In this section, key lessons from general observations at the three schools are presented. In addition, key points from students’, school leaders’ and parents’ opinions from the three schools are added to provide a broader context for understanding quality education in the cases chosen for this study.
Government secondary school
Out of the three secondary schools chosen for this study, the government school was the largest school where the atmosphere was the most relaxed compared to the two other schools.
Teachers enjoyed chatting with each other in the staff room, often instead of going to class on time. In breaks between classes, several teachers engaged in buying snacks or soft drinks from one another that they brought to school to sell. This practice seemed to be an important part of social interaction at school. As teachers explained during personal conversations, this little income meant a supplement to their otherwise low salaries. When teachers were having a free period, they often marked students’ work or prepared lesson plans, which they were usually behind on. Teachers also had a relaxed attitude to working hours; when they had other business to do, they found ways to leave school earlier without the leaders noticing it. With more than 50 employees at school, large school facilities and without any fence around the school, it was not difficult to disappear without being noticed.
However, when inspectors came to school one day, teachers’ attitude changed immediately and all seemed more serious and stressed and were busy with finishing their lesson plans in a rush. It happened both in this government school and the two control government schools that official inspectors arrived unannounced, causing distress. Inspectors talked with the headmistress of the school and looked at some teachers’ lesson plans. Nevertheless, once they were gone, all went back to the “business as usual” routine. Lack of teachers’ commitment was one of the issues the headmistress named as a specific challenge in this school.
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Staff and academic meetings were held both at the end of the school year in December and at the beginning of the new year in January to assess the progress of the school. Poor academic performance and discipline were mainly the key issues discussed at such meetings. Due to the poor Form 4 examination results in 2015, where 60% of students had failed, an increased number of staff meetings were held, even with the participation of the Tanga City mayor and the Regional Education Officer. Furthermore, parents were also invited to a teacher-parent meeting to discuss these issues.
The mother of one of the Form 3 students I interviewed was satisfied with the cooperation between the school and the parents. However, she pointed out that many parents do not show up at teacher-parent meetings, thus the cooperation between the school and parents can be a challenge. Many things were discussed at these meetings, but change did not often happen according to her.
Some of the Form 4 students whom I interviewed claimed that the school was “good”, but they mentioned several challenges they experienced in practice. One of the main issues the majority of them mentioned was “over-punishment”, as they called it. Teachers often caned students for both academic and disciplinary reasons. One of the students explained that when he was beaten in class for not knowing the answer to a question, the pain distracted his focus from the subject and he started hating both the teacher and the subject. Another student added that corporal punishment destroys good teacher-student relationships, which she thought were important in a good school. When I asked them to describe their favourite lesson, most of them agreed that they liked lessons where they get to participate, for example by doing group work. However, students also mentioned that language was a challenge for them even in Form 4; even during the interviews they sometimes had difficulty expressing themselves in English.
Private day secondary school
Compared to the government school, the private day school was a much smaller school where it was easier to get an overview of teachers and teaching activities. The school had better facilities than the government school and teachers had enough space and desks in the staff room to work. However, the lack of good cooperation between the management of the school and the staff had a negative impact on most aspects of teaching and learning and decreased teachers’ motivation as shown earlier. The academic master of the school pointed out that “the school had no team” and that “people have given up on this school”. Furthermore, due the
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lack of proper planning and follow up from the management’s side, the beginning and the end of school terms were poorly organised and students were floating around at school while several teachers were absent. Many days and weeks went by before everything settled.
Staff meetings were rare at the private day school. For instance, the national examination results were never evaluated by the staff together. During the few staff meetings that were held, mainly the headmaster talked and the teachers listened, after which everything went on in the same way as before. Teachers also expressed that they rarely had the opportunity to contribute with ideas on how to improve learning outcomes at school, which no one was really satisfied with.
Students whom I taught in Form 1 often complained about teachers not attending classes properly or just sending notes for the class monitor to write on the black board. Furthermore, the instability of teachers decreased their motivation as they were never sure how long that teacher was going to stay at school. During the school term, several teachers whom students liked left due to poor working conditions and lack of good cooperation with the management.
This left students increasingly disappointed in the management of the school. One girl explained to me that since this was the only private secondary day school in Tanga, it was her only choice as her parents did not want to take her to a boarding school. Even though she was one of most motivated students in class, she seemed hopeless and upset after these events.
The three parents I interviewed complained about the lack of good communication and cooperation between the school and the parents. All of them identified the lack of good management as the biggest challenge. During the time of my fieldwork, no teacher-parent meetings were held and parents also confirmed that it has been years since they had such a meeting. One of the parents, whose son has attended the school for several years, expressed that in his view teachers were not valued at this school, which could also be the reason for the poor performance. He was considering moving his son to another school.
Private boarding school
This was the school that students, parents and teachers were most satisfied with compared to the two other schools examined. One of the major differences that characterised this school was a dedicated management, as this was a family business established and driven by the same family. The manager was present at school most of the time and he was engaged in both planning and evaluating events and teaching activates. His engagement had a seemingly
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positive impact on the teachers and most of them showed more commitment than the majority of teachers at the two other schools. Staff meetings were organised nearly every two weeks, where the manager was always present. Examination results were evaluated and discussed immediately after they were available and during these meetings teachers had the chance to share their thoughts on the issue. Teachers were also appreciated by the management and the headmaster during these meetings and they were motivated by receiving additional payment for achieving good results. As the manager explained to me, academic performance was important for the school as good results attracted more students for the school.
Apart from academic performance, students’ well-being was often discussed during staff meetings and among teachers. Teachers had more diverse responsibilities, as this was a boarding school where students stayed at during school time. Moreover, in the private boarding school, sports activities and field trips were organised for academic and leisure purposes, unlike at the two other schools. For example, students visited the water treatment plant near Tanga, which students enjoyed a lot.
Students were generally satisfied with this school and recognised the value of the good and peaceful learning environment they had. Lessons they most enjoyed entailed stories and teachers sharing their personal experiences with them, which they preferred more than only learning things in theory. Most of them felt that there was a good cooperation between teachers and students and they had at least one teacher they could trust as a parent in the absence of their own. However, corporal punishment and strict rules in school were some of the things they complained about the most. One of the boys told me that caning makes him afraid of teachers and that is why he does not like to ask questions during class. However, he also expressed that he had many friends in school and that made him enjoy staying in school.
Parents whom I interviewed and talked to at the teacher-parents meeting expressed their satisfaction about the school. Parents’ meetings were organised once a year and, in addition to that. parents visited the school for the event of Form 4 graduations. During the parents’
meetings, improving academic performance was one of the major topics discussed. The school was held accountable by the parents and teachers communicated how parents could contribute to improving performance. For efficient cooperation, a teacher-parent association (PTA) was set up to support and motivate teachers financially. In addition, the PTA contributed to buying enough textbooks for all students at the school. One mother, who is also on the board of the school, especially liked the committed management, the good environment
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and the good academic results of the school. Another father explained to me that he appreciated his son’s academic and personal development during the years he spent at this boarding school. In summary, this was the most liked school among the three examined.