Improving Mathematics Education through Teacher Professional Development: A Tanzanian Perspective

Abstract

This study aimed to explore mathematics teachers’ perceptions of 
professional development. The study involved two public 
secondary schools in Ilala Municipality, Dar es Salaam. This was a 
qualitative study based on case study design. The study involved 
fourteen (14) participants that were selected purposefully. Two (2) 
heads of the schools, two (2) Academic Teachers, two (2) heads of 
mathematics departments, and eight (8) mathematics teachers 
were equally involved from both schools. Interviews, focus group 
discussions, surveys, and document analysis methods were used 
in data collection. Both interviews and focus group discussion 
were audio-recorded by using a protected smartphone with 
password to ensure data security. The documents reviewed 
includes; school policies, school calendars, and mathematics 
departmental meetings’ minutes. The data collected were 
analysed thematically to identify and interpret key themes. The 
data analysis was based on the following steps: transcription, data 
reduction, presentation, and discussion of findings. Fictitious 
names were used for names of people and schools to ensure 
confidentiality and anonymity. The study revealed that teachers 
perceived professional development as formal programs to 
improve teachers’ quality that were time-consuming and costly, 
while informal professional development programs were 
overlooked by teachers and other educational stakeholders. The 
study recommends that, in order to improve teachers’ quality as 
intended in professional development, there is a need to raise 
awareness for both formal and informal professional development 
programs among teachers and a learning community as a whole.