Researching Transformative Teacher Professional Development for Pluralistic Quality Education in Kenya
Client: Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)
Duration: 2024 - 2026
Geography: Kenya
Solutions: Research
The Foundations for Learning (F4L) programme aimed to create a gender-responsive and pluralistic quality education system in Kenya. F4L equipped students, teachers, school leaders, families, and civil society organisations with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to promote inclusive education.
Oxford MeasurEd led research on continuous teacher professional development as a means to build pluralistic education systems that valued diversity, equity, and inclusion. The study focused on how continuous professional learning motivated teachers to act as agents of social change, fostering equity and inclusion in pre-primary and primary education. Through evidence review and action research conducted in six schools across two counties in Kenya, the project created a well-informed cadre of education actors in Kenya who could advocate for transformative teacher development practices.
The project not only generated actionable insights but also empowered teachers and education leaders in Kenya to reflect on their professional practice and act as agents of social change.
Key Activities:
Conducted an evidence review on transformative teacher development to improve equity and inclusion.
Established and coordinated an Evidence User Steering Committee to co-create research questions and agree on evidence output formats with key education stakeholders.
Implemented action research through workshops and reflective journaling for teachers, enabling them to generate, analyse, and share insights on their roles in promoting social change through education.
Produced a “Where We’ve Come From and Where We Are Going” journal and roadmap, reflecting strategies that teachers found useful, documenting advances in gender-responsive pedagogy, and outlining the research participants’ ambitions for the future.
