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Critical Contextual Reviews and Development of Interpretive Materials with Teachers in Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Abel Barasa Atiti
Abel Barasa Atiti*
Affiliation:
National Museums of Kenya
*
†National Museums of Kenya, Museum Hill Road, PO Box 40658, Nairobi GPO 00100, Kenya. Email: batiti6@yahoo.co.uk
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Abstract

This paper shares findings from a recent study that engaged a group of Kenyan teachers in a review and development of interpretive materials through a participatory action research framework. It focuses on critical contextual reviews of interpretive materials in non-formal organisations and development of similar materials in schools with teachers. Social interactions between teachers and non-formal educators enabled the sharing of ideas, skills and techniques on materials development processes. This provided a basis for developing interpretive materials to support environmental learning within school grounds. A teacher-centred approach to materials development as argued in this paper seeks to respect the needs of schools within their social and historical contexts. It further challenges the conventional top-down approaches in which non-formal educators are creators of materials and teachers are viewed as “technicians” who implement the materials in schools. The paper offers some tentative guidelines on the development of interpretive materials in schools.

Keywords

Materials developmentinterpretationnon-formal educationteacher-centred approachschool grounds
Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 21 , 2005 , pp. 11 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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