Teacher-Child Interaction and Pre-Primary School Pupils' Reading Skills Achievement in Wote, Makueni County, Kenya
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Date
2019-11
Authors
Kyalo, Rose Wandia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Education sector in Kenya continues to face quality crisis with little significant changes in
learning outcomes. Research has shown that acquisition of reading skills by children is affected
by how they perceive their teachers. Some pupils have low reading skills not because they are
not taught well, but because of unfavorable learning environment caused by poor teacher-child
interactions. Studies have shown that majority of the children in Kenyan pre-primary schools
cannot read work of their grade level. Therefore, this study purposed to investigate reading levels
of preprimary school pupils, effect of teacher-pupil ratios, teachers' training skills and learner teacher
interactions effect on reading achievements among pre-primary school children in Wote,
Makueni County. The study sought to explore various aspects of teacher-child interaction and
assess their association with reading achievement of children in the region. The study employed
Social Interactions Theory exemplified by Vygotsky. The study employed a descriptive research
design targeting 110 pre-primary schools in Wote. Simple random sampling was used to select
the schools while lurposive sampling design was used to select the pre-primary teachers. The
study sampled 30Yo of the target population which resulted to 33 pre-primary schools in Wote
Sub-county. All the 66 pre-primary teachers in every sampled school were involved in the study.
However, 10% were adopted. in selection of pre-primary children since the number was quite
large for observation. Questionnaires and observation checklist were used to collect data. Data
gathered in this study was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive
statistics were used to present the findings of the study using percentages and frequencies. The
findings revealed that majority of the teachers also disagreed that most of the children in class
one can correctly read 30 English words per minute. In this respect, the majority of teachers
agreed that there was indeed a need for interventions to improve reading skills among the preprimary
schools. Teacher-pupil ratio was found to be high with an increasing enrollment rate
being witnessed yearly. Teachers complained that despite the increase in enrollment levels, the
schools were not increasing the number of teachers. As a result, the majority of teachers (62.9%)
believe that the large number of learners per class negatively affects acquisition of reading skills
among the pre-primary schools. Most of the teachers had diploma while others had been trained
by District Centre for Early Childhood Education with a monitory having advanced their training
to undergraduate and certificate levels. According to the observation schedule, most of the
teachers have undergone p l training with others having ATS3&4. It was established that training
with the Tusome program had a better understanding in impacting knowledge in reading skills as
compared to those who had no training. The majority of teachers highly supervise children while
they are reading. High teacher guided role play was also found to be used by majority of the
teachers as compared to those who use it moderately. Additionally, it was established that letting
learners read in turn was a choice teachers used moderately and highly. The study recommends
that teachers develop and implement a realistic plan to ensure that learners enhance their reading
capabilities over time. Head teachers are recommended to increase the number of teachers for
pre-primary to ensure that enrollment rates do not overly increase the teacher-learner ratio to
address the issue of large classes. The study recommends that head teachers send the teachers to
regular training programs to enhance their knowledge on impacting reading skills
Description
A Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of' Education in the Department of (Early Childhood Studies) in the School of Education Kenyatta University, November, 2019
Keywords
Pre-Primary School, Reading Skills Achievement, Kenya