RUAHA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Foundational literacy in the first years of primary school depends on teachers' ability to select, explain, model and adapt instructional strategies to young learners and to the conditions in which teaching takes place. This study examined teachers' perceived effectiveness of pedagogical strategies used to support foundational literacy among Standard One and Two pupils in public primary schools in Iringa Municipal Council, Tanzania. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed within a pragmatic paradigm. The target population comprised 147 Standard One and Two teachers and head teachers; a sample of 60 was selected. The quantitative strand involved 30 teachers who rated three strategy categories— Phonological and Word Recognition, Guided Writing, and Numeric Support—on a five-point scale, while the qualitative strand involved semi-structured interviews with 30 participants. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and a one-way repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons; qualitative data were analysed thematically. Phonological and Word Recognition received the highest mean rating (M = 4.42, SD = 0.46), followed by Guided Writing (M = 4.15, SD = 0.51) and Numeric Support (M = 3.81, SD = 0.57), F(2, 58) = 9.736, p = .001, partial η² = .251. Interview evidence identified overcrowded classrooms, insufficient teaching and learning materials, limited pedagogical content knowledge, and limited instructional time as the main challenges. The findings concern teachers' perceptions rather than measured pupil achievement, and the article argues that strengthening early literacy requires attention to class size, materials, teacher support and protected instructional time alongside strategy-focused professional development

Perceived effectiveness; pedagogical strategies; foundational literacy