- I am an expert in curriculum and Instruction and early childhood education. My research interest is in African indige... moreI am an expert in curriculum and Instruction and early childhood education. My research interest is in African indigenous knowledge to advocate for a culturally contextually relevant curriculum and child development theoretical framework.edit
This article presents the epistemological complexity inherent in the roll out of an international project on Disaster and Risk Reduction, and consequently about science education in the Indigenous context of Turkana County in Kenya. After... more
This article presents the epistemological complexity inherent in the roll out of an international project on Disaster and Risk Reduction, and consequently about science education in the Indigenous context of Turkana County in Kenya. After an introduction that explains the current state of Disaster and Risk Reduction, the paper focuses on the ‘Paper Volcanoes Laboratory’ program and toolkit for children and teachers, which aims to spread awareness about natural hazards among children. The paper argues that the geographical, social and educational context where the project is carried out is critical to consider, and decolonial studies provide a conceptual and theoretical framework for this project. This allows to recognize reproduction of infantilization of Indigenous people and children through Western knowledge and science if implemented without consideration for local contexts, and demonstrates how Western educational projects have been a tool of discrimination and colonization. Ho...
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Research Interests: Epistemology, Science Education, Ethnography, Early Childhood Education, Focus Groups, and 15 morePolitical Science, Kenya, Cultural Anthropology, Everyday Life, Curriculum, Sociocultural Evolution, Interviews, Role, Focus Group, Pastoralism, Arizona State University, Pastoralists, Naturalistic Observation, Exploratory Study, and Sociocultural Practices
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This chapter challenges African early childhood educators to rethink the very nature of early years education offered to children, particularly in pastoralist or other more ‘traditional’ cultures. We emphasize some of the cultural nuances... more
This chapter challenges African early childhood educators to rethink the very nature of early years education offered to children, particularly in pastoralist or other more ‘traditional’ cultures. We emphasize some of the cultural nuances and power of indigenous ways of knowing and learning based on traditional childrearing, particularly in Turkana and other pastoralist cultures in Kenya. We also argue that the complexity of the preschool structure or ways in which preschools may meet ‘universal quality standards’ matter far less than the relationship between the cultural context of the children and the learning environment. The degree to which the learning environment reflects the lifestyles of the children is more critical than the expensive infrastructure of the classrooms and other non-sustainable models that decades of foreign ‘development’ aid has left in communities. We link to larger themes of this volume, including rethinking what development means in Global South early childhood contexts and exploring ways to decolonize early childhood initiatives in ways that foreground African values and cultures.
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This paper analyses teacher training in science education in early childhood development and primary grades in Kenya. The paper argues that even though the Kenya Government emphasises science as a subject critical for technological... more
This paper analyses teacher training in science education in early childhood development and primary grades in Kenya. The paper argues that even though the Kenya Government emphasises science as a subject critical for technological advancement and for achieving Vision 2030, the training of science teachers in early childhood and primary colleges nationally triggers a lot of quality questions. The author visited primary teacher training colleges and early childhood development training institutions in Nairobi, Kiambu and Thika Counties and observed the training activities and resources for science education. The article questions science teachers’ adaptability in ensuring science instruction captures the diverse cultures of Kenya in science classrooms. The author raises methodological questions in science instruction as it appears that the tutors training teachers at the colleges did not directly undergo training at the universities in Kenya that prepare them to train primary level teachers.
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This study aimed to determine the effect of teacher qualification on implementation of Pre-primary Mathematics Curriculum in Central Division, Trans-Nzoia County. The study's objective was to determine the effect of teacher... more
This study aimed to determine the effect of teacher qualification on implementation of Pre-primary Mathematics Curriculum in Central Division, Trans-Nzoia County. The study's objective was to determine the effect of teacher qualification, on implementing pre-primary learners' Mathematics curriculum in Trans-Nzoia County. The study was anchored on Skinner and Erickson's Psychosocial Development and Needs Assessment theory. The researcher used a descriptive survey design. The sample size was drawn using the Fishers formula and constituted 112 respondents. Stratified sampling was used to get respondents from each sector as follows; 74 Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers, 36 primary head teachers. The researcher used a saturated sample to select the only three educational officers. A pilot study to test reliability and validity of research instruments and the reliability were above 0.70 Cronbatch Alphas. The apparatus for data collection were the questionnaires and interview, and observation schedules. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11.5, and results presented using percentages, means, frequencies, and p-values, while qualitative data were analyzed using themes. The study findings indicated a significant relationship between teacher's qualifications. The study recommends that the government should formulate a policy to always take into consideration teachers' qualifications.
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The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of classroom communication on academic performance of learners with hearing impairment. A case of Kambui School for the Deaf, Kiambu County-Kenya. The specific objective was to... more
The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of classroom communication on academic performance of learners with hearing impairment. A case of Kambui School for the Deaf, Kiambu County-Kenya. The specific objective was to establish whether the classroom environment was supportive to effective classroom communication for learners with hearing impairment. The study was guided by the Holcomb's 1967 Total Communication Theory. It adopted descriptive case study design. The respondents were the head teacher, ten teachers and sixty learners, giving a total sample of 71 participants (n – 71). Data was corrected by the use of interviews, questionnaires and observations. A combination of content analysis and thematic approach was used to analyze qualitative data. Research findings indicated that, classroom environment was not supportive to effective classroom communication. To support improved academic outcomes of learners with hearing impairment, it is important that their direct...
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Research on childhood in anthropology and neighboring disciplines has continuously broadened the range of the social partners that are considered relevant for young children's development-from parents to other caregivers, siblings, and... more
Research on childhood in anthropology and neighboring disciplines has continuously broadened the range of the social partners that are considered relevant for young children's development-from parents to other caregivers, siblings, and peers. Yet most studies as well as interventions in early childhood still focus exclusively on parents, who are presumed to be the most significant socializing agents. Objecting to such a hierarchical understanding of the social world of children, I propose a complementarity view. Rather than being linearly ranked in a hierarchy of significance, children's social partners may complement each other by providing different but equally significant experiences. My suggestions are based on an ethnographic study in a rural community in Madagascar. Focusing on children in the first 3 years of life, I explore the full range of their social partners and the respective experiences they provide. Caregivers focus on children's physical needs and aim to keep them in a calm emotional state, while other young related children are the most crucial partners when it comes to play, face-to-face interaction, and the exchange of intense emotions. These complementary roles, I argue, lead to the parallel formation of two distinct socioemotional modes: a hierarchical one and an egalitarian one.
Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Emotion, Early Intervention, Ethnography, Cognitive development, and 15 morePastoralism (Social Anthropology), Parenting, Family Caregivers/Carers, Anthropology of Kinship, Anthropology of emotions, Attachment Theory, Anthropology of Madagascar, Affect/Emotion, Mixed Methods Research, Infancy, Early Childhood, Kinship and Relatedness (Anthropology), Children's Play, Peer Relations, and Early Childhood Development
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It is exciting that there are many research publications, books and refereed journal articles, on early childhood development (ECD) emerging from the African continent. Two countries on the contine...
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This chapter challenges African early childhood educators to rethink the very nature of early years education offered to children, particularly in pastoralist or other more ‘traditional’ cultures. We emphasize some of the cultural nuances... more
This chapter challenges African early childhood educators to rethink the very nature of early years education offered to children, particularly in pastoralist or other more ‘traditional’ cultures. We emphasize some of the cultural nuances and power of indigenous ways of knowing and learning based on traditional childrearing, particularly in Turkana and other pastoralist cultures in Kenya. We also argue that the complexity of the preschool structure or ways in which preschools may meet ‘universal quality standards’ matter far less than the relationship between the cultural context of the children and the learning environment. The degree to which the learning environment reflects the lifestyles of the children is more critical than the expensive infrastructure of the classrooms and other non-sustainable models that decades of foreign ‘development’ aid has left in communities. We link to larger themes of this volume, including rethinking what development means in Global South early chi...
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... Kawagley, Delena Norris-Tull and Roger A. Norris – Tull, 1998; Moll, 2000; Ogunniyi, 1988; Teddla, 1996). These studies are all united on the importance of ... Page 22. 8 school life.John Dewey's words, quoted below, confirm my... more
... Kawagley, Delena Norris-Tull and Roger A. Norris – Tull, 1998; Moll, 2000; Ogunniyi, 1988; Teddla, 1996). These studies are all united on the importance of ... Page 22. 8 school life.John Dewey's words, quoted below, confirm my observation of ...
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Western conceptions of child development and the models of early education they engender predominantly shape services for young children in the first eight years of life all over Africa. This chapter brings a reconceptualist perspective... more
Western conceptions of child development and the models of early education they engender predominantly shape services for young children in the first eight years of life all over Africa. This chapter brings a reconceptualist perspective to the critique of Kenya's continuing failure to ground early childhood programs and services in local cultural conceptions, developmental values, childrearing practices, and the practical day-to-day realities of children's learning through participation and apprenticeship in the contexts of family routines, community experiences, and economic survival activities. The chapter draws on work I have conducted in nomadic pastoralist communities in Kenya. That research reveals the disconcerting reality that (a) early childhood education programs privilege Western pedagogical practices over equally effective and locally more relevant ones, and (b) local communities are increasingly resentful of an educational system that alienates their children fr...