Influence of Teachers’ Training on Strategies used with Slow Learners in Lower Primary Mathematics Lessons in Mombasa County Kenya

Abstract

Every child possesses full educational potential and that an appropriate education environment is necessary to encourage the child to grow and develop in an optimal manner. Early childhood education is the primary foundation of the entire education. As much as this is the case, slow learners have not keenly been taken into consideration especially when learning mathematics in Majaoni region. Most teachers find it difficult to cope up with these categories of learners because they are not fully trained to do so. The study sought to explore the influence of teachers’ training and teaching strategies used with slow learners in lower primary mathematics. Curriculum developers have not developed a unit for teacher trainees where topics are included to cater for the needs of slow learners. The current study sought to find out methods used by teachers when teaching lower primary mathematics, identify instructional materials used by teachers when teaching slow learners, identify the questions teachers use when teaching the slow learners and find out the approaches teachers employ on remedial teaching to slow learners in Mathematics. The study adapted constructivism theory that emphasized on experiential learning where children construct their own knowledge as a result of learning experiences. Descriptive survey research design was employed to carry out this study. The target population was 25 lower primary schools. Simple random sampling was used to select 9 lower primary schools representing both private and public. The respondents selected were based on their direct interaction with the pupils and the school administration. The study used questionnaires for data collection. Data was analyzed through Pearson’s product moment Correlation. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized to prepare and organize data for analysis. It was therefore concluded that teaching strategies were found to influence teachers’ preferences on teaching slow learners in lower primary mathematics. It was recommended that there is need for school managers and administrators to develop programmes that would sensitize teachers on use of optimal teaching strategies and related practices.