Teacher Caring: An Investigation of an All-Girl Secondary School in Western Kenya A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Sela M. Musundi August 2010 © 2010 Sela M. Musundi. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Teacher Caring: An Investigation of an All-Girl Secondary School in Western Kenya by SELA M. MUSUNDI has been approved for the Department of Educational Studies and the College of Education by Jaylynne N. Hutchinson Associate Professor of Educational Studies Renée A. Middleton Dean, College of Education 3 ABSTRACT MUSUNDI, SELA M., Ph.D., August 2010, Curriculum and Instruction, Cultural Studies Teacher Caring: An Investigation of an All-Girl Secondary School in Western Kenya (228 pp.) Director of Thesis: Jaylynne N. Hutchinson This qualitative case study focused on understanding how teachers and students at a girls-only secondary school in the western Province of Kenya described what they perceived to be caring teacher behavior. Further, the study also examined how students’ perceptions of teachers’ behaviors influenced their attitude towards education. In line with the case study inquiry approach, the present study employed multiple data collection methods including in-depth individual face-to-face interviews, focus groups, participant observation, surveys and document analysis. A total of 36 girls and 10 teachers participated in the study. Girls were interviewed within a focus group setting while teachers were interviewed individually. To analyze the data, a voice-centered feminist relational method of analysis known as the Listening Guide was utilized. The findings of the present study revealed that girls associated caring with teacher academic support, guidance, advice, responsiveness, empathy, understanding, and mothering. Teachers on the other hand, conceptualized caring as academic support, moral guidance, attentive listening, dialogue and humor, othermothering, friendship, attending to “at-risk” learners, and communally raising young responsible people. An important finding of this study is that both teachers and students projected a gendered view of caring. Male teachers viewed caring solely as a professional stance while female teachers 4 viewed caring as both a professional and maternal stance. Similarly, girls assigned the role of academic support to male teachers and the role of nurturance to female teachers. Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Jaylynne N. Hutchinson Associate Professor of Educational Studies 5 DEDICATION For Mwambu, my twin brother, and the love of my life Your passing left our family deeply sorrowful but we have found The strength to carry on—you are fondly remembered. For Marion and Emmanuel, I pray that life will treat you well. 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS That our teaching relationship formed and shaped by love extends beyond our time in the classroom is an affirmation of love’s power. --bell hooks I would like to extend gratitude to my grandparents John and Norah Musundi who have shown me unwavering love and support throughout my doctoral journey. The loss of my twin brother Mwambu in October of 2005 was particularly difficult for me. Without your support and the grace of God, it would have been impossible for me to continue my graduate work. I am truly indebted to you both. Thank you for sharing your wisdom on what it means to care in schools and for showing genuine interest in my work. I wish to thank the entire Musundi family: my parents, my brothers Sean and Sybil, aunts, Joyce, Dorothy, Esther, Joan, and uncles Matanda, Joel, Onesmus, and Biketi and all my cousins. You have all inspired me to aim for the sky and for that I thank you. A special thank you to aunt Dorothy for nursing me to good health after my bout with malaria during fieldwork. I also wish to extend my appreciation to friends who have supported me during my write-up. I thank Dr. Victor Heh for his input and ideas about interpreting my survey results and for providing moral support when the going got tough. I also thank Mumba Mumba for listening to my constant talk about “caring” and for her moral support particularly during my oral defense. I thank Dr. Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant whom I consulted on numerous occasions about the use of the Listening Guide. I am truly 7 apologetic for inundating you with phone calls. Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to respond to my questions. I am grateful to my dissertation committee. I thank Dr. Claudia Hale for her support and encouragement and for helping me understand the link between communicative teacher behavior and caring. I also thank her for taking the time to help with proofreading my final draft. I thank Dr. George Johanson for his insight, encouragement and advice. I also thank Dr. Francis Godwyll for his support and encouragement. Finally, I thank my dissertation chair and advisor, Dr. Jaylynne Hutchinson for her support during this process. It was a difficult and long journey. Thank you for walking side-by-side with me and for being an attentive listener. I have learned a lot from you about what it means to be a caring educator. Thank you for your insight, encouragement, genuineness and good spirit. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Dedication ........................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 6 List of Tables .................................................................................................................... 11 List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................ 13 Background of the Study .......................................................................................... 13 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................... 16 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 18 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................... 18 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................ 19 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................... 20 Organization of the Study ......................................................................................... 23 Chapter Two: Review of The Literature ........................................................................... 25 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 25 History of Formal Education in Kenya ..................................................................... 25 The Colonial Period .............................................................................................25 Education in Independent Kenya .........................................................................31 Constraints of the 8-4-4 System of Education .....................................................38 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................41 Relational Pedagogy ............................................................................................41 Care Theory .........................................................................................................59 Ubuntu: The Indigenous African Way of Caring ................................................72 Application of Theory to the Study .....................................................................75 Chapter Three: Methodology ............................................................................................ 76 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 76 The Research Design ................................................................................................ 76 Research Site .......................................................................................................78 9 Selection of Research Participants ......................................................................80 Methods of Data Collection .................................................................................82 Participant Observation .......................................................................................83 In-depth Interviews ..............................................................................................84 Focus Groups .......................................................................................................85 Documents Analysis ............................................................................................87 The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) ................................................88 Self as Researcher ................................................................................................90