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Nkanileka Loti Mgonda

Senior Lecturer

School of Education

Educational Foundations, Management and Lifelong Learning

Biography

My name is Nkanileka Loti Mgonda. I serve as a Senior Lecturer, Researcher and the current dean of the School of Education, University of Dar es Salaam. I have diverse experience in teaching and facilitating learning across different levels of education. I have diverse research experience and worked with research project teams and collaborations. My research interest include teacher education, professionalism and ethics in education, social emotional development, and moral character building. 

Research Interest

Teacher education

Teacher professionalism and ethics

Social emotional learning and character development

Implementation research and scalability studies

Comparative education policies, practices and interventions

Contacts

Email:

Projects

  • 2025 to prent: Principal Investigator: The Tanzanian Government Adaptation and Adoption of the Learner Life Skills Facilitation Programme in Co-delivery with CAMFED Tanzania. Collaborative Research Project with the REAL Centre, Cambridge University, University of Dar es Salaam and CAMFED Tanzania.
  • 2024 to Present- Principal Investigator: Teacher Agency and Innovation in Tanzania. A Research and capacity building project in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, UK. Funded by the Agha Khan Foundation.
  • 2023-2024- Principal Investigator: The role of CAMFED’s Lerner Guide Programme in shifting harmful gender social norms in Tanzania. Collaborative Research Funded by AGG Foundation and involved REAL Centre Cambridge University, University of Dar es Salaam and CAMFED International.
  • 2020-Researcher: RTI: Learning at Scale: Review of EQUIP (T), Experiences and lessons of the successes in Tanzania. Funded by Bill & Belinda Gates Foundations.
  • 2017 Researcher: RTI/UNICEF funded project. Life Skills Education in Tanzania. Tools preparation, piloting and facilitation, validation of instruments.
  • 2018- Reseacher: RTI/Tusome Pamoja funded Project: Evaluation of Research Area 1 on the use of decodable books and decodable guide in the teaching and learning of Foundational Literacy in pilot regions in Tanzania.
  • 2017-2019 Researcher: XPRIZE [UNESCO & WFP] funded project on Social and Emotional Learning among out of school-children in Tanga Region. Preparation, piloting and Supervising self-report and scenario building questionnaires. Baseline, Midline & End line phases of data collection: EGRA/EGMA/SEL data.
  • 2017- Researcher: Social Emotional Learning Project with RTI/Tusome Pamoja; worked on the developing a culturally-relevant assessment tool for social-emotional skills among pre & primary school children.

Publications

  1. Mgonda, N. L., & Mutoka, E. (2026).  Interrogating dyads in becoming a teacher: Implications for professional education. In S. Busby, C. Raphael & C. Lekule (Eds.) Contemporary Educational Management in East Africa: Tackling Challenges of Inclusion, Leadership and Digital Integration. (1st Edition, pp 31 – 44) Routledge. 

     

  2. Mgonda, N. L., & Ishemo, R. (2025). Seasonal shifting cultivation and initiation rites as local barriers to education access in rural Tanzania. Proceedings of the Conference on Expanding Horizons and Local Connectedness. Challenges for Qualitative Teaching Research and Development in Intercultural Contexts. Pages 21-27. https://www.pedocs.de

     

  3. Mgonda, N. L., & Selemani, A. (2025). Assessing perceptions of teachers and its determinants in building pupils’ moral character in Tanzania. International Journal of Educational Reforms, 0 (0) https://doi.org/101177/10567879251345793

     

  4. Mgonda, N. L, Bihagara, S, & Sarakikya, A. M. (2025). Exploring factors for persistence of sexual abuse incidents in secondary schools in Ngara District, Tanzania. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 30 (1) https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2025.2495881

     

  5. Mgonda, N. L., & Selemani, A. (2024). Moral education in Tanzania: Analysis of indigenous and formal education systems. International Journal of Educational Reform, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10567879241267978

     

  6. Mgonda, N. L., & Sakata, N. (2024). Toward an alternative pedagogical framework to learner-centred pedagogy: Historically nurtured and currently valued pedagogies in Tanzania. Comparative Education Review, 68 (3) pp.

     

  7. Mgonda, N. L., Jukes, M., Tibenda, J. L., & Sitabkhan, Y. (2023). The role of teachers’ implicit social  goals in pedagogical reforms in Tanzania. Oxford Review of Education, 49 (1), 10–28.             https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2022.2093178

     

  8. Mgonda, N. L., (2022). Teacher-student relationships: Reflection of methods in teacher education in Tanzanian universities. The Namibian Journal for Teacher Education, Vol. 6 (1) pp. 239- 267. https://doi.org/10.32642/ncpdje.v6i1.1562

     

  9. Mgonda, N. L., Samsudin, A., et al (2021). Indicators for the measurement of teacher professional identity (TPI) across Asia and Africa: A Delphi Study, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol 0 (00) pp. 1-14

     

  10. Yoshida, K., Komba, W. L., & Mgonda, N. L. (2020). Effort toward the policy-practice linkage for learning outcomes improvement: the case of secondary schools in Namtumbo District, Tanzania. Centre for International and Cooperation in Education.

     

  11. Jukes, M., Mosha, P, Mgonda, N. L. Nzolezi, F, Jeremiah, G, & Bub, K. (2018). “Respect is an investment”: community perceptions of social and emotional competencies in early childhood from Mtwara, Tanzania. Global Educational Review, 5 (2) 160-188

     

  12. Mgonda, N. L. (2019). Moral formation in secondary schools: Reflections on the approaches. Papers in Education and Development. Volume 37(1).

     

  13. Mgonda, N. L. (2019). Positive teacher-student relationships: do student teachers have what it takes? Analysis of Germany and Tanzania. Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania, Vol. 26 (2) pp. 81-97

     

  14. Mgonda, N. L., Jukes, M. &Jeremiah, G. (2022). Building an assessment of community-defined social-emotional competencies from the ground up in Tanzania. Child Development, Vol 92 (6) pp. 1095-1109

     

  15. Mgonda, N. L. & Shagembe, M.  (2022). Does parents’ socio-economic status make a difference in preschoolers’ cognitive development? Evidences from a rural context of Tanzania. Journal of Education, Humanities and Science. Vol 10 (6) pp. 36-49.

     

  16. Mgonda, N. L. & Anagisye, W. A. L. (2024). Historical dimensions of education for self-reliance in Tanzania. In A. G. Ishumi & W. A. L. Anangisye, Themes in the Tanzanian History of Education. (in press, a book chapter by Dar es Salaam Univervsrsity Press DUP).

     

  17. Mgonda, N. L. (2024). Moral values orientation in Tanzanian schools: Parents’ voices and perspectives.       (forthcoming). Journal of Moral Education by Taylor and Francis, Routledge.

     

  18. Mgonda, N. L. (2024).  Interrogating dyads in becoming a teacher: Implications for professional education. Journal of Educational Change is published by Springer.