article · African Journal of Empirical Research
Kenya's competency-based curriculum reform provides a strong foundation for Global Citizenship Education by prioritising learner agency, core values, practical competencies, and local problem-solving. However, putting these educational goals into practice is hindered when reforms are not backed by targeted teacher professional development, suitable assessment formats, appropriate learning resources, and context-sensitive pedagogy. To overcome these barriers, Global Citizenship Education should be treated as a cross-curricular competence that combines civic knowledge, moral thinking, critical enquiry, cultural identity, and collaborative community action. Strengthening this learning across Sub-Saharan Africa requires explicit mapping of core citizenship competencies alongside practical mechanisms, including performance-based assessment frameworks, relevant local and international resources, and the use of dedicated school citizenship portfolios to track learner progress.
Preparing young people to tackle modern social, economic, and environmental challenges requires schooling that actively fosters ethical thinking and civic participation. By identifying the operational gaps between curriculum theory and classroom delivery in Kenya, this work guides educators and education authorities seeking to equip learners across the region with the practical skills needed to contribute responsibly to their communities and the wider world.
The insights could inform education authorities, commercial publishers, and edtech providers developing teacher training modules, curriculum resources, and assessment materials. Tools such as school citizenship portfolios and performance-based evaluation rubrics represent early-stage concepts that could be developed into standardised educational products. Because the underlying research is a conceptual literature synthesis, these applications remain at an early programme-design stage rather than being directly market-ready.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is increasingly used to promote responsible participation in a more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world. This article examines how curriculum reform in Kenya can strengthen GCE in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study was anchored in Critical Global Citizenship Education Theory. It applies a conceptual analysis of a purposively delimited and selected contemporary scholarship literature on GCE, competency-based education, values education, and curriculum implementation. Sixty-four records were screened, and eight articles for analysis were selected through a systematic source-identification process. Inclusion was limited to accessible peer-reviewed journal articles directly related to GCE, competency-based curriculum, values education, social studies, curriculum resources, or curriculum implementation. Non-peer-reviewed works, policy reports, books, theses, newspapers, inaccessible texts, duplicates, and unrelated records were excluded. The synthesis shows that Kenyan competency-based curriculum reform offers a strong ground base for GCE by emphasising competencies, values, learner agency, and local problem solving. GCE implementation is, however, undermined when aspirations for the curriculum are not grounded in teacher development, assessment formats, learning resources, and locally appropriate teaching and learning methods. The article proposes that GCE should be applied as a cross-curricular competence comprising civic knowledge, moral thinking, critical enquiry, working together across other disciplines in collaborative learning, cultural identity, and community action. It calls for explicit mapping of GCE competencies, teacher professional development, performance-based assessment, use of locally and globally relevant resources, and a school citizenship portfolio.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.51867/ajernet.7.3.67
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
