 per cent) and private schools owned by

individual organisations (51 per cent).

Figure 17: Proportion of teachers reporting being satisfied with the working conditions at their schools.5

3.2.6 Variation in teachers’ commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession by sex

Analysis was also conducted to examine the variation in teachers’ commitment by sex. Surprisingly,

though the variation was not statistically significant, a higher proportion of male teachers reported being

4 Again note than only 11 teachers from only one school participated from private schools owned by Islamic organisations.5 Data on the teachers from Islamic schools need to be interpreted with care due to small sample size involved

Public

-Nati

onal

Schoo

ls

Public

-Nati

onal

Schoo

lsPub

lic-C

ommun

ity

Schoo

ls

Private

-Chri

stian

Sch

ools

Private

-Islam

ic Sch

ools

Private

-Indiv

idual

Schoo

ls

Public

-Com

munity

Sch

ools

Private

-Chri

stian

Sch

ools

Private

-Islam

ic Sch

ools

Private

-Indiv

idual

Schoo

ls

Commitment to and satisfaction with teaching profession

Commitment to helping students

Commitment to and satisfaction with school

19

committed to and satisfied with the various aspects of the teaching profession than of their counterpart

female teachers. For example, overall, 55.4 per cent of male teachers reported being committed to and

satisfied with the teaching profession compared to 46 per cent of female teachers.

When the analysis was done according to the three categories of teachers’ commitment, the results

showed a similar trend with a higher proportion of male teachers reporting commitment to the various

aspects of teaching profession than of female teachers.

For example 38. 5 per cent of male teachers reported being commitment to and satisfied with teaching,

compared to 27 per cent of female teachers. Furthermore, while 82 per cent of male teachers reported

being committed to helping students, 76.5 per cent of female teachers reported the same. Again, 45.8

per cent of teachers reported that they were committed to and satisfied with the schools they were

teaching at compared to 34.9 per cent (see Figure 18).

Figure 18: Variation in teachers’ commitment by sex

3.2.7 Variation in teachers’ commitment to and satisfaction with the teaching profession by

teaching experience and subjects

Analysis was conducted to examine the variation in teachers’ commitment by teaching experience and

the subjects they were teaching. The results are summarised in Table 5.

The results show that, on average, language teachers were much more committed to and satisfied

with the teaching profession than teachers of arts and science subjects. For example, 85.4 per cent of

language teachers reported being committed to helping students, compared to 78.1 per cent of arts

teachers and 79.6 per cent of science teachers. Again, 45.1 per cent of language teachers reported

being committed to and satisfied with the school they were working at, compared to 37.3 per cent of

science teachers and 44.8 per cent of arts teachers. But, a higher (39.9 per cent) proportion of science

teachers reported being committed to and satisfied with the teaching profession than language teachers

(35.4 per cent) and arts teachers (34.9 per cent). However, Chi-square tests revealed no statistically

significant variation among the three groups of teachers.

Teaching qualification was in many aspects inversely related to commitment to teaching, with teachers

with lower qualification reporting higher commitment to teaching than teachers with higher qualifications.

For example, a statistically significantly higher (64.3 per cent) proportion of licensed teachers reported

Commitment to andsatisfaction with teaching

profession

Commitment to helping students

Commitment to andsatisfaction with school

Male

Female

20

being committed to and satisfied with the teaching profession than those with diploma (40.1 per cent)

and degree (28.4 per cent) qualifications. Again, 93.3 per cent of teachers with licensed qualifications

reported being committed to helping students, compared to 75.5 per cent of diploma teachers and

79.6 per cent of degree teachers. However, a higher proportion of teachers with degree qualifications

reported being committed to and satisfied with the school they were teaching at than teachers with

diploma (38.3 per cent) and license qualifications (35.7 per cent).

Table 4: Variation in Teachers’ Commitment by Teaching Subjects and Qualifications

Teaching subjects Teaching experience

Arts Languages Science p Diploma Degree Licensed p

1. Commitment to

and satisfaction

with teaching

profession

34.9 35.4 39.9 0.70 40.1 28.4 64.3 0.03

2. Commitment to

helping students

78.1 85.4 79.6 0.90 75.5 79.6 93.3 0.68

3. Commitment to

and satisfaction

with school

44.8 45.1 37.3 0.45 38.3 44.5 35.7 0.28

3.3. School administration effectivenessSchool administration is an important attribute in determining teachers’ commitment to teaching. In this

study, we asked teachers to rate their school administration in several aspects. They were provided with

12 statements and requested to rate how much they agreed on a five response option, ranging from

‘strongly agree’ to strongly disagree.’ Table 6 and Figure 19 summarise the results.

As Figure 19 shows, with the exception of teachers in private Christian schools, teachers’ opinion about

their school administration was quite low. For example, on average, while 79.8 per cent of teachers in

private Christian schools reported that their school administration was effective in various aspects, only

48 per cent of teachers in public community schools, 37.9 per cent of teachers in private Islamic schools

and 47 per cent of teachers in schools owned by private organisations had this opinion. Thus, though

the variation was not statistically significant (X2= [N=266, 16]=16.82, p=.40), there was a remarkably

clear difference in the opinion about school administration effectiveness among teachers in the five

school categories, with a higher proportion of teachers in private Christian schools expressing favourable

attitudes about their school administration than teachers in other schools.

Again, when the analysis was done by various aspects, teachers in private Christian schools scored far

higher than teachers in other schools. For example, while 76.2 per cent of teachers in private Christian

schools strongly agreed and agreed with the view that their schools administration ‘nurtures favourable

working environment,’ only 49.1 per cent of teachers in public national schools, 37 per cent in public

community schools, 45.5 per cent in private Islamic schools and 35.9 per cent of teachers in schools

owned by private organisations had this opinion. Interestingly, however, a significantly higher proportion

21

of teachers in private Islamic schools had a positive opinion about two aspects of school administration

effectiveness, namely ‘maintains high levels of discipline’ and ‘has exemplary character.’ For example,

72.7 per cent of teachers in these schools strongly agreed and agreed that their school administration

‘maintains high levels of discipline;’ 72.8 per cent of teachers in these schools strongly agreed and

agreed that their school administration ‘has exemplary character.’

Table 5: Percentage of Teachers Rating the Effectiveness of their School Administration

% Strongly Agreeing and Agreeing

Statements Public national schools

Public community

schools

Private Christian schools

Private Islamic schools

Private Individual schools

1. Nurtures favourable working

environment

49.1 37.0 76.2 45.5 35.9

2. Ensures cohesiveness/

cooperation between

administration/staff/students/

community

57.7 54.3 81.0 18.2 48.7

3. Has sound plans, well

organised

55.2 49.1 85.7 0 46.2

4. Encourages involvement in the

running of school matter

52.7 53.4 81.0 27.3 48.8

5. Fosters cooperation 60.3 48.3 85.7 45.5 59.0

6. Allows free flow of information 55.2 49.1 76.2 27.3 50.0

7. Demonstrates high leadership

qualities

50.9 44.8 66.6 27.3 51.3

8. Conducts regular and fair

evaluation for staff

54.3 45.7 76.2 36.4 38.5

9. Ensures that there are

adequate teaching learning

materials

55.2 48.3 76.2 45.5 41.0

10. Maintains high levels of

discipline

62.1 56.9 90.5 72.7 56.4

11. Has exemplary character 51.8 43.1 80.9 72.8 43.6

12. Demonstrates exemplary

qualities of a good teacher

60.4 46.5 81.0 36.4 53.8

Average 55.4 48.0 79.8 37.9 47.8

22

Figure 19: Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing and agreeing that their school administration is effective

3.4. Summary: The relationship between teachers’ qualifications, commitment to the profession and perception of school administration effectiveness and school academic performanceIt is clear from the above findings that three factors emerge as the most significant determinants of

school academic performance. These are teachers’ qualifications, teachers’ commitment to the teaching

profession and teachers’ positive perception of school administration effectiveness. The results of this

study clearly point out that qualified teachers are likely to lead to better students’ performance, but this is

only if other factors are taken into consideration, namely teachers’ commitment to the job as well as their

satisfaction with the school administration. This implies that improving teachers’ qualifications needs to

go hand in hand with improving teachers’ working conditions and school administration effectiveness

so that teachers are happy with their jobs and their commitment to the profession may be increased.

However, when Chi-square tests were conducted only teachers’ commitment and perception of school

administration effectiveness revealed statistically significant results.

3.5. Teachers’ views about the teaching profession: findings of Focus Group Discussions3.5.1 Introduction

As a follow up to the questionnaire study, teachers were given an opportunity to share their experiences

about the teaching profession and their working conditions in general through focus group discussions.

At least one focus group discussion was conducted at each participating school, with participants

ranging between five (5) and nine (9).. The proceedings of focus group discussions were tape recorded

and transcribed verbatim. The transcriptions were subjected to thematic analysis, in which key themes

were identified and illustrated using participants’ quotes.

Four major themes were identified, which are: (i) why teachers joined the teaching profession; (ii)

teachers’ experiences of the teaching profession; (iii) teachers’ views regarding the reasons for students’

poor academic performance and (iv) what should be done to improve the quality of teaching and quality

of education. These themes are presented and illustrated below.

3.5.2 Why teachers joined the teaching profession?

The analysis of the proceedings of the focus group discussions revealed five major reasons that motivated

Public-NationalSchools

Public-CommunitySchools

Private-ChristianSchools

Private-IslamicSchools

Private-IndividualSchools

23

teachers to join the teaching profession. The first and most prominent reason is the ease with which one

could get employed after graduation. Many teachers explained that they joined the teaching profession

because they believed that it would be easier for them to secure employment after completing their

studies compared to other professions. Teachers’ also explained that the teaching profession provided

the surest way to help their families as employment is guaranteed as soon as one completes his or her

studies. Some of the participants’ remarks are illustrated by these quotes.

I think the major reason that compelled me to join this profession (teaching) was the fact that I

thought it’d be easy to secure employment after my studies. But if it were possible to get

employment in other professions I would have never joined the teaching profession (Teacher,

School A1, Coast Region).

I chose to be a teacher because I knew it was easy to get a job in the teaching sector. I have many

relatives who took other courses and I had seen how they struggled getting employment; I didn’t

want to suffer the same problem, so I decided to become a teacher. But teaching is not my long-

term career; ultimately I will certainly abandon this profession (Teacher, School Z, Coast Region).

Honestly, I became a teacher rather accidentally! It was simply because it was easier for me to

get a job. But of course after joining this profession there is nothing really motivating me to continue

being a teacher. It’s just a matter a time; I will certainly leave this profession (Teacher, School H,

Dodoma Region).

Let nobody cheat you. We are here because we wanted employment and teaching is the easiest

way to get a job (Teacher, School D, Singida Region).

The second reason that was frequently cited as a factor that compelled teachers to join the profession

was their failure to qualify to study to join other professions. Teachers explained that some of them joined

the teaching profession after failing to obtain the level of qualifications required to undertake studies

in areas such as finance, economics, medicine, engineering, etc. Thus, they thought that teaching

profession would be an entry into other professions of their liking. As such, teaching was very much

a ‘by the way’ profession, while waiting for something better to come along. This clearly makes the

teachers less attached and less committed to the teaching profession. A few quoted remarks below are

illustrative:

People join this profession (teaching) as a last resort, they have not been able to find anything

else meaningful in their life and, of course, teaching profession is the only remaining option. I am

a typical example; I’m here because my Form six results were miserable; I wanted to do Economics,

but my grades couldn’t allow me, otherwise I would have never been a teacher (Teacher, School

Z1, Coast Region).

.........Again, this is the only profession which anybody can join. If you fail this is where you end up. So here

I am because, of course, I failed to get good grades to join other profession. Where else would I

have gone with my poor grades in every subject I did. For example, I had only two credits both ‘E’;

where else could I have gone if not for a diploma in teaching? (Teacher, School D, Singida Region).

24

Teaching was not my first choice. My first choice was tourism, and I chose teaching as a third

choice. I was forced to be a teacher; they gave me my third choice. Since then I have been an

unhappy man (Teacher, School A, Singida Region).

On my partI joined the teaching profession because I got Division III and I couldn’t get good credits

for me to join A’ level studies, so I had to go do a Diploma in Education. So teaching was not my

choice at all, but circumstances forced me to join it due to my poor passes. But if anything better

came along I would quickly walk out of this profession without any question (Teacher, School J,

Dodoma Region).

Though a majority of teachers in the focus group discussions cited poor qualifications and the ease of

securing employment as their major reasons for joining the teaching profession, a few other teachers

cited other factors such as ‘personal interest and influence from significant others.’ Some teachers

explained that they joined the teaching profession because they liked the profession and they believed

it was the best way to serve society. They also viewed the teaching profession as a noble profession that

required noble people.

Other teachers explained that they joined the teaching profession because of the influence of their

parents and/or other close relatives. They observed that they joined the teaching profession simply

because their parents or other people who matter to them were teachers. Additionally, other teachers

said that they joined the teaching profession because they were advised to do so by their significant

others. Some remarks illustrating these points of view are quoted below.

I love History, and thought being a History teacher would be the best way to expand my knowledge

in this area (Teacher, School J, Dodoma Region).

I’m just interested in teaching others; so joining the teaching profession was hundred percent my

own choice because I love teaching (Teacher, School Z, Coast Region).

For me it is because I was influenced by my background. In the village I come from teaching is the

only job that people know, so everybody kind of likes teaching, and I’m a product of that (Teacher,

School M, Kigoma Region).

I ‘inherited’ from my parents. Both my parents, dad and mom, are teachers and I grew up liking

teaching, and I’m actually happy being a teacher (Teacher, School T, Mtwara Region).

I don’t like the teaching profession. I wanted to do public administration, but my parents advised

me to do special education, which I agreed to and I was expecting that I would be teaching

children with special needs. But here I am, doing things that I never wanted to do. Instead of

posting me to special schools where I could teach children with disabilities they brought me, and

forced to teach a subject that I never wanted to (Teacher, School A, Singida Region).

3.5.3 Teachers’ experiences of the teaching profession

The analysis of the proceedings of focus group discussions with teachers revealed several issues which

can be summed up as their experiences in the teaching profession. These can be grouped into two broad

categories, which are positive and negative experiences. We highlight some of these experiences here.

25

Positive experiences (motivating factors)

Several positive experiences or motivating factors associated with the teaching profession were

underscored in the discussions. Firstly, teachers explained that they enjoyed the fact that the teaching

profession provided them with an opportunity to continue learning. They argued that it is only teaching

which makes it possible to learn and expand one’s horizon of knowledge on a continuous basis.

Secondly, teachers also underscored the fact that it was easier for teachers to pursue further studies

than for people in other professions. This therefore provided them with possibilities for advancing their

careers as well as the flexibility to change career. Thirdly, teachers observed that they felt good when

their job was appreciated, especially by the students they were teaching. They observed that many

students appreciated their job. Fourthly, the possibility of meeting new people and making new

friends was underscored as a positive experience. Some of the quotes illustrating these experiences

are given below.

Teaching has been good for me because I make friends and meet new people every day. Also it

gives room for us to know the real life of Tanzania; I have seen how poor and rich this country is

through the children I teach. This is a good experience for me (Teacher, School Z1, Coast Region).

The best thing about teaching is that you have to learn every day. The kind of students we’re

teaching these days ‘force’ us to learn. Because they know a lot of things if you don’t update your

knowledge you will be a laughing stock in the class. So in teaching you have to learn every day and

this is good for me (Teacher, School U, Mtwara Region).

The only moment I enjoy in this profession is when I see my students perform well in my subject,

especially in the national examinations. I feel very happy and proud when students do well in my

subject, I go around telling my colleagues and when you meet the headmaster you see him smiling

and this makes me feel good (Teacher, School H, Dodoma Region).

It gives a sense of fulfilment; it is good to know that I’m also contributing to improving somebody’s

life and that I’m also building the nation (Teacher, School C, Singida Region).

Negative experiences (de-motivating factors)

Teachers underscored many negative experiences in the teaching profession, which could also be

described as de-motivating factors or ‘frustrating’ factors. These mainly centred around two major areas,

namely a poor working environment and negative attitude of the teaching profession (by community,

students and even Government). We highlight and illustrate some of the teachers’ sentiments in these

areas below.

Many teachers complained that their students did not respect them and had very negative attitudes

towards the teaching profession. This was particularly the case with some private schools which enrol

students with privileged backgrounds. According to teachers, students in these schools believed their

teachers are in the teaching profession because they are poor. Some of the teachers’ comments in this

regard are as quoted below:

.......students see me as a failure, someone who is lost, they believe a teacher is a poor person, has

no direction in life. There are times students have asked me ‘madam, you are very intelligent,

but then why did you decide to be a teacher? These kinds of questions are embarrassing, it means

26

they believe a teacher is somebody who failed, who is not intelligent. When I tell them, I just liked

to be teacher, they tell me, don’t you see that you gave yourself a bad start in life (unachelewa

katika maisha)’. This is the life we live in this school (Teacher, School Z, Coast Region).

Ahaa, haa! Let me tell you a story.....there is one student in my class who is really very intelligent.

One day, ehee, I told her you will make a very good teacher. That statement made her cry a lot, I

was worried and asked why she was crying. Then, she told me she never wanted to be a teacher,

and that I was wishing her ill for telling her that she would make a good teacher. I felt very bad

(Teacher, School Z, Coast Region).

And on community and Government attitudes toward teachers, teachers said:

This is a very difficult profession. Nobody cares, not the community where you teach, not the

government. The community thinks we’re lost; we’re useless, destined to failure. The community

makes our life here very miserable because they don’t value what we’re doing. Again, our parent,

the government, is even worse. They just dump you in school and they leave just like that. Nobody

cares, no house, no transport. You even have to struggle to get your salary; I’m not even talking

about salaries being too small. Choosing to be a teacher is choosing to struggle throughout your

life (Teacher, School C, Singida Region).

Perhaps the most widely underscored de-motivating factors were related to poor working conditions

as manifested by meagre salaries and lack of teaching and learning facilities. Many teachers spoke

bitterly about the meagre salaries they were receiving, as well as the fact that many schools did not have

essential teaching facilities. Teachers also bitterly ‘lamented’ the lack of in-service training programmes.

More critically, they observed that when such opportunities happen it is their heads of school who

attend because they are associated with allowances.

3.5.4 Teachers’ perspectives about poor students’ performance and what should be done to

improve the quality of education

In the final part of the focus group discussions, participants were requested to highlight the reasons

they thought were behind students’ poor performance in national examinations, particularly reflecting

on the 2010 National Form Four Examination results. They were also requested to recommend

measures to address the situation and to improve the quality of education in the country in general.

Two major factors were underscored as responsible for poor performance. Firstly, a majority of

teachers cited poor teaching conditions as the major reason for poor performance. Teachers were

clear that they felt that given their poor working environments teachers were not performing at

maximum potential and that the school environment was hindering them from performing their

duties effectively and efficiently. Three major issues were particularly cited as constituting a poor

working environment: poor salaries and other incentives for teachers, lack of teaching and learning

facilities and poor school leadership and administration.

‘Poor salaries’ was perhaps the most de-motivating factor for a majority of teachers. They observed,

for example, that a graduate teacher was receiving less than TZS 500,000/= on first employment,

and wondered how many other government employees with the same level of education live on

this amount a month. They also said that, despite the meagre salaries they were receiving, many

27

deductions further reduce their take home income.

There was also the issue of promotion. Many teachers complained that promotion is considered

a favour rather than based on merit by authorities. Teachers particularly complained of many

bureaucratic procedures that are involved in the promotion process, and the criteria for promotion

were not clear, which makes the whole process questionable. For example, teachers complained

that to be considered for promotion they have to be ‘kind and close’ to the officers of the

Teachers Service Depar tment (TSD),a body responsible for handling teachers’ professional

matters, including promotions.

Furthermore, teachers complained of the lack of housing facilities, which forced them to live very

miserable lives because they cannot afford decent accommodation due to the poor salaries they

were receiving. The problem of poor housing was particularly severe in schools located in rural

areas, and especially public community schools. Many public community schools surveyed were in

areas not connected to electricity and this made teachers’ lives even more miserable. Some of the

teachers’ comments quoted below are illustrative:

...As you can see our school is located 20Km from town. There is no electricity here, no teachers’

houses. We are expected to rent houses in the community, but have you seen the houses? Now,

how does this government think of us? Don’t they think that we are also human beings, educated

and we want a decent life? I would also like to be watching Manchester play, but look I’m here, no

electricity, no transport to town, and you want me to teach happily? (Teacher, School C, Singida

Region).

It is just bad luck to be a teacher in this country. You receive a very small salary, and the same

salary is subject to deductions, too many deductions, ehee. For example, why should my contribution

to health insurance increase with an increase in my salary? Why can’t they maintain the same

amount, given that I don’t even become sick every day, why is this happening to teachers? (Teacher,

School U, Mtwara Region).

Poor teaching and learning facilities were another frequently mentioned factor for students’ poor

academic performance. Teachers complained that the schools were generally ill equipped to support

teaching and learning. Teachers’ views in this area largely confirmed the findings of the questionnaire

and school mapping guide. For example, many schools do not have functioning laboratories and

libraries. Again, many subjects did not have supporting text or reference books. As such, teaching was

left to the individual initiative of the teacher, and this was not forthcoming given the level of motivation

and commitment to the teaching profession. For example, teachers observed that:

Schools have become places where young people just grow up, no learning is taking place. There

is no library here, no laboratory, no books; teachers are tired and sad all the time, now do you call

this a school, hee? (Teacher, School A, Singida Region).

Nevertheless, despite widespread criticisms about the poor state of the teaching and learning

environment, there were also some positive comments in a few schools, particularly private schools

owned by Christian based organisations. In these schools, the state of teaching and learning facilities,

as observed in the questionnaire findings, was far better and more promising than in other schools.

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As such, teachers in these schools believed that their schools were performing better in examinations

because their schools provided conducive and facilitative teaching and learning environments. For

example, a teacher from a Christian private school in Singida Region and who was unanimously

supported by others in the focus group discussion session, made the observation that:

Performance in our school is generally good. This is because the school is well equipped with

appropriate teaching and learning facilities, including laboratories. We also have a very good

library. Also teachers regularly attend various training programmes aimed at improving their

teaching practice and sharing ideas and skills, which are organised by the Christian Social Service

Commission.

The other factor that was related to students’ poor academic performance was poor school leadership

and administration. A majority of teachers in many of the schools surveyed were critical of their school

administration, observing it was not sensitive to the needs of teachers. Teachers also commented that

there was poor communication between teachers and their school administration. More critically, teachers

observed that there was no mechanism to recognise teachers’ efforts, even when they performed to

the best of their abilities in very difficult environments,; the school administration would quickly blame

teachers when students performed poorly in examinations. Some of the teachers’ comments about

school administrations are quoted below.

Our leadership is a big problem. To our headmistress academic development is of secondary

importance; she doesn’t care whether there are teaching facilities or not. Again, there is very

poor communication between us (teachers) and her; seeing her is very difficult - no meetings, she

does everything by herself (Teacher, School A, Singida Region).

Our school leadership is not keen on addressing teachers’ problems. There’s no supervision of

teaching activities, there are no seminars for teachers, nobody cares. A teacher can teach for

the whole year without a lesson plan, and nobody would ask you a question, it is a school for

nobody! (Teacher, School A, Singida Region).

Students’ poor academic background was another factor that was thought to contribute to students’

poor academic performance. This was particularly related to the lack of basic competencies required for

coping with secondary education. Teachers observed that many students joining secondary education,

particularly public community schools, have very weak academic backgrounds to the extent that they

cannot cope with the demands of secondary education. For example, teachers observed that many

students’ literacy levels were very low with some students unable to read and write. Furthermore, some

students had very low proficiency of Kiswahili language. This is clearly problematic because if students

cannot competently communicate in Kiswahili at the time of joining secondary education, how could

they be expected to handle learning their secondary school subjects in the English language? Some of

the teachers’ comments quoted below are illustrative.

...there are many students who can’t read and write in our school. I am teaching a Form One class,

and I know about ten students who neither read nor write; now how do you expect me to help

them? (Teacher, School U, Mtwara Region).

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This is a public community school (ward school), we receive very weak students, and we are

actually receiving leftovers, those who couldn’t be selected to join public national schools. Most of

the students we receive can’t write properly, their English proficiency is very low and they need a

lot of time to cope with secondary education (Teacher, School D, Singida Region).

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PART IV

4. Summary, conclusions and recommendations

4.1. SummaryUsing both quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study has examined how teachers’ qualifications,

motivation and commitment to teach affect students’ academic performance at secondary school level.

The study was conducted in six (6) regions and 36 schools, involving more than 300 teachers drawn from

public and private secondary schools. Teachers participated in the study by completing a questionnaire

and through focus group discussions.

The results have revealed several issues related to teachers’ qualifications, motivation and commitment

to teach and how these affect students’ academic achievement. These include the following:

i. Qualifications, motivation and commitment to teach are critical factors that drive students’ academic

performance. Qualifications alone without adequate teacher commitment do not lead to improvement

or better students’ academic performance.

ii. Schools with strongly committed teachers but not necessarily with highest qualifications (degree

holders and above) perform better in national examinations. On the other hand, schools with highly

qualified teachers but who are not very committed to the teaching profession did not necessarily

perform better in national examinations than those with average teacher qualifications (diploma or

below). Thus, for example, public schools which have the highest number of highly qualified teachers

did not perform as well as private schools owned by Christian organisations, which have a relatively

lower proportion of highly qualified teachers.

iii. Better working conditions is the most critical factor driving teachers’ commitment to teach, which in

turn is strongly and positively correlated with students’ academic achievement. The results further

show that teachers in private Christian schools are far more satisfied with working conditions in their

schools than teachers in public schools and private schools owned by individual organisations. This

partly explains why students’ academic performance in private schools owned by Christian

organisations is far better than in schools owned by the public and other private based organisations.

iv. A majority of teachers in public schools, Islamic schools and private schools owned by individual

organisations had a very low perception of their school administration’s effectiveness. Furthermore,

teachers who perceived their administration as effective tended to be more committed to the teaching

profession, and in turn their schools performed better in national examinations than schools whose

teachers perceived the school administration effectiveness as poor.

v. The findings of the focus group discussions (qualitative findings) reveal that teachers’ commitment to

the teaching profession is devastatingly low. This is particularly the case for teachers working in

public schools and private schools owned by individual organisations. These results show that only

a handful of teachers wanted to join the teaching profession in the first place and that the poor

working conditions prevalent in most public schools and meagre salaries they receive only confirm

and affirm teachers’ disliking of the teaching profession. The consequences of low teacher

commitment are far reaching and are clearly reflected in students’ poor academic performance

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in public schools and private schools owned by individual organisations. Additionally, teachers’ low

commitment to the teaching profession could partly explain the high attrition rate among teachers.

vi. The results of this study do not wholly apply to schools owned by Islamic organisations. For example,

while teachers’ commitment was strongly correlated with teachers’ performance in public schools

and schools owned by Christian organisations, there was no direct association between teachers’

commitment and students’ performance among schools owned by Islamic organisations. This is

demonstrated by the fact that while teachers’ commitment in these schools was exceptionally high,

the students’ academic performance in these schools was equally exceptionally low. However, these

results need to be interpreted with caution because the sample size for teachers in Islamic schools

was rather small compared to the sample size of teachers in the other categories of schools.

vii. The research did not closely examine the issue of the criteria used in allocating subjects to teachers,

which was part of the terms of reference. This is mainly because it was learned that teachers teach

subjects that they studied at college or university. Thus, the major criterion used for allocation of

subjects by Heads of Schools is the subject that a teacher studied at school.

4.2. Conclusions and recommendationsThis study has revealed three major determinants of students’ academic performance related to teachers,

namely teachers’ qualifications, commitment to the teaching profession and perception of school

administration effectiveness. Where teachers are committed and perceive the school administration

positively, students tend to perform better academically. Nevertheless, with the exception of the private

schools owned by Christian organisations, the results for this study reveal that teachers’ commitment to

the teaching profession is very low and that a majority of teachers perceive their school administration

as poor and ineffective. Poor teachers’ commitment and school administration are partly responsible for

students’ poor academic performance in most schools in the country.

In view of these conclusions, the following recommendations are made with a view to improving teacher

commitment to the teaching profession as well as school administration effectiveness, which in turn

could positively affect students’ academic achievement and improve the National Form Four examination

results. These recommendations have been derived from the findings of this survey as well as from

participants views on how the quality of education in Tanzania could be improved.

i) Teachers’ commitment has emerged as a major issue affecting students’ academic performance,

with a majority of teachers, particularly in public schools, demonstrating very low commitment to

the teaching profession. This low level of teacher commitment is mainly attributable to poor pay and

poor working conditions in schools and what teachers term ‘government’s neglect’ of the teaching

profession. In order to foster teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession, the following measures

should be considered:

a. The Government and other stakeholders should seriously address the issue of poor working

conditions for teachers, including housing and availability of social services such as water and

electricity.

b. The question of poor pay emerged as a critical factor in attracting teachers to join and remain

in the teaching profession. Teachers’ salaries are still disappointingly low. It should be noted

32

that this study and many others have consistently demonstrated that poor pay is a major cause

of frustration for teachers. This issue should, therefore, now be addressed as matter urgency if

we are to improve the quality of education and reverse the poor state of national examination

results. Alongside improving teachers’ pay, the question of timely promotion should be addressed

by reducing unnecessary bureaucratic procedures. At the moment many teachers have been

made to believe that promotion is for the privileged few rather than something they deserve based

on merit.

c. There must be acceptable minimum standards for a school to be called a school. At the moment,

there are simply too great variations among schools, ranging from schools struggling to get chalk

to schools adequately equipped with facilities such as libraries and laboratories. The preoccupation

with numbers (quantity) that seems to have been driving our education programmes for far too

long now should be revisited and the issue of improving quality seriously considered.

d. Mechanisms to recognise and reward teachers who perform exceptionally better than others

should be developed. At the moment, teachers’ extra efforts are neither recognised nor honoured.

During focus group discussions, many teachers complained that only students are recognised

and rewarded when they perform exceptionally well. But we tend to forget that behind every

student’s exceptional performance there is a teacher that has put in extra effort, and this needs to

be recognised and rewarded appropriately.

e. It is imperative to their work that teachers thoroughly understand the national Education and

Training Policy as well as all other top-down directives and education programs. Teachers’

understanding of these policies and programs is essential to their smooth and effective

implementation as well as to improving sector performance and accountability.

f. The selection process for those entering teachers’ colleges and the teaching profession must be

revised. Tanzania needs people who not only have the passion to teach but also can perform

effectively, and this must be considered in the selection process for the teaching profession. The

entry criteria for the teaching profession should be made equally as stringent as that of the school

of law or medicine. Failure to do so will continue to affect the quality of education and development

in this country.

g. Teachers’ ethics, responsibility, accountability and credibility are also very crucial in restoring

teachers’ pride in their profession as a whole. Teachers should remember that they bear enormous

responsibility in the development of Tanzania and provide unparalleled contributions to its future

direction. They must be trained to behave like teachers and provide appropriate examples to

follow.

h. Simply being aware of their rights and waiting for others to uphold them is not enough; teachers

must organize themselves and take full and thorough action through to the end to see that their

rights are realized.

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ii) To improve teachers’ professional practice, there is a need to revive regular in-service teacher

development programmes. At the moment these are rare and sporadically provided and so have

little effect on improving teachers’ professionalism. There should also be regular training programmes

for school leadership because this study has revealed that many teachers in many schools are very

disappointed with their school administration, which further tends to erode their commitment to

teaching and morale.

iii) High quality teaching is essential to improving learner outcomes and reducing gaps in student

achievement. The Teacher Performance Appraisal System provides teachers with meaningful

appraisals that encourage professional learning and growth. The responsible authority must design a

process that will effectively assess teachers. Likewise, this appraisal can contribute to fostering

teachers’ development and identifying opportunities for additional support where required.

iv) This study has examined the professional commitment level among teachers. For comparative

purposes, future studies should focus on determining commitment levels among other professions.

34

Bibliography

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determinants of job satisfaction and students’ academic achievement: A study at the school level.

Journal of School Psychology, 44, 473-490.

Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT, June 2010). Secondary Education

Development Programme II (July 2010-June 2015).

Mosha, H.J. (1988). A reassessment of the indicators of primary education quality in developing

countries: Emerging evidence from Tanzania. International Review of Education, 17-45.

Mosha, H.J. (2011). The state of quality of education in Tanzania: A candid reflection. Paper presented

at the Symposium on Education, Dar es Salaam (June 2011).

National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA, 2011). Examination results-Statistics for October

2010 results.

Oduro, G.K.T., Dachi, H., & Fertig, M. (2008). Educational leadership and quality education in

disadvantaged communities in Ghana and Tanzania. Paper presented at the Commonwealth

Council for Educational Administration and Management Conference, Durban, South Africa

(September 2008).

UN General Assembly (61st, October 2006). Speakers highlight importance of education in achieving

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http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gashc3847.doc.htm

Uwezo (2010). Are our children learning? Annual Learning Assessment Report Tanzania 2010. Dar es

Salaam: Uwezo, TENMET & Hivos/Twaweza.

01

Teachers are invaluable in the provision of quality education. The quality

of education is directly related to the quality of teaching and learning.

There are many factors that contribute to excellent teaching and quality

education, including the qualifications and experience of the teachers, their

commitment, their motivation, their feelings about their profession and their

working environment.

Studies show that when teachers are committed and motivated, students also

have motivation to learn the skills taught by their teachers more effectively.

Poor performance in secondary education has inspired a wide debate among communities in

Tanzania as to the factors of learner outcomes.

This situation triggered HakiElimu to conduct the enclosed research study on teachersí qualifications,

motivation and their willingness to work and their implications on the provision of quality education.

This publication informs the public on the results of the survey, which include the views, opinions and

suggestions of citizens about how to improve teacher qualifications and education in our country as

a whole. We urge citizens, the government and education lovers to support us by reading this report

and taking action wherever they are.

HakiElimu enables citizen to make

a difference in education and

democracy

P.O. Box 79401 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Tel: (255 22) 2151852/3

Fax: (255 22) 2152449