The Role of Evidence in Policymaking: The case of the National Curriculum Policy and Curriculum Reform in Kenya

Mugo, Hazel (2022) The Role of Evidence in Policymaking: The case of the National Curriculum Policy and Curriculum Reform in Kenya. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

There is a considerable amount of social science research that has focused on the use of evidence, including research and evaluation studies, in policymaking processes. This thesis seeks to assess the role of evidence use in policymaking while investigating the role of contextual and stakeholder interests in the process. When looking at the role that evidence plays in policymaking, traditional theories of evidence use often fail to account for the role of factors other than evidence in explaining policy change. This thesis addresses this shortcoming by using policy network theory together with traditional theories of evidence use to assess the role of evidence in education policymaking in Kenya. It investigates the factors that influence education policymaking, including international processes; national education policies, politics, and resource exchange; the stakeholders that influence the process and their interests; and the barriers to and enablers of evidence use. Using the development of Kenya’s 2018 National Curriculum Policy (NCP) that has guided curriculum reforms as a case study, the research shows how various factors including politics, stakeholder interests and international organisations influence education policymaking in Kenya, and how the different power dynamics among education stakeholders in the country affect the extent to which they can influence education policy.

Emerging barriers to the use of evidence include a lack of cooperation between government departments, government bias towards certain stakeholders and challenges to accessing research. This study informs theoretical understandings of the influence of evidence in education policymaking in Kenya by introducing evidence as a resource within the wider education policy network. The intention is to help policymakers and education stakeholders to better understand the variables that influence the making of education policy.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	02 Nov 2023 08:55
Last Modified:	02 Nov 2023 08:55
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/93529
DOI:

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