Student Engagement and Achievement in Kenyan High Schools

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Date
2015-05
Authors
Boit, L. C.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Students should be seen to be fully involved in all aspects of schooling. The Kenyan high school student is between 14-17 years old and ordinarily, as is the case with the human race, at this adolescence stage youngsters are rambunctious and full of energy. Student engagement connotes student participation and involvement. A fully engaged student means that they are engrossed in school related matters. However schools are for teaching and learning and therefore an engaged student should be fully involved in school related learning activities. The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination is a high stakes examination that requires a lot out of the student. A high score at KCSE ensures a student further education or training, and hence, a direct relationship between student engagement and student outcome. Research activities have hypothesized student engagement as a multidimensional construct with four components: academic, behavioral, emotional and cognitive. Appleton (2008) conceives academic and behavioral components as the kinds of engagement that one can observe among students, while emotional and cognitive are internal types of engagement among students. This desk literature review study investigate the nature of student engagement and its impact on achievement. It will further relate the findings to the current pedagogic practices in the Kenyan high schools.
Description
This paper was presented at the International Conference on ‘Re-Engineering Education for Sustainable Development’ held on 18th – 20th May 2015 at Kenyatta University Conference Centre (KUCC) Nairobi, Kenya
Keywords
Student engagement, Student achievement, Secondary schools, Literature review, Kenya
Citation
International Conference on ‘Re-Engineering Education for Sustainable Development’ 18th – 20th May 2015