Democracy, ethics and social justice: Implications for secondary school leadership in Kenya

Professional Development on Digital Literacy and Transformative Teaching in a Low‐Income Country: A Case Study of Rural Kenya

“…Our case adds evidence of positive perceptions about learner‐centered teaching to Anderson et al’s (2015) and Jwan and Kisaka’s (2017) cases in Kenya. Guthrie (2011) proposed that learner‐centered teaching reforms have failed in many low‐income countries because this teaching style is individualistic and hence not relevant within cultures that value collectivism.…”

“…Focus group conversations were organized by grade level taught and included all PD participants. Using the local community structure of baraza, participants sat in a circle, and each individual was given an opportunity to speak (Jwan & Kisaka, 2017; Naanyu et al, 2011). For the one‐on‐one interviews, six teachers who represented a range of content areas and grade levels within the larger group were interviewed using a semistructured interview protocol focused on digital literacy.…”

“…Previous research has found that Kenyan teachers are cautious about relinquishing control to students but willing to change when they see the benefits. For example, in a multiple‐case study, Jwan and Kisaka (2017) found that educators in two Kenyan schools were willing to embrace distributed power, even though initially one principal felt it would not be appropriate for her school. In an intervention study with 12 teachers, Anderson and colleagues (2015) found a willingness of teachers to embrace learner‐centered teaching after participating in PD in which innovative teaching was modeled.…”

Development and validation of a research instrument for measuring the presence of democratic school leadership characteristics

“…Essentially, DSL focuses on the cultivation of an environment that supports participation, sharing of ideas, honesty, openness, flexibility and compassion. Therefore, school leaders should employ a participatory approach and ethics of social justice through structures that enable the views of students and teachers to be included in the decision-making process (Jwan and Kisaka, 2017). According to Woods (2005), DSL is a leadership type in which the impulse for organizational development comes from a group that is more than just the aggregate of individuals.…”

Auto-ethnographic reflections on an Education Governance, Leadership and Management module

“…My logic is also informed by Shields and Mohan's (2008) idea that educators cannot ignore the multiple forms of social, cultural and economic capital their students bring into their schools and must take steps to provide an education that challenges and overcomes inequities. These researchers' emphasis that "consideration of students' lived experiences will enable teachers to understand students' varied socio-economic backgrounds" (in Jwan & Kisaka, 2017:3) speaks to my own orientation to teaching in South Africa, which I carry with me into my classes. By using problem-based methods, I try to entice students into critical writing and discussions on the implications of various classroom and school governance, management and leadership conventions that elicit democratic citizenship values.…”