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History Teachers’ Perceived Nature of History Subject Content and Instructional Practices in Tanzania Lower Secondary Schools
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Abstract
This study explored history teachers’ perspectives on the nature of history subject content and its translation into instructional practices. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations with eleven history teachers in Pangani and Lushoto districts. Thematic analysis was employed to make sense of the data. It revealed two perspectives: history as the grand narration of the past and as subjective knowledge that students can critically analyse and interpret. Despite many teachers holding a subjective view of history, their instructional practices remained largely transmission, limiting students’ probing, reasoning and interpretations of the history. Consequently, history remained a memorised, unquestioned account of the past, inhibiting students’ reconstruction of the past. The findings imply the need to incorporate the emerging views in the pre-service teachers’ training curriculum. It also entails reviewing the history syllabus to align the emerging views, strengthening professional development courses, and improving classroom contextual factors, which are crucial in improving teachers’ content knowledge and instructional practices for better student outcomes.
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References
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