Meet & Chat with the Founder
Prof. Michael Wainaina, B.Ed., M.A., PhD.
Founder, Intaspordia Schools & Director of Pedagogical Innovation and Institutional Strategy.
Dear Parent,
Our historical circumstances have naturalized the assumption that internationally benchmarked education is a reserve of the so called “international curriculum” and a few selected schools, and is NOT possible in the local national CBC program. This fairly incorrect and cynical assumption has led to two consequences: First, “international” curriculum schools have taken the liberty to charge arbitrarily high school fees, making the “internationally” benchmarked schooling a preserve of a few. Second, and the most insidious one, without international benchmarking, local national curriculum schools have refused to innovate. They are all the same, competing on academics and irrelevant metrics like food and transport, and never on modernization of pedagogy (the art and science of teaching), their core business. They have thus failed to provide a different learner experience for the Kenyan modern child.
Throughout my over 23-years educational career at the University, I have always known that there is nothing special about the so called “International curriculum”. At practice level, we can benchmark our own national curriculum using internationally accepted and established pedagogical best practices, to give our children a schooling experience at par or better than that of the so called international curriculum schools. We can then even export our local curriculum and very confidently call it “International”! I have also always been concerned about the unwillingness and/or inability of our local curriculum schools to innovate. They not only look the same, but they also look like they did when you went to school. This, interestingly, is not a preserve of the local curriculum. Schools all over the world have been unable to keep with the pace of a changing and now digital world, forcing someone to remark that if someone rose from the 1800s into the modern world, the only institution they would readily recognize is the school!
I could have as well stayed at the University and wrote papers about this! But as providence would have it, I have had the unique and humbling privilege of creating an institution to put a modern, internationally benchmarked pedagogical ecosystem in practice. The result is Intaspordia Schools. I have designed the pedagogical ecosystem, based on two ethos modernization and exploration , and anchored them in our practice through Ed-Tech and Play. Intaspordia is a responsive and modern pedagogical ecosystem that avails your child a different, modern schooling experience, available nowhere else within the local national CBE and CBC set-up – and all at very reasonable and affordable fees and flexible payment plans.
When you join the Intaspordia Community you become part of a modern, progressive and revisionist educational community. Your child will access an education that links them to their modern digital word, respects their developmental needs, availing them the setting and resources to thrive in their world.
I have personally committed to playing my part in the transformation of how the modern child learns. My personal mantra is that “If I cannot do school differently, I will not do school at all”. Intaspordia is thus an institutionalized culmination of my academic, scholarly and educational career and my long held quest to change the way the future generations learn. I hope this comes through in your engagement with us and that, in the least, this engagement will teach you something new about education, school and your child. Beyond that, you and your child are welcome to this quest, a quest that will set the pace and new standards for educational practice and innovation in Kenya way into the future.
Karibu!
Sincerely,
Prof. Michael Wainaina, B.Ed., M.A., Ph.D.
Founder, Intaspordia Schools
& Director of Pedagogical Innovation and Institutional Strategy.
Prof's Picks...
In my Your 5 Minutes Teacher vlog, I address matters Education, Parenting, Childhood, Youth and School.
I have selected a few lessons for you, titles that I think are relevant to the conversation on re-thinking how we educate, re-thinking how your parenting should relate to your child’s school and the re-thinking that anchors the revisionist approach behind Intaspordia Schools.
These are my top picks. You can check out the lessons that haven’t made it to my picks on the intaspordia_schools YouTube channel.
When it comes to your child's school, different is better than better!
This lesson gets to the pick because it challenges parents to rethink what truly makes a school right for their child. In a world where most schools offer variations of the same model, choosing different over better unlocks a more meaningful, personalized education. It’s not just about academic performance—it’s about finding a place where your child’s individuality, creativity, and emotional growth are prioritized.
What is your child's school selling?
This makes it to my pick because it shifts the focus from flashy amenities to meaningful educational substance. It encourages you to ask deeper questions about what truly matters in a school—how it teaches, what it values, and how it nurtures a child’s full development. By learning to look beyond appearances and ask the right questions, you are better equipped to choose a school that genuinely supports your child’s growth and potential.
Which way for your child? "Local" or "International" Curriculum?
This makes it to my pick because it demystifies the illusion that one curriculum is inherently superior to another, urging you instead to focus on how a school delivers that curriculum. It challenges you to prioritize how a school recognizes and responds to your child’s individuality rather than being swayed by curriculum branding. Ultimately, it empowers you to seek educational environments that nurture curiosity, creativity, and personal growth—qualities that matter far more than whether a school is “local” or “international.”
In the world of AI, what, how and why should we teach?
This lesson makes it to my pick because it challenges parents, educators, and policymakers to confront a hard truth: our schools are still teaching for a world that no longer exists. While artificial intelligence can now outlearn, outthink, and outperform humans in many traditional skills, our curricula remain stuck in the pre-digital era—ignoring AI entirely. The video argues that continuing with outdated models isn’t just slow; it’s reckless.
You are not taking your child to school for the world you went to school for!
This one makes it to my picks because it challenges you to confront a difficult but urgent truth: the education that once prepared you for success is no longer enough for your children. Today’s world demands a different set of skills—called 21st Century learning and life skills—skills that traditional schooling often fails to nurture. If you don’t actively question whether your child’s school is preparing them for the future, you risk unknowingly setting your child up for irrelevance in a rapidly changing world.
3 must ask questions in your next teacher-parent conference.
I have picked this one because it empowers you to move beyond passive listening in parent-teacher conferences and start asking the kinds of questions that reveal who your child truly is as a learner and as a person. By focusing on learning style, emotional disposition, and natural interests, you gain a richer, more holistic understanding of your child’s development—insights that grades alone can never provide. When used this way, conferences become powerful tools for advocacy, enabling you to actively shape an educational experience that honors your child’s individuality across all subjects and stages.
Is your child the type that the school they are in wants?
I have picked this lesson for you because it reveals how traditional school systems often misinterpret creativity as defiance, pushing imaginative children into molds they were never meant to fit. It invites you to rethink discipline and conformity not as signs of growth, but as possible threats to your child’s originality and confidence. By recognizing this dynamic, you can become a powerful advocate for nurturing your child’s unique strengths rather than allowing them to be subdued by systems that value obedience over innovation.