Is learner-centred pedagogy associated with pupils’ positive attitudes towards learning? The case of Tanzania

ABSTRACT

Learner-centred pedagogy (LCP), spreading across the global South, is believed to improve student learning. Although the ethics and efficacy of promoting LCP in the global South has been a much-debated issue, the relationship between LCP and learning attitudes has received scant scholarly attention. This research utilised structured lesson observations and questionnaires to explore whether LCP relates to positive attitudes towards learning in primary schools in Tanzania. Adopting a broader conceptualisation of LCP to include not only observable practices of LCP-related activities (‘observed-LCP’) but also pupils’ perceptions of classroom experiences (‘perceived-LCP’), the research differentiated associations of the two types of LCP with learning attitudes. The results indicated that the more pupils felt they experienced LCP, the more positive learning attitudes they had. Conversely, observed-LCP exhibited inconsequential associations with learning attitudes. The paper illuminates the importance of pupils’ subjective experiences of LCP implementation in the global South.

KEYWORDS:

• Learner-centred pedagogy
• learning attitudes
• student experiences
• student perceptions
• Tanzania

Acknowledgments

I am thankful to my doctoral supervisors, Moses Oketch and Mano Candappa, for their support and feedback throughout my PhD research from which this paper has derived.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Japan Student Services Organization [N/A]; British Association for International and Comparative Education [N/A]; and Gilchrist Educational Trust [N/A].