The role of real - life contexts in the teaching and learning of physics in selected secondary schools in Mkuranga district

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of real-life contexts (RLC) in teaching and learning of physics in Tanzanian secondary schools. The study was guided by three specific objectives: first. to explore teachers and students' awareness of RLC as an approach to enhance teaching and learning of physics; second, to examine the use of RLC as an approach to enhance teaching and learning of physics; and third. To explore the motivational role of RLC as a teaching approach to enhance students' learning of physics. The study employed qualitative interpretative approach and the multiple holistic case study design. The sample of the study included six physics teachers and 47 Forms II — IN' students purposively sampled from two non-public and three public secondary schools in Mkuranga District Data were collected through classroom observations. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review and analyzed using thematic analysis of transcription. Code-recode strategy was employed to gain a deeper understanding of data pattern to improve the presentation of participants' narrations thereby enhancing dependability. The key findings of this study were as follows: Teachers and students awareness of RLC approach were in four views: RLC as an approach to enhance teaching and learning of physics; RLC as an approach to enhance teaching and learning of physics but difficult to implement: RLC as useful approach to teaching_ and learning but not sure if it can enhance physics teaching and learning; and students viewed RLC as a useful approach to enhance physics learning. The study realized that there were significant efforts by teachers to employ RLC approach in physics lesson activities, but with the individual teachers deciding when and how to use either as an initial teaching approach or as a remedial strategy. Moreover, students were significantly motivated when RLC approach connected their prior knowledge and experience with physics concepts. Basing on the research problem and the study findings, the researcher made six key recommendations, one of which is policy and curriculum developers should put emphasis on the adoption of the already known RLC approach to achieve practical interpretations of learner-centered teaching.