MST-Department of Home Economics
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Browsing MST-Department of Home Economics by Author "Karimi, Munene Eva"
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Item A study of the factors that affect the teaching and learning of home science in primary schools in Westlands division, Nairobi(2012-05-09) Karimi, Munene Eva; Kithinji, C. T.Home science is practical subject that is designed to develop knowledge, skills, principles and attitudes that help the learner to survive and relate better to social economic realities of the society in which he/she lives. The focus of Home Science as a subject is on the home, and its useful in promoting the welfare of the family and the home; to help pupils to acquire skills that are useful in order to adapt themselves to changing situations relating to the home and the family; to lay a foundation for further learning and vocational training. This study was conducted in order to show some of the factors that affect the teaching and learning of Home Science and therefore give an indication as to the achievement of the mentioned objectives. The study dealt with issues related to quality of Home Science teaches in primary schools; the size of classes taking Home Science and if teachers manage to pay attention to all the pupils; the content of the Home Science syllabus and if the time allocated is adequate to cover this syllabus; facilities and equipment available for teaching the subject; the commonly used teaching methods and the attitudes of teachers and pupils towards Home science. Finally, the study made an attempt to identify the common problems in the teaching and learning of Home Science that are faced by teachers and pupils. All these issues were looked into in order to identify some of the factors that affect the teaching and learning of Home science. The study was carried out in Westlands Division of Nairobi province, Kenya. The research design was a simple survey. The sample for the study was drawn from ten (10) primary schools that were randomly selected from a population of twenty one (21) primary schools. The subjects of the study included Home science teachers who teach classes five (5), six (6), and seven (7), and pupils from the same classes. The teachers were randomly selected from the randomly selected schools while the pupils were also randomly selected from the mentioned classes. In order to elicit information from the subjects, a questionnaire and an attitude scale were administered to each of the groups. The data collected was analysed and the results presented in a tabular form as frequency distributions, percentages and means. The results were discussed after each item. The findings of the study showed that: (1) The primary Home Science teachers were adequately trained and competent. In spite of their training and competence, their workload was found to be so heavy that it was impossible for them to teach Home Science effectively. (2) Facilitates and equipment for teaching Home Science were inadequate. (3) The Home Science syllabus was too wide to be covered within the time allocated on the time-table. (4) The classes were found to be too large for effective teaching. (1) Time allocated to teaching of Home Science was not adequate especially because the practicals need to be done to reinforce the theory. (5) Teachers mainly used demonstrations and discussions and ignored the other methods of teaching. (6) Teachers and pupils generally showed a positive attitude towards Home Science. The following recommendations were made in connection with these factors: (1) Inservicing of teachers should be done on a regular basis. (2) All teachers, male and female learn Home Science during training and therefore male teachers should be allocated to teach Home Science. (3) Teachers' teaching load should be reduced so that they can have enough time to prepare for practicals and mark pupils' work. (4) Schools should device a way of reducing Home Science classes, so that the teacher can adequately conduct practical lessons. (5) Harambee drives should be encouraged so that schools can put up Home Science rooms and laboratories and equip the same adequately. Lastly, an effort was made to given suggestions for further research topics in this area. The results were discussed after each item. The findings of the study showed that: (1) The primary Home Science teachers were adequately trained and competent. In spite of their training and competence, their workload was found to be so heavy that it was impossible for them to teach Home Science effectively. (2) Facilities and equipment for teaching Home Science were inadequate. (3) The Home Science syllabus was too wide to be covered within the time allocated on the time-table. (4) The classes were found to be too large for effective teaching. (5) Time allocated to teaching of Home Science was not adequate especially because the practicals need to be done to reinforce the theory. (6) Teachers mainly used demonstrations and discussions and ignored the other methods of teaching. (7) Teachers and pupils generally showed a positive attitude towards Home Science. The following recommendations were made in connection with these factors: (1) Inservicing of teachers should be done on a regular basis. (2) All teachers, male and female learn Home Science during training and therefore male teachers should be allocated to teach Home Science. (3) Teachers' teaching load should be reduced so that they can have enough time to prepare for practicals and mark pupils' work. (4) Schools should device a way of reducing Home Science classes, so that the teacher can adequately conduct practical lessons. (5) Harambee drives should be encouraged so that schools can put up Home Science rooms and laboratories and equip the same adequately. Lastly, an effort was made to give suggestions for further research topics in this area.