An inquiry into the development of science teaching in primary schools in the western province of Kenya

Abstract

Kenya, one of the countries in the developing areas of the world, received political independence from the United Kingdom in 1963. One of the many problems which received immediate attention in independent Kenya was education. The new rulers of Kenya saw education as one of the most effective instruments for meeting manpower needs created by the withdrawal of British personnel and as an instrument for uniting and building the new nation. Since independence, school curricula have been revised to reflect the historical changes that have taken place and to make education relevant to students in a developing country. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to determine the present status of science instruction in primary schools in the Western Province of Kenya. Procedures An instrument was developed to gather information from primary school science teachers. A pilot study using the instrument was conducted with a select group of elementary school teachers in Houston, Texas. The instrument was also given to another select group of primary school teachers in the Western Province of Kenya in the Summer of 1974. Corrections in the wording of questions were made before the final copy of the instrument was typed. With the help of a research coordinator in the field and five research assistants, the instruments were distributed to randomly selected teachers in five accessible areas in the Western Province of Kenya. The teachers were given two weeks to complete the instruments. At the end of the two-week period the completed instruments were collected by the assistants and given to the coordinator who in turn forwarded them to the investigator in the United States. When all the completed instruments had been received by the investigator in the United States, analysis of the data were undertaken. Of the 200 instruments distributed 113 or 57% were completed and returned. Major Findings The analysis of the data showed that primary school teachers in the Western Province of Kenya gave very high priority to the teaching of science. When the teachers were given 22 school subjects to rank in order of importance, the teachers ranked science instruction in primary schools as third most important subject behind English grammar and mathematics. Also the popularity of science in primary schools in the Western Province of Kenya was demonstrated by the amount of time that was devoted to the teaching of science. A majority of the responding teachers (52 out of 113) indicated that their classes met at least once per day for 45 minutes for instruction in science. This study indicated that the responding teachers were aware of the need to teach the process of science in primary schools. This study revealed a definite improvement in the formal academic preparation of the primary school teachers. Investigators of the development of education in Kenya at the time of attainment of independence (December 12, 1963) had observed that most of the primary school teachers had only finished primary school level before they entered a teachers training college for two years. In this study a majority of the responding teachers (62) indicated they had completed an equivalent of four years of high school; 21 had completed two years of high school while only 13 had completed only primary school level of formal academic preparation. Most teachers felt they needed more science knowledge in order to be more effective in the teaching of science. They indicated that such teaching facilities as a specific room for teaching science, laboratory equipment, and reading materials were needed if the quality of teaching science in primary schools in the Western Province of Kenya were to improve.