This study focuses on the conceptualisation of learner-centred pedagogy (LCP) in the global and Tanzanian contexts. The conceptualisation of LCP in studies in the global context is scrutinised. Elements identified in the global literature are then used to analyse the conceptualisation of LCP in the Tanzanian context. The study observes significant similarity, with a slight variation, between the conceptualisation of LCP from the global and Tanzanian perspectives, suggesting that most studies in the Tanzanian context use a global conceptualisation of LCP. Recommendations for contextualisation of the concept and avenues for further research are offered in this paper.
AnneyV. N. (2013). Supporting licensed science teachers’ professional development in adopting learner-centred pedagogy in Tanzanian secondary schools [PhD diss.]. University of Waikato.
2.
AnneyV. N.BulayiM. (2020). Experienced mathematics teachers PCK in the use of learner-centred approaches in Tanzania’s secondary schools. Papers in Education and Development, 37(1), 94–122. https://journals.udsm.ac.tz/index.php/ped/article/view/3124.
3.
BartlettL.MogusuE. ((2013).Teachers’). Understandings and implementation of learner-centered pedagogy. In VavrusF.BartlettL. (Eds.), Teaching in tension: International pedagogies, national policies, and Teachers’ practices in Tanzania (pp. 61–74). Sense.
4.
BartlettL.VavrusF. (2013). Testing and teaching: The Tanzanian national exams and their influence on pedagogy. In Teaching in tension: International pedagogies, national policies, and teachers’ practices in Tanzania (pp. 93–113). SensePublishers.
5.
BerryL. M.CroneM. R.MathewsS.ReisR. (2025). She is a mother, but still childish”: Exploring adult caregivers’ perspectives on adolescent parenting in a South African cultural context. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 1–16). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-025-01020-2Spri
BremnerN. (2021). The multiple meanings of ‘student-centred’ or ‘learner-centred’ education, and the case for a more flexible approach to defining it. Comparative Education, 57(2), 159–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2020.1805863
8.
BremnerN.SakataN.CameronL. (2022). The outcomes of learner-centred pedagogy: A systematic review. International Journal of Educational Development, 94, 102649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102649
9.
ChristopherT. (2022). The implication of Plato’s philosophy of education to the learner-centred teaching in Tanzania secondary schools. East African Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 5(1), 126–132. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajis.5.1.726
10.
DeweyJ. (1916). Education and Democracy. Macmillan.
11.
DeweyJ. (1930). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. Macmillan.
12.
Di BiaseR. (2009). Implementing active learning reform in the Maldives: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Educational Reform, 18(4), 283–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/105678790901800402
EricksonF. (2006). Definition and analysis of data from videotape: Some research procedures and their rationales. In GreenJ. L.CamilliG.ElmoreP. B. (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 177–192. 3rd ed.). Routledge.
15.
GabrielL. (2013). Assessment of the implementation of learner-centred teaching approaches in secondary schools in Kibondo, Tanzania. Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 2(1), 1–15). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v2i1.167
16.
GuthrieG. (2015). On the cosmology of cumulative progressive hallucination. Southern African Review of Education with Education with Production, 21(1), 7–18. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC193716.
17.
GuthrieG. (2017). The failure of progressive paradigm reversal. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 47(1), 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2016.1138396
18.
JukesM. C. H.GabrieliP.MgondaN. L.NsoleziF. S.JeremiahG.TibendaJ. L.BubK. L. (2018). Respect is an investment”: Community perceptions of social and emotional competencies in early childhood from Mtwara, Tanzania. Global Education Review, 5(2), 160–188.
19.
KirschnerP. A.SwellerJ.ClarkR. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2016.1138396
20.
KittaS.TilyaF. (2018). Assessment Status of learner-centred learning in Tanzania in the context of the competence-based curriculum. Papers in Education and Development, (29), 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2016.1138396
21.
KombaS. C.MwandanjiM. (2015). Reflections on the implementation of competence-based curriculum in Tanzanian secondary schools. Journal of Education and Learning, 4(2), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v4n2p73
22.
KovačevićE.AkbarovA. (2016). The elusiveness of learner-centred teaching. Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems: INDECS, 14(2), 212–222. https://doi.org/10.7906/indecs.14.2.10
23.
MavumbaZ. H.MtituE. A.OgondiekM. (2020). Implementation of learner-centred teaching and learning approaches in advanced mathematics in secondary schools in Tanzania: Achievements and challenges. Journal of Issues and Practice in Education, 11(2), 70–86. https://doi.org/10.61538/jipe.v11i2.847
24.
MgyabusoG.MkuluD. G. (2022). The implementation of learner centred approach and reposition of education in public secondary schools in Nyamagana district, Mwanza-Tanzania. International Journal of Humanities and Education Development (IJHED), 4(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.22161/jhed.4.1.10
MkimbiliS. T.ØdegaardM. (2020). Inquiry-based science teaching in community secondary schools in Tanzania: Role played by the language of instruction. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 15(4), 1121–1142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-020-09973-9
27.
MkimbiliS. T.TiplicD.ØdegaardM. (2017). The role played by contextual challenges in practising inquiry-based science teaching in Tanzania secondary schools. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, 21(2), 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2017.1333752
28.
MligoI.MitchellL.BellB. (2016). Pedagogical practices in early childhood education and care in Tanzania: Policy and practices. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(33), 83–92.
29.
MoEVT (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training). (2005). Curriculum for Ordinary Level Secondary Education in Tanzania. Tanzania Institute of Education.
30.
MooreA. (2012). Teaching and Learning: Pedagogy, Curriculum and Culture. Routledge.
31.
MsondeS. E.MsondeC. E. (2019). Re-Innovation of learner-centered pedagogy in Tanzania’s secondary schools. Journal of Education, 199(3), 142–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022057419854343
32.
MtituE. A. (2014). Learner-Centred Teaching in Tanzania: Geography Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences [PhD diss.]. Victoria University of Wellington.
NzilanoJ. (2017). Lesson preparation experience on learner-centred education among college tutors in Tanzania. JIPE, 9(2), 140.
35.
NzimaI. (2016). Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) in Tanzania: Tutors’ Understanding and Their Instructional Practices. Linnaeus University Press.
36.
PereiraL.SitholeB. M. (2020). Learner-Centred pedagogy in accounting: Understanding its meaning from a Bernsteinian perspective. African Educational Research Journal, 8(1), 20–30. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1245453.
37.
QuanN. T. N. v. n. (2008). A critical reflection on Jean Jacques Rousseau’s conception of education. In ŠturákP.TirpákP.ValčoM. (Eds.), Theologos (pp. 166–178). Vydavateľstvo Prešovskej univerzity.
38.
SakataN. (2023). Learner-Centred Pedagogy in the Global South: Pupils and Teachers’ Experiences. Routledge.
39.
SakataN.BremnerN.CameronL. (2022). A systematic review of the implementation of learner-centred pedagogy in low- and middle-income countries. Review of Education, 10(3), e3365. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3365
40.
SakataN.CandappaM.OketchM. (2023). Pupils’ experiences with learner-centred pedagogy in Tanzania. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 53(3), 525–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2021.1941769
SchweisfurthM. (2013). Learner-Centred Education in International Perspective: Whose Pedagogy for Whose Development?Routledge.
43.
SchweisfurthM. (2015). Learner-Centred pedagogy: Towards a post-2015 agenda for teaching and learning. International Journal of Educational Development, 40, 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.10.011
ThanhP. T. H. (2016). A theoretical framework to enhance constructivist learning reforms in Confucian heritage culture classrooms. International Journal of Educational Reform, 25(3), 283–298. https://doi.org/10.1177/105678791602500304
46.
van de KuilenH.AltinyelkenH. K.VoogtJ. M.NzabalirwaW. (2022). Recontextualization of learner-centred pedagogy in Rwanda: A comparative analysis of primary and secondary schools. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 52(6), 966–983. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2020.1847044
47.
van der PloegP. (2016). Dewey versus ‘dewey’ on democracy and education. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 11(2), 145–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197916648283
48.
VavrusF.BartlettL. (Eds.). (2013). Teaching in Tension: International Pedagogies, National Policies, and Teachers’ Practices in Tanzania. Sense Publishers.
49.
VictoriniS.WambiyaP. (2016). Assessment of the adequacy of resources and facilities to enhance learner centred pedagogy in secondary schools in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. European Journal of Education Studies, 2(2), 142–161. https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/208.
50.
VygotskyL. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Edited by M. Cole. Harvard University Press.
