Challenges and Opportunities of Integrating 21st Century Skills in Teacher Education in Kenya

• In Event: Equipping Learners for a Dynamic Digital Future: Insights from Integrating 21st Century Skills in East Africa’s Education Systems

Proposal

Education reform globally is geared towards realizing the right to lifelong learning by providing all learners in all contexts with the knowledge and skills they need to realize their full potential and live with dignity. Kenya, like other countries has adopted the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and is undergoing reforms to align to the new curriculum. The reforms aim to ensure that the education sector provides relevant and appropriate learning opportunities to meet societal needs and the demands of the 21st century. This requires the development of teachers with a different mindset that focuses on core educational outcomes and on developing a variety of skills and competencies required by all learners.
Teachers play an integral role in the implementation of any curriculum and the success of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) beyond the policy framework thus heavily relies on teachers. The foundation of CBC is anchored on the core competencies and values to produce citizens with skills for learning, living, and thriving (engaged, empowered, and ethical citizens). However, the embedding of these skills in formal education requires consideration of their presentation within the curriculum, pedagogical guidelines for teachers, and assessment strategies. In Kenya, this integration with the curriculum has been actualized; unfortunately, the how to nurture, the how to assess, the what to assess (subskills), and the approach to use is at its inception has been less researched, documented, and/or understood.
Following the results of the assessment conducted by an East African initiative on life skills and values in 2022 which revealed low proficiencies in life skills among adolescents aged 13-17 years, we embarked on a journey to address this gap. In Kenya, we are collaborating with the Ministry of Education and two teacher training colleges to co-create a model for integrating 21st century skills in pre-service teacher education. The initiative aims to unlock opportunities in the formal, informal, and non-formal dimensions of the curriculum by building the capacity of teacher educators to define, deconstruct, integrate and assess life skills and values in teacher training.
This paper shares the experience from this collaborative approach in promoting development of life skills and nurturing of values in pre-service teacher education. It highlights lessons, challenges and opportunities documented through this process.

Authors

• John Mugo, Zizi Afrique Foundation

• Mary Chepkemoi, Zizi Afrique Foundation

• David Alelah Otieno, Zizi Afrique Foundation