Browsing by Author "Simiyu, Irene."

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The changing roles of school Managers: Where the rubber meets the road
(2015-08) Wanyonyi, Nobert Wanjala.; Simiyu, Irene.
School Managers in Kenya are a group faced with an array of emerging and challenging roles in a rapidly changing society. This is coupled with increasingly great expectation by education stakeholders that school managers and the human resource they lead will ensure retention and successful completion of school by every Kenyan child. However, it is the contention of this paper that school managers may not meet the cut if they are not cognizant of their changing roles and the new skills they need to develop. This paper sets out to examine these challenging roles and the accompanying skills required. The argument is premised on the view that one can best handle challenges they are clearly aware of. The authors hope that the ideas raised will inform educational stakeholders and especially, school managers and educational policy formulators.
Teachers professional development sustainable and generative modes
(2011) Simiyu, Irene.
The issue of professional development for teachers has in the recent past drawn substantive attention from education stakeholders, the world over. This is with particular consideration of the relationship that exists between teacher quality and improved student learning outcomes. While effective professional development opportunities can enhance teachers’ knowledge and enable them to develop new instructional practices, literature and studies have revealed ineffectiveness in some of the modes. Of particular concern is firstly, the inability of some modes to support continual improvement of practice. This is as a result of several issues that are connected to the way the opportunities are designed and the level of involvement of the teacher who is the target of the professional development opportunity. Secondly is how feasible and practical is the opportunity given that follow-up is minimal or even none at all. Arguably, the organizers of such opportunities do not seem to recognize the various ways in which adults learn, a factor that may lead to the ‘new’ knowledge taking root or being ignored. However, this situation need not be so, as demonstrated by literature and studies. Professional development opportunities should include inquiry-based and selfdirected activities, coupled with a commitment to working with colleagues in the process of designing learning and assessing procedures. To argue out this thesis, this article will briefly examine current professional development opportunities in the East African context and then propose modes that are sustainable and generative. The article ends with a discussion of the implications for teachers, schools and Ministry of Education officials.
Teaching practice as internship
(2016-11) Wepukhulu, Risper.; Simiyu, Irene.
Learning to teach is a multi-dimensional process that extends beyond the three main components of preservice teacher preparation that include: imparting subject content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and the practical aspect that introduces school-based experiences. While these three components are important aspects of preparation as offered by universities and teacher training colleges, the practical component herein referred to as the Practicum or teaching practice holds a very special place basically because it provides an opportunity for theory to be turned into practice. For the student-teacher, practicum is an opportunity to understand the dynamics of classroom teaching, while for the faculty, it is an opportunity to observe how their students apply knowledge acquired in the lecture halls. On the other hand, research and literature in the field of teacher education agree that if practicum is not well designed, it can lead to limited experiences for the student-teacher that may not prepare them well for the profession while also leading to high attrition in the profession. This chapter examines the aspect of teaching practice from literature and studies and then engages in an analysis of models of teaching practice used in Kenyan institutions of higher learning. The chapter then proposes a re-conceptualization of practicum to internship that will involve an extended period placed in the final year of the teacher training program; mentoring of student-teachers by practicing teachers and, the establishment of partnerships among schools and institutions that train teachers leading to an internship-like program.