Educational Assessment in Tanzania: A Sociocultural Perspective

101 Pages·2020·1.045 MB·English

by  Joyce Kahembe, Liz Jackson

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN EDUCATION
Joyce Kahembe
Liz Jackson
Educational
Assessment in
Tanzania
A Sociocultural
Perspective
123
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·
Joyce Kahembe Liz Jackson
Educational Assessment
in Tanzania
A Sociocultural Perspective
JoyceKahembe LizJackson
TanzaniaInstituteofEducation DepartmentofInternationalEducation
Dar-es-Salaam,Tanzania EducationUniversityofHongKong
HongKong,HongKong
ISSN2211-1921 ISSN2211-193X (electronic)
SpringerBriefsinEducation
ISBN978-981-15-9991-0 ISBN978-981-15-9992-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9992-7
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About This Book
InAfricansocieties,educational reformisheld asakey toeconomic and political
flourishing. In relation, adjusting assessment practices to be more oriented toward
cultivating student learning has become a popular tactic and part of educational
reform efforts, in African countries and around the world. However, such educa-
tionalreformsarenotalwayseffectivelyimplemented.Asteachersareonthefront-
lines of reform implementation, understanding their views and practices can help
illuminatethechallengesofeducationalreformatthegroundlevel.Thisbookexam-
ines teachers’ conceptions and practices of assessment in Tanzania. It employs a
sociocultural perspective to reveal how Tanzanian teachers understand the role of
assessment in relation to their classroom practices, and cultural and other factors.
ThisbookshowsthatteachersinTanzania,viewassessmentasusefulforevaluating
andmonitoringlearning,improvingstudentperformance,andforaccountability.Yet
teachers’ assessment practices are rarely seen to directly support student learning.
In this context, it is not the case that teachers lack knowledge of how to imple-
mentmandatedassessmentreform.Instead,theyarereluctanttoadoptandembrace
reforms as they see them as contradictory to their teaching roles and expectations
relatedtohigh-stakestesting,andoverlyburdensomegiventheirmaterial,economic,
andculturalreality.
Thisbookarguesthatimprovingtraditionalassessmentpractices,ratherthanradi-
callytransformingthem,canbemoreeffectiveforcultivatingpracticessuitingthe
material, political, economic, and cultural context of Tanzanian schools. The text
will be of value to educators and scholars interested in development and educa-
tional reform in African contexts. It highlights the significance of sociocultural
factors in educator professional practice, while it illustrates the major challenges
inimplementingglobalreformagendasindiversecontexts.
v
Contents
1 Introduction .................................................... 1
1.1 Background ................................................ 1
1.2 ResearchQuestionsandSignificance ........................... 6
1.3 ResearchDesign ............................................ 8
1.4 OverviewoftheText ......................................... 12
References ...................................................... 13
2 TanzanianEducationandthePurposesofAssessment .............. 17
2.1 EducationalHistoryinTanzania ............................... 17
2.1.1 TheColonialPeriod ................................... 17
2.1.2 EducationSinceIndependence .......................... 19
2.2 AssessmentinTeachingandLearning .......................... 25
2.2.1 AssessmentApproaches ............................... 25
2.2.2 AssessmentPractices .................................. 27
2.2.3 PastStudiesofAssessment ............................. 30
2.3 Conclusion ................................................. 32
References ...................................................... 32
3 ConceptionsinEducation:ASocioculturalApproach ............... 37
3.1 ConceptionsandConceptualisations ........................... 37
3.2 TheoreticalPerspectives ...................................... 38
3.3 TheImportanceofContextinEducation ........................ 40
3.3.1 TheImportanceofNationalAssessment .................. 41
3.3.2 TheImportanceoftheMaterialEnvironment .............. 43
3.3.3 TheImportanceofCulture ............................. 44
3.4 HowConceptionsImpactEducation ............................ 45
3.4.1 HowConceptionsImpactTeacherPractices ............... 45
3.4.2 TheImpactofTeacherPracticesonStudentExperiences .... 48
3.5 Conclusion ................................................. 50
References ...................................................... 50
vii
viii Contents
4 Teachers’AssessmentConceptionsandPractices ................... 55
4.1 Teachers’ConceptionsofAssessment .......................... 55
4.1.1 Assessing and Monitoring Student Understanding,
Progress,andAchievement ............................. 56
4.1.2 AssessmentforImprovement ........................... 60
4.1.3 AssessmentforAccountability .......................... 64
4.1.4 ContradictoryConceptionsandPractices ................. 66
4.2 AssessmentPractices ........................................ 73
4.2.1 Questioning .......................................... 73
4.2.2 Feedback ............................................ 75
4.3 InfluencesonTeachers’ConceptionsandPractices ............... 78
4.3.1 TheNationalEducationAssessmentSystem .............. 78
4.3.2 TheEducationManagementSystem ..................... 79
4.3.3 TheMaterialEnvironment .............................. 80
4.3.4 Culture .............................................. 81
4.4 Conclusion ................................................. 82
5 Conclusion ..................................................... 85
5.1 Summary ................................................... 85
5.2 EducationalImplications ..................................... 87
5.2.1 TheoreticalImplications ............................... 89
5.2.2 ImplicationsforPolicyMakersandAdministrators ........ 90
5.2.3 ImplicationsforTeachersasReformImplementers ......... 91
5.2.4 ImplicationsforFutureResearch ........................ 92
5.3 Recommendations ........................................... 92
5.4 Conclusion ................................................. 94
References ...................................................... 94
About the Authors
JoyceKahembe is presently a Principal Curriculum Coordinator at the Tanzania
InstituteofEducation.Formerly,sheworkedasthePrincipalExaminationOfficerfor
12 years at the National Examination Council of Tanzania. She studied Education
and Psychology at the University of Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. Later, she studied
EducationMeasurement,Assessment,andEvaluation attheUniversityofTwente,
TheNetherlands,andEducationPolicyandAdministrationintheareasofcurriculum
andassessmentattheUniversityofHongKong.
LizJackson is a Professor in the Department of International Education at the
EducationUniversityofHongKong.SheisalsothePresidentofthePhilosophyof
EducationSocietyofAustralasia,andtheformerDirectoroftheComparativeEduca-
tionResearchCentreattheUniversityofHongKong.Herpastauthoredbooksinclude
MuslimsandIslaminUSEducation:ReconsideringMulticulturalism,Questioning
Allegiance:ResituatingCivicEducation,BeyondVirtue:ThePoliticsofEducating
Emotions,andContestingEducationandIdentityinHongKong.
ix
Chapter 1
Introduction
Abstract Thischapterincludesbackgroundinformationaboutthetopicofassess-
mentreformandgivesabasicaccountofitsimportanceinTanzania.Itbrieflyexplains
thestudyattheheartofthistext,whyitisimportant,howitrelatestopastworkon
educationassessmentreform,andthebasicresearchquestionsanddesign.
· · · ·
Keywords Tanzania Curriculumreform Assessment Conceptions Teachers
1.1 Background
In 2005, the Ministry of Education in Tanzania through its Institute of Education
introduced competency-based curriculum (TIE, 2005). The introduction of this
curriculum required a renewed focus on student needs and teacher support of
learningprocesses(Woods,2007).Movingtowardalignmentwithglobalstandards
and the priorities of international donors, each element of the reform emphasised
student-centred approaches. Thus, the reform was implemented concurrently with
newrecommendationsforteachingpedagogiesandassessmentpractices.Formative
assessment was concurrently mandated, for teachers to better scaffold student
learningandengagestudentsincompetencydevelopmentprocesses,andtoenable
studentstoreflectuponandregulatetheirlearning(TIE,2005).
Formative assessment practices were crucial within the curriculum because
they assert the importance of using assessment during teaching and learning to
elicitinformationasevidencefordiagnosingandimprovingteachingandlearning
processes(Black,HarrisonLee,Marshall,&Wiliam,2003).Formativeassessment
practices were thus held as essential to the implementation of the reform, so that
teachers could engage students in learning processes and continuously gather
informationaboutclassroomandeducationalprocesses.Formativeassessmentalso
facilitates more dialogic practices and use of assessment evidence for increasing
student participation and giving students space for developing their own personal
competencies(Woods,2007).
Theintroductionofformativeassessmentmethodsalsomeantthereplacementof
oldteachingandassessmentpractices.TeachersinTanzania,aselsewhere,havetradi-
tionallyassessedstudentsattheendofteaching,toevaluateachievementoflearning
©TheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2020 1
J.KahembeandL.Jackson,EducationalAssessmentinTanzania,
SpringerBriefsinEducation,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9992-7_1