This talk presents emerging findings from an ongoing collaborative research project which investigates language-in-education polices in Botswana, Tanzania, and Zambia. The project, which employs linguistic ethnographic approaches, seeks to better understand the interaction – and mismatch – between the use of languages outside of the formal educational setting and those inside the classroom. In this talk we present findings focusing on the attitudes and opinions of teachers.

There is substantial research evidence on the benefits of utilising language practices which are familiar to children in their teaching and learning (Alidou et al, 2006; Ball, 2011; UNESCO, 2016, 2018). However, this has largely been ignored by policy makers in Sub-Saharan Africa with language-in-education policies failing learners (Erling et al, 2021). In Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana, findings suggest that there is a disconnect between official language policies and classroom practices. This is not surprising given the often multilingual nature of the surrounding contexts and the backdrop of monolingual language-in-education policies that all three countries have adopted. In this talk we explore the attitudes of teachers in these contexts who are operating under a broad range of challenges and expectations. On the one hand, they are in many ways the official ‘implementors’ of these policies, since their behaviour impacts much of what takes place in the classroom. Yet they are acutely aware of the challenges associated with the official policies in the contexts in which they operate, the pressures linked to educational performance and attainment, as well as the broader views of parents, carers and community members. We highlight avenues for support of teachers, both ‘on the job’ and in teacher training programmes, as well as highlighting the creativity and skilful means often employed by educators responding to these multifaceted pressures.