Kennedy Buhere: Literature teachers who use guidebooks are intellectually dead
BY OUMAH OTIENOH
When Kennedy Buhere asked me: “Have you ever thought that I can give you some powerful insights into reading to deserve an interview?” I fidgeted a bit as I had known Buhere as a voracious reader and an enthusiast of literature.
I retorted, “I admire your tenacity on matters literature.” We later settled for a sit-down.
He picked me at the main entrance of Jogoo House where he served as the head of communication, State Department of Early Learning and Basic Education.
After a few pleasantries, we sat at his furnished office at the second floor for the literary conversation. He alerted one of the secretaries about our talk in order to have minimum interruption.
“How have your diploma in journalism and masters in communication been instrumental as a regular contributor in the newspapers,” I asked. “The two studies equipped me with the requisite skills to appreciate what news is all about. As a trained journalist, I appreciate topical issues and events that are of interest to the public.”
“How was your training as a journalist in the days of yore,” I probed. “Our teaching was more on ethics that governed journalism. I also learnt a lot of morality in political science during my undergraduate days at the University of Nairobi.”
The 59-year-old candidly talks about his love-affair with philosophy and literature. “I read works of great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle during my first degree. Their writings shaped my outlook of life.”
He displays a bit of ego and continued, “Few have read books on political philosophy including the university professors than me. It’s no surprise that my newspaper articles bend towards ethics and morality.”
I probed him, “As a senior civil servant, how do you strike a balance between work and writing?” He responded, “I do creative writing over the weekend but I read every time I’m not on the mill. Otienoh, writing needs a high level of thinking which is strengthened by reading respectable books. ”
His phone rang in the thick of our conversation. He later told me it was an urgent call. He continued, “Writing is a backbreaking affair more so, if you’re in full-time employment.”
“Your office is literally a mound of books. Where did you pick the unrelenting thirst for books?” I further queried him. “I learnt how to read way back in lower primary school in the 1970s. We had good English course books such as the Safari series.” He added, “I was also taught by good teachers and this played a big role in nurturing my reading culture. My grandma also told us folktales.”
“Talking about reading, how do you nurture it amongst the populace,” I asked. “My children are avid readers as I exposed them to good books at a tender age. By the time they get to Standard Eight, they must have read about 200 books. Proper education in the formative years of learning is essential for every child. I also replay the stories narrated to me by my grandma to them.”
“What about your extended family,” I added. “I’ve influenced my close relatives to adopt reading culture. I’ve also donated books for my local primary and secondary schools.” I attest to this as Buhere has on several occasions donated books to my community library.
I plunged him to the deep-end of competency based curriculum (CBC). “What’s your take on CBC and how will it instill readership amongst the learners?” As a gatekeeper of the Ministry of Education, he’s reluctant to comment but picks on the “softer” part.
“CBC encourages reading for understanding. We can achieve this if we have teachers in our schools that not only read for heuristic purposes, but also encourage learners to read on their own.”
Book-Point is gone. So have, over the years, bookshops along Koinange Street and Moi Avenue. Should this not worry the literary family,” I asked. “This should be a course of great concern.” He laughingly added, “Locusts are eating vegetation and without bookstores, people’s brains are malnourished. The deteriorating literacy in the society is due to misplaced values,” he said.
“You’ve on several instances criticised use of literature guidebooks in our classrooms. Which way is the teaching of literature?” I asked. “My wife was a student at Kaimosi Girls’ High School where her principal then, Mrs. Ruth Otieno discouraged teachers of literature not to carry guide books to class. It’s unspeakable that some teachers teach literature set-books without reading the texts,” Buhere said.
He further added, “In my literature class, we were enforced to master texts such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between and No Longer At Ease by Chinua Achebe long before guidebooks were in place. Teachers who use such materials are intellectually dead.”
I punctuated our 3-hour sit-down with fond memories from one of his teachers. “I can’t forget when I invited you for a literary roundtable with Prof. Chris Wanjala – a few weeks before his demise in 2018 – and you declined. Do you regret it?”
“I regret as I could have learnt more from the professor. Anyway, I admired his humility as a scholar par excellence,” he added.
He further said, “I envied his literary brawls with Prof. Ali Mazrui and his teacher, Prof. Taban lo Liyong’. Wanjala nurtured my formative writings in the 1970s through his newspaper articles. He also guided me to appreciate literature beyond the classroom.”
“What’s your parting shot?” “It’s a big shame that a literature student graduates from the university without devouring Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart or Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not, Child. What was such a person doing in school?” He forlornly queried.
The writer contributes on literature, art and culture in the City Reviewand recently authored a play, Rotten Apples. oumahotienoh2009@yahoo.com