Workshops Details and Findings

Workshops’ details and findings

The Workshop Tasks 3 Tasks were set to promote discussion. All the groups that were discussing tasks 2 & 3 had a controversial discussion. The responses shown below have been taken from a common and general perspective. After the discussions individual group members were asked to hang their charts on the board and one member of each group presented their views. The tasks and the responses follow below.

Task 1: Theme: Students’ Responses on Post-Examination Interviews Task Question: When students write examinations or tests some of them comment that the questions are difficult and that they cannot attempt them well. Some leave the questions unanswered, while some try to answer them partially but with incomplete parts. In your teaching and learning experience:  What problems do you think students face when answering examination/test questions?  What makes an exam question easy and what makes it difficult?

Participant responses for this task were as follows:

Task 1 Language problem – unfamiliar words Unclear instructions Teachers use Kiswahili mostly in class but during exams students answer in English. Teachers do not demonstrate practical until the last moment nearing exams Students do not come to the topic- incomplete syllabus Students do not understand the language of exams Science subjects are difficult Some questions lack clear instructions Students lack enough vocabulary Some students are truants they don’t have enough content Students lack learning skills and facilities Teachers use Kiswahili throughout in class but exams appear in English In appropriate teaching methods Misconception of words. Words are not contextualized No simplification of words - exam setters and moderators are assessing themselves and not the students!!!

Task 2: Theme: Teachers’ Responses on Assessment System Task Question: In your experience as a teacher/ head teacher, do you think that there is a need to keep Continuous Assessment for students? Whether your answer is Yes or No, please give reasons for your answers. (The wording of these tasks was accordingly adjusted to suit a particular category of participants). Participant responses for this task were as follows:

Task 2 Assessment should continue to be recorded because it helps and motivates students but should be done honestly. Head teachers should take strict supervision No there is no need of keeping assessment. It is a waste of time because no fairness and consistent manner by teachers No need of keeping assessment because exams are enough. Large classes it is too much for teachers to assess all the students work appropriately. No there is no need of keeping assessment of students because it is not valid. Slow learners just copy from other students Ndiyo kwa sababu mitihani pekee haitoshi kupima wanafunzi. Je kama mwanafunzi akipata matatizo wakati wa mitihani hizo alama atazipata wapi? Assessment ziwepo lakini ziwe na usimamizi madhubuti. ( Yes we need to keep assessment . Exams only cannot suffice the need. What if a student encounters a problem during exams where will he/she get the marks? Assessment should continue but should be well supervised) Hatuhitaji maana zina upendeleo, mwanao utamtilia nyingi lakini kwenye mtihani wewe huko. (We don’t need to keep assessment because there is no fairness, you give your child a high score but you forget that you won’t be there at the exam processing) Ndiyo tunahitaji lakini utaratibu wa darasani uwe mzuri uwe strong (Yes we need it but the classroom recording system should be firm. Should be strong) Hakuna haja maana hazimpimi mwanafunzi kimtihani. Maswali tunayotoa darasani ni mepesi kuliko ya mtihani (No there is no need because they do not actually measure the students and tune him/ her to the exams format. The classroom tasks are too simple and easy to match with the exam questions) Assessment ziendelee kuwekwa. Zinamsaidia mwanafunzi kuongeza bidii ya masomo. Uwepo usimamizi madhubuti walimu wasiachiwe kufanya wanavyotaka tu (Assessment should continue to be kept. It motivates students to work hard. There should be firm supervision and not letting teachers use their own discretion) No there is no need because some teachers are not assessing student learning progress but they assess their facial looks instead. Yes we need them because they show us students strengths and weaknesses in learning

Task 3: Theme: Students’ Performance in the Modified exams Task Question: a) In your experience as a teacher/ head teacher, can you predict which of the three versions of language (English only, Bilingual i.e. English and Kiswahili and Kiswahili only) would likely enable the students to perform better if it is used to write examinations? Give reasons for your prediction. b) Do you think language is a factor in students learning and demonstration of subject knowledge content in science?

Students will perform better in Kiswahili because it is their mother tongue; it is familiar; some teachers teach them in Kiswahili. Students will perform better in Bilingual because it simplifies terminologies, concepts and instructions, it translates the English instructions Students will perform poorly in English because: it is a foreign language; they don’t understand it; in the classroom they are taught in Kiswahili but write exams in English; the duration of shift to English is too short compared to 7 years of primary school under Kiswahili instructions No, language is not a factor , factor is long syllabus, poor teaching methods, lack of interest in science Yes, language is a factor because students won’t understand question instructions if they don’t understand the language A student will perform better in any language version if he/ she has enough content

The workshop was conducted in English but some participants were not articulate enough so for the sake of equity they were allowed to give their views in Kiswahili.

When all individual group presentations were over, SPINE research team members presented some of the findings from the research participants got a chance to match their views with the research findings. This was followed by a general plenary discussion regarding overall research findings and finally the participants were asked to say in their own words the message that the study findings were trying to give, how concerned they were with the message of the research and what advice they would like to give to the decision- makers.

Summary of Views from the Plenary Discussions:

Task 1: Task Question: When students write examinations or tests some of them comment that the questions are difficult and that they cannot attempt them well. Some leave the questions unanswered, while some try to answer them partially but with incomplete parts. In your teaching and learning experience:  What problems do you think students face when answering examination/test questions?  What makes an exam question easy and what makes it difficult?

Task 1 Medium of Instruction ni tatizo hata sisi wenyewe walimu hatujui Kiingereza, hatuwezi kujieleza kwa Kiingereza, tunamtarajiaje mwanafunzi aweze kujibu mitihani kwa Kiingereza?(The medium of instruction is the problem. If we teachers are not proficient in English we can’t express ourselves properly in English how could we expect students to be able to answer exams in English?) Mradi wa orientation ambao uliwalazimisha walimu na wanafunzi watumie Kiingereza mbona ulitufanya sisi walimu na wanafunzi tujue Kiingereza? Bado hakujawa na sheria ya kutaka masomo yote yafundishwe kwa Kiingereza. Tungali tunafanya mzaha (The Orientation programme restricted teachers and students to use English and it managed to upgrade our proficiency both teachers and students How?. There isn’t still a regulation on English across the curriculum we are only joking.) School–based training ifanywe maskuli. Haw panel leaders wanafanya nini humu maskuli? (There should be a school – based training in schools. What are the subject panel leaders doing?) Tatizo ni wanaotunga mitihani ha wamuangalii mwanafunzi level yake kwa mfano tukiangalia paper za O – level maneno yanayotumiwa hata sisi walimu yanatushinda. Maneno rahisi yapo kwa nini mtu atumie maneno magumu? Suala hili liangaliwe. (The problem is with the exam setters they are not concerned with the students’ level of proficiency. For instance if we look at the O level papers the vocabulary used in the papers is too tough for even we (teachers) to comprehend. Why should one choose to use difficult words when the simple ones are there? This issue should be looked into.) Tatizo ni kuwa sisi walimu tunaotumia Kiingereza muda wote skuli hatupendwi na baadhi ya wanafunzi. Wengine hawatusikilizi na wengine wanakimbia madarasa. (The problem is that we teachers who use English frequently in the classroom s are not liked by students. They tend to be inattentive when we teach in English or else run away from classes)

Task 2: Task Question: In your experience as a teacher/ head teacher, do you think that there is a need to keep Continuous Assessment for students? Whether your answer is Yes or No, please give reasons for your answers. (The wording of these tasks was accordingly adjusted to suit a particular category of participants).

Task 2 Wasomi wanaona wanafunzi wanafanya vibaya lakini mbona jamii inawaona wanapasi na wanaendelea na form 3? Huu utafiti wenu umeangalia hizi assessment huko juu zinapitishwaje? (Intellectuals find that students’ achievements are not good enough but the community believes that the students are performing well and get chances to continue to Form 3. Has your study investigated on how assessment is processed and endorsed at higher authorities?) Afisa mitihani alisema kuwa mwanafunzi ikiwa hana assessment asipelekewe dash mgaie chochote japo 5 au 10. Huu mpango wa assessment uko wapi. Hao Necta wanao mpango wao. Mwanafunzi anaehudhuria masomo kwa kawaida hakosi assessment. Assessment si kurikodi alama tu inataka walimu wawe wakweli na waadilifu. Je sisi walimu ni wakweli na waadilifu? (One Examination Officer said that if a student doesn’t have assessment he/she should not be presented with a dash but be offered some marks even 5 or 10, where is the assessment system? Even NECTA have a kind of system. A regular student won’t miss assessment. Assessment is not mere recording of marks it requires teachers to be fair and honest. Are we being fair and honest?) Sisi walimu kuna wanafunzi tunajua hawapiti kwenye mitihani lakini yakija matokeo utawasikia wamepasi (We teachers know that some of the students are not capable of passing the exams but when the results are out you hear that they have passed) Ilivyo assessment zinataka mwanafunzi apewe anachostahiki sivyo hali halisi ilivyo. Mwalimu Mkuu mwanafunzi kama hukumpelekea maksi fomu zinarejeshwa (Ideally assessment requires students to earn what he/ she deserves but the situation is not like that. If a head teacher submits assessment forms with students who don’t have marks the forms are sent back to him/her)

Task 3: Task Question: c) I In your experience as a teacher/ head teacher, can you predict which of the three versions of language (English only, Bilingual i.e. English and Kiswahili and Kiswahili only) would likely enable the students to perform better if it is used to write examinations? Give reasons for your prediction. d) Do you think language is a factor in students learning and demonstration of subject knowledge content in science?

Task 3 Chanzo cha tatizo ni sisi wenyewe si wanafunzi (the source of the problem in students’ poor performance is ourselves not them) Katika assessment kuwe na maswali common ambayo yatachukuliwa maksi wengine si wakweli (There should be common type of tasks on which assessment can be taken in all schools because other people are not honest) Bodi ya Elimu iliyopo ibadilishwe. Iwe na wajumbe mchanganyiko mpaka kutoka vyama vya siasa (The current Education Board should be changed to include different people from different organizations including political parties) University graduates wasipewe madarasa ambayo hawana University experience nayo kwa kuwa ni graduate (University graduates should not be allocated classes which they are not experience d to teach just for the sake of being a graduate) It appears that when the tests were administered under supervision of SPINE the conditions were so tight and that’s why the scores were generally low We have unqualified teachers it seems that language is not a problem the problem is teaching methods Shortage of science teachers in my school I allocated Biology to a teacher who qualified in teaching Arabic and religious studies. I had no other alternative Mimi Tc coordinator nadhani kuna mambo zaidi ya lugha yanayo changia low achievement. Kama lugha ya Kiingereza ni tatizo mbona wanafunzi wa darasa la 7 wanafundishwa kwa Kiswahili na wanafeli kwenda michepuo. (ITC coordinator have an opinion that there are factors other than language that contribute to low achievement. If the English Language is the problem why are the standard 7 students who are taught in Kiswahili since standard one not able to pass well the exams written in Kiswahili to enter special biased classes in Form one? Mimi mkaguzi naona wanafunzi hawana content knowledge ingekuwa wanayo wange score vizuri kwenye version za bilingual ( I inspector feel that students lack in content knowledge. If they had it they would have scored well in the bilingual versions) Haiwezekani kuwa wanafunzi content hawapewi ila ni interest hawana (another inspector) (It’s not possible that students are not given the content knowledge but they lack interest) Kiingereza ni tatizo. Kama tunaamua kutumia Kiingereza tuwape wafundishaji mafunzo na tuwapime kabla ya kufundisha kama kweli wanaweza. Kama Kiingereza hatukiwezi turudie bilingual. Mbona wenzetu wanajifunza kwa lugha zao na wanaweza? (TC coordinator) (English is the problem. If we opt for using it we need to upgrade the teachers proficiency and check whether or not they are competent enough before we ask them to use it in teaching. If we can’t cope with English then let us resort to Bilingual. Why do other people who learn through their mother tongues cope?

Zanzibar Research Team, June 2010