‘From worse to better’: how Kenyan student-teachers can use participatory action research in health education

Abstract

This study focuses on Kenyan student-teachers’ professional learning and development in health education in a participatory action research project conducted in one Kenyan teacher training college. The aim was to explore the potential of participatory action research to instigate change in student-teachers’ health education practices in a pedagogical context often described as authoritarian, teacher dominated and science oriented. Twenty-nine Kenyan second-year student-teachers envisioned and experimented with health education practices in primary schools as part of a participatory action research project, drawing on emancipatory values. Experiences from the participatory action research are discussed, drawing on critical theory to understand emerging themes such as reflexivity, development of multiplicity in health education and empowerment. The paper concludes that participatory action research in Kenyan teacher education potentially offers a site for educational development, in spite of the somewhat disempowering setting of teacher training colleges.