Perspectives on the Teaching Profession in Kenya

Any profession, and by extension the teaching profession is dynamic. It is usually influenced by changes in society which tend to create new demands. This book sets out to shed light on the challenges, implications and the way forward for the teaching profession in Kenya. This is a case study of teacher education and the teaching profession and how people perceive it in Kenya. The brightest students shun teaching in Kenya. According to degree choices among high school leavers, the best students do not even consider teaching as a career. Yet, most parents want their children to have the best education, but they do not want them to be teachers. In the Kenyan situation, many students who take teaching do so as last resort, having failed to make it to other perceived lucrative careers. This book aims at illuminating how high school students make career choices and how this influences their future professions in Kenya. By exploring different socio-cultural, and economic factors that influence different stages of students‘ career choice process, this book hopes to contribute to identifying the most appropriate policies and practices in teacher education in Kenya.