Enhancing Teacher Professional Growth: A Study of Reflective Practices in Tanzanian Teacher Colleges

Persistent gaps between policy aspirations and classroom practice continue to undermine reflective teacher preparation in resource-constrained contexts. This mixed-methods study examines how reflective practices are integrated within Tanzanian diploma-level teacher education and identifies the institutional mechanisms shaping reflective depth. Drawing on survey data (n = 120), interviews (n = 8), document analysis, and observations across four colleges, the study analyzes the relationship between assessment structures, tutor capacity, and student engagement. Findings indicate strong rhetorical endorsement of reflection but limited procedural enactment: only one-third of reflective components carried formal assessment weight, and most observed reflections remained descriptive. Regression results show that assessment weighting and tutor modeling are the strongest predictors of reflective depth (β = .42, p < .01). The study introduces the African Critical-Pragmatist Model, specifying how assessment design and tutor preparation operate as institutional levers that determine whether reflection becomes structurally embedded or remains symbolic.