Papers in Education and Development is dedicated to the analysis of educational problems and issues from a multidisciplinary point of view. Contributions are invited from authors in a variety of academic disciplines whose work has significant implications for educational policy and/or educational practice both in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. The Editorial Board accepts research-based analytical papers, original research reports, reviews and short communications.

                                         EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Chief Editor

Prof. Eustella P. Bhalalusesa, Department of Educational Foundations, Management
and Life-long Learning, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Associate Chief Editor

Dr Philipo Lonati Sanga, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Foundations,
Management and Life-long Learning, University of Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.

Editorial Board Members

Prof. William A. L. Anangisye, Department of Educational Foundations,
Management and Life-long Learning, University of Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
Prof. Ivor Baatjes, Centre for Intergrated Post-School Education and Training
(CIPSET), Nelson Mandela University, South Africa.
Prof. Maria Hallitzky, Faculty of Education, University of Leipzig, Germany.
Prof. Hanna Posti-Ahokas, Senior Researcher, Faculty of Education and Psychology,
University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Dr Blackson Kanukisya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Foundations,
Management and Life-long Learning, University of Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
Dr Jackline K. A. Nyerere, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Management,
Policy and Curriculum Studies, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Dr Rebecca Sima, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Psychology and
Curriculum Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Dr George Kahangwa, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Foundations,
Management and Life-long Learning, University of Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
Dr Sarah E. Kisanga, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Psychology and
Curriculum Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Dr Mjege Kinyota, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Psychology and
Curriculum Studies, Dar es Salaam University College of Education,
Tanzania.
Dr Nkanileka Mgonda, Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Foundations,
Management and Life-long Learning, University of Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
Dr Rose Upor, Senior Lecturer, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics,
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Dr Devota J. Marwa, Lecturer, Department of Physical Education and Sport
Sciences.

Editorial Advisory Panel

Prof. Abel Ishumi, School of Education, University of Dar es Salaam.
Prof. Daniel Sifuna, Department of Educational Foundations, Kenyatta University,
Kenya.
Prof. Peter Baguma, Department of Organisational and Social Psychology,
Makerere University, Uganda.
Prof. Francis Indoshi, Shool of Education, Maseno University, Kenya.
Prof. Des Hewitt, School of Education, University of Warwick, UK.

Editorial Correspondence

Editorial correspondence including manuscripts for submission should be sent to
The Chief Editor or Associate Chief Editors, Papers in Education and Development
(PED), School of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35048, Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania. Authors are advised to submit their papers in electronic form,
as an attachment, to email papersineducation@gmail.com, copied to ped@udsm.
ac.tz. Journal Website: http://ped.ac.tz

Editorial

Papers in Education and Development (PED) Volume 41, Number 1 of June,
2023 is ready for your reading. In this issue, we provide a collection of researchbased
papers that address current issues in education in Tanzania and elsewhere.
The papers cover a diverse range of the educational sectors including pre-primary,
primary, secondary and higher education. Besides the formal education sector,
adult and non-formal education (ANFE) sector is included as well.

In the first paper, Moses Amosun and Adedamola John examine the effect of
interactive book reading on speaking skills of pre-primary school children in
Ibadan Metropolis in Nigeria. By adopting the pre-test and post-test quasiexperimental
research design they found that there was a significant main effect
of treatment on pre-primary school children’s speaking skills (F (1, 32) =34.95;
P<0.05; ɳ2=0.52). Hence, a conclusion that interactive book reading is an
effective reading strategy for pre-primary school children. The second paper is
Geraldina Edward’s and Richard Shukia’s exploration of socio-cultural barriers
to children’s acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills in rural public preprimary
schools in Tanzania. Thematic analysis of data revealed that mothertongue
interference, limited parent-teacher collaboration and community beliefs
about children’s education were the perceived socio-cultural barriers to children’s
acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. The paper concludes that children’s
acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills is hampered by the presence of
various socio-cultural barriers. In the next paper, George Kahangwa and Eugenia
Kafanabo establish school-based factors explaining why several primary schools
in Lushoto district, in Tanzania were experiencing poorest academic performance
across years. Findings from mixed methods research revealed that weak school
leadership, imbalanced allocation of teachers, poor management of learning time
and inadequate infrastructure were the most critical reasons.

Mariam Nyang’anyi and Eustella Bhalalusesa present findings on the exploration
of parental engagement approaches in developing children’s literacy skills in
primary schools. It was revealed that parents in high-performing schools were
highly engaged in their children’s literacy development through regular parentteacher
communications, parent-teacher trust and parent-teacher cooperation.
Parents in low-performing schools, on the other hand, were less engaged due
to reasons such as hectic schedules on socio-economic activities. The paper
recommends that teachers use encouraging and friendly approaches to parents
so that they can feel comfortable engaging in developing their children’s literacy
skills. The fifth paper is Mjege Kinyota’s investigation into the extent to which
selected aspects of role modelling predict undergraduate students’ performance,

self-efficacy, persistence and sense of belongingness to Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Overall, results from hierarchical
regression analysis indicated no significant effects. Also, the proportion of
female instructors significantly predicted academic performance for female
students. Further, personal variables such as gender identification, majoring in
engineering and attending a private school had significant influence on some
dependent variables, with notable variations across gender. Next is Armstrong
Matogwa’s examination of the relationship between natural science knowledge
and development of science and technology in Tanzania. It is a response to the
puzzle that, why despite decades of dissemination of modern science knowledge,
Tanzania is still technologically behind? Findings suggest that, imperialist forces
in forms of colonialism, neocolonialism and neoliberalism have sporadically
weakened the development of science and technology. Further, in the neoliberal
era, schools disseminate eurocentric, reified and disarticulated science that
limits students’ potentialities to invent and innovate relevant and articulated
technologies.

Florence Kyaruzi’s paper presents factors leading to gender discrepancies in
secondary school students’ Mathematics performance and how they could be
addressed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, latent mean analyses
and thematic analysis techniques. Quantitative results indicated that students
evaluated their Mathematics teachers’ instructional practices positively across
gender. Qualitative results showed that students had gendered perceptions toward
Mathematics and perceived it as a masculine subject. Further, findings unveiled
that students’ masculine orientation toward Mathematics was partly attributed to
a biased distribution of domestic chores, social persuasions about girls’ ability in
Mathematics and restrictive parenting of girls. Next, John Siayi, Ismail Pangani
and Stephen Mabagala provide findings of the study about teachers’ pedagogical
beliefs in teaching Physical Education (PE) in secondary schools. The study found
that PE teachers believed on the learner-centred teaching approach, discussion
teaching method as the best teaching approaches in teaching. It was further found
that verbal warning, oral questioning, column and row as well as semicircle
seating arrangements were the best way of enhancing students’ obedience to
school rules and regulations.

In the penultimate paper, Hezron Onditi presents different forms of bullying,
victimization and witnessing behaviour among secondary school students.
Findings from a self-reported questionnaire and in-depth interviews indicated
that students were commonly engaged and witnessed more verbal, physical,
social bullying, followed by cyberbullying. For victimization, students reported
experiencing more physical, verbal and social followed by cyber victimization.
Female students were more likely to experience different forms of victimization
and witnessing different forms of bullying compared to male students. Further,
female students reported to be engaged in perpetrating verbal and social bullying
more than male students. Contrary to the expectations, students in rural location
were more likely to engage in cyberbullying perpetration more than those in
urban and semi-urban areas. In the last paper, Aristarick Lekule and Gennes
Shirima examine the conceptions of sustainability of open schools in offering
quality secondary education to complement the conventional education system in
Tanzania. Thematic data analysis indicated that, limited learner support services
were a major impediment for the sustainability of open secondary schools in
offering quality secondary education. Further, lack of qualified facilitators,
library facilities, study centres, academic guidance and counselling services have
adversely affected the learners’ academic performance in open schools.

On behalf of the Editorial Board, I extend our heartfelt appreciations to all
anonymous peer reviewers, authors and both content and language editors for
making this issue a reality.

Eustella P. Bhalalusesa

Chief Editor of Papers in Education and Development

CONTENTS

Effect of Interactive Book Reading on Speaking Skills of Preschool
Children in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria
Moses Dele Amosun & Adedamola Olubisi John................................................................. 1

Perceived Socio-cultural Barriers to Children’s Acquisition of
Kiswahili Pre-Reading Skills in Rural Schools, Tanzania
Geraldina Edward & Richard Shukia .............................................................................. 18

School-based factors Explaining Primary School Learners’
Academic Performance Disparities in Lushoto, Tanzania
George Kahangwa & Eugenia Kafanabo.......................................................................... 30

Parental Engagement Approaches on Literacy Skills
Development in Primary Schools
Mariam John Nyang’anyi & Eustella Peter Bhalalusesa ..................................................... 51

Effects of Role Models on Undergraduate Students’ Academic
Performance, Sense of Belongingness, Self-efficacy and Persistence
in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Mjege Kinyota ........................................................................................................... 66

Social Forces Impeding Development of Science and Technology
in Tanzania: The Case of Secondary School Science Education
Armstrong C. Matogwa .............................................................................................. 85

Unraveling Factors for Gender Discrepancies in Students’ Mathematics
Performance in Tanzanian Secondary Schools
Florence Kyaruzi ...................................................................................................... 106

Teachers Pedagogical Beliefs about Teaching Physical
Education in Tanzanian Secondary Schools
John Siayi, Ismail Pangani & Stephen Mabagalaa ......................................................... 126

Bullying, Victimization and Witnessing among Secondary School
Students in Tanzania: Focus on Gender and School Location
Hezron Z. Onditi ..................................................................................................... 143

Conceptions of Sustainability of Open Schools in Offering
Quality Secondary Education in Tanzania
Aristarick A. Lekule & Gennes H. Shirima ................................................................... 164

PED EDITORIAL POLICY AND NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS............................................ 178