Master student Yuka Furutani conducts Internship at Kenyatta University

I conducted my internship under the supervision of Dr. Francis Likoye Malenya, a Lecturer at the Department of Educational Foundations, Kenyatta University from August 1st to October 20th, 2023. The purpose of the internship was to conduct field research on the association of school-based management and pupils’ learning achievement in Kenyan primary education. The internship included the following two activities; (1) develop a research proposal and prepare for the data collection during the field research, and (2) visit 9 elementary schools , which included interviews with head teachers, deputy head teachers, Board of Management members, and parents, as well as questionnaire surveys with teachers.

Firstly, I delivered a presentation about the research proposal and data collection plans to Dr. Francis Likoye Malenya. Based on his comments, I revised my research plan and conducted a literature review. The comments he gave me were on the concepts and framework of the study, which assisted me in setting the focus of the study. I also reviewed the Kenyan Education Act of 2013, which helped me understand how school-based management committees and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) members are selected and what their functions have . Moreover, I prepared field research tools such as questionnaires, interview guides, and documents on ethical considerations, etc. Dr. Francis Likoye Malenya guided me so that the field research tools were aligned with the Kenyan context.

Furthermore, we visited nine elementary schools in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties. During the field research, we interviewed head teachers, deputy head teachers, Board of Management members, parents, and teachers about school-based management and pupils’ learning achievement. We also conducted questionnaire surveys of teachers regarding the equitable learning environment. The field research helped my deep understanding of what procedures are necessary to conduct the survey, how to ask questions in the interview survey, in addition to that of the research topic.

This internship is an excellent opportunity to deepen my understanding of issues of school-based management and learning achievement in Kenyan primary education. It was also a privileged experience to apply what I learned through the courses at the GSICS, Kobe University to my research. I would like to reflect on what I learned through this internship in my master’s thesis.

Last but not least, I sincerely appreciate Dr. Francis Likoye Malenya, who accepted my internship at Kenyatta University and gave me a lot of support to conduct the research, and Tobitate! Study Abroad Initiative, which supported and funded my travel and stay in Kenya. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Keiichi Ogawa for providing me with this precious internship opportunity, and to all those who cooperated with my research.

Authored by Yuka Furutani (Master’s Student)