Leveraging Technology to enhance effectiveness of Pre-Service Teacher Education in Kenya: Barriers and Opportunities.

• In Event: Examining the role of technology, coaching, and indicators on teachers and teacher professional development

Proposal

The Ministry of Education (MoE) in Kenya unveiled the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in 2017, which focuses on learning achievement targeting key competencies, thus replacing the 8-4-4 education system, which was exam-driven. Ensuring well-equipped and quality pre-service teachers is crucial for effectively implementing the CBC and will ultimately accelerate the development of foundational learning skills. Quality development of foundational skills is critical to preparing learners for academic achievement, instilling them with competencies required to excel in further learning and training and ensuring they meet the needs of the competitive modern economy. In addition, investment in foundational learning, particularly literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills, is critical to bolstering higher-order thinking skills and learning achievement and provides short- and long-term educational benefits (Republic of Kenya, 2023).
This study was conducted to ascertain the practices within teacher training colleges, in light of the new curriculum, exploring the levels of awareness, shifts in training practices and bottlenecks to effective roll out of competence-based teacher education curriculum. The two objectives guiding the study include, 1) to examine key government policies, frameworks and guidelines that inform PSTE in Kenya, and, 2) investigate implementation practices in select TTCs and document emerging barriers and opportunities for partnership.
The study methodology involved a desk review utilising a document analysis followed by a qualitative research design. The study utilised a document analysis approach to review the literature in the 1st phase of the project. This first phase documented existing policy documents within which pre-service teacher education in Kenya is anchored, carefully detailing the provisions of each document. During the second phase of the project, the qualitative approach encompassed a Case Study design where participants from Kenya's two rural-based Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) were interviewed. The two TTCs were selected based on their existing collaborations with the implementing organization, in consultation with the Ministry of Education. Respondents in the two TTCs were purposively selected, including teacher educators, student trainees and trainees who had gone through a one-year CBC retooling course. The latter group was instrumental in that besides competing the one year upgrading program, they had also undertaken the full cycle of practicums and were actively teaching in different primary schools. 14 interviews were conducted between February and March 2023. Information gathered in this stage was useful for uncovering meaning, developing insights on the phenomenon, designing interview questions, and providing a better understanding of the research problem. In this stage, we identified and mapped the relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature to acquire essential information in line with the specific objectives of this study.
With regards to data analysis, documents collected in the first phase of this study were analysed iteratively and inductively until saturation. This enabled a better understanding of the phenomenon under investigation and the development of a codebook based on research objectives, consequently allowing the building of concepts and themes that inform the research findings. All qualitative interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The study utilised a theme analysis methodology. As part of this, a codebook based on the study objectives was created, allowing for the incorporation of new and emerging codes discovered in Phase 1 of document analysis. An inductive approach was used to produce themes for the analysis, and the results are presented in accordance with those themes and pertinent verbatim quotes.
Findings from the desk review and interviews with various education stakeholders revealed awareness of existing policies, guidelines and curriculum frameworks on PSTE, understanding of practicum issues, CBC implementation challenges and resource constraints, including limited infrastructure and capacities to maximize the potential of technology. This paper will present detailed findings from the study along three pillars that formed the framework for data analysis and presentation of findings. These are, curricular, practicum and institutional capacities. Against each of these, the presentation will highlight the key findings, as well as opportunities to leverage technology to enhance effectiveness of PSTE in Kenya. Considering the gaps in PSTE programs, this study highlights a need to leverage multistakeholder collaboration, investment in requisite infrastructure for ICT to enhance pre-service teachers' capacities and improve learning outcomes.

Author

• Virginia Wanjiru Ngindiru, Zizi Afrique Foundation