| dc.description.abstract | This study analyses the work of Bethwell Allan Ogot towards the advancement of
education in Kenya between 1964 and 2025. It fills a major gap in the history of Kenyan
education by examining Ogot's contributions to both basic and higher education and his
central role in institutionalising African-centred historiography. The four objectives of the
study were to trace the life and intellectual formation of Ogot until 1964; to evaluate his
contribution to basic education; to investigate his contribution to higher education; and to
analyse his contribution to African-centred historiography between 1964 and 2025. The
study was based on the interpretive paradigm, and used historical research method for data
collection, analysis, and presentation. Primary data included oral interviews, records within
the Kenya National Archives, and institutional records at universities, churches, and
schools. Secondary data was from books, journal articles, theses, and other published
documents. Relevant respondents were identified through purposive and snowball
sampling. To make the findings credible, evidence was critically evaluated internally and
externally. Theoretical framework incorporated critical policy historiography and
development theory. Critical policy historiography enabled the study to contextualise
Ogot's educational interventions within broader socio-political and ideological frameworks
and to examine how his leadership and scholarship interacted with, and sometimes
challenged, post-independence policy directions. Development theory emphasised
education as a driver for national development, enabling the study to explain Ogot’s
curriculum reforms, institutional leadership, and intellectual work as contributions to
Kenyan post-colonial development, Africanisation of knowledge, and cultural self
definition. The results showed that Ogot was a central post-independence intellectual
whose impact was felt in the fields of basic education, higher education, and historical
studies. He led the African-centred curriculum reform, contextualised textbook
development, and community-based school programs. In higher education, he facilitated
the Africanisation of personnel, enhanced research and postgraduate education, and
knowledge generation, and was at the forefront of founding and consolidating Maseno
University as well as reforms at the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and Moi
University. What distinguishes his work is that he went beyond writing and research, he
led institutions, influenced education policy, and advocated for African voices in history.
Altogether, these contributions established him as one of the most significant figures in
Kenya’s educational landscape after independence. It contributes to the history of
education and enriches theoretical debates on policy, ideology, and individual agency in
post-colonial educational transformation. The study recommends further research on the
contributions of other African intellectuals to educational development to deepen
comparative understanding of their influence on educational history. | en_US |
