Transcript ACCELERATING TEACHING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

DATE: MONDAY, JANUARY 19th 2015
VENUE: CENTRAL HALL, WESTMINISTER, LONDON.
17 July 2015
1
1.0 Teacher Quality
 Teacher quality has been an issue under review and
today remains a relevant policy issue.
 This is because the quality of education system cannot
exceed the quality of its teachers and neither can the
quality of teaching exceed the quality of the system in
place to recruit, train, develop and advance teachers
(Barber & Mourshed, 2007; Asia Society, 2012)
17 July 2015
2
 Teacher quality is perceived to be the main driver that
has salient influence on student achievements and
their cognitive, affective and behavior outcomes of
schooling (Barber & Mourshed, 2007; Asia Society,
2012).
 For Kenya, quality teaching has a direct bearing on
Kenya’s goals of development as espoused in the tenets
of Education for All
17 July 2015
3
 It is also instrumental in the realization of the MDG’S
for industrialization by 2030 (Kenya Development
Plan, 2008)
So who is a Quality Teacher?
 A quality teacher refers to one with high intellect,
sound subject mastery, classroom behavior, academic
ability, advanced degrees and great aptitude for
engaging learners (Tucker, 2011)
17 July 2015
4
 It is also considered as an output measure based on
student performance and also describes well qualified
teachers as those holding state certification.
 For purposes of this paper, the clearest and potentially
useful definition is that adopted from the “centre of
high impact philanthropy” (2011, p7).
17 July 2015
5
 Where quality teacher is defined as “one who has
positive effect on student learning and development
through a combination of content mastery, command
of a broad set of pedagogical communication and
interpersonal skills”.
THIS PAPER DESCRIBES STRATEGIES EMPLOYED
TO ACCELERATE TEACHING QUALITY
IMPROVEMENT IN KENYA
17 July 2015
6
2.0 Strengthening Teacher Governance
 Quality teacher governance is vital to reduce
disadvantage in learning as well as to maintain teacher
discipline and maximize returns (UNESCO, 2014)
 The Constitution of Kenya (2010)has effectively
delinked teacher management from mainstream
MOEST by creating a constitutional body Teachers
Service Commission (TSC).
 Autonomy of TSC is expected to enhance efficiency
and effectiveness of teaching services countrywide.
17 July 2015
7
3.0 Teacher Recruitment
 The first step towards ensuring quality is to get highly
qualified candidates into the profession.
 The minimum qualification for primary teacher
applicants in Kenya is set at grade C constant and C+
for Bachelor of Education programmes.
 Potential candidates must also exhibit strength in
other relevant aspects of the curriculum such as cocurricular activities as well as favourable interview
assessment.
17 July 2015
8
4.0 Initial Teacher Education and
Training
 Initial teacher education should impact skills needed
to teach learners of differing capabilities as well as lay
the foundation for ongoing training.
 At all levels of teacher training in Kenya, the
curriculum combines training in both subject content
and pedagogy in a concurrent mode.
 Teacher training curriculum therefore seeks to
facilitate acquisition of competencies in diverse
content areas including Special Needs Education
(SNE) and Guidance & Counseling
17 July 2015
9
5.0 Continuous Professional
Development of Teachers
 As observed by UNESCO 2014, continuous
professional development is essential for several
purposes including updating of teachers knowledge of
subject and teaching skills in light of new techniques.
 It also enables teachers to apply curriculum changes
 Enables institutions to develop innovations in
teaching practice and enhances teachers effectiveness
17 July 2015
10
 In Kenya, the Education Act 2013, National Education
Sector Plan (2013-2018), Sessional Paper No. 14 of 2012
have placed significant emphasis on continuous
professional development of teachers.
 The above policy frameworks have empowered the
Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology
Education in Africa ( CEMASTEA) to coordinate inservice training programmes on behalf of MoEST
17 July 2015
11
6.0 Engagement of Teachers in
Educational Reforms
 Reforms invariably fail if teachers do not understand
them or when they do not have the capacity to
implement them.
 This is the gap between policy and practice.
 Teachers must therefore be engaged actively both at
Institutional level and at the level of teachers
organizations.
 In Kenya this has been the practice as evidenced by
engagements between MoEST and Teachers Unions.
17 July 2015
12
7.0 Supervision
 Supervision of Education programmes is known to
enable teachers achieve both quantitative and
qualitative instructional delivery outcomes.
 Supervision is thus an indispensable in the
teaching and learning process and the overall
school educational objectives.
17 July 2015
13
How has this been facilitated in Kenya?
 Strengthening of education oversight institutions
including Education, Standards and Quality
Assurance Council (ESQAC) and Commission for
University Education (CUE).
 Current move to strengthen institutional quality
assurance countrywide
 Strengthening of public private partnership in the
provision of educational quality by involving
stakeholders.
17 July 2015
14
8.0 Continuous Improvement of the Terms
and Conditions of Teachers Service
 MoEST addresses issues of teachers welfare
through implementation of a structured
systems of incentives.
 This involves salaries and allowances that
are regularly reviewed in tandem with
economic circumstances.
17 July 2015
15
9.0 Conducive Teaching and
Learning Environment
 Focus is currently on institutionalization of
the child friendly schools (CFS) concept by
education institutions countrywide.
 Provision of teaching and learning materials
through Free Primary (FPE) and Free Day
Secondary Schools (FDSE).
 Integration of ICT into the curriculum.
17 July 2015
16
10.0Teacher Accountability
 Designing effective teacher evaluation system requires
careful balancing of the objectives, improvement and
accountability.
 Teacher evaluation in Kenya is conducted by several
professionals in and outside the Institutions, including
departmental heads and administrators.
 The Principal of the Year Award (POYA) and Teacher
of the Year Award (TOYA) are examples of strategies
employed to award teachers following appraisal based
adoption of best practices.
17 July 2015
17
11.0 Conclusion
 We have made good progress in establishing
Universal Primary Education (UPE)
 However, in the quest to accelerate
improvement of teacher quality, we have
had to deal with a few challenges.
 These are quality of teacher preparation,
inadequate supervision, and perennial issue
of industrial action by teachers in relation to
salaries demands.
17 July 2015
18
THANK YOU
17 July 2015
19
REFERENCES
 Asia Society (2012) Teaching and Leadership for
the Twenty-First Century. The
2012
International Summit on the Teaching Profession.
 http://asiasociety.org/files/2012teachingsummit
.pdf
 Barber &Mourshed, 2007
 Basic Education Act (2013). Government of Kenya
17 July 2015
20
 Constitution of Kenya (2010) Government of
Kenya
 EFA (2010) Early Reading: Igniting
Education for All. Report by the Early Grade
Learning Community of Practice-EGLCP
 EFA Global Monitoring Report (2005)
UNESCO
17 July 2015
21
 EFA Global Monitoring Report (2014)
UNESCO
 Hightower, A., Delgado, R., Lloyd, S.,
Wittenstein, R., Sellers, K., &Swanson, C. B
(2011).Improving Student Learning by
Supporting Quality Teaching: Key Issues,
Effective Strategies. Centre for High Impact
Philanthropy
17 July 2015
22
 Kenya National Development plan. (2002-
2008). Government of Kenya
 National Education Sector Support
Programme (NESSP). Priorities and
Proposed Sector Programmes (2013/2014 2017/2018). Government of Kenya
17 July 2015
23
 Phillips, D. & M. Schweisfurth. (2006).
Comparative and International Education.
An Introduction to Theory, Method and
Practice. New York: Continuum
International Publishing Group.
 Sahlberg, P. (2011). Finish Lessons. What can
the world learn from educational change in
Finland? New York. Teachers College Press.
17 July 2015
24