Establish Dewey’s Concept of Democracy in TVET in Kenya Towards Realizing Sustainable Development. A Pragmatic Approach

Abstract

UNESCO, World Bank and different countries including Kenya have placed education and training as a central tool towards youth employability and realization of the industrialization agenda. Despite the dying industries and increase in demand for employability skill in training, TVET graduates lack employability skills. The study was tasked to establish how Dewey’s concepts of democracy can facilitate TVET in Kenya to realize Sustainable Development. The study sought to answer the following research question: how can Dewey’s concepts of democracy facilitate TVET in Kenya towards realizing Sustainable Development. The study used rational research design that adopted philosophical analysis and synthesis methods Both primary and secondary sources were purposefully sampled. Content analysis was adopted to analyze data. The study found out that the change from 8.4.4 education system to Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) in technical education and training was motivated by Dewey’s principles of democracy of education and thus full implementation of CBET can lead to Sustainable development in Kenya. However, there exists challenges of unqualified trainers, inadequate resources and poor industrial and training institution linkages to breed skills for the world of work. The study recommends adequate funding of TVET institutions to facilitate TVET in Kenya to have adequate resources for trainee empowerment, coordinate collaborations between TVET institutions and industry in skilling for the world of work and, finally, promote critical skills in problematized learning.