hild wellbeing is critical for the survival of any society. Like adults, children face a myriad of challenges owing to the various socio-cultural and economic dynamics of their society. At times these challenges can lead to behavioral crises—which are experienced the world over. The everyday challenges faced by children need to be well managed otherwise they can escalate into problems capable of jeopardizing learners’ psychosocial wellbeing, academic success, and career aspirations. Education should provide tools for learners to face these challenges, equipping them not only with cognitive tools but also values and life skills that will help them thrive in the modern era.
Ages one (1) to twelve (12) are critical formative years for the nurturing of values and development of skills in an individual. Yet many children currently don’t have support to learn life skills—values and psychosocial competencies—which they need to function as responsible citizens. It is imperative that children start to acquire these values and develop life skills from the earliest stage in their lives.
While parents and the community play the primarily responsibility in nurturing values, education also plays an important role. Thus, education sectors need to build a repertoire of relevant values and skills which should be integrated into the curriculum. This includes capacity building for teachers so they can better interpret and implement critical non-academic skills through a whole of school approach.
Mainstreaming Values and Skills in the Curriculum
Kenya recognizes that values and soft skills are just as important to a country’s socio-economic development as are academic and technical skills. With this in mind, Kenya’s government has made values and life skills development an integral part of the education curriculum. Teaching and learning materials are evaluated to ensure that value and life skills maintain a prominent place in the curriculum. Life skills education equips learners with psychosocial competencies to manage challenges of everyday life. The following diagrams show the values and life skills that are integrated in the curriculum.
Values and life skills are not taught as stand-alone disciplines but are integrated in the formal, non-formal, and informal dimensions of the curriculum thus adopting the whole of school approach. The learning environment is expected to provide learners with experiences and activities that are laden with values and create an environment that is safe, caring, and supportive. Adults have an awesome responsibility to exemplify the values they would like learners to nurture. To a large extent, values and life skills are caught and not taught.
Expected Outcomes of Values and Life Skills Education
The overarching goal of values and life skills education is “to nurture values in learners to become empowered, engaged and ethical citizens for positive and holistic transformation of society.” Nurturing of values and development of life skills will enable the learner to:
- Have a secure sense of personal identity.
- Demonstrate cultural, moral, and religious consciousness.
- Demonstrate empathy and respect for others.
- Demonstrate ethical behavior that fosters responsible citizenship and good governance.
- Apply critical thinking skills towards in finding ethical solutions to challenges in society.
- Demonstrate stewardship of resources for sustainable development.
Learners spend most of their formative years in school. This presents opportunities for the curriculum to mold and reinforce values and life skills upon which their character is formed. Thus, the learning process should both nurture and assess values and life skills throughout the curriculum. Values-based education should be implemented through the Whole-School Approach (WSA), a strategy that recognizes the effectiveness of mobilizing the entire school community and its resources towards improving the wellbeing of the learner. The interrelationship between values, life skills and character formation cannot be separated in the quest of bringing about a holistic development of learners who will desire to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
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Mainstreaming Values and Life Skills Education in Kenya’s Curriculum
October 12, 2022
Like adults, children face challenges from the dynamics of their society. Education should provide tools for learners to face these challenges, equipping them not only with cognitive tools but also values and life skills that will help them thrive in the modern era writes Grace Ngugi Maina.
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hild wellbeing is critical for the survival of any society. Like adults, children face a myriad of challenges owing to the various socio-cultural and economic dynamics of their society. At times these challenges can lead to behavioral crises—which are experienced the world over. The everyday challenges faced by children need to be well managed otherwise they can escalate into problems capable of jeopardizing learners’ psychosocial wellbeing, academic success, and career aspirations. Education should provide tools for learners to face these challenges, equipping them not only with cognitive tools but also values and life skills that will help them thrive in the modern era.
Ages one (1) to twelve (12) are critical formative years for the nurturing of values and development of skills in an individual. Yet many children currently don’t have support to learn life skills—values and psychosocial competencies—which they need to function as responsible citizens. It is imperative that children start to acquire these values and develop life skills from the earliest stage in their lives.
While parents and the community play the primarily responsibility in nurturing values, education also plays an important role. Thus, education sectors need to build a repertoire of relevant values and skills which should be integrated into the curriculum. This includes capacity building for teachers so they can better interpret and implement critical non-academic skills through a whole of school approach.
Mainstreaming Values and Skills in the Curriculum
Kenya recognizes that values and soft skills are just as important to a country’s socio-economic development as are academic and technical skills. With this in mind, Kenya’s government has made values and life skills development an integral part of the education curriculum. Teaching and learning materials are evaluated to ensure that value and life skills maintain a prominent place in the curriculum. Life skills education equips learners with psychosocial competencies to manage challenges of everyday life. The following diagrams show the values and life skills that are integrated in the curriculum.
Values and life skills are not taught as stand-alone disciplines but are integrated in the formal, non-formal, and informal dimensions of the curriculum thus adopting the whole of school approach. The learning environment is expected to provide learners with experiences and activities that are laden with values and create an environment that is safe, caring, and supportive. Adults have an awesome responsibility to exemplify the values they would like learners to nurture. To a large extent, values and life skills are caught and not taught.
Expected Outcomes of Values and Life Skills Education
The overarching goal of values and life skills education is “to nurture values in learners to become empowered, engaged and ethical citizens for positive and holistic transformation of society.” Nurturing of values and development of life skills will enable the learner to:
- Have a secure sense of personal identity.
- Demonstrate cultural, moral, and religious consciousness.
- Demonstrate empathy and respect for others.
- Demonstrate ethical behavior that fosters responsible citizenship and good governance.
- Apply critical thinking skills towards in finding ethical solutions to challenges in society.
- Demonstrate stewardship of resources for sustainable development.
Learners spend most of their formative years in school. This presents opportunities for the curriculum to mold and reinforce values and life skills upon which their character is formed. Thus, the learning process should both nurture and assess values and life skills throughout the curriculum. Values-based education should be implemented through the Whole-School Approach (WSA), a strategy that recognizes the effectiveness of mobilizing the entire school community and its resources towards improving the wellbeing of the learner. The interrelationship between values, life skills and character formation cannot be separated in the quest of bringing about a holistic development of learners who will desire to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
