Challenges Teachers Face and Strategies Deployed in Teaching Reading Skills in Public Primary Schools in Tanzania

This study explored challenges facing teachers in developing standard one and two pupils with reading skills in two selected districts in Dodoma region in Tanzania. Two specific objectives guided the study that purposively engaged standard one and two teachers of the four selected public primary schools. Phenomenographic design was used to achieve the study purpose through the semi-structured interview. Qualitative data analysis through coding and category formation, despite the fact that teachers held positive view with the curriculum content for teaching reading skills, a number of challenges were identified. Such challenges are poor infrastructures (clean and safe water, school meals, and inadequate desks); insufficient number of teachers; insufficient teaching and learning materials; regular curriculum change, overcrowded classrooms, and poor family income were identified as key challenges impacting effective teacher’s instruction. The study also found teachers using strategies that can hardly help pupils particularly those struggling to read become good readers. The study recommends among many, deployment of teachers with particular focus in teaching lower grades and construction of more classes to reduce pupils being overcrowded in one classroom.

Keywords: reading, teaching reading