The 4th East African Teacher Education Symposium - Navigating Competency‑Based Curriculum Implementation in East Africa: Insights Across Education Levels

We welcome submissions that investigate teaching, learning, assessment, curriculum design, or institutional practices from any level of the education system. The symposium aims to highlight the diversity of local responses, innovations, and challenges emerging across contexts. Through empirical studies, conceptual reflections, and practice‑based experiences, we seek to deepen understanding of the dynamics shaping CBC implementation in different educational settings.

Themes and Suggested Topics

The thematic areas below indicate the main focus of the symposium; however, proposals addressing other aspects of teacher education and educational development relevant to East African contexts are also strongly encouraged.

Below are five core thematic areas, with subtopics tailored to East African sociocultural, linguistic, infrastructural, and policy contexts, including Uganda‑specific and regional comparative perspectives.

1. CBC in Practice Across Education Levels

• Classroom enactment of CBC in resource‑constrained environments, including rural–urban differences
• Multilingual realities, translanguaging, and the role of language‑of‑instruction policies
• Curriculum adaptation processes in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and South Sudan
• Comparative studies within Uganda or across East African countries
• CBC implementation viewed in relation to global curriculum trends

2. Assessment in CBC Frameworks

• Context‑relevant approaches to assessing competencies, skills, and authentic performance
• Challenges in preparing and moderating school‑based continuous assessments
• Tensions between national examination systems and CBC principles
• Experiences with continuous assessment reforms in East African contexts
• Regional and global comparisons of competency‑based assessment

3. Teaching, Learning, and Pedagogy

• Active learning and skills‑based pedagogies in contexts with large class sizes or limited resources
• Integration of digital tools and mobile technologies where connectivity varies
• Culturally responsive competence‑based pedagogies grounded in local knowledge traditions
• Adaptation of CBC principles in teacher education programmes
• Lessons and comparisons with pedagogical shifts in other CBC‑implementing countries

4. Policy, Leadership, and Institutional Development

• National and regional policy frameworks shaping CBC adoption (e.g., NCDC, UNEB, KICD, REB, TIE)
• Leadership strategies supporting CBC implementation in schools, colleges, and universities
• Institutional capacity development: materials, staffing, funding, partnerships
• Regional comparisons of CBC policy approaches within East Africa
• Global policy learning and transfer related to CBC reforms

5. Professional Learning and Development

• Pre‑service and in‑service professional learning tailored to East African teaching contexts
• Teacher networks, communities of practice, and local/regional professional learning collaborations
• Shifts in teacher identity and professional expectations under CBC
• Professional development innovations shaped by infrastructural constraints
• International collaborations supporting CBC‑oriented teacher learning