In a bid to prepare students for the impending challenges in the rapidly changing world, education systems around the world are reforming to a competency-based curriculum with the objective of providing quality education.
In Kenya, the CBC (2-6-3-3-3) is already in progress gradually replacing the content-based-curriculum that has for long been blamed for producing graduates with inadequate skills that do not meet the demand in the fast-paced job market. Therefore, in the CBC, learners are now being equipped with values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and also trained on competencies essential for future community service.
Some of the competencies being emphasized on the CBC include digital literacy, knowledge creation, application, skill development and dispositions and as the curriculum continues to evolve, more creative Kenyans and educationalists are gradually coming up with other competencies that they deem relevant in this day and age.
Meet Samuel Kamau, a retired primary school teacher based in Kericho County who has introduced an interesting high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) learning programme that engages the creativity of learners to solve puzzles in a gaming format.
Kamau, the founder of the 3D Learning Programme, speaks to Kenya News Agency on the sidelines of the first-ever creative and high IQ integrated talent show at ACK Holy Trinity in Kericho town where primary and secondary school students have gathered to showcase their prowess in indoor games.
“In the 3D learning programme, we engage students from the age of three to 18 in solving puzzles by playing Rubik’s cube, scrabble, abacus and chess which I believe if the government would consider including in the CBC, would be very beneficial to learners,” said Kamau
The educationalist believes that if 3D Learning Programme would be embraced in the schools countrywide as a 21st-century method of learning and gaining essential life skills, learners would easily grasp the 6Cs which are critical thinking, creative thing, communication, collaboration, confidence and character.
He mentions that Chess which is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information is usually played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid that help the players think ahead, not rush to decisions, hence weighing the pros and cons of choices which according to him have consequences.
“Chess is made up of King and Queen, because the game was initially meant for the royal family and for many centuries, the game was not allowed to be played by ordinary people because it would upgrade the thinking capacity of the common people, but at least now, it can be played by anyone anywhere in the world,” remarked Kamau
As for the Rubik’s Cube, Kamau intimates that the game was invented by Ernő Rubik, a professor in Budapest, Hungary whose vision was to help his students understand three-dimensional architecture problems.
Kamau adds that the Rubik’s cube has six different coloured sides, each made up of nine squares and once the faces are jumbled up, players have to twist and twirl them to return each coloured square to its place.
“There are many ways of arranging the squares, and only one of these is the solution. So, it’s a massive challenge to work it out completely on your own. Fortunately, this time round each cube comes with fantastic games and a solution booklet which shows you how to solve the cube and all about the games you can play including speed siding: how fast can you solve one side of your cube,” said Kamau
He reveals that children were likely to learn faster and more effectively through problem-solving and solution-finding techniques in these indoor games which are completely hands-on, unlike classroom blackboard learning.
According to Kamau, the Abacus is an amusing math game designed for children to help them understand the concept of counting, addition, and subtraction by counting the total number of beads and can slide the beads from left to right.
“So the 3D learning programme engages the children constructively by building their intelligence, especially during the school holidays. The games keep children away from too much TV and social media among other destructive behaviours,” added Kamau
The passionate teacher who says his hobby is developing the minds of young people reveals that since 2012 when he began the 3D learning programme, he has been able to train and equip a number of tutors with the knowledge and skills of the high IQ games who now assist him in training primary and secondary school learners within Kericho County and beyond.
“It takes almost a year to train tutors on the 3D learning programme and we deploy our teachers in schools that contract us to train their students. Fig Tree Academy, Kericho Primary, Highlands Primary and Holy Trinity Primary are some of the few schools that have taken our programmes very seriously,” Kamau added
One of Kamau’s tutors is John Ngosho from Nakuru Scrabble Club pointed out the significance of the scrabble game which he said improves the learners’ ability to write good compositions with good grammar and correct spelling.
Ngosho further said that scrabble assists learners to build their confidence in public speaking by using words and vocabulary they have learnt from the game.
