Elevinflytande i skolan är centralt för individuella elevers utveckling, deras framtida deltagande i samhället och för ett lands övergripande framsteg. Med tanke på dessa aspekter är graden av elevinflytande inom skolsystemet i Kenya, ett land som siktar på att utvecklas, mycket intressant att studera. Syftet med denna uppsats är att fastställa hur utbrett elevinflytandet är i en kenyansk gymnasieskola och vad detta beror på. Undersökningen söker svar på hur organisationen för elevinflytande är strukturerad, vilka områden eleverna kan påverka och vilka problem som är knutna till elevinflytande. Rapporten studerar en kenyansk gymnasieskola i staden Eldoret. Eftersom Kenya och det kenyanska utbildningssystemet är okända fenomen i Sverige är bakgrunden i uppsatsen omfattande och placerad relativt tidigt för att på så sätt ge läsare nödvändig bakgrundskunskap. En kvalitativ metod kombinerad med Deweys och Säljös teoretiska perspektiv på elevinflytande utgör den metodiska och teoretiska grunden i uppsatsen. Intervjuer, observationer och kenyanska gymnasieskolans styrdokument används för att besvara studiens frågeställningar. Observationer kombinerade med intervjuer av rektor, ansvarig elevrepresentant, elever och lärare har genomförts i följande ämnen: Engelska, Fysik, Historia och Jordbrukskunskap. Undersökningens resultat illustrerar att grundsynen på elevinflytande samt den upprättade organisatoriska strukturen för elevinflytande utgör goda teoretiska förutsättningar för en hög nivå av inflytande. I praktiken visar dock studien att områden med övervägande hög grad av inflytande är väldigt få. Dessutom fastställs flera problem som begränsar elevinflytandet. Den här undersökningen bekräftar på många sätt tidigare forskning men utökar även forskningshorisonten. Bland annat knyter studien alla begränsande problem till avsaknaden av tydliga och konkreta riktlinjer för direkt elevinflytande i skolans styrdokument. Få direktiv finns för hur elevinflytandet bör organiseras och inom vilka områden eleverna bör ha inflytande. Vidare ger styrdokumenten inga lösningsförslag på de begränsande problem de tar upp. Dessa oklara riktlinjer skapar förvirring i skolan och är huvudorsaken till varför informanternas svar stundtals skiljer sig samt till varför nivån på elevinflytandet varierar mellan skolor, ämnen, lärare och elever. Trots att förutsättningarna är goda, i form av grundsyn och organisatorisk struktur, leder följaktligen avsaknaden av tydliga och konkreta riktlinjer till att elevinflytandet är mer begränsat än utbrett på den undersökta skolan.

This study investigated the cognition of Form III English language teachers and evaluated their preparedness in implementing the revised English language curriculum. The study investigated teachers’ understanding of the integrated curriculum; described the relationship between teachers’ implementation strategies and curriculum requirements; established the effect of cognition on the process of implementation and determined challenges of implementation. A descriptive survey design was used in Eldoret East Sub-County in Kenya. Data was collected using a questionnaire and in-depth interviews, student focus group interviews, observation in Form III language classrooms, document analysis and journal entries. Data analysis was done by use of frequency and descriptive statistics. Qualitative analysis involved transcriptions of interviews and filed notes which were coded, categorized and patterns and themes identified. The study established that (1) teachers had varied cognition of the integrated curriculum (2) teachers showed integration at varying levels (3) more than 50% of the teachers still believe that English language and literature should be taught separately. (4) Teachers who had a better cognition of integration made more effort in the preparation and actual implementation of the integrated lessons. However, some teachers who did not seem to have any problem with conceptualizing integration still fell short of implementing it with fidelity (5) the practice of concentrating teaching on examination areas is still entrenched in teachers’ beliefs. Factors that were established to affect curriculum implementation efforts include: lack of appropriate Teacher Professional Development (TPD), content overload and complexity, non-suitable learner characteristics, inadequate directions in course books on integration and inappropriate pre-service training. The study recommends involvement of teachers in the development of curriculum innovations, organized Continuous TPD, development of materials that support teachers in their implementation and review of assessment procedures. This study has contributed to the dearth of literature in the area of teacher cognition of English language in Kenya. It has also provided insights to stakeholders in the field of curriculum on implementation issues that are pertinent which may lead to more fitting implementation in the future. This may help in suggesting necessary improvements to curriculum implementation such as material development, programme review at teacher colleges and universities and enhanced professional development training for teachers. The findings thus have a potential to inform and improve practice when stakeholders consider ways to improve the implementation of the curriculum in language classrooms in Kenya. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence resilience after trauma among internally displaced persons in Kiambaa village, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The rationale, the problem statement, the objectives as well as the research questions and the theoretical framework were presented in chapter one. The theoretical concepts of Richardson’s “meta-theory of resilience and resiliency” and Joseph and Linley “organism valuing theory” guided this study. The problem statement posited revealed that when people experience tragic events such as violence they get traumatized. Despite this, there are individuals who are able to adopt and bounce back with minimal disruptions to their lives, a factor referred to as resilience. Chapter two presented related literature by reviewing empirical research studies on the internal and external factors that contribute to resilience after trauma. Chapter three discussed the methodology of the study. The study adopted a mixed design approach. The target population for this study was 50. It comprised all individuals who were victims of the fire tragedy at Kiambaa village. Twenty two respondents for this study were selected from the target population using purposive and snow ball sampling techniques. Questionnaires and unstructured interview schedule were the main tools of data collection. The Big Five Inventory (BFI) by John, Donahue, & Kentle, (1991) personality were used to classify respondents’ personalities.The 25 item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 (CD-RISC-25) (used with permission) (Connor, & Davidson, 2003) was used to measure the resilience levels of the respondents. Means and Standard deviations were computed to quantify the amount of variation or dispersion of resilience among the respondents. Responses from research tools were cleaned, coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Descriptive data were organized into themes and categories and presented according to the objectives of the study. Pearson product moment correlation analysis, Chi square correlation analysis and Spearman rank correlation analysis were computed to establish the relationships between study variables. Chapter four presented findings in form of tables, cumulative frequency counts, graphs and charts. The major findings of the study were as follows: The internal factors that contribute to resilience in individuals were age, gender and personality. However, gender had a greater influence on individuals’ resilience levels. Other factors included personality and age. The main external factors that contributed to resilience in individuals of the fire tragedy at Kiambaa were spirituality and social support. The results of a Pearson correlation analysis confirmed a strong positive correlation between social support and resilience of individuals (r=0.835, p<0.05). Chapter five presented conclusions arising from the findings which indicated that age, gender, personality, spirituality and social support are significant internal and external factors that influence resilience levels of individuals. The study recommends that there is need for professionals working with traumatized individuals to be more familiar with these factors that contribute to resilience. The researcher also recommends that there is need to extend the present study by including other potentially important variables such as a wider range of psychosocial resources or health-related variables. Understanding the influence and importance of these variables may help to clarify the role of resilience in post-disaster adaptation. In addition, the researcher recommends that there is need to further extend the study to investigate the relationship between psychological resilience and another positive outcome, such as posttraumatic growth (PTG). / Psychology / Ph.D. (Psychology)

Conflict is an inevitable occurrence in any human interaction setting and organisations are no exception. Communication is an essential an important aspect of conflict. People run organisations and without interaction through communication, organisational existence would be next to impossible. This dissertation aims to explore the role of interpersonal communication in managing peer co-worker conflict in a Non-Governmental organisation, SILC KENYA, Eldoret. This study adopted a qualitative case study. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data from fifteen employees of the same hierarchical level. The study revealed various causes of conflict amongst the peer co-workers. Exchange of resources amongst peer co-workers was seen to better interpersonal relations in the workplace and it was further noted that interpersonal communication plays an important role in conflict management. The study recommends that peer co-workers should be equipped with interpersonal communication skills through frequent teambuilding activities and training workshops to aid in conflict management. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication Science)

The essay investigates how the e-reader changes the conditions for teaching in a developmentsetting. By applying the theory designs for learning different aspects of the teaching practiceare analyzed. Suzy Peacock Memorial Secondary School in Eldoret, Kenya was used for thecollection of data. The results and the discussion show that while the teachers benefitted to agreat extent from the e-readers while planning their work they did not use them to a greatextent together with their students. Neither did the e-readers change how the teacherscommunicated knowledge nor their idea of what they wanted students to learn. In order forthe e-readers to be implemented in the teaching and for the teachers to use the e-readerstogether with their students more, it is argued that teachers would benefit to a great extentfrom teacher training.