Quality Education for Refugees in Kenya

1. Quality Education for Refugees in Kenya LoiseGichuhi, Daniel Gakunga, Rosemary Imonje, Caroline Ndirangu Lesley Bartlett, Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Mary Mendenhall CIES 2014 |Toronto, Canada | Wednesday, March 12, 2014

2. Today’s Panel Introducing the team Situating the study Conceptualizing the problem Highlighting the methods and school sites Presenting the findings Examining implications and conclusions Opening up the discussion

3. Introducing the Team & Situating the Study Mary Mendenhall, Ed.D. Teachers College, Columbia University

4. Introducing the Team University of Nairobi Faculty: • Daniel Gakunga • LoiseGichuhi • Rosemary Imonje • Caroline Ndirangu • Grace Nyagah • UrsullaOkoth With support from: • Lesley Bartlett: Teachers College, Columbia University • Sarah Dryden-Peterson: Harvard Graduate School of Education • Mary Mendenhall: International Rescue Committee and Teachers College, Columbia University • Mary Tangelder: International Rescue Committee

5. Introducing the Team (cont) Research Interns • Madeeha Ansari, Tufts • Josie Bergin, TC • Elaine Christian, TC • Amy Descovich, UPENN • Nyoka Joseph, TC • Astrid Lassila-Smith, TC • Michelle Zhang, Harvard • Shyla Dogan, TC • Amanda Lalley, UPENN • Anna Spector, TC • Sheri Money, TC • Emily Durkin, Columbia SIPA • MacKenzie Lawrence, TC • Jessica Kovarik, U of Denver • Laura Humphrey, UPENN • Brittney Wilcox, TC • Jihae Cha, TC • Natasha Mansur, TC • Meredith Saucier, TC • Kathleen Denny, TC

6. Situating the Study: Refugees in Kenya Nairobi, Kenya Kakuma Refugee Camp, Turkana County, Kenya

7. Situating the Study: Policy Context • 2010 Kenyan Constitution: right of all children born and residing in Kenya to education • Education Bill of 2012: right of a child to access basic education • Refugee policy: Shifting support for refugees • Educational access: Camps vs urban locations

8. Conceptualizing the Problem:Quality and Pedagogy Lesley Bartlett, Ph.D. Teachers College, Columbia University

9. Quality and Pedagogy Notable shift: “access to quality education” Lack of attention to teaching and learning experiences of refugees Focus on teacher instruction

10. Quality Education • Shift from inputs to outputs ignores the processes • UNHCR’s Education Strategy • quality = outcomes of what children will know and be able to do • “rigorous and relevant curriculum” with “hard” academic skills and “soft” skills for human rights and citizenship in “child-friendly learning environment”

11. Quality Education (cont) • INEE Minimum Standards for Education • a safe and inclusive learner friendly environment; • competent and well-trained teachers who are knowledgeable in the subject matter and pedagogy; • an appropriate context-specific curriculum that is comprehensible and culturally, linguistically and socially relevant for the learners; • adequate and relevant materials for teaching and learning; • participatory methods of instruction and learning processes that respect the dignity of the learner; • appropriate class sizes and teacher-pupil ratios; and • an emphasis on recreation, play, sport and creative activities in addition to areas such as literacy, numeracy and life skills (INEE, 2010, p. 122).

12. Learner-Centered Pedagogy Learning as active process of inquiry Students and teachers as learners capable of constructing knowledge Teachers as facilitators creating conditions for students to ‘learn to learn’ and to develop critical, analytical skills

13. Guiding Research Question In what ways are primary schools in Kakuma and Nairobi developing and offering quality education for refugee populations, and what are the challenges they face in meeting that goal?

14. Methods and School Sites Daniel Gakunga, Ph.D. University of Nairobi

15. Research Design: Comparative Case Study

16. School Sites in Kenya Nairobi Kakuma Refugee Camp Mwiki Primary School New Eastleigh Primary School New Kihumbuini Primary School Sud Academy Angelina Jolie Primary (Boarding) School Fuji Primary School Lokitaung Primary School Kismayo Community School

17. Case Study School Demographics (Select Data Only, See Handout)

18. Study Findings LoiseGichuhi, Ph.D. | Rosemary Imonje, Ph.D. University of Nairobi

19. Centrality of lecture in lesson presentation Lecture mixed with factual comprehension questions

20. Teachers relied on factual questions to check literal comprehension Strong emphasis on definitions and the memorization of facts Examples: What is trade? We have two forms of trade, which ones are they?

21. Lecture and Comprehension: Rising Intonation Teacher: So today I want to talk about mineral? Students: Salts. Teacher: We have said that mineral salts are present in many types of food. There are many types of food that contain mineral? Students: Salts. Teacher: …and mineral salts are present in small quantities. They do not provide energy. So examples of minerals that are needed by our bodies include calcium, phosphorous, and iron. Our bodies require different types of minerals. Our body requires what? Students: Iron and phosphorous.

22. Deficit of pupil-initiated questions Out of 53 lessons observed, in only 17 did pupils ask any questions. In only 6 of these 17 situations was more than one question posed. The questions posed by pupils were factual or definitional.

23. Absence of conceptual learning Scarcity of open-ended, inferential questions among teachers

24. Factors Affecting Instruction Caroline Ndirangu, Ph.D. University of Nairobi

25. Limited Resources • Low funding • Overcrowding • Dearth of teaching and learning materials

26. Lack of pedagogical training and content knowledge Public schools in Nairobi = highest levels of trained teachers Camp-based schools = refugee teachers, no training or 6-month, part time diploma program Scarce in-service professional development No training in how to support second or third language acquisition

27. Curriculum Adaptation to needs of refugees Relevance of Kenyan curriculum

28. Language policy Kiswahili and English simultaneously Nairobi schools: Kenyan teachers; tuition Camp schools: teachers with varying competence in Swahili and English Lack of textbooks

29. Implications Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Ed.D.

30. Implications Instructional approach—poor quality Need to increase availability and quality of teacher professional development Deeper content knowledge Language policy and pedagogy Adapt curriculum for greater relevance

31. Discussion