Science Teacher Effectiveness as a Condition for Successful Science Education in Africa: A Focus on Kenya.

Reviews of the state of science education in Africa have often left out South Africa (Allotey, 1996), where modern science and formal science education are generally not considered as new phenomena. This has been made even more apparent in the last major review of research areas in South Africa (Malcolm & Alant, 2004) in which it was concluded that the main issue whose impact on science education needs to be investigated is HIV/AIDS. Granted, HIV/AIDS is indeed a very important issue in education throughout the world including Africa. However , the outcome in the review, may best be considered to have side-stepped the main issue contributing to the current level of science education in Africa, including perhaps parts of the Republic of South Africa. Taking a focus on Kenya, a prototype African country from the sub-Saharan region, discussions are presented with the aims of 1) explaining the current status of science and science education in Africa, and 2) presenting a blue print for successful science education relevant to any country in Africa. It is argued that the issue in effective science education in Kenya and Africa at large need to be about enhancement of science teacher effectiveness. This is possible by encouraging context-based approaches to teaching using revised science curricula at schools and science teacher education institutions as well as changes in general approaches to preparation of teachers for the primary and secondary levels. Areas of research to sustain these are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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