Emphasise vocational, practical subjects in curriculum, education experts say

Experts are seeking to recommend an education curriculum that emphasises competence of pupils rather than the current one that focuses on meeting objectives.

A research report on the needs assessment for curriculum reform by Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) states that there is need for primary school curriculum that incorporates competencies that create humans with capabilities for their real life contexts and the global community.

“The current instructional practices and resource provisions are a hindrance to competence based curriculum which requires situations that can build the expected competencies,” states the study.

The report points out that patriotism, environmental protection, social development, technological development, and economic and industrial development are the key needs of the society in Kenya.

However, it regrets that there is a disconnect between societal needs and education that is offered in Kenya and more experiential situations in and out of school should be applied to create a peaceful and cohesive society.

The KICD report now recommends that teachers in primary schools need to understand the theory and practice of a competence-based curriculum noting that without real transformation of pedagogical and didactic actions of teachers, it is unlikely that pupils will develop actual competencies.

“Alternative assessment is needed for both summative and formative assessment to support the new way of learning. Competencies cannot be effectively measured with multiple choice or paper-and-pencil tests are common practice in Kenyan primary schools,” notes the report.

It adds that the curriculum conceptualization and implementation should create the situations that enable graduates to exit and fit into real life or work.

“The learning environment should be well equipped and activity oriented to create supportive situations for real-life or work related situations. Teachers in Kenyan schools need to be re-oriented to understand the theory and practice of a competence based curriculum,” it recommends.

It goes on: “Futuristic curriculum programmes and instruction needs to be created and continuously validated by creating linkages with real life contexts.”

The report points out that curriculum at the Primary level must embrace all types of learners and provide them with a rigorous, high-quality experience that readies them to successfully transit to the next level of education as well as ground them in knowledge, skills, values that lead to self-learning and social learning.

It adds that the curriculum needs to prioritize vocational and practical subjects, foreign languages, as well as revamp Agriculture, Home Science, Music, Arabic, Chinese, French and German as optional subjects.

“Consequently, training and capacity building of teachers should be carried out to ensure quality delivery of curriculum in the new areas both during the pre- and in-service and provision of requisite teaching and learning resources,” states the report.

The report notes that there is need to include new learning areas in order to address foreign languages, ethnical and vocational areas as well as revamp neglected skills-subjects like Agriculture, Music, Home Science and those that address talents.

“The teachers need to be empowered so as to address the differing learning needs of all children and to use methods of active group and individual learning. There is need to communicate to students existing links between relevant general education competencies and the learning outcomes of their majors and minors,” states the report.

“The current curriculum seems not to have a framework of identifying and nurturing talent.
Consequently, need arises for the curriculum to consider best ways of inclusion of this in order to respond to the uniqueness of each learner in the school community. This should be done within the context of supportive resources, both human and material, to enrich the experience,” the report says.

It adds that the reform should seek to create a pathway to domicile talents.

“The current scenario paints a picture of scarcity of resources. The poor physical infrastructure in most learning institutions, inadequate schools and teaching staff have immensely contributed to poor delivery of curriculum and access to quality education,” adds the report.

It explains that in order to address the high teacher pupil ratio, it is important for the government to train adequate teachers, since they are key in curriculum delivery.

The report notes interactive pedagogical approaches that focus on the learner’s active involvement are preferred for developing globally competitive learners with quality teacher education and sufficient resources being key in supporting suitable pedagogical approaches.

“Teachers are not well grounded in learning approaches that encourage participation of learners as they acquire desired competencies. This is mainly the traditional teacher- centred methodologies that focus on the teacher that pervade most classrooms. The implication for teacher capacity is for an ongoing teacher assessment programme that compares the teacher levels against their classroom needs,” adds the report.

It observes that there is need for teacher training to inculcate in- depth knowledge regarding the theoretical and practical application of different pedagogical techniques.

“The shift of focus from the teacher to the learners also means that planning for classroom interaction, execution of the plans and classroom assessment practices are constructed from the learners and their needs,” adds the report.

“Appropriate pedagogical approaches should be encouraged through progressive government policies to help learners to discover, develop talents and consolidate their real life attributes such as exploration, self-assessment and problem solving,” it states.

The KICD states that assessment should reflect a more comprehensive and long term attainment of the learners.

There should be teaching environments and teachers who can offer opportunities for a wide array of assessment that foster cognitive and non –cognitive competencies, it says.

The consideration of learners’ performance based on summative assessment alone, while excluding their individual and their diverse needs jeopardizes objective judgment of performance, the experts say in the report.

“This implies more targeted and relevant modes of assessment that provide a more balanced and holistic understanding of their progress in various abilities,” it adds.

“There should be a deliberate effort to develop diverse set of assessment modes to enable learners to perceive learning as a way of demonstrating their potential. For instance, assessment can be tailored to the level and needs of an individual students,” the education experts say.