Internal Quality Assurers’ Conception on Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) process: Examining Lived Experience of Secondary School Academic Member of staff within Njombe Region, Tanzania

Abstract

The study on the conception of the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) process was examined among secondary school academic members of staff within the Njombe Region in Tanzania. The aim of the study was to examine internal quality assurers’ conception of the IQA process. The study employed a qualitative research approach because internal quality assurance is a new educational reform that was introduced officially in schools by the government of Tanzania in 2021. Always new reform brought fear to teachers in terms of the conception of the new idea itself and the way it can be conducted. Therefore, to come up with the clear and deep understanding of the new obligation, a qualitative study was needed with a descriptive case study design to check participants’ lived experiences, beliefs, attitudes, behavior, perception and interaction which allowed inner feelings and opinions concerning the phenomenon in their real life situation. Nevertheless, the study was guided by two theories which are Constructivism and Humanism theory. Constructivism theory provided social interaction with respondents which helped to provide a conception of IQA in each school during data collection.  Humanism theory provided a sense of unity among interviewer and interviewee by inviting human being spirit which increased the possibility of data collection. The study used 20 respondents including 10 internal quality assurers, 8 frontline teachers, and 2 District Education Officers. Purposive sampling was used to select internal quality assurers and District Education Officers while simple random sampling was used to select frontline teachers. Data were generated through interviews, observation, and documentary review. The study revealed that in all 5 secondary schools passed teachers did not attend seminars and they were running the new reform using their working experience. The study advised all educational stakeholders to check how to provide continuous awareness to teachers for effective implementation of IQA in schools.