This study focuses on illuminating Kenya's urban high school teachers' perceptions of
students' diversity and how these differences influence their curriculum implementation,
pedagogy, and students' classroom interactions in the learning process. Located within
theoretical frameworks of intersectionality and critical pedagogy, the study shows how multiple
layered identities and differences identified by teachers interplay and intersect to influence their
performance and students' academic success. The theoretical debate over critical pedagogy in
diverse contexts shows how Kenya's high school teachers effectively develop classroom
environments that address differences and acknowledge arrays of factors that create inequalities.
Findings also show that teachers' work continue to be informed by government and institutional
policies that favor uniformity and conformity creating contradictions and dilemmas for them.
The study applies a mixed qualitative methodology based on interpretive and descriptive
phenomenology to inform the study. Participants were selected based on purposive sampling
from urban high schools in western Kenya. Data for the study were generated through baseline
questionnaires, field interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of archival documents.
Findings highlighted arrays of factors identified by participants as contributing to students
differences in their specific context. Differences identified by teachers that were common across
institutions were academic abilities, entry behavior, primary education backgrounds, proficiency
in English language, socio-economic status, and students' motivational status. Some of the
factors perceived to influence teaching and learning differed across disciplines, gender of the
participants, and the nature of the schools. It was concluded that the impact of these differences
on teaching and learning needs to be addressed if high school access, quality, and subsequent
academic performance is to be realized for all students in Kenya's high schools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU./2852 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Owuor, Jenipher |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | 17082420 bytes, application/pdf |
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