Determinants of active participation in learning activities among pre-school children in kikuyu district, Kiambu county, Kenya
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Date
2014
Authors
Kibiru, Mary Njeri
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Abstract
The central problem of this study is that despite the critical role of pre-school education in
holistic development of children, there are factors that inhibit access to participation in learning
activities. Study by the New Jersey Council for young children indicated that participation in
learning activities by most African-American children was moderately low. Another research
from Uganda supported by UNICEF, revealed that interactive teaching and learning was very
little and that few ECD programmes offered minimum cognitive stimulation. Most government
documents in Kenya are silent on key issues such as, terms of service for pre-school teachers,
linkages between various players in ECD and modalities of partnership among others. Problems
facing pre-schools have not been adequately investigated and understood. In light of the above,
the purpose of this study was to carry out a study on pre-schools' children's active participation
in learning activities. The independent variables in the study were the teacher's oral
communication methods used for delivery of learning content, use of learning materials as well
as appropriate curriculum content and the state of the physical learning/play environment. The
theory used was Rogoff's Model of Guided Participation. Similar studies appeared not to have
been carried out in Kikuyu District, Kiambu County and therefore the district was purposively
selected for the study. Pre-schools were randomly sampled. A sample of 10% to 30% was
appropriate for the descriptive study. The study randomly selected a sample size of 22 preschools
which was 30% of the target population. Random sampling was also applied during the
pilot study in which schools from both public and private were included. The data collected was
analyzed using frequency distribution tables and cross-tabulations which were followed by chisquare
confidence and significance level tests. The data was presented in tables, pie charts and
graphs. After the study, determinants of factors that lead to pre-school participation of children in
learning were established, and this ensuing report details the whole study and reflections based
on the findings.
Description
Master of Education in the early childhood department, 80p. August, 2014. LB 1140.2 .K5