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This book examines literacy for sustainable development in the age of information. It begins by discussing the relationship between literacy and hegemony, social policy, national language policy, colonial relations, and postcolonial realities. Also discussed in the introduction are views and definitions of literacy and considerations in mapping a typology of literacy. Part 1 explores the theoretical frameworks of literacy and the disparate ways literacy has featured in academic discourse....

Focusing on the education of young children in Kenya, this brief paper contains excerpts from a question and answer interview between two early childhood educators from the United States and Kenya. Both similarities and differences of the Kenyan and the U.S. system of education are revealed. Interview topics covered include the following: socially respected professions; educational theories and philosophy; beginning reading instruction; teacher/pupil ratios in classrooms; compulsory school...

A six-week unit on the Kikuyu people of Kenya for grades 4, 5, and 6 is presented. An overview of the unit lists major concepts and skills to be developed, behavioral objectives, and materials needed for each unit. Following the overview, seven lessons are outlined. In lesson one, students analyze their attitudes toward African culture. Lesson two focuses on Kikuyu housing. Students construct diaramas displaying traditional and modern homes. Lesson three considers the importance of the...

The article discusses the Great Explorer Mystery (G.E.M.) project of the International School of Kenya (ISK) for grade 7 students which aimed for students to work as a team in main subject areas such as Physical Education (PE), Math, and Science based on set standards to solve the mystery of the explorer. Topics discussed include the planning process of 7th grade teachers, the use of a planning wheel which was the central planning tool and the student scheduler, and the plot of the mystery.

School closures induced by COVID-19 placed heightened emphasis on alternative ways to measure learning besides in-person exams. We leverage the administration of phone-based assessments (PBAs) measuring numeracy and literacy for primary school children in Kenya, along with in-person standardized tests administered to the same students prior to school shutdowns, to assess the validity of PBAs. Compared to repeated in-person assessments, PBAs did not severely misclassify students' relative...

This article reports on a pilot research project conducted in nine countries of Africa and Asia on some aspects of the impact that teaching literacy to adults has had on the lives of some adult literacy facilitators (ALFs). The small-scale enquiry was implemented by a team of twelve researchers in nine countries (Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia). All of the nineteen ALFs interviewed felt that the experience of teaching literacy to adults, even...

This study examines how an English language learner ( ELL) educator negotiated conversations about the intersectional nature of race in an elementary ELL classroom using a critical literacy framework. Few studies examine the ways in which teachers of young children negotiate conversations about the complexities of race with their students. Even fewer address the way in which African refugee children can explore the contested nature of racial labeling as a part of language instruction in the...

This study examines how an English language learner (ELL) educator negotiated conversations about the intersectional nature of race in an elementary ELL classroom using a critical literacy framework. Few studies examine the ways in which teachers of young children negotiate conversations about the complexities of race with their students. Even fewer address the way in which African refugee children can explore the contested nature of racial labeling as a part of language instruction in the...

The purpose of this manual is to make available to adult educators and field extension workers in Kenya resource material that may be used in formal and nonformal training programs for the environmental education of a wide range of target groups. The document begins with a 26-item glossary, an introduction, a section on the document's use, background and context material, a philosophy and rationale section, and a section on perspectives on adult education. Thereafter come four sections that...

The study aimed at finding out whether teachers can identify the courses of reading disabilities in learners. It intended to establish whether teachers have adequate knowledge of identifying learners with reading disabilities, determine the proportion of non-readers in grade five. It also investigated the existing methods and materials teachers use in teaching and remediating reading including the difficulties teachers encounter when teaching. Finally, the study aimed at finding out whether...

This was a descriptive survey study design which sought to establish the school based factors that affect the learning of Kenyan Sign Language in primary schools for learners with hearing impairment in Embu and Isiolo counties in Kenya. The target population was all teachers teaching in primary schools for learners with hearing impairment in the two counties. From the selected schools, the study purposively and randomly sampled 2 head teachers and 8 teachers respectively. Interview guides...

Basic education as the first stage of lifelong education is emerging as a significant alternative to traditional education, especially for rural populations in Third World countries. Basic education is a set of interrelated ideas: community orientation of education, integration of formal, nonformal, and informal learning into lifelong learning, stress on practical skills, involvement of the total population, and overcoming traditional subject orientation of curriculum. Education, an integral...

This research was undertaken to study the effectiveness of elementary school teachers with pupils, aged 8, entering Gambian schools. The investigator attempts to describe what teachers do, to search for associations between theoretically or empirically derived variables and learning, and to infer the power of given factors in instructional procedures which may make practical differences in sought outcomes. Following a review of relevant literature on teacher effectiveness, the methodology of...

The differential patterns of grade progression have direct implications for the calculation of learning profiles. Researchers measure learning in primary school using survey data on reading and math skills of a nationally representative, population-based sample of children in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Research demonstrates that learning levels among primary and secondary students in much of the developing world are extremely low and lag far behind the rich world,...

This article examines the changes occurring in learning and literacy in the age of ubiquitous mobile phone use. Focusing on rural Kenyan women's use of mobile phone technologies in civic education programs, mobile banking, and to contact family members, the article explores how these women's use of mobile phones, based on their everyday needs, has facilitated the development of a literacy. The women learned to read on their phones to receive money, civic education information, and to...

While critical thinking is widely regarded as a key outcome of higher education, research has shown that in practice it is only developed when certain conditions are in place, relating to the pedagogical approach, the nature of the curriculum and the level of challenge, amongst other factors. This article reports on findings from a four-year mixed methods study in Botswana, Ghana and Kenya, aiming to investigate the factors underpinning the successful development of critical thinking amongst...

This study examines the relationship between informal science and indigenous innovations in local communities in which students matured. The discussion considers methods for bridging the gap that exists between parents' understanding of informal science ("Ubunifu") and what students learn in secondary schools in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. In an effort to reconcile the difference between students' lived experiences and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) taught in...

Globally, the extensive damage caused by violent conflicts with subsequent social and economic costs have posed a real concern that needs to be urgently addressed. The provision of quality education is a force that can be utilized to curb constant conflicts within society. The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of the educational attainment and unemployment on youth engagement in conflicts in Machakos County. The study was carried out in Machakos County and targeted the youth...

The article investigates the roles of childhood circumstances (including parental socio-economic status, parental education, parental engagement, and sibling composition) and schooling on adult reading skills in low- and middle-income countries. Using regression models and data from surveys of urban labor-force participants in Armenia, Bolivia, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Ukraine, and Vietnam, the study reaches several conclusions. First, childhood circumstances predict adult reading...

In the face of transmission-oriented national curricula, this study explores possibilities for claiming space for imagination, as 'the most powerful and energetic of learning tools' (Egan 1986), in early childhood education in mainstream Kenyan schools. Drawing from Egan's work on imagination and Cummins' Nested Pedagogical Orientations framework, this study interrogates the indispensable role of imagination in transformative education, as well as its utility in the 'transmission' of the...