Displaying items by tag: Riara University

Traditional educational approaches have been more concerned with the transmission of knowledge and skills than with the introduction of values and attitudes, or, in other words, with the holistic upbringing of learners “competent for life”. However, already by the end of the 20th century it became clear that education should have a more relevant role in fostering achievement of individuals’ aims and also social and economic welfare. All these created the breeding ground for the emergence of the concept of “competence”. However, for the time being, there is not a unique, distinct definition of “competence”, which makes it scarcely operative and hinders application in educational planning. In this context, competence is being used non-uniformly, and often as a mere declaration of intent, and this is creating ambiguity regarding the design of competence based learning.

The onset of the 21st century, coincident with the turn of the millennium, meant a turning point in several areas: education, environment, and economic development among others.  Education, thus, appears as central to personal and community development; its mission is to enable learners, without exception, to develop their talents to the full and to realize their creative potential, including responsibility for their own lives and achievement of each individual’s personal aims, but also involvement in one’s social roles at work and in the community.

McClelland defined the term competency as, “a sum of knowledge, skills, and aptitudes, which contributes to the capacity of a person to effectively perform the duties and responsibilities of the occupied job; in other words, to be competent”. In this concept, we could look at competencies in three perspectives:

Behavioural approach: Competence as a set of abilities that ensure productivity in the labour market. In this approach, with roots in the United States, competences are understood as a demonstration of behavior; i.e., the traits that allow him/her to perform professionally.     

Functional or generic approach: Competence as the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes that make people able to solve a task under set conditions. It seeks to identify abilities and features that explain variation in performance in specific contexts.

Constructivist-holistic approach: Competence as the knowledge about how to mobilize the elements of the competence in order to solve a task satisfactorily; to want, to have personal motivation; and to be able to do, thanks to a context and conditions that make the solution of the task possible.

Why is CBC important for a 21st Century graduate?

The jobs of the 21st century require critical thinking and problem solving skills. The concept of Competency Based Education is to have a convergence to the 21st century world view demands for a worker, entrepreneur and/or business person. It is predicted that the jobs of the future will definitely be very different from the jobs that exist today. The world is changing extremely very fast. Untimely emergence of COVID-19 clearly indicated to us how unprepared we are that led the closure of learning due to lack of technology and digital literacy in our learning institutions.

Taxonomy of competences

Designing learning based on competences also requires defining the type of competences we are working with, namely:

Basic competences: related to basic education (compulsory school period); they refer to the set of minimum requirements that a contemporary citizen should acquire at the end of compulsory schooling. They include curricular competences (relative to different domains of knowledge, or subjects) and transversal competences (broad, integrative skills required for the holistic development of learners;

Technical- professional competences: linked to vocational training (post-compulsory secondary education), including qualification- specific competences (analogous to the curricular competences) and the transversal ones (which are subject to training and development all the way through schooling).Key competences: owned and developed by the individual throughout his/her entire life. Key competences are responsible for individual success throughout the entire life, and to the good global functioning of the society derived from the action of particular citizens. Professional competences (Proficiencies): linked to Higher Education, they are associated with effectively performing certain professional tasks. They involve the capacity to solve complex professional questions, by mobilizing scientific knowledge and technical abilities, and respecting ethical considerations typical of that particular profession.

Education Reforms in Kenya:

Central to the education reforms, Kenya has been establishing an education system that addresses relevance, equity, inclusion and elimination of wastages among graduates. One of the challenges of education in Kenya is inequality, which means that those from low socio-economic backgrounds have difficulty accessing quality education. Since independence (1963), Kenya has constituted six commissions and several taskforces to reform the education system to meet the country’s social, political and economic needs. Most recently, in 2017, the government embarked on the most comprehensive education reform since 1981, which has seen the introduction of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The aim of the CBC is to guarantee basic education for every learner according to their abilities and needs. Education reforms emphasize that all children, especially those from marginalized groups and those with disabilities, should have access to quality education. Despite these reforms, challenges related to access, equity, quality, relevance and efficiency in the management of education resources are yet to be adequately addressed. Furthermore, implementation of the CBC has been marred by uncertainties, as it is increasingly becoming evident that the reforms may not necessarily close the equity gaps. Unfortunately if not intentionally checked, the gap in inequalities in education is increasingly widening even with CBC in place. CBC emphasizes on seven core competencies, which are:

· Communication &collaboration
· Critical thinking & problem solving
· Citizenship
· Digital literacy
· Creativity & imagination
· Learning to learn
· Self-efficacy

The emphasis on values and community service learning cannot be underscored in CBC. Similarly parental engagement and empowerment is a key component of CBC. Previously much of the student management has been weighing heavily on the teacher with a parent offering the most minimal support to the learning process. Tripartite approach to learning in which the learner, teacher and parent are fully engaged with the learner being the centric point is a strong basis for learner’s success.

Pillars, Mission and Vision of CBC:

CBC draws its strength on the pillars that include values, theoretical approaches, core principles and the National goals of education so as to nurture every Learner’s Potential and release a lifelong learner (Engaged, Empowered and Ethical Citizen)

CBC framework emphasizes on the National goals of education which are:

1. Foster nationalism, patriotism and promote national unity
2. Promote social, economic, technological and industrial needs for national development
3. Promote individual development and self-fulfillment
4. Promote sound moral and religious values
5. Promote social equality and responsibility
6. Promote respect for and development of Kenya’s rich and varied cultures
7. Promote international consciousness and foster positive attitude towards other nations
8. Promote positive attitude towards good health and environmental protection

What are the major shifts from the previous curriculum?

In the envisaged knowledge economy, it is important to embrace what learners are able to do with the knowledge they acquire in the classroom. Linking academia to industry and real world experience is key for the learners to fit into the fast changing world. CBC envisages the following shifts:

What then are the likely implications of Implementation of the new curriculum?

 · Review teacher training
· Upgrade teacher training certification at all levels to a minimum of Diploma
· Promote Specialization
· Strengthen Internship/Community of Practice
· Inclusion of a component of action research, mentoring and inclusive education to enhance the same in classroom practice and student learning at the school  level
· Retooling of curriculum implementers (Educators, Policy Makers, Investors, donors)
· University/Tertiary education is likely to experience a major shift-(STEM education may take a major junk of the tertiary education).
· Development of face-to-face and online training modules on
· Competence-based learning and assessment (Innovative Assessment).
· Integration of ICT in teaching and learning
· Instructional leadership
· Continuous Professional Development (CDP).
· Strengthen Teacher Performance Appraisal
· Development of curriculum designs/Curriculum Redesigning
·  Development of the Pre-service Teacher Education
· Framework   based on the Needs Assessment
· Development of continuous Teacher Professional
· Development Programmes
· Development of the Assessment Framework for
· formative and summative evaluation (Innovative Assessment framework)
· Development of Financial Model for the curriculum reforms(Increased funding)
· Strengthen Public Private Partnerships in Educations
· Parental engagement and empowerment.

CBC framework indicating pathways:

 CBC takes dimensional projections on learner pathways. Unlike before where we had a linear student progression, CBC provides learners with pathways as in the framework below:

Inclusivity/Special Needs Education:

 CBC has emphasis on mainstreaming of learners and universal design for learning as indicated in the above framework.

Challenges being faced for effective implementation of CBC.

1. Lack of well trained teachers on learner centred pedagogical approaches, innovative assessment and ICT skills
2. Lack of trained teachers to facilitate the newly introduced learning areas
3. Minimal resources to accommodate high numbers due to100% transition
4. Low quality of public education due to poor teacher learner ratio. Currently teacher learner ratio in most primary and secondary schools stands at 1:80 and 1: 70 respectively
5. No clarity yet on placement of junior secondary
6. Less public awareness on learner career progression (Parental Empowerment)
7. Lack of enough teachers to handle high numbers of learners.
8. Inequality in education based on socio-economic status of Kenyans.
9. Courses Higher learning Institutions are yet to be aligned to CBC.
10. Attitude and resistant to change by educators
11. Low level parental engagement and commitment to support the learning process

 Suggestions for successful implementation of CBC

It is vital for us to embrace full implementation of CBC. The global view on student learning require a more collaborative approach and innovative stakeholder engagement. For us to reap the benefits of CBC, the author suggests the following solutions for effective implementation of the new curriculum:
1. Continuous teacher professional development on the 21st century pedagogies, innovative assessment, reporting and research skills in education
2. Regular (weekly/termly/bi-annually, annually) parental engagement and empowerment
3. Continuous advocacy and public awareness on the benefits of Competency Based Education to the learners, parents, society and the country’s future economy
4. Creation of CBC ambassadors (Parents, teachers, learners, researcher, policy implementers)
5. Active engagement of teachers in Professional Communities of Practice
6. Advocacy of CBC alignment to Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and Vision 2030
7. Instead of tablets for every learner, establish ICT well networked centres in schools or shared facilities in every sub-county
8. Invest more in day schools as opposed to boarding schools
9. Digitize some of the teaching and learning resources for example course/reference books
10. Review and align courses in tertiary institutions to CBC

 Conclusion

CBC adoption in Kenya gives the potential to the future generation on the establishment and attainment of competencies needed at the job market. The government should envisage the proper implementation of CBC in the classroom to enhance the goals of the curriculum. CBC brings Kenya’s education achievement to the global bar on only if the required implementation is realized. Kenya and her citizens need to see CBC through the local and global lenses. Teachers should be involved in the crucial stage of curriculum reform, and their professional development is developed satisfactorily for effective implementation of CBC. Retraining of teachers should be critical in every curriculum adoption. More so, the realignment of CBC into the world view context should be maintained. Any successful education programme should answer the question>>>>how should be the ideal citizen look like, behave, act and most importantly is the ideal citizen productive and self fulfilled? The success of every individual learner is basically the success of the community. Ideal citizen should be able to deal with common problems like diseases, poverty, hunger, and generally solve the socio-economic challenges facing their communities. 

Dr. Otundo is the Director Riara Insitute and Head of Department in School of Education at Riara University.