RUAHA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Informed by the social cultural theory, this qualitative study investigated mathematics teachers’ perspectives and practices of group activities as a teaching strategy when teaching mathematics at ordinary secondary school level in Tanzania. Guided by the interpretivism paradigm the study aimed to collect data on teachers’ perspectives and how they practice the use of group activities when teaching mathematics. The study involved four basic mathematics teachers who were purposively selected based on the criteria of being trained during their professional training and were teaching basic mathematics at ordinary secondary school level. Data was collected through non-participating classroom observation and teachers’ self-reflection of their lessons. The findings from this study revealed that, the participant mathematics teachers’ standpoint was that, the group strategy is appropriate for helping students to work together as it is required by official documents when employing learner-centred pedagogy. The form of group tasks that teachers assigned to students informed the study that, although teachers were trained to implement the use of learner-cented pedagogy, teachers had not well-developed competencies to effectively use group task as a learner-centred strategy. The participant mathematics teachers employed group tasks that did not meet criteria for mathematics group tasks. Furthermore, the teachers’ planned group activities did no help teachers to meet teaching and learning goals such as improving students’ acquisition of the required mathematics competencies. Teachers in the study employed the strategy as a routine and a mean to satisfy higher educational authorities. These findings implied that, the participant teachers in this study had limited professional skills to use group activity as a teaching strategy.

Teachers, perspectives, practices, small group activities