Strengthening Teacher Capacity for Effective and Sustainable Implementation of Peace Education Programs in Kenya- A Policy Brief

Abstract

The quest for sustainable peace and national unity continues to be one of the most pressing and persistent problems of the Kenyan state, the country which has had its social core and the state-building process repeatedly destabilized by ethnic conflicts, political violence, and societal clash (1). As a direct response to the devastating post-election violence of 2007-2008, the government strategically chose to use the education sector as one of the main ecosystem for social transformation, enshrined in the landmark Education Sector Policy on Peace Education of 2014. This policy framework, which is in line with the social pillar of Kenya Vision 2030, presents a clear and ambitious vision to use the formative space of the school to grow a new generation of citizens who will have the values and critical thinking skills, emotional competencies that will help them to be tolerant, responsible citizens, and find ways of resolving conflicts without violence (2, 3). To fulfill this vision, the programming strategy is rationally organized around a twin-pronged approach, consisting of systematic integration of the concept of peace-building and its skills throughout the formal curriculum, especially in the architecture of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), and active encouragement of co-curricular engagement, in particular, Amani Clubs launched by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) (4). Nevertheless, even following this consistent policy focus and ten years of programmatic effort there remains a deep and troubling disjuncture between the lofty aspirations identified by policymakers in Nairobi and the daily experience in most Kenya classrooms. Policy transformation into practice that is meaningful and eventually leads to quantifiable effect on student attitudes and community cohesion has not been achieved