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This paper is a reading of the Free Primary Education (FPE) policy in Kenya through the lenses of critical theory/pedagogy. The study critiques the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government for adoption of the Freirian banking model to design and implement the policy. The paper argues that such a model has ended up marginalizing the voices of other FPE stakeholders and sustaining educational inequalities in the country. The paper also examines how neoliberal policies like...

This paper is a reading of the "Free Primary Education" (FPE) policy in Kenya through the lenses of critical theory/pedagogy. The study critiques the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government for adoption of the Freirian banking model to design and implement the policy. The paper argues that such a model has ended up marginalizing the voices of other FPE stakeholders and sustaining educational inequalities in the country. The paper also examines how neoliberal policies like...

It was observed by Thomas Shuell (1996; 2005) that there is a large body of knowledge in psychological learning theory to inform teaching practice. However, there is little evidence to support the need for its application to teaching. He said this was mainly due to the fact the available resources are arbitrarily and selectively applied. In their application there is rarely any systematic linkage between the various sub-aspects of the theory-informed teaching sequence and the accrued...

Abstract: Teacher education has an important role in ensuring quality of learning especially for the poorest children. The article draws on a study of teacher preparation for the early primary grades in six African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda – in reading and mathematics. Initial teacher education had the strongest impact on newly qualified teachers but also induced misplaced confidence leading to standardised teacher-led approaches that failed to engage...

Abstract: Teacher education has an important role in ensuring quality of learning especially for the poorest children. The article draws on a study of teacher preparation for the early primary grades in six African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda – in reading and mathematics. Initial teacher education had the strongest impact on newly qualified teachers but also induced misplaced confidence leading to standardised teacher-led approaches that failed to engage...

Abstract: Strong correlations between high levels of poverty and low education outcomes have prompted interventions aimed at raising literacy levels in communities characterised by poverty within Kenya, as in other countries. However, interventions aimed at improving literacy only in the languages of instruction (LOI) may not be the best option for students who speak mother tongues (MT) different from the school''s LOI. The Capability Approach framework is used to examine the potential of...

Strong correlations between high levels of poverty and low education outcomes have prompted interventions aimed at raising literacy levels in communities characterised by poverty within Kenya, as in other countries. However, interventions aimed at improving literacy only in the languages of instruction (LOI) may not be the best option for students who speak mother tongues (MT) different from the school's LOI. The Capability Approach framework is used to examine the potential of...

This article reviews the development of the Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRA and EGMA), which are locally tailored, timely assessments designed to directly inform policy and instruction for learning improvement, particularly for countries on the lower end of the income spectrum. The history of the design and implementation of the tools, as well as case studies of their use in Egypt and Kenya, are a useful counterbalance to the experience of the more traditional...

This study examined primary school students' reading motivation and performance on the standardized exam. Participants included 901 seventh and eighth grade students from Kenya. There were 468 females and 433 males. Contrary to previous studies, results showed reading challenge and aesthetics, but not efficacy, predicted reading achievement, indicating reading motivation may not influence achievement similarly across cultures. Gender differences were found in reading achievement but not...

This study explores the use of constructivist pedagogy promoting learner-centered teaching in Kenya's rural primary schools. It explores both the school-based as well as bureaucratic hurdles to the success of constructivist pedagogy. Teacher ideologies, issues of diverse cultures and traditional beliefs, the rural context characterized by underresourced, understaffed and over-crowded schools, as well as teacher professional development are some of the lenses through which the practice of...

This paper starts with an analysis of the twin purposes of an examination reform programme originally launched in Kenya during the 1970s: first, to broaden the spectrum of cognitive skills being tested; and second, to set up a feedback system based on the performance profiles, providing schools and teachers with guidance as to how pedagogy and learning might be strengthened. Then, in a change of time perspective, the paper looks back over 30 years of implementation experience, examining the...

Kenya’s language-in-education policy supports mother-tongue education as the ideal approach to developing language and literacy skills of young learners. The policy has been informed by findings of various past national education commissions as well as international declarations such as the UNESCO declaration on the use of Vernacular Languages in Education of 1953, the World Declaration on Education for All of 1990 and the Dakar framework of 2000. The country’s Constitution of 2010...

Abstract: There is a sound research base attesting to the importance of parental involvement and to the many potential benefits it can offer for children''s education. This study sought to examine differences in parental aspirations (as a mechanism of parental involvement in their children''s education) for their children''s educational attainment between slum and non-slum residing parents in Kenya. The study used cross-sectional household data for a sample of 4065 parents, collected in 2007...

Abstract: There is a sound research base attesting to the importance of parental involvement and to the many potential benefits it can offer for children''s education. This study sought to examine differences in parental aspirations (as a mechanism of parental involvement in their children''s education) for their children''s educational attainment between slum and non-slum residing parents in Kenya. The study used cross-sectional household data for a sample of 4065 parents, collected in 2007...

The article offers information on the Reading Club of the Kilimo Primary School in Kenya, which visited the Haven of Hope children's home on the Orphans Day on June 1, 2012. It states that the Reading Club has helped the children to improve their academic performance and reading skills. It mentions that the teachers of the school focus on stimulating the ordinary people to unusual effort towards reading.

In this study, we draw on three interrelated concepts, i.e. placed resources, multiliteracies and the carnivalesque, to understand how information and communication technology (ICT) resources are taken up within the context of a print-based journalism club. Our research participants attend an under-resourced girls’ residential secondary school in rural Kenya. We used ethnographic methods to document how the 32 club members (aged 14–18 years) used digital cameras, voice recorders and laptops...

The present paper investigates students’ experiences of being multilingual. Qualitative data have been collected during observation, focus groups, interviews and text writing in a public primary school in rural Kenya. The informants are students in standards one, three and eight whose mother tongue is the indigenous language called Nandi, which all these students use at home and with friends. The school languages are Swahili and English, and the use of Nandi is forbidden in school except in...

Abstract: Over the past 15 years, a range of alternative education programs have been launched in Burkina Faso. The programs have been developed primarily by international or national NGOs, within a supportive policy space provided by the national government. They aim to respond to the widely recognized inadequacy of the French-language écoles classiques to provide a meaningful primary education experience for most Burkinabè children. One of the values which these programs all espouse is...

With the increasing popularity of distance education, focus has turned to the role of libraries in distance learning process. It is widely agreed that like their campus-based counterparts, distance education learners need adequate library services if they are to gain quality education. This study sought to examine library utilization by students enrolled in the external degree programme of the University of Nairobi. The unit of analysis consisted of students from the school continuing...

This paper aims to improve the understanding of classroom-based gender differences that may lead to differential opportunities to learn provided to girls and boys in low and high performing primary schools in Kenya. The paper uses an opportunity to learn framework and tests the hypothesis that teaching practices and classroom interactions explain gender gaps in maths achievement in Kenya. The data used is obtained from a cross sectional study involving video recordings of 70 lessons in...