LASER PULSE Policy Brief April 2023

The study adds to the body of evidence on the benefits of SEL in early childhood learning. Children need a safe and secure school environment for optimal development, but 78% of Tanzania Mainland's school children report experiencing some form of violence in their school setting. The study aimed to investigate the integration of SEL components into early grade learning in Tanzania. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews and questionnaires with early grade teachers, school committees, quality assessors, and pupils to gather evidence on three research questions. The findings suggest that teaching SEL competencies such as self-management, self-awareness, and relationships can lead to greater school safety. Teachers believe that training in autonomy, support, and participation in school-community activities helps them contribute to school safety. However, early grade pupils' safety is impacted by master bullies, known as "wababe wa darasa," who dominate their classes and create an intimidating atmosphere. The study also found that SEL assessment is a top-down and teacher-dominated activity, and it overlooks opportunities to use pupils' self-rating in the process. The study highlights the importance of teachers' knowledge and skills in integrating SEL components into their teaching practices. Appropriate pre-service and in-service teacher education programs would enhance teachers' ability to promote pupils' SELCs. Improving school safety is crucial in helping children develop SELCs, and supportive programs can help teachers and parents address aggression in and out of the school context. The study also emphasizes the need for capacity strengthening to help teachers and parents use educational media and technology to promote children's SELCs. Schools need help including SELCs into regular assessments, making both teacher-rating and pupils' self-rating more objective. Teachers have a limited understanding of SEL and pedagogical practices that support SEL, missing opportunities to use classroom organization to enhance respectful, responsive, and responsive relationships. The study also investigated how the community participates in promoting the development of SELCs in early grade learners. Current in-service programs inadequately prepare teachers to grow their pupils' SELCs. Parents use educational media and technology for entertainment and academic purposes, but could learn to use them to enhance their children's SELCs. Community members can hinder pupils' SEL growth, such as forcing schoolgirls to fail national examinations, drop out, and marry early to earn a bride price. The study found that the community promotes social awareness, obedience, empathy, and relationships at home. However, teachers are unaware of how in-service programs could help them collaborate with communities in promoting SELCs. The study recommends that professional development programs should help teachers better integrate SEL into their teaching and enhance their abilities to collaborate with communities in promoting pupils' SELCs. The study also recommends that school leaders should help teachers assess SELCs and integrate them into classroom practices, making SEL growth a goal for teachers. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology should adopt context-specific measures to help teachers assess pupil SELCs progress. Educators should help parents learn how positive cultural practices can aid in developing children's SELCs. The study highlights the need for teacher education to strengthen early grade teachers' capacity to create and use both procured and locally available resources to promote both academics and SELCs. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology should incentivize Tanzania's media and technology providers to integrate SEL into their programs, supporting teachers' classroom teaching. Future training should help teachers use educational media and technology to help students learn academics and SELCs.