The Tanzanian Primary Education Development program, PEDP (2001) states that; “The teacher in the classroom is the main instrument for bringing about qualitative improvement in learning” and that “quality teaching is maximized where there is an enabling and supportive environment”, this statement is also true for schools in England. In relation to the Tanzanian classroom, it is evident in figure 1 that teachers are at a great disadvantage in regards to providing quality education due to the lack of classroom resources. In 2010, 544.2 billion Tanzanian Shillings (198 billion pounds) were allocated to the primary education sector; of this amount, schools received £2 per student for resources and building repairs ( Iati.dfid.gov.uk,2014). It is apparent that this is not enough money, considering that most rural classrooms have to teach over sixty children per day. According to a primary school teacher in Manyoni, (Sumra, 2014) “Availability of textbooks is a big problem and is making teaching very difficult”. Conversely, the classroom in England suggests that schools seem to be receiving sufficient funding to equip their classrooms with plenty of educational resources. In 2010 most primary schools received around £3000 to £6000 per student (Ifs.org.uk, 2014), £2098-£5098 more per student than that received in Tanzania.

 

Monahan (2000), uses the term built pedagogy to refer to the way in which space is designed to shape learning. In the Tanzanian classroom you can see that the ‘chairs’ are facing towards the chalkboard; which conveys a more didactic approach to teaching rather than the learner centred approach adopted in England. However, limited funding and resources could mean that certain methods of teaching may be limited. It also suggests that the teacher may have little knowledge or access to training in regards to current theoretical developments in teaching and learning practice (MOEC, 2004). Conversely in England, it could be interpreted from the picture that teacher’s model their practice upon Vygotsky’s theories of a more interactive approach to teaching (Davydov and Kerr, 1995).

 

According to Bennell and Mukyanuzi (2005), in Tanzania problems such as low salaries, housing and high pupil/teacher ratio is greatly effecting teacher motivation. Problems such as these are certain to affect the quality of education provided by teachers. Comparatively in England, teachers receive an adequate salary and typically have no more than thirty pupils per class. Furthermore, teachers in England receive government support in the form of pension schemes, extra money for city workers, etc… it could be inferred that low wages and little government support in Tanzania greatly influences the efforts made by teachers.

 

Figure 1 implies that lack of government funding is having a detrimental impact on classroom infrastructure; there are no windows and doors to contain outdoor distractions and provides little protection from the elements. Furthermore, there is no electricity; it is my view that this coupled with the unavailability of resources could greatly impact the quality of teaching and limit the pedagogical practices being used. In contrast, it is evident that the infrastructure in figure 2 is far better than that in Tanzania and therefore suggests that schools are receiving adequate funding to support the children and provide a quality teaching / learning environment.

 

In conclusion, it is apparent that government funding is crucial for teachers to successfully provide a quality education and impacts greatly on the Pedagogies they use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

• Bennell, P and Mukyanuzi (2005) “Teacher Motivation and Incentives in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia”. Brighton. [Online] Available at: http://www.worldwewant2015.org/file/283343/download/307178.  [Accessed 29th Nov]

• Davydov, V. and Kerr, S. (1995). The Influence of L. S. Vygotsky on Education Theory, Research, and Practice. Educational Researcher, 24(3), pp.12-21.

• Figure 1;  Mama J2 BLOG, (2014). Image of Tanzanian school children in their classroom. [image] Available at: http://j2wisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2011_11_01_archive.html [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

• Figure 2;  Image of Primary school classroom in England. (2014). [image] Available at: http://www.englishmartyrs.w-sussex.sch.uk/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2014].

• HERADIUS PASCHAL APOLINARY, (2010). Image of a Tanzanian Primary Classroom. [Image] Available at: http://heradiuspaschal.blogspot.co.uk/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2014

•  Iati.dfid.gov.uk, (2014). Intervention Summary Education Improvement Programme in Tanzania (EQUIP-T). [online] Available at: http://iati.dfid.gov.uk/iati_documents/3784718.docx. [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

• Ifs.org.uk, (2014). School Funding reform: an empirical analysis of options for a national funding formula. [online] Available at: http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn123.pdf. [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

•  Ministry of Education and Culture [MOEC]. 2004a. Education Sector Development Programme (SEDP), 2004-2009. Dar es Salaam, the United Republic of Tanzania. [Online] Available at: http://www.tzonline.org/pdf/revisedfinancialmanagementandaccountingguidelines.pdf. [Accessed 29 Nov. 2014].

• Monahan. T, (2000) Built Pedagogies & Technology Practices: Designing for Participatory Learning Torin Monahan, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute monaht@rpi.edu | [online] Available at:  www.rpi.edu/~monaht/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014]

•  PEDP 2001 Ec.europa.eu, (2014). The World Bank PEDP. [Online] Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/08/1570702/tanzania-primary-education-development-program-project [Accessed 29 Nov. 2014].

• Sumra, S. The Living and Working Conditions of Teachers in Tanzania A research In-text: (Teacher: WEC, Manyoni) Bibliography: Sumra, S. (2014). [Online] Old.ei-ie.org. Available at: http://old.ei-ie.org/healthandsafety/file/(2005)%20Living%20and%20Working%20Conditions%20of%20Teachers%20in%20Tanzania%20en.pdf. [Accessed 24 Nov. 2014].