Determinants of the ineffective use of instructional materials in teaching social studies subjects in Tanzania: a case of public secondary schools in Iringa Municipality

This study investigated the ineffective use of instructional materials in teaching Social Studies subjects in Tanzania’s public secondary schools. In particular, the study aimed at identifying the common types of instructional materials, frequency of use of instructional materials in social studies and the problems associated with the use of the instructional materials. Case study design with mixed research approach was used and conducted in Iringa Municipality in Iringa Region. The study had 96 respondents, categorized into heads of schools, academic teachers, subject teachers and students who were purposively sampled and through stratified random sampling procedures, to which interviews, questionnaires and document search were applied to collect information. Data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The study established that most common types of instructional materials for social studies subjects were printed materials. The frequency of use of instructional materials in the study was minimal; and also the study revealed that cost of manufacturing and maintenance of instructional materials, and reluctance of teachers to improvise them were among the problems associated with the use of instructional materials. Basically political, social, economic and geographical factors seemed to be the key determinants for ineffective use of instructional materials. Basing on these findings, the study recommended that the government funds allocation process should consider instructional materials. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training should establish instructional materials development units at regional and district levels and strengthening Teachers’ Resource Centres (TRCs) for effective utilization of teaching and learning materials. Also government through the Ministry of Education should sponsor skills enhancement for teachers in order to train and retrain them about the use of Instructional materials.