AFRICAN CONTINENTAL FRAMEWORK OF STANDARDS AND COMPETENCIES: RETHINKING TEACHER COMPETENCY IN KENYA

Nancy Njeri Macharia, PhD.
Secretary/Chief Executive
Teachers Service Commission
Kenya
Email: ceo@tsc.go.ke

ABSTRACT

The paper provides information on global Trends on Professional Teaching Standards and Professional Development of Teachers, Rethinking Teacher Competency in Kenya, how to enhance Teacher Competencies in Kenya, Teacher Competence Framework for teachers in Kenya, Teacher Competency, pursuit of professional standards in standards-based Teacher Professional Development and Teacher Competence and teaching quality. Thinking Teacher Competency in Kenya paper provides the journey being taken in Kenya to professionalize the teaching service. The extent of the spread in the development of professional teaching standards for teachers in different regions in the world is clearly analysed in this paper. Teacher competencies are characterized by two main features. Firstly, they emphasize outcomes: what the student should know and be able to do. The second key characteristic of CBET is relevance. The focus is not on knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but on how that knowledge can be used. Kenya developed Professional Teaching Standards framework based on the results of a survey study on teacher professional development practices in Kenya. To enhance teacher competence, a comprehensive teacher professional development programme was developed based on the seven (7) Kenya Professional Teaching Standards (KePTS). The professional standards clearly provide the public with the information on what teachers must know and be able to do during teaching since as per the adage “you can only give what you have”. The standards therefore provide a tool to the public to focus on accountability, performance and compliance of teachers.