educational reform

Since independence in 1963, Kenya has pursued educational reforms intended to align schooling and training with its social, economic, and political development priorities. This study traces the evolution of these reforms from the Ominde Commission of 1964 to the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in 2017 and examines their relationship with national development. A qualitative document review was employed to analyze reform trajectories across primary, secondary, technical and vocational, university, and examination systems. The review also considered policies concerning free primary and secondary education, bursary and scholarship schemes, and gender affirmative action, focusing on their implications for access, equity, and educational quality. The findings indicate that successive reforms have consistently positioned education as a means of promoting national unity, preparing the workforce, and strengthening civic participation. These priorities reflect the role assigned to education in advancing social cohesion, economic productivity, and political development. However, the translation of policy commitments into practice has remained constrained by inadequate funding, limitations in teacher capacity, and insufficient infrastructure. These implementation gaps restrict the extent to which educational reforms can achieve their intended developmental outcomes. The analysis emphasizes the importance of examining policy design alongside the resources and institutional capacity required for implementation. Sustained investment in teacher preparation and professional development, educational infrastructure, and systematic monitoring is necessary to strengthen reform delivery. The study concludes that education can contribute more durably to national development when policy ambitions are supported by consistent investment and implementation capacity. Its historical and policy perspective provides a basis for policymakers and educational stakeholders to assess reform priorities and strengthen connections between educational change and Kenya’s development goals.

Over the past decades, school leadership has become a central element in educational reform, school improvement, and organizational effectiveness across education systems worldwide. Nevertheless, European education systems continue to reflect diverse governance arrangements shaped by national trajectories and institutional legacies. Although school leadership is widely recognized as a key determinant of educational effectiveness, comparatively limited research has examined how mentoring for school leaders is configured within distinct governance contexts. Addressing this gap, this study undertakes an analysis of six leadership trajectories from four European countries selected for their contrasting governance orientations: Portugal and Spain as cases reflecting traditions that tend to be more centralized, and Belgium and the Netherlands as cases characterized by a tendency toward greater decentralization and stronger school-level autonomy. Drawing on a critical examination of legislative and regulatory frameworks, complemented by in-depth interviews with school leaders, the research analyses how institutional configurations shape both access to leadership positions and the design, enactment, and perceived value of mentoring practices. Across the six leadership trajectories analyzed, participants consistently highlighted the importance of structured mentoring as a mechanism for reducing professional isolation, supporting leadership learning, and facilitating sustainable transitions into leadership roles. By integrating governance analysis with leadership development processes, the study advances a governance-sensitive conceptualization of mentoring as a structurally embedded mechanism for professional learning, contributing theoretically and empirically to contemporary debates on educational leadership in Europe.

در دهه‌های گذشته، رهبری مدرسه به عنوان عنصری مرکزی در اصلاحات آموزشی، بهبود مدرسه و اثربخشی سازمانی در سراسر نظام‌های آموزشی جهان مطرح شده است. با این حال، نظام‌های آموزشی اروپایی همچنان بازتاب‌دهنده ترتیبات حکمرانی متنوعی هستند که توسط مسیرهای ملی و میراث‌های نهادی شکل گرفته‌اند. اگرچه رهبری مدرسه به طور گسترده‌ای به عنوان یکی از عوامل کلیدی اثربخشی آموزشی شناخته می‌شود، پژوهش‌های نسبتاً محدودی به بررسی نحوه پیکربندی راهنمایی برای رهبران مدارس در زمینه‌های حکمرانی متفاوت پرداخته‌اند. این مطالعه با هدف پر کردن این خلأ، به تحلیل شش مسیر رهبری از چهار کشور اروپایی منتخب با گرایش‌های حکمرانی متضاد می‌پردازد: پرتغال و اسپانیا به عنوان نمونه‌هایی با سنت‌های متمایل به تمرکزگرایی بیشتر، و بلژیک و هلند به عنوان نمونه‌هایی با گرایش به تمرکززدایی بیشتر و خودمختاری قوی‌تر در سطح مدرسه. با تکیه بر بررسی انتقادی چارچوب‌های قانونی و مقرراتی، و تکمیل آن با مصاحبه‌های عمیق با رهبران مدارس، این پژوهش تحلیل می‌کند که چگونه پیکربندی‌های نهادی هم دسترسی به موقعیت‌های رهبری و هم طراحی، اجرا و ارزش ادراک‌شده راهنمایی را شکل می‌دهند. در میان شش مسیر رهبری مورد تحلیل، شرکت‌کنندگان به طور مکرر بر اهمیت راهنمایی ساختاریافته به عنوان سازوکاری برای کاهش انزوای حرفه‌ای، حمایت از یادگیری رهبری و تسهیل گذار پایدار به نقش‌های رهبری تأکید کردند. این مطالعه با ادغام تحلیل حکمرانی و فرایندهای توسعه رهبری، مفهوم‌پردازی حساس به حکمرانی از راهنمایی را به عنوان سازوکاری ساختاریافته برای یادگیری حرفه‌ای ارائه می‌دهد و به طور نظری و تجربی به مباحث معاصر رهبری آموزشی در اروپا کمک می‌کند.