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Principals in Kenyan schools are required to adopt democratic school leadership practises as part of the government policy. Adopting an interpretive case study, this paper set out to explore the application of democracy, ethics and social justice in secondary schools in Kenya. The study was in two phases. Phase one: twelve school principals were interviewed to explore their perspectives on democratic school leadership and establish the rationale for selecting two case schools. Phase two: an in-depth case study was conducted in the two schools. Interviews, focus group discussions, observation and informal conversations were used to generate data. The findings suggest that the principals, teachers and students each perceive and apply democratic school leadership differently based on individual as well as the school socio-cultural context. These contrasting views provide grounds for further discourse on the phenomenon. The paper recommends formal training for principals through in-service courses. Inclusion of democratic school leadership principles in teacher training programmes and an inculcation of democratic school leadership practices/values in the school curriculum for students to create a shared vision and understanding of these concepts for the success of the school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the use of video and photo elicitation in a research study undertaken to understand the way in which preschool teachers perceive and construct their provision of children's educational experiences. We explore the value of visually elicited interviews based on video footage and photographs captured during teaching and learning in four classrooms in two preschool settings in Kenya. Through visually elicited interviews, both the teachers and the researcher constructed meaningful conversations (interviews) to explore preschool teachers' practical experiences and their beliefs, understanding and interpretation of developmentally appropriate educational practices. This paper targets the possible value of and contribution made by visual data generation procedures, as well as their inherent challenges, in order to add to the body of knowledge on visually elicited interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the mixed-methods evaluation findings of the ukuFUNda Virtual School (UVS) with evaluations of three different mobile learning (m-learning) programmes in Africa: the information and communication technologies for rural education (ICT4RED); the Kenya Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) study and the Nokia Mobile Mathematics (MoMath) evaluation. The comparison applies a conceptual model based on m-learning affordances and configurations (Strigel & Pouezevara, 2012), as well as on uptake, use, and responses by program beneficiaries; and on stakeholder learning. The findings show varied successes across all four programs and highlight important lessons for stakeholders with particular reference to scaling up of m-learning interventions in an African context.

In the study reported on here we sought to identify teaching and general stressors, and how they contributed to work-familyconflict among female teachers in urban public schools in Kenya. A total of 375 female teachers with at least their youngest child not yet in primary school completed a survey of closed and open-ended questions. Role theory, stressors, and workfamily conflict literature informed the study. The data were analysed using hierarchical regression and content analysis. Findings yielded some contradictory results suggesting that, while the work-family conflict is a universal construct, culture and socioeconomic factors likely influence the nature and the impact of stressors. That is, these teachers identified stressors not mentioned in previous Western literature and not captured by quantitative measures. For instance, the greatest stressor cited was domestic workers not being reliable. The study also indicated that disruptions in the normal flow of work was regarded as a stressor. In addition, a sick child, rather than its age, was regarded as a stressor. Theoretical and practical contributions of the study are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]