Enhancing teachers' competencies on learner-centred approaches through learning study in Tanzanian schools

Despite being exposed to the Learner-Centred Approach (LCA) throughtraditional teacher professional development since 2000, teachers in Tanzania havegenerally failed to implement LCA in secondary schools. However, previous studieson the learning study in different parts of the world have shown encouraging resultsin developing teachers’ competencies. This study investigates how the learning studyguided by the variation theory can enhance teachers’ competencies using the LCA inTanzania secondary schools. It addresses two questions: what are the changes ofteachers’ understanding of LCA through learning study rounds in a Tanzaniansecondary school? And, what are the changes of teachers’ capability ofimplementing LCA through learning study rounds in bringing about student learningin a Tanzanian secondary school?A group of three teachers (John, Benja & Peter) in a school implementedlearning studies for a period of one year. All forms two (N= 255) and three (N=240)students took part in three research lessons. The study adopted case study andphenomenographic research approaches. It used teachers’ interview protocols, lesson video recordings, lesson preparatory meetings, teacher’s journals, and students’ testsas research instruments. The teachers’ experiences and implemention of the LCAwere studied before and during the three rounds of learning studies. Data wereanalysed using variation framework and SPSS version 16.0 for students’ tests.The study has two main findings. First, teachers involved in the threelearning study rounds changed their understanding of LCA. They changed fromseeing LCA as methodological (before the learning study) to treating it as subjectcontent and even as far as seeing it as object of learning (during the learning studies)orientations. These changes were gradual and differed slightly, depending on theparticular aspect(s) (the method, the content or the object of learning) a teacherfocused more on than other aspects at a given time.Second, guided by the variation theory through learning studies, teachers’capability to implement LCA improved progressively in slightly different ways,which in turn improved student learning. The teachers changed from simply makingclassroom pedagogical arrangements before the learning study to engaging thelearners in either the content or the object of learning and enabling them to discerncritical aspects of the objects of learning in terms of variation and invariance of thoseaspects during the learning studies.The study concludes that implementing learning study - guided by thevariation theory - may be effective in enhancing teachers’ ways of conceiving andpracticing LCA with a primary focus on student learning. In addition, as teachersincrease their understanding of learning study and the use of variation theory theymay advance their understandings in designing and teaching LCA lessons, therebyincreasing possibilities for student learning. Such a conclusion lends credence tothe variation theory which purports that powerful ways of acting originates frompowerful ways of seeing. It also extends this theory to teacher learning of the LCApedagogy.published_or_final_versionEducationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph