Enos Kiforo, MEd' 2008
Enos
Kiforo’s association with the Institute for Educational Development,
East Africa began in 2007 when he was admitted to the Master of
Education programme. At that time Enos was a high school teacher in one
of the top public schools in the coastal town of Mombasa, Kenya. Enos
had realized a change was needed – a change which his association with
IED would help bring about.
For 10 years, Enos Kiforo had taught at a top public school in
Mombasa but he was dissatisfied. He had realized that he wished to do
something new and exciting – he wanted to be a student once again. After
much deliberation, in 2007 he enrolled in the master’s programme at the
Institute for Educational Development (IED), East Africa.
Academic life at IED was rigorous but manageable. It was not long
before a redefining of Enos’ definition of education took place and he
realized that teaching was a lot more than just going to class as he had
once believed. “The collaborative discussions that were held on a
regular basis made me realise that each new lecture carried its own
portion of newness and freshness about teaching,” says Enos about his
experiences.
Not only did Enos’ understanding of teaching change but the year and
half at IED gave him a perspective of the importance of cooperative
learning, collaborative teaching, reflective practice and pedagogical
leadership. “When I finally graduated in the summer of 2008, I had a
completely new world view about teaching. At that point, I hoped to
bring about the change in my profession that I had been made to believe
was possible,” he adds.
Now a Professional Development Teacher (PDT), his first step was to
make changes in his own school. He wished to make the shift from the
traditional teacher- centred pedagogy to student – centred learning. “My
students at first were apprehensive. They were not used to cooperative
learning. They were too used to being told what to do rather than being
asked what could be done,” he recalls.
Before making his colleagues question the rationale behind the new
kind of teaching, he gradually began making changes in his own classes.
Seeing the results, his colleagues found that the ‘new way’ was popular
with young learners. This paved the way for his first professional
development session on cooperative learning at his school. And to make
it a real simulation of his courses, he used typical cooperative
learning techniques such as jigsaw puzzles, gallery walk and graffiti.
Building on the hype he had managed to create, Enos managed to
convince his colleagues to visit IED for their annual teachers’ retreat.
The results of his labour were evident in just one year: in 2009, 15
teachers from his school applied for the Master of Education degree
programme at IED.
Meanwhile, Enos was to hold another four workshops in his own school
before being transferred to a neighbouring school. According to him
though his greatest achievement was the implementation of his
information and Communication Technology (ICT) action plan, which he had
drawn up as part of his assignment in one of the ICT classes at
IED.”Both the teachers and learners increasingly use modern technology
in the instruction and learning process respectively,” he says “ICT was
no longer viewed as a discreet subject, but instead as a tool to aid
teaching.”
In fact, Enos would go on to implement his knowledge and ICT skills
beyond the boundaries of his school. Enos was chosen District ICT
Champion in the district reporting to the District Educational Officer,
Enos has successfully helped implement ICT integration in six schools
within the changamwe district. His role includes advising schools on
what ICTs to buy, checking that the equipment bought is within the
government’s specifications and training teachers in these schools on
how to successfully integrate ICTs and monitor implementation. He also
evaluates ICT usage in the participating schools. Up to now, a total of
220 teachers and 5,200 students have benefited directly from Enos
‘efforts.
On the side, Enos has continued to make a difference. In 2008, Enos
helped establish a professional body called the Learning Teachers
Company (LTC) in collaboration with three other colleagues from his MEd
course. “In one of our sessions, we had asked ourselves: ‘What next
after IED? How do we remain relevant?’ The LTC was an answer to these
questions,” he explains.
Interestingly, LTC transcends borders to feature like-minded IED
alumni from both the Karachi and Dar es Salaam campuses. Enos was its
first chairperson. So far, LTC has actively been involved in research on
educational matters such as school improvement, use of ICT in teaching
and learning, teacher-peer mentorship and authentic communication. It
has also mentored teachers on individual levels through class
observation and post-observation conferences.
Despite the passage of half a decade since his graduation, Enos’
association with IED, EA continues. In 2011, in an IED, EA-sponsored
Certificate in Education programme, Eons was the coordinator for the
English language component for secondary school teachers in Mombasa.
Currently, he is a coordinator on another IED, EA sponsored project,
Information and Communication Technology for Enhanced Pedagogy that
targets teachers in Mombasa.
Eons plans to reach out to as many teachers as a possible though his
trainings and sessions. He attributes all his success to IED. “Had I not
gotten a chance to take part in the Master’s programme, I would not be
able to do the kind of things that I have done so far,” he says
conclusively.