Tata Mbugua

Responding to the Special Needs of Children Educating HIV/AIDS Orphans in Kenya

the most prominent public policy issue, involving an interplay of national budget allocation and foreign assistance. In Kenya, education is considered the pillar of all development activities (Odiwour, 2000). The guiding philosophy for Kenya’s education is the belief that every Kenyan, no matter his or her socioeconomic status, has the inalienable right to basic education (National Development Plan, 1997). Consequently, Kenya spends 40 percent of its official budget on education (United Nations Development Program, 2003). While Fagerlind and Saha (1989) stressed the complexities affecting the link between education and development, more recent studies have highlighted the long-term positive developmental effects of education (Barnett, 1995; Haveman & Wolfe, 1995; UNICEF, 2003). As enrollments in schools continue to rise, some researchers are predicting an increased demand for education as well as a need to serve children who present increasingly diverse needs (Hernandez, 1995; Odiwour, 2000). Developing countries that are faced with the HIV/AIDS pandemic have additional challenges to address. How does Kenya, a country faced with economic, social, and health challenges, educate and care for those “special needs” children who have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic? The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it will provide a brief overview of facts about the spread of HIV/AIDS. Second, it will characterize HIV/AIDS orphans and discuss indigenous initiatives in Kenya to educate and care for those children. Third, the article will describe the Nyumbani Children’s Center, a successful comprehensive model for best practice in responding to the special needs of HIV/AIDS orphans in Kenya.

Early Childhood Care and Education in Kenya

care and Education in Kenya R ecent years have seen a global endeavor to prioritize early childhood care and education as a foundation for later learning and development, as evidenced by the Global Guidelinesfor Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century (Association for Childhood Education International / World Organization for Early Childhood, 1999). Such efforts are a response to a variety of complex social issues and economic trends. These forces, which are referred to here as ”complex family stressors,” include, but are not limited to, societal changes due to industrialization, the increased number of women with young children entering the labor force, families with two working parents, a rise in the number of single parents, and the demise of traditional systems of child care and extended family support systems (Driscoll & Nagel, 2002; Graves, Gargiulo, & Sluder, 1996). This article will provide an overview of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Kenya. Specific emphasis is placed on the historical development of E K E , the administrative organization, the collaboration among various agencies in Kenya, ECCE curriculum, and teachers’ professional training. A relatively young profession in Kenya, ECCE has experienced tremendous growth at all levels. Definitions of early childhood care and education differ around the world (Swiniarski, Breitborde, & Murphy, 1999). The more industrialized nations consider early childhood to be the period from birth through age 8 (Essa, 1999; Wortham, 2000), while developing nations focus on birth through age 6 (Eville-Lo & Mbugua, 2001; UNICEF, 2002). Regardless of such determinations, the increased interest in early childhood education around the world reflects respective nations’ and/or societies’ particular philosophical beliefs about children (Graves et al., 1996). Accordingly, childrenmay be viewed as: growing plants that need nurturance, miniature adults, natural and national resources that need to be nurtured, and/or as future investments critical to the sustenance of a society and its ability to compete in the technological age (Essa, 1999). The belief that early learning begets later learning and success, just like early failure breeds later failure, has been validated in both economic and educational research (Boocock, 1995; Heckman, 1999). According to the World Development Report (Jaycox, 1992), education and economic development are positively correlated, making education intrinsic to development. Therefore, the potential long-term benefits for children’s cognitive and A relatively young

Fostering Culturally Relevant/Responsive Pedagogy and Global Awareness through the Integration of International Service-learning in Courses

Fostering Culturally Relevant/Responsive Pedagogy and Global Awareness through the Integration of International Service-learning in Courses Educators are being asked to respond to the forces of globalization and human interconnectedness that characterize the 21st century. These forces are resulting in changing population demographics and increased migration which is bringing a new complexity to cultural and ethnic diversity within regions, local communities and ultimately in elementary school classrooms. As a response, institutions of higher learning are seeking ways of preparing pre-service teachers who are culturally sensitive and globally aware and who will in turn prepare young children to be world citizens. One way of achieving this goal is to integrate an experiential service-learning component in courses as a way of expanding pre-service teachers perspectives to the world while enhancing their cultural competence, understanding of others different from themselves, commitment to social justice issues, and mastery of course content. This manuscript describes the development of a graduate course at a university in northeast USA, and the subsequent implementation of the course in Kenya with an integrated international service-learning component. Ideas of scholars on multicultural education, global education, culturally relevant pedagogy and service-learning will be used as a way of framing the discussion topic. The positive rewards and some challenges of this course will be discussed along with some concluding remarks.

Teacher Training for Early Childhood Development and Education in Kenya

The training of early childhood development and education (ECDE) teachers in Kenya remains a priority in recognition of the vital role well-trained professionals play in the quality of early childhood experiences for children ages 0+ to 5+. This article provides a detailed overview of the current structure and training of ECDE professionals, including pedagogical strategies and curricular guidelines. Specific attention is given to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technologys intersectoral framework for stakeholders and the holistic, child-centered, multidimensional approach to coordinated early childhood development and education. A cross-section of challenges to training ECDE teachers and recommendations are offered.

Authentic Learning: Intercultural, International, and Intergenerational Experiences in Elementary Classrooms

”Jnmbo, Daktari,“ says one kindergartner. “Hnkunn matnta!,” adds another as the visitor, a university professorr enters the classroom. “Knribu mgeni,” the classroom teacher adds. T his conversation was heard not in Africa, but in a kindergarten classroom in northeast Pennsylvania. Recent education literature underscores the need to prepare teachers who are culturally sensitive and responsive in order to work in the diverse classrooms of the 21st century (Garcia, 1999; Gollnick & Chinn, 1998; Lo & Cantrell, 2003; Swiniarski, Breitborde, & Murphy, 1999; Trawick-Smith, 2003). Changing demographics and increasing immigration are bringing a new complexity to the cultural diversity within regions and local communities. Consequently, educators are being asked to respond to the forces of globalization and human interconnectedness that characterized the latter part of the 20th century-the acceleration of global economic, political, social, technological, and environmental systems that have affected all people on the planet. These forces are significantly altering the role of schools and teachers in preparing young people to become effective ”world” citizens (Prewitt, 2003). Efforts to create learning environments that celebrate, value, and authentically portray diversity in a positive manner are becoming increasingly important. To achieve this goal, collaborative partnerships between universities and schools are taking center stage as educators work to link theory and practice, prepare culturally sensitive teachers, and present exemplary pedagogy in the classroom (Cozza & Mbugua, 2000; Gazda & Asbury, 1998; Johnson et al., 2000; Lo & Cantrell, 2003). Embedded in these efforts is the understanding of young children and their development as it relates to the self and co-existence with others (Gazda & Asbury, 1998; Rogers, 1961). Young children become aware of differences Educators are

Early Childhood Teachers in Slovakia

Slovakia is a relatively new country that was formerly part of Czechoslovakia and the “Eastern Bloc”. After the demise of the “Iron Curtain” in November 1989, Slovakia became a member of the European Union (in 2004). The country went through important political changes with consequences for the field of education; first the reform of higher education in 2005, followed by school reform in 2008. The authors, who are teacher trainers, discuss the history of the education of early childhood education teachers in Slovakia and the process of transforming the system of undergraduate and continued (lifelong) education of teachers during the last decade. The chapter also describes how preschool and primary school teacher training and early childhood education have been transformed within European Union school policy.

Re-negotiating an ethics of care in Kenyan childhoods

Abstract Childhoods in contemporary Kenya are entangled with discourses of care in a post-colonial landscape. Such imaginaries of childhoods through discourses of ‘care’ and ‘charity’ are well established through Western lenses. Another lens that is often enacted is the lens of de-commercialised, un-spoilt, pure and innocent childhoods in the Kenyan landscape. In this study, the authors utilize Nel Nodding’s concept of an ethics of care, and a feminist lens, to explore this binary of Western views through real experiences of childhoods. This paper provides an analysis of childhoods as lived experiences in Kenya, and challenges constructions of children/childhoods as vulnerable, based upon observations and interviews conducted in Kenya in the remote area of Kwale County.

From Montessori to Culturally Relevant Schools Under The Trees in Kenya

Kenya distinguishes itself from other sub-Saharan African countries with its well-established system of early childhood development and education (ECDE). This chapter describes environmental, economic and social-cultural circumstances in Kenya and how these affect ECDE program design, curriculum and preschool activities. The author will provide a brief historical overview of early childhood educational contexts in Kenya and how preschool teachers meet minimum standards of a quality program using Guidelines for Early Childhood Development in Kenya (NACECE (National Center for Early Childhood Education). (2003). Guidelines for early childhood development in Kenya. Nairobi: Author.) with an African approach. Specific focus will be given to the diverse and contrasting program settings for early childhood care and education from the affluent city suburbs to the rural agrarian farms and the arid and semi arid (ASAL) areas of Kenya.