Challenges Facing the Effective Use of Pedagogical Strategies to Enhance Mathematics Performance of Pupils with Moderate Intellectual Disability in Inclusive Settings in Dodoma City Council in Tanzania

This study aim to explore challenges that face the effective use of pedagogical strategies used by teachers in enhancing mathematics performance of standard four pupils with Moderate Intellectual Disability (MID) in Inclusive Settings. The study involved 80 respondents whereby 40 were mathematics teachers, 8 heads of schools and 38 pupils with moderate intellectual disabilities selected from eight inclusive primary schools. The study employed a case study research design (qualitative research approach) in which data were collected using interviews, focus group discussion, observation and documentary review. The data from focus group discussion, interviews and observation were coded by using qualitative data analysis software called NVivo. Findings of this study established that there were various challenges which hindered effective utilization of the pedagogical strategies identified in this research. Among those challenges were: inadequate number of qualified teachers coupled with poor resources allocation (both material and human resources). It was further discovered that, the nature of classrooms which seemingly appeared overcrowded together with high teacher-pupil ratios were among the challenges. For example, on average a class was observed to accommodate 113 pupils inclusive. Based on these findings, the study recommends that the school management should organize indoor seminars and workshops to empower teachers with the current teaching and learning strategies and this could better be facilitated by the respective Council.