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Policy change and uncertainty for prospective pre-primary teachers in Tanzania

Thu, April 18, 11:45am to 1:15pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Atrium (Level 2), Waterfront E

Proposal

Like many nations around the world, Tanzania is currently taking steps to improve quality and access to early childhood services (Neuman, Josephson, & Chua, 2015; Author, 2016). In 2014, the government introduced a new preparation program for pre-primary school teachers with a goal of improving the qualifications of the pre-primary teaching force and addressing a shortage of trained pre-primary teachers. In October 2014, the first cohort of students began the pre-primary diploma program at six teacher training colleges (TTCs) across Tanzania. Now, just as this first group is about to graduate, the government has decided to eliminate the diploma program and instead require pre-primary teachers to earn a certificate, which has a lower standard of entry and requires less time to complete. We use Weaver-Hightower’s (2008) policy ecologies framework as a theoretical and methodological tool to analyze this sudden policy change and its implications for soon-to-be pre-primary diploma graduates.

This paper draws on data from a three-year qualitative study of pre-service pre-primary teachers based in three TTCs in Tanzania. Data include: interviews with ministry officials and policymakers (4); focus group discussions with a total of 45 diploma students; focus group discussions with 12 diploma program instructors; and 24 in-depth interviews with prospective pre-primary teachers. Using the policy ecologies framework, we analyze how “the ripples of a single policy or process can be felt widely” (Weaver-Hightower, 2008, p. 157). Specifically, we examine how the relationship between key policy actors (pre-primary diploma students and government officials) changes as a result of new policy developments. We trace the processes of adaptation that pre-primary diploma students undergo as they come to terms with the reality of being a pre-primary teacher and imagine what the recent policy change will mean for their careers. Finally, we describe how these future pre-primary teachers’ imagined identities shift over time in response to their experiences at TTC and in light of the elimination of the diploma program (Xu, 2013).

Little is known about the lived experience of teachers who sit at the center of global efforts to improve the quality of early childhood education. We argue for the importance of understanding the complexity of policy and its often unintended consequences for critical actors like pre-primary diploma students. Our analysis points to the need to better understand how the “ripples” of a single policy travel and are experienced. This study provides an important view into the lived experiences of pre-service teachers that will add depth and nuance to current global conversations about improving the quality of teaching and learning in early childhood education. As such, it is relevant beyond the context of Tanzania, and can inform policy and practice.

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