Abedin, Manzoorul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6616-0953 (2019) School leadership development in Kenya – a case study perspective from the non-governmental provision. In: WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) Conference, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar, 20 November 2019, Doha, Qatar. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to evaluate the quality of the current provision for school leadership in Kenya, particularly the extent to which the non-government provision is making an impact on trainee outcomes and the return on school leadership preparation. The study draws from educational leadership, management and administration courses delivered by a large Nairobi-based educational NGO to aspiring and practising educational leaders in Kenya. The NGO employs a method of teaching and mentoring trainee school leaders using resources that are culturally conditioned and establishing an on-the-premise one-to-one coaching and/or mentoring strategy. The case study data comes from in-depth interviews of a number of stakeholders. These include an NGO consultant, two curricula and pedagogic support consultants, one local leadership expert, two module trainers and two trainee school leaders. The interview data is complemented by observational data of a school leadership training session (duration: 4 hours), a follow-up focus group interview of the participants (n=12) and a further focus group of recently-graduated trained leaders. Findings suggest that there are commendable efforts in providing a leadership curriculum that is culturally suitable and consistent with international trends of leadership education. From the trainee and recently-graduated school leaders’ views, it is evident they have a sound knowledge-base about values-led, flexible, resilient and optimistic leadership in the social and political context of Kenya and against a backdrop of national policies which are perceived by them as slow and old-fashioned. There is evidence that trainee/trained leaders felt that there have been efforts in the curriculum to contextualise the course content according to the ground realities of Kenyan city and rural areas. However, participants still felt a need for decolonising the school leadership curriculum and to include a much broader social justice leadership framework within the course content. Interview findings also demonstrate the positive impact of the leadership development course as participants are increasingly confident about school leader’s co-shared goals and collective responsibility and have found the mentorship element of the course to be helpful in installing and sustaining individual and collective efficacy within a school system. There is, however, minimal attention given with regards to creating a sustainable self-evaluation infrastructure within the school and participants underscored the need for this within the Kenyan school leadership context. Overall, the study provides institutes or NGOS offering school leadership development courses important evidence that can inform future policy direction in the context of Kenya and in similar non-OECD countries.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	Education > Change theory and change management Education
Related URLs:	Organisation
Depositing User:	Manzoorul Abedin
Date Deposited:	15 Oct 2020 12:49
Last Modified:	28 Aug 2021 07:14
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/7398

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