Do teachers in low-income countries avoid implementing Early Grade Reading Programs? Using a behavioral science lens to study teacher response to educational change in rural Tanzania
Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This study explored teachers' responses to introducing an Early Grade Reading (EGR) Program in rural Tanzania. The theoretical framework included a behavioral science perspective to identify behaviors and social norms that restrain effective implementation by teachers. It was found that after six years of the program, the teachers from low-performing schools implemented the program and had a favorable view of its influence on their classroom practice. However, while the teachers had adopted the content of the EGR Program, they had retained many of their default approaches to content delivery. Further, they were not focused on pupil understanding and learning. All the teachers believed that most or all of their pupils would reach the expected proficient reading benchmarks by the end of grade 2. However, external learning outcome data suggests that most pupils fall short of the expected reading benchmark. In conclusion, when mandated, teacher resistance is not an issue with the adoption of new curricula. However, teachers adapt programming to make aligning with their prior instructional approach a lower mental effort, focusing on content delivery as the observable effect they are accountable for. Similar findings from research in other countries, including the USA and Bangladesh suggest that these observations in rural Tanzania are predominantly human behavioral responses, meaning that if human behavior is predictable, then intervention programming should be able to account for it. This study contributes value to education research through use of a behavioral science framework to study teacher behavioral barriers to education program implementation. The study’s findings suggest that typical models of teacher change behavior used for education intervention designs that rely on logic and reason are unrealistic. Therefore, education programming should be designed to account for researched and expected teacher and other stakeholder behavior.
Author: King, Simon John
Language: English
Topic: Education in Rural Contexts
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7028186739