The origins of student disturbances: the Kenyan case

This paper presents a rationale and a methodology for the study of the student disturbances which increasingly seem to recur at all levels of the Kenyan educational system. Occurrences at the school place are not viewed as isolated incidents but rather as social phenomena which may help us to understand the social dynamics of the whole Kenyan society. In this regard, schools are treated as a mirror of the society. The paper first looks at student disturbances as a ‘malaise’ of international proportions in order to show that contemporary youth protest is not a peculiarly Kenyan phenomenon. It then presents a cross-section of 1980 student protests in different institutions of learning so as to highlight some of the issues which seem to lead to school strikes, as student disturbances have come to be dubbed in Kenya. Thereafter, the paper presents a theoretical framework as well as a methodology for the conduct of the study

Socio-economic determinants of repetition and early school withdrawal at the primary level and their implications for educational planning in Kenya

This paper attempts to provide a theoretical framework to explain the causes of the high primary school repetition and dropouts in representative regions of Kenya. Theoretical and methodological weaknesses of previous studies in this area and the related question of educational disparities are reviewed and it is suggested that these educational problems can only be adequately explained within the country's socio-economic context. Accordingly, it is argued that a socio-economic disadvantages the equivalent of an educational disadvantage, which in turn may be productive of poor school performance, repetition, disinterest and even school withdrawal. The paper suggests a methodology for the study to test the overall hypothesis that both the phenomena of repetition and dropouts are positively and consistently related to pupil socio-economic background

Ambiente de investigación educativa en países en desarrollo

Publicado en inglés bajo el título: Educational research environments in the developing world y en francés bajo el título: Contextes de recherche en éducation dans les pays en développemen

Contextes de recherche en éducation dans les pays en développement

Publié en anglais sous le titre: Educational research environments in the developing worl

Educational research environments in the developing world

Attempts to develop a framework for the analysis of a given environment for educational research in order to devise strategies for enhancing national capacity to do such research. Includes references