"Some is better than none"

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to place educators at the center of data collection with research questions directed at learning about the micro realities in nongovernment schools in the Mathare Valley slums of Nairobi, Kenya. In the face of a Free Primary Education policy introduced in 2003, children from the slums are attending low-fee private schools in large numbers. Framed within the global to local continuum, this research aimed to describe locally constructed solutions to an excess demand for education. Educators’ voices on the realities in Mathare Valley are the voices needing to be heard in the larger story of Kenyan educational reform. Methodologically, I used observations, 42 questionnaires, and interviews with 20 participants in the field to construct a multi-dimensional case; an account of the realities and needs of educators working in nongovernment schools in the Mathare Valley slums. I used constant comparative analysis of the data to identify four major themes: testing culture, space, money, and hope. Significant common threads woven throughout the data were: context, the role of social relationships, insecurity, the attitude that “some is better than none,” and a habit of pursuing “greener pastures.” Local realities for schools operating in the slums are not generalizable in urban terms. The features of slum communities impact the schools that serve them. This research detailed the context surrounding these schools and presented the perspective of educators to provide further insight into a phenomenon. Additionally, the conclusions reinforce findings of other scholarship in the field of comparative and international education on the importance of contextual factors in educational settings.