Guest blog written by: Frederick Haga, Ezra Mwiti Manyara, Lydia Njoki Muchemi, Rosaline Muraya, John Ochieng, Evelyn Owoko.
The national primary level education outcomes mask disparities based on gender, location and socio-economic factors (National Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2022). Children from households classified as poor, those from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) and urban poor have a low chance of being in primary school and transiting to secondary school. The Net Enrolment Rate in ASAL is at 42 percent compared to other areas that are not ASAL at 96.8 percent. The ASAL areas register very low learning outcomes compared to other areas nationally.
It is in this background that we decided to tackle educational inequalities that result to low learning outcomes in ASAL areas in Kenya. This problem is manifested by children not acquiring basic learning competencies at the appropriate grade compared to children from non-ASAL areas.
When we started the PDIA course, we were eager to know how we could solve such a complex problem that had been bedeviling our education system for so long. Many solutions to the problem have failed and still the ones being tried don’t seem to give a permanent solution. The PDIA journey started with us all looking forward to learning extremely difficult stuff but to our surprise! It was everything we knew, we learnt that we would work with what we knew; homegrown solutions for local problems and we were to learn how to do it ourselves!
The PDIA approach towards addressing complex problems is quite unique in the sense that the focus driving the whole effort is based on the problem, not simply in pursuit for a solution. After the problem has been identified, constructed, deconstructed and fully analyzed, a more holistic scenario of the issue emerges.
We started by learning how to construct a problem where we realized that the manifesting problem is just, but a tip of the iceberg, and we needed to deep-dive and understand how get to the root of the problem. We were also able to deconstruct our problem and by so doing, managed to learn more causes of the problem that we had no hint of before.
We started by identifying six causal problems that contribute to achieving low learning outcomes. These are inadequate qualified teachers in the ASAL schools; insufficient resource allocated to marginalized areas; policies that don’t target the diverse needs of ASAL areas; Cultural practices that affect school participation; Low school attendance and high pupil teacher ratio.
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We came to understand that even the causal problems had other sub causes and there was no single solution to solve the manifesting problem. Each causal problem was deconstructed further to an identifiable problem that could be solved with a unique solution as an experiment to see if it could bring a permanent change. We really wondered where to start as our fishbone was overwhelming with problems that needed to be solved if we were to improve learning outcomes for children on ASAL areas.
We decided to start with the policies that don’t address needs of education in ASAL areas. In attempting to solve this problem we learnt a lot and we came to the realization that there are some things we cannot be able to change overnight. For example, we reviewed education policies on ASAL areas to establish gaps and get an entry point. We learned there was a review being undertaken and there was a draft policy which we could enrich with our new found knowledge if we managed to get the authorizer allow us to add some information. This we felt could refocus the direction of ASAL education priorities and this could solve most the other sub-causes of our problem. We learned authorization can hinder one’s progress and great patience is required. We are still at it as we come to the end of the course.
In addition, we learned that the plight of mobile (literally mobile schools that move with nomadic families as they search for pasture and water for their cattle) schools is not adequately addressed in the policy. We felt we had a chance to influence the inclusion of remaining concerns relating to mobile schools in the implementation guidelines. We also spoke to many people; colleagues, members of the communities affected, authorizers, Teachers Service Commission on positive deviance of teachers who remain in ASAL areas despite the challenges. We are planning to extensively engage with NACONEK the Commission charged with education matters in ASAL areas. We are sure to get somewhere in our iteration and learning.
With the knowledge and skills acquired during the Course, we will no longer look at problems in the same way again. This implies that our view and approach towards problem-solving has forever changed! We have learned the value of taking time to fully appreciate the context of the problem at hand before systematically making an attempt at addressing it.
Further to this, we now appreciate the value of iteration and the lessons that comes with the constant engagements. The importance of deliberately building an effective team, celebrating progress, however minimal it might be, and using the lessons learned from various stakeholders affected by the problem cannot be overemphasized.
At the superficial level, it might look like more time will be required as we address different problems in the education sector, but we now know better – one would rather take time understanding the problem through iteration so that the intervention developed is wholesome and gets buy-in (Acceptance) from the stakeholders.
The role played by our supervisors has become clearer in terms of both their strengths and limitations. We now understand that to get authorization, you may not necessarily have to deal with your direct supervisor, but we can employ different approaches towards obtaining authorization from different individuals and offices. For instance, while our team embarked on a problem that appeared purely education related, with expanded iteration and engagement the role of security organs emerged as a key consideration.
Equally important, we now know, and will be intentional in building teams that can assist in the process of pursuing a problem-driven approach in addressing matters that concern the sector.
We reckon that applying the PDIA approach in our daily duties, especially asking questions that might at first appear irrelevant, may initially not go down well with all our colleagues; however, we will go about it gently so that the connection between asking the Who orWhy questions can be linked to our effort of addressing the complex problem at hand. Towards this end, we may not immediately be overt in our approach, but ease our way into bringing our colleagues to appreciate the PDIA way.
The tools, skills and knowledge acquired are phenomenal, we are better than we were before. We shall continue to solve the problems we have on the fishbone one by one and celebrate this journey. We also have other complex problems in our sector and we shall use the acquired skills to solve them. We have also realized PDIA allows us to learn more about the problem and therefore we shall continue learning as we tackle each problem.
Kenya is in the process of changing the curriculum and a lot of teething problems are emerging. Our acquired skills will be of great importance in supporting our ministry in identifying long lasting solutions to complex problems. We hope to celebrate with the global PDIA fraternity when we achieve higher learning outcomes for children in ASAL areas and nationally as a whole.
There is surely no end to learning, every experience is a learning curve that we need to take in and work on until we get the desired results.
This blog was written by the alumni of the PDIA for Education Systems Online Executive Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. 56 participants from 8 countries successfully completed this 12-week program from September – December 2022. Learn more about this program