Since 1963, Kenya has undergone extensive upgrading of its educational system. New institutions like the "youth polytechnic" have been created to serve post-elementary school people in need of employment skills. In this study, the case method was used to investigate two, one rural and one urban, reputedly exemplary polytechnics. In particular, this study sought the organizational factors associated with the two exemplary institutions. / Data were collected using observation, interviews, questionnaires, and salient documents. / A number of factors associated with exemplary youth polytechnics were uncovered. The Polytechnics developed training that was suited to the respective areas and to employment. Dedicated principals created an environment conducive to training such as discipline, duty delegations, and a communication network. Committed staff used innovative means of instruction, and a close link to the world of work was adopted. Trainees valued their studies. Management committees had a clear vision of the polytechnics' direction, and they had community support.

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This participatory action research study involved a group of teachers in transforming school grounds into interpretation resources. Approached from a critical perspective, it challenged the conventional top-down approaches to interpretation resources and materials development. Through a teacher-centred approach, a school-based ‘botanic garden’ and ‘arboretum’ were developed at Samaj and Kenya High respectively. Teachers were further actively engaged in developing a variety of interpretive materials that might engage learners in socially critical environmental education processes at the transformed sites. A process in which educators from five non-formal education organisations shared their skills and knowledge on environmental interpretation with teachers preceded the development of interpretation resources and materials. Drawing on Latour (1999), I have applied the notion of mobilising interpretive capital when describing this process. Interpretive capital within the non-formal education sector was mobilised and made available through social interactions between teachers and non-formal educators. This occurred during workshops, organisational visits and critical reviews of a sample of interpretive materials. I provide insights into how the interpretive capital was mobilised and later drawn on by teachers during the development processes in their schools. This study argues that mobilising interpretive capital with teachers through partnerships can enhance the transformation of school grounds to foster environmental learning. It shows how attempts to find solutions with teachers were made in response to pedagogical and curriculum tensions that arise around the implementation of environmental education processes in their schools. To provide orientation in environmental education processes in schools, analyses of socially critical environmental education processes and a review of theoretical perspectives on interpretation as an environmental education process are presented. I have viewed interpretation and environmental education as reciprocally necessary aspects for enabling the development of critical environmental literacy and action competence. To explain this view, the notion of environmental interpretation and education processes has been applied and presented in this study. Finally, practical outcomes of the study on transformation of school grounds, improved education practice, enhanced professional competencies amongst teachers, new interpretive materials in schools and the establishment of partnerships are examined.

This study investigated the factors that shaped students' choices of training programs in two technical colleges in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to determine the nature of the students reasoning with regards to their decisions about enrolling in particular training programs. It also highlights how the students deal with the pressures from their parents, peers, and the community at large, to conform to their 'gender expected' program choices. The expectations of Kenyan society have been that female students would choose programs within the female dominated fields of secretarial, food and beverage, and clothing technology. The expected programs for male students have been in the male dominated fields of engineering and building trades. The study showed that program choices for girls differed from those of boys irrespective of the type of school the students attended. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Ethnographic techniques were used to analyze the participants experiences obtained through conversation like interviews. Chi square tests and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the enrollment records obtained from the participating colleges. The participants included 39 students and 4 Heads of Departments from the two participating colleges, College A and College B. There were 14 female and 7 male students enrolled in traditionally female programs, and 9 male and 9 female students enrolled in traditionally male programs. For each college, one head of a department with predominantly female programs and one from a department with predominantly male programs participated in the study. All the participants were interviewed within their college. The interviews focused on the participants' individual experiences related to their choices of training programs. The interviews with the Heads of Departments also looked at the relationship between the government guidelines on student enrollment and the actual criteria used by the colleges to select the students for different programs within each college. All the interviews were audio taped. The students indicated that their choices were moderated by factors within the homes they came from, the schools they attended, the society at large, and the world of work. Factors within the homes included gender related socialization, and parental pressure for the students to choose the programs that the parents wanted them to choose. The major factors within the schools the students attended included lack of career guidance, the school facilities, and lack of role models for the students to emulate. The main factors that were related to the society at large were the general expectations that the students would choose "gender appropriate programs. It was interesting to note that the students placed an emphasis on their perception of the expectations of their potential future spouses. The main factors related to the world of work were the availability of employment in particular careers, and the students' perception of the gender biases that the employers might have when recruiting workers for different types of jobs.

Global consensus on the importance of gender equity in education is perhaps one of the greatest agreements reached in the twentieth century. However, for countries in the sub Saharan African region where disparities of gender are wide and primary education takes priority, secondary education continues to remain in the periphery. As countries make progress towards the attainment of Universal Primary Education (UPE), the concerns for gender equity and equality have become associated with school access and pupil retention. Yet, patterns and trends in school enrollment suggest that disparities of gender are more complex. As lessons are learned from the achievements and challenges of attaining UPE, it is increasingly apparent that gender disparities within education occur in, within and beyond access to schooling. In other words, the challenge of making education gender equal goes beyond school access and school enrollment. Kenya is a signatory to the 1990 Jomtein Declaration on Education For All (EFA). It is also among the few countries in the sub Saharan Africa region with a significantly reduced gender gap in primary and secondary education. This is in tandem with the third of the eight Millennium Development Goals whose aims bear a broad social and economic development agenda. While education equity is important in Kenya and tremendous progress has been made in primary education, beyond the attainment of Universal Primary Education (UPE) there is an even more significant target; gender equity in education both in primary and secondary education by 2015. The attainment of this target requires more than access to schooling and for this reason it poses great challenges to governments and schools. In light of the progress made in Kenya and the need for more equitable education beyond primary education, this study conceives a need for an incisive examination of education equity priority areas in Kenya. The study argues on the need for a shift of concern and debate from primary education to secondary education because the gains of UPE only become meaningful when education equity is secured in secondary education. The study underscores that beyond school access and retention, education output and outcomes need to become prominent variables because they gauge trends and patterns and the quality of gains made where education is claimed to be both accessible and equitable. Using case study method, the study makes a critical interpretation of the schooling experiences, educational choices, preferences and aspirations of girls taking secondary education in single-sex schools in Murang’a district, Kenya. The study shows that girls schooling experiences are not homogenous and that there are contradictions in the ways that girls experience their schooling and make educational choices. It also shows that girls do not necessarily stand good chances with their education simply because they are enrolled in single-sex schools. The study reveals individual subjectivities and schooling culture to be at the centre of the differences between schools and the schooling experiences that girls have. The two have impact on how girls perceive themselves and their abilities, the preferences they nurture and the educational choices they make. The study draws attention to nuances in access and equity within girls’ education. It draws out issues and nuances linked to gender access, equity and equality with respect to school, teacher and subject access. Though the study is not generaliseable, it shows that in contexts where female access and survival is secured, there is need for attention to be paid to the environments that nurture educational choices and preferences so that the high rates in school access become translated into equally high educational output and outcomes.

This study investigated the factors that shaped students' choices of training programs in two technical colleges in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to determine the nature of the students reasoning with regards to their decisions about enrolling in particular training programs. It also highlights how the students deal with the pressures from their parents, peers, and the community at large, to conform to their 'gender expected' program choices. The expectations of Kenyan society have been that female students would choose programs within the female dominated fields of secretarial, food and beverage, and clothing technology. The expected programs for male students have been in the male dominated fields of engineering and building trades. The study showed that program choices for girls differed from those of boys irrespective of the type of school the students attended. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Ethnographic techniques were used to analyze the participants experiences obtained through conversation like interviews. Chi square tests and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the enrollment records obtained from the participating colleges. The participants included 39 students and 4 Heads of Departments from the two participating colleges, College A and College B. There were 14 female and 7 male students enrolled in traditionally female programs, and 9 male and 9 female students enrolled in traditionally male programs. For each college, one head of a department with predominantly female programs and one from a department with predominantly male programs participated in the study. All the participants were interviewed within their college. The interviews focused on the participants' individual experiences related to their choices of training programs. The interviews with the Heads of Departments also looked at the relationship between the government guidelines on student enrollment and the actual criteria used by the colleges to select the students for different programs within each college. All the interviews were audio taped. The students indicated that their choices were moderated by factors within the homes they came from, the schools they attended, the society at large, and the world of work. Factors within the homes included gender related socialization, and parental pressure for the students to choose the programs that the parents wanted them to choose. The major factors within the schools the students attended included lack of career guidance, the school facilities, and lack of role models for the students to emulate. The main factors that were related to the society at large were the general expectations that the students would choose "gender appropriate programs. It was interesting to note that the students placed an emphasis on their perception of the expectations of their potential future spouses. The main factors related to the world of work were the availability of employment in particular careers, and the students' perception of the gender biases that the employers might have when recruiting workers for different types of jobs. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The method of instruction and the formal curriculum within two Kenyan teacher training colleges were studied in order to discover which messages regarding pedagogical practice are internalized within novice Kenyan primary school teachers and then actualized within their classrooms. An educational connoisseurship approach was utilized to give descriptive, interpretive, evaluative, and thematic insight. Three data streams were collected through interview, observation, and design evaluation in order to establish structural corroboration and internal validity. The study found that the method of instruction by the teacher training college faculty was teacher-centered and utilized lower order cognitive methodology. Though the formal curriculum design was strong, it too promoted lower cognitive processes. These two messages, teacher-centered pedagogies and lower cognitive processes, are being internalized and applied by the novice teachers and maybe affecting the quality of education in Kenyan schools. The results of this study suggest that pedagogical skills promoting higher cognitive levels should be developed through in-service training in Kenyan training colleges and primary schools as a way to improve the quality of education in this country.

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The phenomena of stakeholder identification and involvement in the affairs of public entities has become of great importance in the recent years. Literature review reveals the extent of knowledge and discloses gaps that exist in the management of technical training institutions in Kenya. Therefore, key research questions aimed at achieving the objectives of this study were formulated. For empirical responses, a sample comprising three institutions was chosen, where respondents were selected purposively. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted for qualitative data collection from purposively selected respondents. The data analysis led to the conclusion that stakeholders are varied and their involvement in specific issues minimal. This implies lack of clarity of knowledge of the stakeholders and variation regarding the extent to which they need involvement and the effects. One recommendation is to carry out an analysis to establish legitimate stakeholders and their specific potential influences. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)