Kenya Seminar Encourages Character and Creativity in Post Pandemic Classroom

Eric Olsen
July 21, 2021

GPF Kenya Partners with Inspired Insights Africa Limited to Host Virtual Educator Workshop

Education transformation is a gradual but continuous process being undertaken by different countries in the world to align their curriculum to the workplace demands of the day. Curriculum development is critical in providing quality education since what is taught in class should remain relevant and helpful in the real life of the learners and coherent with real life realities.

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More than 40 teachers explored ways to integrate Character and Creativity into the post-pandemic classroom.

Learners and educators ought to be informed of new innovative cultures in education, trending technological advancements and the need to incorporate creativity in the syllabus to ensure “all-round” students.

Learning has often been perceived to be for students only, without a priority for training and skills for teachers and educators to update them on new ideas, innovations, and creative arts which can better deliver the knowledge and skills being taught to learners.

The demand for training of teachers and educators remains a significant and essential mandate which should be done by the government, NGOs, education stakeholders and STEM organizations jointly or selectively in order to achieve substantive education.

Based on this desire to rethink, re-align and modernize education, the Global Peace Foundation Kenya in conjunction with Inspired Insights Africa Limited organized and conducted a virtual workshop for teachers and educators in Kenya in May 2021. The training program, “Nurturing Character and Creativity: Creating Transformative School Cultures Post Pandemic,” brought together over 40 teachers from both public and private learning institutions to share notes on how character and creativity can be best instilled in classwork for a meaningful and objective learning process.

“In a classroom there are mixed performing levels and children tend to overshadow each other. Building inner strength will create a better a learning environment.”
–Manraj Pallan, Director of Laiser Hill Academy

The training also offered excellent insights on how educators can promote personalized learning among students based on their strengths and talents in life. The workshop adressed two major topics: The Need for Developing Character and Creativity, presented by Dr. Tony Devine, Vice President Education, Global Peace Foundation; and The Emerging Future Role of Teachers in Developing Character and Creativity, presented by Mrs. Betty Ochieng, Life and Executive Coach and CEO of Inspired Insights Africa Limited.

The two presenters explained how teachers can be key stakeholders in molding learners to identify their education strengths, either academic based or natural talent, and systematically prioritize what they can do best in future. Personalized learning, they said, would enable each learner to be treated differently according to their strengths, but given equal opportunity like others.

Other representatives from supportive organizations such as Oracle Academy and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, represented by Ms. Bekere Amassoma, and Mr. John Kimotho respectively, stressed the significance of cultivating creativity in learning institutions to achieve optimum output. Mr. Stephen Ebichondo, Azure Specialist Microsoft in Education, encouraged teamwork to enhance classroom experience, especially to tap it to the talents that students have.

Participants expressed appreciation for the workshop. “In a classroom there are mixed performing levels and children tend to overshadow each other,” said Manraj Pallan, Director of Laiser Hill Academy. “Building inner strength as Madam Betty said, will create a better a learning environment.”

Another participant, Carolyn Rotich, a Teacher/Language and Humanities at Moi Tea Girls Secondary School, said the presentations would help in facilitating academic counselling, while suggesting another topic: “building self-esteem in students with teachers as models, to strike a balance from top to average achievers.”

Learn more about GPF projects in Kenya.

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