An Assessment Of Stakeholders’ Conception Towards Teachers’ Professional Misconduct In Tanzania: The Case Of Njombe Town Council

ABSTRACT

This paper it aimed at investigating the stakeholders‟ conception towards teachers‟ professional misconducts in Tanzania. It involves views or experiences from different group of stakeholders in education in Njombe Region more specifically Njombe Town Council. This paper employed qualitative approach which was informed by phenomenological design. The purpose of this study was to explore conception among educational stakeholders including parents, students, heads of school, teachers and educational officers. More specifically the study explored the dominant conception of stakeholders, factors and associated effects to the learners. Data collection methods included interview, focus group discussion and documentary review. A total of 57 informants were involved in this study and these were teachers, students, parents and educational officers. It was found that teachers‟ alcoholism was perceived as the dominant form of professional misconduct among secondary school teachers. Also poor school management and poor school living environment were mostly preferred by the informants as the dominant causative indices of professional misconducts among teachers in secondary schools. The major effects associated with teachers professional misconducts in secondary schools were students‟ poor academic performance and lowering status among teachers. In view of research findings recounted that teachers‟ professional misconducts is the great problem of the concern in secondary schools that affects teaching, learning process and the quality of education at large. With the aim of addressing the problem educational stakeholders should think on introducing subjects and courses related to teachers‟ ethics, from secondary schools to university so as to make a clear ethical base to students