Levels of teachers self-effiecacy and use of music activities in pre-schools in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties, Kenya
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Date
2016-09
Authors
Muya, Francis Kihoro
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Despite the fact that pre-school teachers undertake specialized courses to enable
them to use music activities in the course of teaching, there is a lot of variability in
the frequency, variety and purposes to which these activities are employed. The
purpose of this study was to examine the levels of teacher self efficacy and use of
music activities in pre-schools in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties. The study is
grounded on the self efficacy theory by Bandura and complemented by the theory of
multiple intelligences by Gardner. The self efficacy theory focuses on teacher self
beliefs which are important in shaping classroom behavior, while the theory of
multiple intelligences proposes several distinct types of intelligences which include
musical intelligence. The study adopted a sequential mixed methods design for data
collection. It endeavored to examine the levels of TSE among pre-school teachers
and compare the frequency, variety and reasons for use music activities in pre-
schools in Nairobi and Kiambu counties across the levels. The target population was
8211 pre-school teachers in Nairobi and Kiambu counties. The sampling frame was
the 2740 pre-schools in Nairobi and Kiambu counties which were clustered into sub
counties, and stratified random sampling was used to get ten sub counties. From
each sub county, twenty pre-schools were randomly sampled with proportionate
allocation from both public and private pre-schools. From each pre-school, one
teacher was randomly sampled for inclusion in the study. One hundred and ninety-
four pre-school teachers filled a modified Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale
questionnaire which had been piloted on three pre-school teachers not used in the
study. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and then ranked. Two
groups of respondents were identified based on the ranking: the top 25% and the
bottom 25% deemed as those with high TSE and those with low TSE respectively.
Purposive sampling was used to get thirteen teachers for each of the two groups,
who were observed and audio recorded while teaching and later interviewed. The
findings indicate that pre-school teachers in Nairobi and Kiambu counties have high
self-efficacy levels and all employ music activities in varying degrees in their
classrooms. Using Students’t - tests, the study determined that the difference in the
frequency of use of music activities between pre-school teachers with different
levels of TSE was statistically significant while the difference in the variety of music
activities was not statistically significant at 0.05 significance level. The study
unearthed creative and innovative ways of using music activities in class which were
reported qualitatively. There was a lot of similarity in the way teachers with different
levels of TSE used music activities. The reasons for use of music activities were also
similar for teachers across both categories of TSE. The study recommended more
use of music activities in the course of teaching. It is envisaged that the findings
from this study will prove useful in adding variety to the uses of music activities in
pre-schools and may provide additional strategies for instruction at this and other
levels of learning. The findings may inform policy at National Centre for Early
Childhood Education in order to increase the levels of Teacher Self-Efficacy for the
granduands.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements of the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education, Kenyatta University.