Prof. Samson Okuro Gunga

Staff Designation
Professor of Education
Academic Qualifications

Master of Science (M.Sc.) - Information Systems

University of Sunderland 01/1999 – 09/2001|

  • Computing & Research skills, Application building, Software environments, Systems Development, Networks and Computer Hardware, Object Orientation, Relational Database Systems, Systems Engineering, and Software Construction. 
  • Thesis Title: Incorporating Prototyping Life Cycle (PLC) into the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC): Building a Student Records and Examinations Database for the Faculty of Education of the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Supervisor: Dr. Mark Lejk of the University of Sunderland

 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - Philosophy of Mathematics Education

University of Nairobi 09/1994 – 12/1998|

  • Thesis Title: Philosophy of Mathematics and its Pedagogical Implications
  • Supervisor2: Professor Henry Embeywa of Kenyatta University
  • Supervisor1: Professor Jack Odhiambo of the University of Nairobi

Sponsor: DAAD Scholarship

 

Master of Education (M.Ed.) – Philosophy of Education

Kenyatta University 09/1988 – 06/1993|

  • Philosophy of Mathematics Education
  • Introduction to Research in Education, Advanced Educational Research Methods, Contemporary Themes in History, Philosophy and Sociology of Education, Ethics and Education, Epistemology and Education, Metaphysics and Education, Educational and philosophical thought in Africa, Philosophical Psychology, Logic, Education and Methods of philosophy. 
  • Thesis Title: A philosophical Analysis of the concept of Understanding in Mathematics Education, with specific reference to Logicism.
  • Supervisors: Professor Justus G. Mbae and Professor James N. Mburu of Kenyatta University

Sponsor: Kenyatta University Scholarship

Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) – Mathematics & Education

Kenyatta University College 09/1981 – 06/1985|

  • 2nd Class Honours Upper Division
  • Education: General Psychology and Child Development, Educational Foundations, Curriculum Development, General Methods, Subject Methods, Educational Psychology, Educational Foundations, Educational Administration, Planning and Curriculum Development
  • Mathematics: Calculus 1, Calculus 1, Linear Algebra 1, Vector Analysis,  Classical Mechanics, Probability and Statistics I, Probability and Statistics II,  Ordinary Differential Equations, Advanced Statistics, Sample Surveys, Analytic Mechanics, Theory of Estimation, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Numerical Analysis I, Computer Science I, Methods 1, Abstract Algebra I, Topology I, Partial Differential Equations I, Tests of Hypothesis, Computer Science II, Quality Control and Acceptance Sampling, Design and Analysis of Experiments, Statistical Methods in Economics, Partial Differential Equations II, Non-Parametric Methods
  • Sponsor: Ministry of Education

Nyeri High School-01/1979 – 12/1980|

  • Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education (KACE)
  • Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry

 

Chianda High School-01/1975 – 12/1978|

  • East African Certificate of Education (EACE)
  • English Language, Literature, Christian Religious Education, Geography, Mathematics, Biology, Physical Science.

 

Nyakongo Primary School-01/1968 – 12/1974|

  • Certificate of Primary Education (CPE)

English Language, Mathematics, General Subjects (History, Civics, Geography, Natural Science, Agriculture)

Prof. Gunga has taught and mentored over 26,000 undergraduate students, supervised 13 PhD and over 20 Master’s graduates, authored 4 books, developed African Virtual University (AVU) OER modules, and published 27 refereed journal articles. He has held senior leadership roles including Dean of Faculty of Education (two terms) and Chairman (seven years) at the University of Nairobi.

His work includes leadership in major international projects funded by the World Bank, University of Helsinki, Linköping University, Jesuit Refugee Services, Syspons GmbH, and multiple regional and European agencies. He continues to seek for opportunities to share knowledge and experience in research, consultancy, teaching, supervision, management, administration and community service with government or local and international communities, institutions and organizations.

Membership Bodies
  • January 1994-Current                    Member of Partnership for Development, Kenya
  • January 1996-Current                   Member of Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK)
  • January 2019 -Current           Board member of the Inside Out Learning              (https://www.inside-outlearning.org/iol-team)
Research Interest Areas
  • Philosophy of Education
  • Philosophy of Mathematics Education
  • Ethics, Values & Moral Education
  • African Indigenous Knowledge Systems
  • Digital Pedagogy & E-Learning
  • Competency-Based Education (CBC/CBE)
  • Teacher Education & Teaching Practice
  • Curriculum Foundations & Policy Critique
  • Adult & Community Education
  • Hermeneutics & Interpretive Inquiry
  • Educational Leadership & Governance
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Skills

  • Teacher education teaching-learning and training in the philosophy of education.
  • Curriculum design and development.
  • Distance education teaching-learning and e-learning module writing.
  • Teaching and assessment online.
  • Proposal writing for academic and fundable project research, training and professional development.
  • Supervision of Master's and PhD degree theses/dissertations/projects in education.
  • Leadership and management in education.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS & TRAININGS

Certificate in Achieving Research Coherence, 09/09/2024-01/10/2024|Digiface-East and South African-German Centre of Excellence for Educational Research Methodologies and Management, Online-Merit

 

  • Unit 1: The Focus of the Study- Background, Context, Rationale, Significance, And Critical Research Questions
  • Unit 2: The Gaps to Set Up the Needs for A New Study- Literature Review
  • Unit 3: The Lens of the Study- Theoretical Framework
  • Unit 4: The Approach to Fieldwork- Research Methodology
  • Unit 5: Learning from The Field Descriptive Analysis- Research Findings (Level 1 Descriptive Analysis)
  • Unit 6: Learning from The Field Evaluative Analysis- Research Analysis (Level 2 Evaluative Analysis)
  • Unit 7: Learning from The Field Theoretical Analysis- Research Analysis (Level 3 Theoretical Analysis)
  • Unit 8: Generating A Philosophical Analysis- The Thesis/Dissertation (Philosophical Analysis/Contribution of The Study)
  • Unit 9: Alignment to Achieve Coherence in The Postgraduate Research Project

Advanced Pedagogy & Digital Education

Certificate in Generative AI in Higher Education, July 2024 | Digiface-King's AI in Education Laboratory, Online-Merit 

  • AI and generative AI function 
  • Understanding its potential in higher education
  • Social and ethical considerations
  • Impact on employment and curricula

 

Certificate in The Social Emotional Educator (SEL) - a Primer, 4-25 July 2024| UNESCO MGIEP Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, Online-Merit

  • Module 1: Introduction to Social and Emotional Learning
  • Module 2: Building safe learning spaces
  • Module 3: Cultivating SEL competencies (Part 1)
  • Module 4: Cultivating SEL competencies (Part 2)
  • Module 5: Nurturing healthy relationships for learning
  • Re-measure your Social Emotional Competency
  • Fun Activity on Classroom Scenarios (PRE)
  • Fun Activity on Classroom Scenarios (POST)

 

Certificate in The Digital Educator: A Primer (English), 10-31 May 2024| UNESCO MGIEP Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, Online-Merit

  • Quest 1 - Understand Digital Pedagogy
  • Quest 2 - Design learning experiences
  • Quest 3 - Navigate the Digital Space
  • Quest 4 - Teaching-Learning in Hybrid Settings
  • Quest 5 - Empower using assessments
    • art 1: Rethinking Assessments
    • Part 2: Making Assessments Less Stressful
    • Part 3 - Assessment
    • Post Assessment Survey: The Digital Educator

 

Certificate in Strengthening Post-Graduate Supervision, 01/2023-04/2023|Digiface-East and South African-German Centre of Excellence for Educational Research Methodologies and Management, Online-Merit

 

  • Postgraduate Supervision as Pedagogy
  • Power Relations in Postgraduate Supervision
  • Postgraduate Supervision Styles
  • Models of Postgraduate Supervision
  • Developing Scholarship through Postgraduate Supervision
  • Encouraging postgraduate student writing
  • Giving feedback on postgraduate student work
  • Deepening the understanding of Ethics

 

Certificate in Higher Education (Cert. THE): Teaching and Assessment Online, 10/2005 – 4/2006| University of Dundee-United Kingdom – Merit

 

  • Completed professional development in eLearning: Teaching and Assessment Online using the Blackboard Learning Management System
  • Project Title: Electronic Networks: Knowledge Management Systems
  • Supervisor: Professor Ian Ricketts of the University of Dundee

AI, Digital & Creative Tools Certifications (2024–2025)

Coursive-https://coursiv.io/en AI Certificates:

  • Certificate in Deep Seek AI, 12/04/2025|Coursive: 

Application of advanced AI models; Improving model performance and reasoning capabilities; AI-driven solutions for complex problems; Integration of AI technology with business applications; Advanced search technologies.

  • Certificate in Stable Diffusion, 12/04/2025|Coursive: 

Generative AI principles and image generation techniques; Prompt engineering skills for effective image generation; AI-driven image synthesis and enhancement; diffusion models for artistic outputs.

  • Certificate in Jasper AI, 20/03/2025|Coursive: 

Content creation for marketing, blog posts, articles, and social media; Search Engine Optimization (SEO) content optimization; Task automation for business; Industry-specific applications; Maintaining a uniform tone across content.

  • Certificate in DALL-E AI, 19/03/2025|Coursive: 

AI-driven image generation from textual descriptions; Prompt engineering for creative visuals; Crafting effective textual inputs to guide AI outputs; Style transfer and artistic manipulation; Practical applications in design and content creation.

  • Certificate in MidJourney AI, 18/03/2025|Coursive: 

History and evolution of artistic and visual content; Machine learning models and frameworks; Designing visuals based on textual prompt; Advanced prompt engineering techniques for image generation; Image manipulation, refinement and aesthetic tuning; Creative content generation; AI algorithms for high-quality visual content; Portfolio building and AI-generated art; Visual generation from text prompts.

  • Certificate in ChatGPT AI, 17/03/2025|Coursive: 

Natural language processing; Text manipulation skills; Prompt Engineering fundamentals; Large Language Models (LLMs) and their limitations; content generation and coding; Ethical considerations in AI communications.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS HELD

Professor of Philosophy of Education | University of Nairobi (UON)

Nairobi, Kenya, 4th September 2014-Present

Previous appointment:

  • Associate Professor 04/03/2011-03/09/2014 
  • Senior lecturer 21/08/2007-03/03/2011 
  • Lecturer 07/03/1996-20/08/2007         
  • Assistant Lecturer 12/01/1994-06/03/1996            
  • Tutorial Fellow 28/10/1993-11/01/1994           
  • Graduate Assistant 02/11/1992-27/10/1993

Main Responsibilities for present and previous appointment at UON:

  • Academic and Project Research
    • Community Service
      • Mentorship of staff and students
        • Supervision in leadership and management
      • Supervision of theses and dissertations for both Master and PhD students
      • Curricular design and development/review of teacher education programmes

Achievements:

  • Planned, coordinated, and executed successful teaching practice research projects.
  • Tutored and mentored over 12,000 students in the undergraduate programs to completion.
  • Supervised 20 Master's and 12 PhD research dissertations to completion.
  • Wrote 27 scholarly refereed articles and 4 Books.
  • Wrote teaching-learning modules for African Virtual University
  • Participated and presented papers in 15 conferences and workshops.
  • Successfully delivered of academic service, mentorship and supervision of staff and students
  • Design and development of regulations and syllabuses
  • Vibrant research teams for projects sustained
  • Delivery of the required performance targets
  • Maintenance of conducive research environment and impactful research outputs
  • Internationalization and sustainability of collaborative linkages
  • Connection with education communities and Industry through the teaching practice internship
  • Successful teaching service by staff
  • Successful administration of examinations and release of results

Previous appointment: 

Assistant Teacher - Mathematics | Teachers Service Commission (TSC)

Nairobi, Kenya, 1st July 1985 - 2nd November 1992

Main Responsibilities:

  • Taught Mathematics and participated in extra-curricular activities
  • Coordinator of the teaching of Mathematics

Achievements:

  • Helped students to achieve target grades.
  • Managed challenging behaviour effectively, reducing negative classroom incidents.
  • Increased meaningful class participation by proactively motivating students.
  • Built confidence levels among students through mentorship and empowerment.
  • With my colleagues, produced 180 qualified students for admission to universities.

LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE ROLES

Dean, School of Education | University of Nairobi, 2012-2014; 2019-2021|

 

Main Responsibilities:

 

  • Chaired faculty and academic and management meetings
  • Supervised chairmen of departments in the teaching and supervision of academic programs
  • Implemented Teaching-Learning, assessment, and results processing online.
  • Formed and/or supervised academic and project research teams.
  • Supervised teams for the development of a number of undergraduate and postgraduate curricula.
  • Presided over a number of workshops and conferences on departmental and faculty agenda.
  • Established linkage with local and foreign universities through memoranda of understanding.
  • Presided over a number of outreach activities during community service

 

Main Achievements:

  • Successful delivery of academic service, mentorship and supervision of staff and students
  • Delivery of the required performance targets
  • Maintenance of conducive research environment and impactful research outputs
  • Internationalization and sustainability of collaborative linkages
  • Connection with education communities and Industry through the teaching practice internship

 

Chairman, Department of Educational Foundations | University of Nairobi, 2005-2012

Main Responsibilities:

  • Presided over meetings that allocated teaching assignments to the faculty.
  • Advised the Dean on matters relating to teaching-learning resources, students' academic progress, and relevance of syllabi.
  • Supervised faculty’s teaching, setting of examinations, administration of examinations, and release of results.
  • Presided over the formation and supervision of departmental research teams.
  • Mobilized faculty to review curricula.

Formed and/or supervised academic and project research teams.

Main Achievements:

  • Successful teaching service by faculty
  • Design and development of regulations and syllabuses
  • Successful administration of examinations and release of results
  • Vibrant research teams for projects sustained
  • Connection with education communities and Industry through the teaching practice internship

TEACHING AREAS

Undergraduate Courses

  • Philosophy of Education
  • Philosophy of Teaching
  • African Philosophy
  • Education and Values
  • Foundations of Learning
  • Foundations of Adult & Community Education
  • Distance Education & Open Learning

Postgraduate Courses

  • Modern & Contemporary Philosophies of Education
  • Knowledge in Education                                                             
  • Values in Education                                                                   
  • Fundamental Principles of Political Education                               
  • Development of African Philosophy of Education              
  • Theory and Practice of holistic Education                         
  • Philosophy of Christian Education                                                           
  • Philosophy of Islamic Education  
  • Statistics for Educational Research                                             
  • Research Methods in Education                                                  
  • Philosophical Foundations of Education
  • Foundations of Learning, Guidance and Counselling
  • Philosophy of Adult & Continuing Education
  • Principles of Curriculum Design and Teaching of Adult and Continuing Education
  • Methods of Philosophical Research
  • Philosophy of Adult Education

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

  • CBC/CBE national education outreach
  • Public lectures on AI, ethics, values, philosophy
  • Cultural transformation research (Luo widowhood & remarriage)
  • Teaching practice partnerships with schools nationwide
  • Faith-based and community leadership engagements

DIGITAL COMPETENCIES

  • Online Teaching & E-Learning (expert)
  • SPSS, Microsoft Office Suite
  • LMS platforms (Moodle, Blackboard)
  • Generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Jasper, DALL·E, MidJourney, etc.)
  • Digital assessment and examinations processing
Samson Gunga CV - 27th December 2025.docx
samsongunga@uonbi.ac.ke
gungasamson@gmail.com

Samson O. Gunga
Department of Educational Foundations,

Faculty of Education,
University of Nairobi,
P.O. Box 30197–00100, Nairobi.
Email: samsongunga@uonbi.ac.ke 
Phone: +254722610869

+254789724198

Faculty
Education
Dept
Educational Foundations