Date: 08/09/2022
Duration: 14:00-15:00 (GMT)
Girls in STEM: a case study of a secondary school in Nairobi
In this webinar, Commonwealth Alumnus Margaret Kamau will discuss the importance of fostering innovative teaching and learning approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for marginalised girls in schools in Nairobi, Kenya. Margaret will highlight the challenges faced by secondary school girls leading to perennial underperformance in STEM subjects and the low intake for university courses in STEM.
This webinar will mark International Literacy Day 2022 on 8 September 2022. This year, the theme will be literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, with a focus on the role of educators and changing teaching practices. Margaret will discuss her experiences of adapting a multi-activity approach at a girls secondary school in Nairobi and how this helped in addressing STEM learning gaps among learners who were already struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The multi-activity approach includes school-based science fairs, mentorship, STEM career talks for parents, teacher training, and community engagement. Margaret will discuss plans to scale this approach to other schools and how the learnings can be used to inform STEM policy reforms.
Part of this approach was delivered through the CSC’s Alumni Community Fund (ACEF) to promote girls’ education. You can read more about Margaret’s ACEF activity on the CSC website.
This webinar will address the CSC development theme, Access, inclusion and opportunity.
The webinar will last for approximately one hour, including a Q&A session.
The CSC’s Development in Action webinar series provides an opportunity for Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni to present on their work and contribution to development across a range of contemporary global challenges and provide insight into ongoing research and action.
Open to all Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni, the monthly webinars will address one of the CSC’s six development themes and provide an opportunity for attendees to engage in real-time Q&A discussion on the topic presented.
You can watch previous webinars on the CSC’s YouTube channel.
Margaret is currently the Education Technical Lead at an FCDO-funded Girls Education Challenge (GEC) project with Education Development Trust in Kenya. She has over 20 years of experience in the education sector as a project designer and manager.
Margaret is a 2014 Commonwealth Distance Learner Scholar from Kenya. She completed an MA in Education and International Development at the UCL Institute of Education.
