A Strategic Design Approach to Delivering a Competency-based Art Education in Kenya

Abstract

This project focuses on the newly introduced competency-based curriculum in Kenya rolled out by the government in 2017. There is a rift between what the competency-based curriculum offers and the professional preparation teachers get to enable them deliver on their mandate. Among a host of paradigm shifts, capacity building of teachers on interpretation and implementation of the reformed curriculum is of utmost importance. However, a huge gap exists between the teacher’s preparation and expectation on service delivery. This drawback has not only major implications on the quality of educational provision but also on the teacher’s obligations to the stated policies and regulations. The government and research agencies have confirmed that these drawbacks exist and recommended that training reforms be instituted to raise teacher specialization levels. In the case of art education, it is important to better understand how these training reforms can be instituted given the limited resources and short roll out time. In response to this problem, the objectives of this study are: to determine the challenges that art teachers in training would face in delivering a competency-based art curriculum in public primary schools in Kenya; to establish the anchor tenets for art teacher training in preparation for the competency-based curriculum; and to co-design a strategic approach to delivering art education training in public universities in Kenya. The project adopts a case study approach and working with teachers and curriculum experts to develop a strategic approach to delivering a competency-based art curriculum. The data collection tools used include: interviews, questionnaires, observation and workshop exercises. The analyses methods used are: conversation, thematic and content analyses. The study also sought expert opinions to triangulate the findings from the case study. Ultimately, the findings of the study purposes to contribute to a better understanding of how a competency-based art curriculum can be delivered effectively using limited resources and within a short roll out time.