Impact on use of school homework as a method of Teaching-learning in Pre-primary schools in Ruiru Division, kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Pre- primary school children need positive early learning experiences to help their intellectual, social and emotional development. This lays the foundation for later school success. As a learning strategy, pre-primary school teachers give school homework to help children practice what they learn in class. Despite many studies carried out on benefits of school homework in primary and secondary school levels, researchers claim that school homework is not beneficial to pre-primary school children. This is because they are already tired after being in school the whole day and they need time to relax and play. The purpose of this study was to establish the impact on use of school homework as a method of teaching-learning in both public and private pre-primary schools. The objectives of the study were to establish the extent to which teachers used school homework as a method of teaching-learning in preprimary schools, to establish whether type of school influenced use of school homework, to fmd out teacher demographics that influenced use of school homework, to find out parents' demand that influenced teachers use of school homework and to establish the teachers' attitude towards school homework as a method of teaching learning in pre-primary schools. The study was carried out in Ruiru Division, Kiambu County. It was guided by John Dewey's (1859 - 1952) Constructivist Theory and employed descriptive survey design. The study population was public and private pre-primary school teachers in Ruiru Division. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 45 pre-primary schools from which 153 teachers were selected for the study. The data was collected through questionnaires which were administered to the teachers. A pilot study was conducted in one public and one private school which were not included in the sample. Test-retest was used to check the reliability and content validity was also ensured. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze data. The study concluded that most teachers from both public and private schools used school homework as a method of teaching-learning. Factors contributing to use of school homework as a method of teaching-learning in preprimary schools was found to include parents' demand and teachers' attitude towards school homework. The study recommended that teachers should ensure they adhere to ECDE guidelines for appropriate teaching-learning methods. Parents need to be sensitized that homework is not the only option for academic progress for their children. It was also recommended that school administrators should collaborate with District Center for Early Childhood Education (DICECE) to sensitize teachers on the impact on use of school homework as a teaching-learning method.