Implementing Early Childhood Development and Education Curriculum in Nomadic Pastoralist Communities in Kenya

Abstract

This article is a narrative of the author’s research in early childhood education in Kenya. The author begins by discussing the influence of European colonialists in African early childhood education vision and philosophy. The article argues that the education curriculum in the majority of African schools is likely to have little relevance to the everyday survival needs of children and families. In addition, the majority of teachers may not have the theoretical training to interpret the content of school curriculum to match the local context. The article discusses various examples to illustrate how a curriculum, for example in nomadic pastoralist communities, can be conceptualized to meet the needs of learners. The article concludes with a description of a reading literacy enrichment project using mother tongue stories as reading material.