Recognizing that “social innovation cannot be achieved by private action alone”
(International Round Table on Social Innovation, 2010), the purpose of this paper is to describe
the processes used to build relationships and develop an international, cross-sector,
interdisciplinary partnership to address the need for primary mathematics teacher development
in rural and remote communities in Tanzania (hereafter known as the project).
By the end of the 20th century the quality of education in Tanzania had reached a crisis
(Wedgewood, 2007). The vast majority of children fail mathematics in the National Primary
School Leaving Examination (Wangeleja, 2007), 25% of children do not attain a basic level of
numeracy (Mrutu, Ponera and Nkumbi, 2005), and 1 in 10 children complete primary school
with no basic mathematics skills (Rajani, 2010). Many reasons have been advanced to explain
the performance of learners in mathematics. The focus of the project is on those factors related to
the teacher: mathematics teacher shortages, poor qualifications among mathematics teachers
(completion of Form 4 (grade 11) followed by two years teacher training college), low morale,
and teaching methods which encourage pupils to learn by rote. These factors are intensified in
rural and remote communities. Teachers who work in rural environments experience great
disadvantage. They lack basic resources more common in urban areas (housing, electricity,
water), have poor access to teaching resources and few opportunities for professional
development. Not only is it difficult to place teachers in rural and remote areas, it is almost
impossible to place well-qualified mathematics teachers. Given this serious problem of the lack
of well-qualified mathematics teachers, we believe that a first step is to enhance the professional
and mathematics knowledge of teachers who currently live and teach in rural community
schools. The quality of children’s educational experience is critical for social and economic
prosperity and UNESCO’s Millennium Goals for Primary Basic Education (2000) cannot be met
without addressing the innovation needed to enhance the quality of mathematics teaching in rural
and remote communities.