Community Support in Enhancing the Teaching and
Learning of Mathematics: Lessons From a School
Case in Remote Rural Area of Tanzania in Africa
Athanas Ngalawa, University of Alberta
Florence Glanfield, University of Alberta
Research supported by
 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada, Partnership Development Grant
89020100027: a partnership among University of
Alberta, Brock University, Mzumbe University,
Partners in Health Education and Environment,
Tanbur African Aid Society, Tanzania Institute of
Education, and The Aga Khan University – Institute
for Educational Development (Eastern Africa).
The team
 In August 2010 three Tanzanian scholars,

three Canadian mathematics education researchers,
 a graduate student, and

the presidents of two NGOs (one Tanzanian and one Canadian)
 met in Tanzania to discuss and investigate the possibility of working
together to address the question, “how can universities work with
communities to enhance mathematics education in rural and
remote primary schools”
Background…
 Declining trend in mathematics education in Tanzania
 25% of children at Standard 6 level have not attained a basic level of
numeracy (Mrutu, Ponera and Nkumbi, 2005)
 majority of children fail mathematics in the national Primary School
Leaving Examination(PSLE) (Wangeleja, 2004, 2007)
Background…
 one in ten children complete primary school with no
basic mathematics skills (Rajani, 2010)
Background…
 Many reasons have been advanced to explain the performance of
learners in mathematics
 a shortage of mathematics teachers,

low morale and poor qualifications among mathematics teachers,

teaching methods which encourage pupils to learn by rote,

an examination oriented system of education,
 a shortage of teaching materials,

negative attitude towards the subject among pupils,

pupil’s absenteeism (Osaki, 2007; Hattori and Wangeleja, 2007;
Seka, 2008; Eskola, 2009; Neke, 2005).
Why rural areas
• There is a significant difference between urban and rural areas.
• Students in rural and remote communities fare worse than
their peers in urban settings,
•
Like their learners, teachers who work in rural and remote
environments also experience great disadvantage.
• Not only do they lack basic resources more common in urban
areas (housing, transportation, electricity, water), they have
poor access to teaching resources (aids, technology) and few
opportunities for professional development.
Background
 In 2010, we noted that within the rural areas there were
schools with a relatively good performance in
mathematics as measured by the Primary School Leaving
Examination results.
 Wanted to understand local initiatives that are making a
positive difference for teachers and learners in rural
schools in Tanzania.
Demographics
 Village in rural Tanzania, population approximately
3000
 Primary school in the village, population
approximately, 600 (70 in pre primary; 530 in
Standard 1 – V11)
Methods
 Interviewed 15 of 16 teachers, including the head
teacher
 Conducted a focus group of parents and community
members
 Interviewed District Education Officer & Ward Education
Coordinator
When we First Asked About
Performance in Mathematics
 It is the use of counters and songs at early stages of
learning mathematics which has significant
contribution in children learning mathematics.
 Teachers willing to cooperate and volunteer.
What Did We Further
Learn?
 Focused strategies for students to perform well on
examinations through:
 Cooperation among teachers within school community
 Cooperation among students within school community
 Cooperation among school & village community
 Cooperation among school & broader community
Cooperation among
teachers
 Offer extra classes for students who will write examinations
 Classes scheduled weekdays: morning 6 – 8 a.m. and late
afternoon 2 – 6 p.m.; on Saturdays; and on holidays
 All teachers involved, from pre primary (K) to standard VII
(grade 7); take turns teaching the extra classes; and volunteer
to do this
 Teachers focus on mathematical topics that are their strength
 Teachers work together to help each other understand
difficult topics in mathematics
Cooperation among
students
 Students who show strength in one topic will become the tutor for
those students who do not show strength in that area. As one
participant described,
 “Here we have extra classes apart from the classes in the formal
timetable. In extra classes teachers are assigned topics to teach
students. We also have a system of dividing students in groups of
relative performances; namely best performers, average performers,
and lower performers and provide support which ensures that those
with lower performance attains average performance and those with
average performance attains best performance. We also conduct
weekly tests which enables us to understand difficult topics that
students show weak performance and then make follow up by
putting extra effort in teaching such topics. There is a system which
enables relatively best students to teach weak students in their spare
time. We also do neighbourhood examinations.”
Cooperation Among School
& Village Community
 Parent’s allow students to attend the extra classes
 Parent’s borrow books for home exercises
 Parent’s contribute Tsh 2, 500.00 ($1.67) and 10 kg of maize per
student per term for porridge for lunch
 Parent’s contribute money for exam preparation
Cooperation Among School
& Village Community
 Villager’s have a strong monitoring system which restrict
students to attend leisure activities particularly those
with known negative implication to schooling.
 School Committees and Village Government have strong
relationship – e.g. the process for establishing the
practice of parent’s contributing for food:
 School Food Committee - School Committee - All parents
meeting - Class teachers receive contribution -Names to
the village Government - Village Government feedback
to the school
Cooperation Among School &
Village Community
 Teachers experience
 Years of teaching
 Years in Village
As One Participant Said
 “You know in this school we do not introduce anything
without having parents’ consent. This is made possible
through closer relationship between our school and the
village government.”
Cooperation Among School
& Broader Community
 Ward & District wide Examinations (Teachers have
opportunities to grade and invigilate these examinations)
 School initiated neighbourhood examinations
 Terminal examination papers from cross the country
through teachers
Resulting in Capacity
Building
 Through teacher-teacher discourse; teachers
developing a better understanding of
teaching difficult topics in mathematics
 Through student – student discourse:
students take leadership roles & develop
autonomy
The Initial Motivation
 Children not performing well on Primary School
Leaving Examination (PSLE) and in the words of a
participant:
 “You know we decided to do this because of shame. You
may be travelling by bus and then you hear passengers
discussing that a certain school did not perform well. If
you belong to a teaching staff of the school you feel shame
to the extent that you fail to participate in the
discussion.”
Ongoing Motivation
 Encouragement from School Council & Village
 Encouragement from Ward Education Coordinator
 Possibility of acquiring resources, like books, from
district office, if school does well
 Students are offered rewards for performing well in
mathematics
Impact
 Top mark rose from 79% to 93%
 The 1st or 2nd student in Mathematics always comes
from this primary school
 In the 2011 PSLE 52 out of 81 students who wrote the
exams passed maths
Discussion
 Newmann, F.& Wehlage, G. (1995)
 Some schools did disproportionately well in affecting the
performance of students
1. Formed a professional learning community
2. Focused on student work assessment and
3. Changed their instructional media
Discussion
 Restructuring and reculturing
 Restructuring changes roles and structure of formal
elements of the organization
 Reculturing is the process of developing professional
learning communities in school- ie going from a
situation of limited attention to assessment and
pedagogy to one where teachers and others routinely
focus on these matters and make associated
improvements.
Discussion
 The out there is in here
 Most outside forces threaten schools but they are also
necessary for success. In order to turn disturbing
forces to one’s advantage it is necessary to develop
the counter –intuitive of moving toward danger
(Hargreaves & Fullan, 1998).
 Where there is a rapport among parents/community,
teachers/school and the student, learning occurs.
Discussion
• Efficient schools use their internal collaborative
strength to seek out relationships with community.
• They see parents as part of the solution more than
as part of the problem.
• They pursue activities that are based on two way
capacity building in order to mobilize resources of
both community and the school.
Thank You!
For more information:
Athanas Ngalawa: ngalawa@ualberta.ca
Florence Glanfield: florence.glanfield@ualberta.ca