Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies

This study examined the challenges facing heads of schools in adopting innovative teaching strategies in public secondary schools in Mvomero District Council, Tanzania. Grounded in Constructivist Learning Theory, the study adopted a pragmatist perspective and a convergent mixed-methods design. The participants comprised 238 students, 79 teachers, 10 academic masters and 10 heads of schools from 10 schools. Data were collected through teacher questionnaires, interviews with heads of schools, student focus group discussions and documentary reviews. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 20, and the reported Cronbach’s alpha was 0.83. Findings indicated that school leaders faced interrelated institutional, pedagogical, technological and socio-economic constraints. Among the teachers surveyed, 95% identified stakeholder resistance and overcrowded classrooms as challenges, while 92.4% identified poverty and socio-economic inequalities. Other commonly reported barriers included limited resources, sociocultural resistance, technological limitations, insufficient institutional support, teacher shortages, curriculum misalignment and inadequate training. Interview and focus group accounts further described difficulties associated with unreliable electricity, limited digital devices, shortages of instructional materials, large classes and community expectations favouring conventional teaching. The findings suggest that the adoption of learner-centred and technology-supported strategies requires improvements in teacher development, school-level resources, administrative support and stakeholder engagement. These implications concern the implementation of competency-based curriculum reforms in semi-rural public secondary schools within the study setting.