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Development Analysis Vol. 10

By: Anna Samba (Kenya/USA)

The Way Forward: Change through critical Education Programs.

A transformation of the education system in Kenya might allow for a hopeful future. In this article I suggest that the education system make reforms that will enable the government to incorporate a critical discussion of issues of ethnicities in the curriculum and in classrooms. Shying away from such serious societal problem would prove fatal; it will only promote ethnic hatred among societies and ethnic wars as experienced in Kenya during the post elections war. I therefore propose that the curriculum and teaching pedagogy be transformed to include a discussion of critical issues in the society. Such a critical pedagogy will help eliminate not only ethnic hatred but also other social evils such as social inequalities and injustices.

One of the proponents of such an education was John Dewey who is also called the father of education. Dewey recommended an education that will confront the traditional notions of knowledge and truth as constant entities and proposed that a democratic citizen should be a reflective thinker and therefore education should adapt to the needs of the students. Educators need to teach students to become reflective thinkers and engage issues of ethnocentricism head on.

Critical pedagogy points to how issues of power in the teaching and learning context impact the way knowledge is produced and passed on, to become non alienating and emancipatory.  Following Dewey’s proposal, it seems imperative that ethnic centered issues should be openly discussed in textbooks and in classrooms so that students understand the core reasons for ethnic hatred. Students need to be empowered with skills to think about ethnicity issues and how they can make change for the better. By reflecting and examining ethnic centered issues with the help of trained teachers students will learn to respect and appreciate one another despite our differences. Students in classrooms will be given time to think about the problems that Kenya faced after elections, investigate the root cause of these problems and discuss the way forward. In this way teachers will have prepared students to be informed citizens, to make wise decisions and engage in problem solving skills something that is lacking in social studies curriculum today. They will learn to need one another and not hate, fight and kill one another. Such a critical pedagogy will then be emancipatory to students. Emancipation from the traditional ways of thinking that some groups of people, ethnicities are superior to others. Thereby a generation of responsible children will have been formed.

However the challenge that remains is the enforcing of critical thinking skills. Such a transformation will fail unless teachers know what it is, why it is important, and how to use it in the classroom. Thus empowering teachers with skill and knowledge of critical pedagogy is necessary.

Of course this proposal will mean a change in various facets of education. One a change in teachers thinking, a reeducation of teachers in ethnically sensitive issues, a reformulating of curriculum especially social studies to deal with the issue of ethnicity and healing of wounds as a result of post election war.

I believe when change begins with the young, there is definitely going to be a long-term solution to problems affecting our countries. We shall be building a better future with more informed citizens who have learned to appreciate one another in their societies.