Supporting Kenyan teachers to adopt Tech & Play pedagogies: The role of teacher attitude, peer learning and instructional leaders

• In Event: Raising student voices: Teachers’ support for student critical thinking through the Tech & Play Initiative in Kenya and Rwanda

Proposal

This paper presents a discussion about what we have learned about supporting teachers in Kwale and Kilifi counties to adopt learning through play with technology approaches (Tech & Play pedagogies). We will specifically focus on three aspects appear to support the transition from traditional pedagogical approaches to Tech & Play and Kenya’s new Competency-Based Curricula (CBC): teacher attitudes, teacher peer learning through communities of practice, and support from instructional leaders.


Teacher attitude: One of the emerging issues that we are curious about is how a teacher’s openness to their own professional learning shapes the adoption of Tech & Play pedagogies. How do teachers’ perceive the Tech & Play and the move to CBC? Are they open to rethinking their own teaching? What factors influence their receptivity to change? During observations, we explore teachers’ openness to learning by analyzing the types of questions teachers ask during the trainings, requests for support and what kind of support they look for during training and lesson observations and their progress in implementing new activities throughout the year. In teacher interviews, we explore the factors shaping their understanding of Tech & Play pedagogies.

Communities of Practice: The KPLAY program trains and provides mentorship and support to teachers on new methodologies of lesson delivery using Tech & Play. Training is provided to 7 teachers, per school, including the school leader. To do this effectively, teachers who have undergone training form a community of practice (COP) that meets regularly to share learnings, discuss challenges and brainstorm on finding solutions to these challenges. We explore CoP activities and relate this to the changes in lesson delivery to determine the COPs’ effectiveness in helping teachers move from traditional pedagogical approaches to Tech & Play and the CBC.

Instructional leadership: Instructional leaders refer to school leaders, Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) and the school Board of Management. Though the latter might not be involved directly in pedagogy, they are important when making decisions on how teachers can be motivated to embrace new ideas and perform better in lesson delivery. School leaders are the engine and are responsible for providing a supportive environment for teachers to implement new teaching practices by availing the resources and a safe space for experimentation that is needed for Tech & Play pedagogies. However, these school leaders are often in contradictory roles. For example, the CSOs play a dual role in training and coaching teachers on Tech & Play pedagogies but also monitor and evaluate teachers’ work. We explore how these various leadership figures in the KPLAY project balance their roles where one responsibility requires them to be supportive and understanding of failures while the other responsibility sometimes needs them to be authoritative. What does effective instructional leadership look like in KPLAY? What factors might help KPLAY promote more effective instructional leadership throughout all participating schools?

Authors

• Clara Njerū, Education Design Unlimited

• Chebet Seluget, Education Design Unlimited