Positioning Secondary School Teachers as Passive Actors During School Quality Assurance Policy Implementation in Dodoma, Tanzania

Abstract

While the impact of the School Quality Assurance (SQA) policy on students’ learning outcomes is well-documented, there exists a limited  understanding of how its implementation influences teachers’ power and identity. This study analysed how teachers were positioned  during the SQA policy implementation in four purposefully selected secondary schools in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. Data gathered from  19 participants, including heads of schools, department heads, subject teachers, WEOs, and SQAOs through policy documents and semi- structured interviews, unveil a critical observation. Despite teachers being pivotal to school functioning, the SQA policy positions them as  passive objects lacking the knowledge to evaluate school quality based on proposed domains. This study contends that such positioning  aligns with previous topdown school inspection models, which had limited impact on enhancing secondary school quality. To address  this, the study suggests a radical shift towards teacher empowerment through collegial supervision rather than conventional external  quality assurance visits.