RP-Department of Educational Management Policy & Curriculum Studies

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Self- Concepts and attitudes Towards Teaching as Predictors of Effective Teaching
(Journal of Instructional Psychology, 1987) Okech, Jack Green
Innovation in a Kenyan B.Ed. (Primary) Course
(Journal of Education for Teaching, 1989) Okech, Jack Green
Major Influences on Science Achievement in a Developing Country: Kenya
(International Journal of Science Education, 1989) Twoli, N. W.; Power, C.N.
This study seeks to contribute to our understanding of the relative importance of selected student, teacher and school characteristics on student achievement and attitudes towards science. The sample included 424 Form 4 students and 144 science teachers from ten secondary schools in Kenya. Data were collected on school type, location and science resources; teacher experience, training and expectation; and student gender, science experiences, attitudes and aspirations with respect to science, and science achievement. The results indicate that the school and teacher characteristics play a more significant role in shaping science attitudes and achievement in developing countries like Kenya, than in developed countries. There were significant differences between boys and girls in student motivational orientation and achievement, but the relationship between gender and achievement is indirect and mediated through variations in the resources of different types of secondary schools and the teachers assigned to them.
An essay on the implications of university expansion in Kenya
(Springer, 1990) Rees, Hughes; Kilemi, Mwiria
Abstract. Although Kenya may be the most extreme example, expansion of university education is widespread throughout Eastern and Southern Africa. This article examines the irresistible rising tide of populism as it reaches the ivory tower in Kenya. Economic, political, and equity arguments supporting and opposing expansion are outlined. The conclusions, although directed at Kenya, are broadly applicable to those African nations embarking upon a program of tertiary-level growth.
Education for critical consciousness?: Curriculum and reality in African social studies education
(Elsevier, 1990) Harber, C.
This paper uses the ideas of Paulo Freire to explore the role of social studies in African schools. In particular it examines the extent to which social studies can achieve a key aim of the African Social Studies Programme—the development of a critical perspective on society. The evidence does not give rise to a great deal of optimism in this regard. Factors such as the political environment, the content of teaching materials, school and classroom organisation, teacher training and resource provision severely hamper the potential of social studies to educate for critical consciousness.
Socialising multilingualism: Determinants of codeswitching in Kenyan primary classrooms
(Taylor & Francis, 1992) Bunyi, G.; Merritt, M.; Cleghorn, A.; Abagi, J. O.
Individual multilingualism in a multilingual society is often associated with a mass education system. The Kenyan situation illustrates the intertwined complexity of the pedagogical and socialising aspects of language contact in such a system. Using ethnographic observation of classroom interaction in three primary schools, determinants of teachers' language choice and codeswitching among English, Swahili, and mother‐tongue are explored: official school policy, cognitive concerns, classroom management concerns, values and attitudes about societal multilingualism. Analogously to monolingual modality switching, codeswitching between languages often provides a resource to focus or regain students' attention, or, to clarify, enhance, or reinforce lesson material. Instructional demands and inconsistent patterns of use, however, may also lead to linguistic insecurity and the mislabelling of content or conceptual problems as language competency problems. Understanding the complex role of language, and how teachers informally provide models for behavior and attitudes in the context of formal instruction is important for educational policy.
Diversifying the Secondary School Curriculum: The African Experience
(Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992-01-01) Sifuna, D.N.
The paper discusses some African experiences in the diversification of secondary education, which is taken to mean curriculum change in a practical or vocational direction. This approach is intended to provide a wider set of future career options than is offered in the more uniform academic curriculum. The diversification policy has generally been seen as a solution to a number of economic and social problems facing the independent African countries, notably the increasing youth unemployment and the escalating costs of formal education. Studies which have so far been carried out have, however, revealed that diversification programmes have not met the intended objectives, although there is sustained interest in vocationalising formal education. Problems which commonly face these programmes include high unit costs, an absence of clarity in aims and objectives, a shortage of qualified teachers and the low status of vocational subjects as viewed by the students and the community. For future development, it is suggested that diversification programmes be reorganised to relate to more realistic goals through wider community participation and through the work-orientation of post-school training programmes.
Multilingualism and discourse in primary school mathematics in Kenya
(Taylor & Francis, 1997) Bunyi, G.
The paper very briefly reviews the literature on second language medium of instruction and educational achievement. Classroom discourse data from English, Kiswahili and mother tongue mathematics lessons, and from lessons where code switching occurred are presented. The paper argues that regardless of the medium of instruction, a transmissional model of teaching and learning predominates. The paper underlines the importance of teacher education programmes that are based on the realities of the local situation, and that develop the teachers’ awareness of the impacts that their way of talking and organising learning opportunities have on how pupils learn.
Pedagogy in Teaching at the University. Journal
(Journal of Instructional Psychology, 1997) Okech, Jack Green
The governance of Kenyan public universities
(Taylor & Francis, 1998) Sifuna, Daniel N.
This study investigated issues in public university governance that contributed to the rapid expansion of university education and its impact on the quality of education as well as the effect of government involvement in the management of universities. The study established that although the socio-economic and political pressures coupled with external policy formulations led to the rapid expansion of all levels of the education system following Kenya's independence in 1963, university education expanded phenomenally from the 1980s in response to the insatiable demand for such education. The political system exploited this demand as a means of squaring issues relating to historical and regional inequality and the devaluation of the assumed elitist ethos of the formal education system. Among the important politically motivated factors that has influenced large numbers of student admission in public universities is the relatively high frequency of student boycotts of lectures which in most cases are accompanied by government closures of institutions. The politicisation of decision-making has further reduced the effectiveness of the Commission for Higher Education which had been set up with full statutory powers to plan, develop and maintain the quality of university education. The overall consequences of politicised university governance has been unplanned growth of university education without commensurate rise in the level of funding, leading to a sharp decline in quality of education, and diminished democratisation of decision-making within the university management. All these factors point to the need for constitutional liberalisation which will release universities from arbitrary intervention by the executive powers and the need for universities to diversify their sources of funding.
Effective Teaching as a factor of Teachers’ Attitude Towards Students.
(The journal for Basic Research in Psychological Sciences, 1998) Okech, Jack Green
Rethinking the place of African indigenous languages in African education
(Elsevier, 1999-07) Bunyi, G.
Using Kenya as a case study, the paper demonstrates how indigenous African languages have suffered delegitimization and devaluation in education both in colonial and post-colonial Africa. Ethnographic data from Kenya are presented to show how the use of English as the medium of education contributes to differential educational treatments. It is argued that this leads to the perpetuation of social inequalities. The paper advances the argument that indigenous African languages should be given greater emphasis if education in Africa is to contribute to the much needed social, economic and political transformation. The paper makes suggestions as to how indigenous African languages in education can be introduced/strengthened.
Access and Participation in Secondary Institute of School Education in Kenya
(Institute of Policy Analysis & Research( IPAR), 2003) Orodho, John Aluko; Njeru, Enos
On attainment of political independence in 1963, the Government of Kenya (GoK), households and the private sector collectively endeavoured to enhance the development of education in the country. The rapid development of education and training in Kenya was an aftermath of the Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya, which emphasized combating ignorance, disease and poverty. It was based on two long-standing concerns that: (i) every Kenyan child, irrespective of gender, religion and ethnicity, has the inalienable right to access basic welfare provision, including education; and (ii) the GoK has an obligation to provide opportunity to all citizens to fully participate in socio-economic and political development of the country and also to empower the people to improve their welfare. Development of education since independence has been marked by various changes and challenges. For nearly four decades therefore, the sector has undergone several reviews by special commissions and working parties appointed by the government, with the aim of improving efficiency and effectiveness of the education provision.
Barriers to Participation in Adult Literacy Programs in Kenya.
(2005) Mukuria, J.; Muiru, J.
To compete internationally, adapt to new technologies, and attain higher levels of efficiency and productivity, a country needs a highly literate populace. However, in Kenya, literacy stands at less than 65% of the population. With such a low rate of literacy, most development is hampered. In order for Kenya to make progress in political, social, and economic development, the level of literacy has to be raised. This paper makes an important contribution in the promotion of adult literacy in Kenya and other parts of the world by identifying and discussing the pertinent barriers to participation in adult literacy programs. Barriers such as the lack of adequate resources, poverty, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, gender disparities, traditionalism, and the absence of a literacy environment are discussed. The paper also makes suggestions on how the effects of these barriers can be mitigated.
Increasing Access and Participation of Pastoralist Communities in Primary Education in Kenya
(Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2005) Sifuna, Daniel N.
This study shows how the provision of educational facilities in Kenya since the colonial era has been skewed in favour of densely populated agricultural communities. It analyses interventions to redress the resultant imbalances, such as the school-fees waiver, free primary education, the construction of boarding schools, and school feeding programmes. These measures are shown to have had little impact on increasing access and participation of pastoralist communities in primary education; for they have usually been introduced without serious consideration of the prevailing socio-economic conditions. It is proposed here that for their future development, the government needs to articulate clearer policies and involve such communities in planning as well as incorporate elements of their existing traditional education institutions.
Re-thinking the Financing of Kenya’s Higher Education: Options for Enhancing Equity, Access, and Quality
(The African Symposium, 2006) Gravenir, F. Q.; Ouma, G.W.; Mse, G.S.; Njihia, M.
Financing Kenya’s higher education can hardly be said to encourage equity, access and quality. The situation is further aggravated by governme nt’s plummeting financial support for higher education and the absence of elaborate and effe ctive student financing schemes at the lower levels of the educational system. Against this context, this paper seeks to discuss the evolution of funding of higher education in Kenya and how changing funding policies have impacted on equity, access and quality. Given that no single funding model can satisfy demands of equity, access and quality, an eclectic mix of various funding approaches is recommended.
Institutional Transformations and Implications for Access and Quality in Public and Private Universities in Kenya: A Comparative Study
(Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2006) Otiende, J.E.
This paper discusses the implications of the rapid expansion and transformations in African universities on access and quality. Using the example of Kenya, it looks at both the transformations that have occurred in the number of institutions of higher learning and also in the structural diversity of programmes and enrolment. With public universities facing economic challenges, public-financed higher education is increasingly perceived to be wasteful economically and restrictive in access, and consequently working against the realization of equity and compromising quality due to dependence on receding central government finances. The paper situates this shift in thinking with the emergence of neo-liberalism in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. It argues that these shifts, together with the fiscal crisis of African countries have accelerated the growth of private universities in Africa. This situation poses serious challenges to the quality of knowledge production and to teaching in private and public universities alike. To address issues of access and quality, the paper emphasizes the need for multi-disciplinarity, diversification of courses, improved institutional management, greater equity, and quality monitoring and evaluation. The paper argues for improved institutional accountability through institutionalization of external quality control, and for mainstreaming and facilitating research. There is also need for government to assist private universities in sourcing the required capital for their further development.
A review of major obstacles to women’s participation in higher education in Kenya
(Taylor & Francis, 2006-03) Sifuna, Daniel N.
The paper provides a comprehensive review of the major obstacles that hinder the participation of girls and women in higher education in Kenya. This is on the basis that their low participation in this level of education is a key constraint to the development of the country. While it is reckoned that girls’ and women’s education is inextricably linked with other facets of human development, the focus in the paper is on educational issues. Among the major obstacles identified include policy framework, in which it is seen that since the colonial period in Kenya, gender was an important determinant of educational provision. Women’s subordinated position arising from colonial economic structures coupled with traditional cultural practices determined the extent to which they could participate in education; such that by the last decades of colonialism, a very small proportion of girls attended primary and secondary schools. It is also seen that while on the whole independence increased women’s educational and employment opportunities, gender inequality has remained persistent. The government is called upon to promote female education through legislative and policy reform. There should be an entitlement to good-quality primary and secondary education for all. While secondary education is the gateway to women’s higher education, government policies have often forced girls to attend poor-quality secondary schools. The effect of poorquality secondary education for girls is reflected in their serious under-representation in more competitive courses, such as medicine and engineering in the public universities. It is suggested that some affirmative measures be adopted in university admissions to increase the participation of women as well as mounting bridging courses in the sciences and technology and allowing for credit transfers in university admissions for students from technology-based tertiary institutions.
Education and Empowerment of Girls against Gender-based Violence
(CICE Hiroshima University, 2007) Chege, Fatuma N.
Violence may be defined generally as the mechanism by which unequal power relations are maintained through the infliction of physical or emotional pain on one person by another. However, gender violence takes on a more specific nature that is mainly sexual and which hinges on patriarchal cultures whereby men seek to control, not just the social institutions but also, women’s bodies as objects of male sexual gratification. Schools as agents of socialisations may perpetuate such cultures. Using research findings from selected settings of the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR), the author demonstrates how gender violence among young people (female and male) in African formal educational contexts interacts with schooling to produce disempowering experiences for girls compared with their male schoolmates. The thrust of the argument is that, by acting out their gendered and sexual identities in explicitly sensitive, reflexive and gender friendly ways, female and male teachers have the potential to create for their students, violence-free environments in which girls enjoy schooling on equal terms with their male peers. Because the culture of non-violence is more difficult and hence, requires more attention and more care than that of violence, it takes a great deal longer for the delicious and life-enhancing fruits of non-violence to grow and ripen than it does for the bitter deadly fruits of violence.
The challenge of increasing access and improving quality: an analysis of universal primary education interventions in Kenya and Tanzania since the 1970s
(Springer, 2007) Sifuna, D. N.
This article shows how interventions to provide Universal Primary Education (UPE) from the 1970s into the twenty-first century affected efforts to improve the quality of primary education in Kenya and Tanzania. While the interventions have made significant differences in the lives of many communities by increasing access to education of children who would have been denied schooling, quality indicators (including attrition and completion rates and examination scores) have stagnated at best or declined. Efforts to ensure and maintain quality in primary education in the two countries are reported to face serious challenges, including mainly inadequate funding to ensure the provision of essential teaching and learning materials, appropriate infrastructure as well as a sufficient number of competent teachers.

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