Language Education in Maasai Land, Tanzania: Parental Voices and School Realities

This research explores parental perspectives on language education in Maasai Land, Tanzania, and the ways in which school realities at a Swahili-medium government (SMG) school and an English-medium private (EMP) school align with and diverge from parental expectations. While significant research shows benefits of Swahili-medium schooling in Tanzania, many parents are clamouring for English-medium private primary schools, while the 130+ local languages are muted in formal schooling. This study employs interviews with parents at one SMG and one EMP, and school observations at these same schools, to explore and compare valuations, expectations for use, and use of Maa, Swahili and English. This research finds that parents are generally very supportive of multilingual education, with perspectives both reflecting and rejecting dominant political discourses shaped by nationalism and neoliberalism. Schoolsâ orientations towards languages as problems or resources are shaped by symbolic and economic valuations of languages in Tanzaniaâ s broader political economic context.M.A