Adapting an IS approach in Kenya post Covid-19. The role of networked communities to strengthen school leadership

• In Event: Improving school leadership post Covid-19 using through an improvement science approach across three countries: Kenya, Philippines, and Chile

Proposal

The Covid-19 crisis and subsequent school closures sent millions of children home and forced governments to adopt distance education models varying from radio to internet-based school solutions. In Kenya, government and civil society actors used a variety of tools to help keep children learning during the crisis.

The research took place in Kenya over a 15-month period in 12 urban and peri-urban primary schools in Nairobi and Kiambu counties. Parents from Nairobi are involved in small scale trade activities that earn them daily/weekly wages. These include the informal transport system, vegetable sellers, construction workers and cleaners. In Kiambu county, these activities extend to tea pickers, short term factory workers while others are small scale farmers.

The 12 school leaders formed a Network Improvement Community (NICS) focused on early grade reading in line with the aims of the Kenya Competency-Based Curriculum and shared their experiences in a peer-to peer learning fashion through different modalities depending on what was possible at different points in the project. To support efforts to improve reading practices, the project introduced school leaders to a digital reading app; this offered them data for their school that tracked total time spent reading and reading frequency in both Grade 3 classrooms and students’ reading in the home with parents, caregivers and siblings.

The mixed methods research was designed to answer the question, “How and to what extent does an improvement science intervention provide a methodology for pedagogic change involving ICTs in Kenya?” The research question was addressed through a mixed methods design including focus groups, key stakeholders interviews, and surveys. The research team shared reading data monthly with school leaders; the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach encouraged leaders to analyze and react to data in support of continued learning and improved reading practices in their schools.

School leaders selected a range of mico-challenges to address, depending on what was possible for them in conditions in their schools and their own skills. Findings show that the use of the approach improved school leaders’ understanding of the social conditions of families, communities and learners and their understanding of the importance of detailed planning and regular review of these plans, making adjustments where appropriate. The collaboration with peer school leaders was highly valued and some school leaders reported increased confidence to experiment with new or different practices, using their peers as a resource in these experiments.

In addition school leaders offered multiple examples of how different activities (from the PDSA cycles) had impacted on aspects of school practices and interactions: enhanced relationships between their school and parents/ caregivers ; increased student interest in reading; and improved students’ public speaking skills, vocabulary, and creativity.

This presentation will illuminate these findings through sharing case studies from participating school leaders on their PDSA cycles and their learning. Finally, the research will share ideas on the potential and challenges to use of this approach in the Kenyan context.

Authors

• Wanjiku Gathoni, Worldreader

• Wendy Smith, Worldreader