The Roles of Friendship Formation in Kenyan Primary Schools: Analyzing from Socio-cultural Perspectives

Abstract

Improving the quality of education has been regarded as a key issue in achieving “Education for All (EFA).” However, the current discourse on EFA has a tendency of concentrating on subject knowledge, thus examination scores are widely adopted as an indicator of good quality education. It should be noted that school education has a role beyond acquiring such knowledge. The school also serves as a venue for students to develop relationships among their classmates — to make friends. Nevertheless, a few educational studies in sub-Saharan African countries have focused on non-cognitive roles of primary schooling.

This study aimed at investigating the roles and effects of friendship formation among children in Kenyan primary schools. Key-informant interviews and participant observation were the principal tools utilized in order to grasp the current situation of such phenomena in school. The perceptions on friendship by children and their teachers were extensively explored. The study also analyzed how friendship formation plays a role on students' school life from socio-cultural perspectives including ethnicities and traditional cultural values, as well as exam-oriented competition.

Children view friendship from five perspectives: (1) cooperative work in classroom learning, (2) mutual cooperation outside the classroom, (3) enhancing and sustaining the motivation to learn, (4) family-like relationships, and (5) means of controlling jealousy. On the other hand, teachers argue that friendship has three aspects: (1) traditional practice of mutual collaboration, (2) understanding people of other ethnic backgrounds, and (3) ignorance to moral norms and discipline. Two significant terms, “helpfulness” and “sharing” were recognized as fundamental elements of friendship among school children. With regard to the key roles of friendship formation, they are (1) socialization through interaction among students, and (2) acquisition of necessary support in school life based on empathy. These findings might be of help in further understanding the quality of school education from another viewpoint.