TEACHER FACTORS INFLUENCING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TUSOME PROGRAM IN LOWER PRIMARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN MVITA SUB COUNTY

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1 International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology Vol. 5 No. 8; September 2018 TEACHER FACTORS INFLUENCING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TUSOME PROGRAM IN LOWER PRIMARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN MVITA SUB COUNTY MARY NGUYA NYALE 1 1 Department of Education, School of Arts and Social Studies, Kenya Methodist University, Kenya ABSTRACT Quality education plays a major role in promoting economic growth, enhancing democracy and good governance. Though access to education has improved worldwide, an estimated 250 million children of primary school age lacking basic reading, writing and numeracy skills whether in school or no A report by Uwezo East Africa in 2011 survey in Kenya reveals that 4 % of class 8 pupils could not read a class 2 story book. The study objectives were; to establish the effect of teacher attitudes, teacher preparedness, the effect of teacher qualification and also teaching styles on the implementation of early literacy in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub County Mombasa Kenya. The researcher used Capital Theory of School Effectiveness and Improvement, Constructivists Theory and Social Cognition Learning Theory. The target population in this research will be 124 lower primary teachers in all Twenty five (25) public primary schools in Mvita sub-county. The lower primary teachers were the respondents for the study because they are perfect choice to answer the questions that arose from the study objectives due to the information they hold on the implementation of Tusome program. The study used census method where by all the 124 respondents were used for the study. Census was used because the number is manageable within the constraints of the study. The study used both open ended and closed-ended questions. Open ended questioners was used so as to permits an unlimited range of answers and it gave the respondent the chance to reveal how they think about the question The closed-ended questions were used to limit the respondents answers on specific subject matter for easier analysis. A pilot questionnaire was subjected to a sample of 12 (10% * 124) lower primary teachers from public primary schools in Kisauni Sub-county that were not included in the study. Validity of data collected was made through collecting data from the relevant respondents of the public primary schools in the study with an introductory letter. The data collected were compiled and analyzed by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 for the purpose of validity and reliability. The data was organized and edited for accuracy, completeness and uniformity. The results were presented by use of frequencies, percentages, tables, bar-graphs and pie-charts. The findings of this study may assist teachers and head teachers in identifying areas which need improvement in the implementation of Tusome program. The findings will also benefit learners as service delivery will be improved. This study will provide a source of knowledge to the curriculum developers and implementers on teacher factors influencing implementation of new education curriculum. The study will also be of a great importance to other scholars who will carry out 1

2 ISSN: related studies hence use information in this study as an empirical review in their studies. The study concluded that Teacher attitude, Teacher preparedness, Teacher qualifications and Teaching styles factors influence the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County. 1. Introduction Education is an important catalyst in any country s social, economic and political development. Globally it is recognized as a basic human right, thus a form of investment that contributes to the development of both an individual and society. Basic education strengthens individuals capacity, families and communities to access health, higher education, economic and cultural opportunities and services (UNESCO, 2007). All children have the human right to benefit from an education that will meet their basic learning needs in the best and fullest sense of the term, an education that includes; learning to know, to do, to live together and to be (UNESCO, 2012). Quality education is the product of the struggle during the pedagogical interaction between the teacher and the student. Making quality education accessible to all children calls for re-examination of practices that exist within the policy context, nutritional examination conduct, teacher training, curriculum development and implementation procedures, the teaching learning process as well as quality assurance (Leonardo, 2014) According to the Movement of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (2010), quality education plays a major role in promoting economic growth, enhancing democracy and good governance. The Government of Kenya, like many in sub-saharan Africa, introduced free primary education (FPE) in 2003 with the aim of providing universal access to education to all children. The enrolment of children in primary schools has greatly been enhanced by non-payment of schools fees and element of mandatory primary education (Somerset, 2009). The influx of children in primary schools is increasingly compromising the quality of education in public primary schools in Kenya. Teachers had to rapidly implement this program in Kenya, giving the teachers very little time to internalize the policy and proceed with its implementation. As a result of the FPE policy, children who were out of school were enrolled in school (Ngware, Oketch, Ezeh & Mudege, 2009). After the Kenyan government launched free primary education, the net enrollment rates rising from 62% in 2002 to 85% in 2012 (World Bank, 2017). The quality of education did not keep pace; a 2012 study by Uwezo found that only 3 in 10 grade 3 students were able to do grade 2 level work (Uwezo, 2012). In response to the low learning levels, the ministry, with financial support from USAID and the United Kingdom Department for International Development, designed and implemented the multiarmed cluster randomized controlled trial of the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative ( ). Results from PRIMR indicated that well designed teachers guides and student workbooks, intensive teacher training, and targeted ongoing teacher support through coaches led to significant gains in student performance (Piper, Ralaingita, Akach, & King, 2016; Piper, Zuilkowski, & Mugenda, 2014). Building on the strength and success of PRIMR as well as the devolution of Early 2

3 International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology Vol. 5 No. 8; September 2018 Childhood Development (ECD) to county governments in Kenya in 2013, the ministry initiated two projects to address the problem of quality in the classrooms. Both the Tusome ( Let's Read in Kiswahili) Early Grade Reading Activity ( ) as well as the Tayari ( Ready in Kiswahili) Early Childhood Development Programme ( ) were designed around existing government systems with a view to long term sustainability (Management Sciences International, 2017). Tusome which means Let us read in Kiswahili is a flagship partnership launched in 2015 between USAID and the Government of Kenya s (GoK) Ministry of Education (MOE). Tusome is implemented in more than 22,600 public schools, 5,027 private schools and 1,500 alternative basic education institutions in urban slums of Kenya. The goal for Tusome is to improve the literacy outcomes of 7.4 million pupils by Tusome focuses on four key interventions developed and proven under PRIMR to improve literacy outcomes: Enhancing teachers capacity to effectively deliver classroom instruction; Improving schools access to appropriate books and other learning materials; Enhancing instructional support and supervision and Enhancing collaboration with other literacy actors (Ministry of Education, 2016). 2. Research Gap The report by Uwezo East Africa on the 2011 survey in Kenya reveals that 4 % of class 8 pupils could not read a class 2 story. The Annual Learning Assessment (ALA) carried out in Kenya in February year 2012 by Uwezo revealed that 7% of class 8 pupils could neither pass English or Kiswahili reading tests set at class 2 level (Uwezo, 2012). A report conducted by Uwezo in 2015 found that English literacy levels among children aged 7-13 years have remained almost unchanged over the four years between 2011 and The percentage of children who could not read letters of the alphabet was 5.7% in both 2011and The percentage of those who could read a Class 2 story, has on the other hand registered only marginal improvement from 46% in 2011 to 50.9% in The percentage of children who could not read letters of the alphabet was 8.2% in 2011 and 7.6 % in The percentage of those who could read a Class 2 story improved marginally from 49.7% in 2011 to 53.9% in 2014 (Uwezo, 2015). In 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) joined with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to fund a program known as the Tusome Early Grade Reading Activity. Tusome is designed to dramatically improve primary literacy outcomes for approximately 7 million Kenyan children in grades 1 3. This study will therefore analyze the influence of teacher attitudes, teacher preparedness, teaching experiences and teaching styles on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school in Mvita Sub-County. 2.1: Purpose of the study The purpose of the study was to analyze teacher factors influencing the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County. 3

4 ISSN: : Specific Objectives of the study This study was guided by a set of objectives among them: i. To establish the influence of teacher attitudes on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school. ii. To analyse the influence of teaching styles on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school 3. Methodology Research design is an arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance with the research purpose. It constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data (Kothari, 2004). This study used descriptive survey research design. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2010) descriptive survey determines and reports the way things are in their natural environment. This design attempts to describe systematically a situation, a problem, or phenomenon, or provides information about an issue, or describes attitudes towards an issue (Kumar, 2005). The design is capable of presenting detailed information about a given social system. It was appropriate for studies to use questionnaires and interview schedules. Therefore, the design helped collect data in order to answer questions on the teacher factors influencing the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school in Mvita sub-county. The target population in this research were 124 lower primary teachers in all Twenty five (25) public primary schools in Mvita sub-county. The lower primary teachers were the respondents for the study because they are perfect choice to answer the questions that arose from the study objectives due to the information they hold on the implementation of Tusome program. The study used census method where by all the 124 respondents were used for the study. Census was used because the number is manageable within the constraints of the study and because the method provides a true measure of the population and also has the highest degree of accuracy (Babbie, 2010). 4

5 International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology Vol. 5 No. 8; September Study Results The response rate of 87 respondents was achieved out of the expected response of 124 bringing the response rate at 70% as shown in Figure Response rate 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 70% Responded 30% Did not respond Figure 4.1: Response rate Source: Research data (2018) 4.2 Reliability Test In this study reliability was ensured through a piloted questionnaire. According to Ebrahim (2003), a pilot test is necessary for testing the reliability of data collection instruments. Pilot study was conducted to detect weakness in design and instrumentation and to provide proxy data for selection of a sample. The pilot data were not included in the actual study. The piloted questionnaire was subjected to a sample of 12 (10% * 124) lower primary teachers from public primary schools in Kisauni Sub-county. The pre-test was conducted using Cronbach s Alpha coefficient reliability. According to Zinbarg (2005), Cronbach s Alpha is a coefficient of reliability that gives unbiased estimate of data generalizability. Cronbach Alpha was established for every variable which formed a scale. The table above shows that teacher attitude had the reliability (α=0.695), teaching styles (α=0.771) while Implementation of Tusome program had a value (α=0.703). An alpha coefficient of higher than 0.6 indicates that the gathered data has a relatively high internal consistency and could be generalized to reflect opinions of all respondents in the target population as shown in table

6 ISSN: Table 4.1 Reliability Analysis Statements Cronbach's Alpha Number of Items Teacher attitude Teaching style Implementation of Tusome program Source: Research data, (2018) 4.3: Teacher factors influencing the implementation of Tusome program Teacher attitude Table 4.2 Teacher attitude Statements N Mean Std.Dev. I enjoy teaching lower primary school activities I am always under strain when teaching lower primary school Time allocated is not adequate to cover the syllabus I have enough time to check and mark students work The end of activity lesson is always good riddance Teacher attitude influence the implementation of Tusome program I receive a great deal of support from the parents for the work I do The school resources are enough program The school gives me the support I need to teach Source: Researcher, (2018) 6

7 International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology Vol. 5 No. 8; September 2018 The first specific objective of the study was to establish the influence of teacher attitudes on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school As shown in Table 4.2, majority of the respondents indicated that, teacher attitudes have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school, these aspects of teacher attitudes included I enjoy teaching lower primary school activities which scored a mean of 3.24, I enjoy teaching lower primary school activities with a mean of 3.23, Time allocated is not adequate to cover the syllabus with a mean of 2.99, I have enough time to check and mark students work mean of 2.70, Teacher attitude influence the implementation of Tusome program a mean of 3.03, Teacher attitude influence the implementation of Tusome program mean of 3.55, I receive a great deal of support from the parents for the work I do a mean of 2.93, The school resources are enough program mean of 3.11 and The school gives me the support I need to teach with a mean of The result obtained is above average implying that teacher attitudes have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school in Mvita sub-county : Teaching styles Table 4.3: Teaching styles Statements N Mean Std. Dev. I expect students to finish all work set by the end of the lesson I punish students for not getting work done There isn t enough time to mark all evaluation tests The teaching methods I use meet the needs of all learners Some learners drop from classrooms because of fail teaching meth I encounter challenges in the use of some teaching methods Learner centered instructional methods accounted for a larger pro There is a relationship between the teaching method(s) I use and The amount of work load affects the teaching methods(s) i use m Source: Research data, (2018) 7

8 ISSN: The fourth specific objective of the study was to establish the influence of teaching styles on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school As shown in Table 4.3, majority of the respondents indicated that, teaching styles have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school, these aspects of teacher preparedness included I expect students to finish all work set by the end of the lesson scoring a mean of 3.36, I punish students for not getting work done mean 1.94, There isn t enough time to mark all evaluation tests mean of 4.05, The teaching methods I use meet the needs of all learners mean of 2.67, Some learners drop from classrooms because of fail teaching methods mean of 3.01, I encounter challenges in the use of some teaching methods mean of 3.06, Learner centered instructional methods accounted for a larger program mean of 3.28 There is a relationship between the teaching method(s) I use mean 3.16 and The amount of work load affects the teaching methods(s) i use mean of The result obtained is above average implying that teacher styles have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school in Mvita sub-county : Implementation of Tusome Program Table 4.4: Implementation of Tusome Program Statements N Mean Std. Dev. Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of reading skills Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of writing skills Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of speaking skills Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of listening There are sufficient supportive resources and professional teachers Teachers are trained to use different teaching methods so as to implement I have corresponding knowledge and skills of implementation of Tusome Source: Research data, (2018) The general objective of this study was to establish teacher factors influencing the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County. As shown in Table 4.4, majority of the respondents indicated that, there are several aspects influencing the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County and these aspects included Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of reading skills scoring a mean of 4.46, Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of writing skills mean of 3.31, Tusome program play 8

9 International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology Vol. 5 No. 8; September 2018 a big role in acquisition of speaking skills mean of 3.02, Tusome program play a big role in acquisition of listening mean of 2.62, There are sufficient supportive resources and professional teachers mean of 2.68, teachers are trained to use different teaching methods so as to implement mean of 2.67 while I have corresponding knowledge and skills implementation of Tusome scored a mean of This results shows that there are several aspects influencing the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County. 5. Discussion 5.1 Teacher attitudes Regarding the influence of teacher attitudes on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school, majority of the respondents indicated that, teacher attitudes have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school and that aspects of teacher attitudes influencing the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school included I enjoy teaching lower primary school activities, I enjoy teaching lower primary school activities, Time allocated is not adequate to cover the syllabus, I have enough time to check and mark students work, Teacher attitude influence the implementation of Tusome program, Teacher attitude influence the implementation of Tusome program, I receive a great deal of support from the parents for the work I do, The school resources are enough program and The school gives me the support I need to teach. This finding is in agreement with a study by Lambe and Bones (2016) who found that attitudes of pre-service teachers towards the philosophy of inclusive education were generally positive, with more than 80% of participants believing that all teachers should experience teaching children with special education needs. 5.2 Teaching styles In relation to the influence of teaching styles on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school, majority of the respondents indicated that, teaching styles have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school and that some of the aspects of teaching styles influencing the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school included I expect students to finish all work set by the end of the lesson, I punish students for not getting work done, There isn t enough time to mark all evaluation tests, The teaching methods I use meet the needs of all learners, Some learners drop from classrooms because of fail teaching methods, I encounter challenges in the use of some teaching methods. This finding is in agreement with Resnick (2014) who indicated that children are likely to learn the most and enjoy the most when they are engaged as active participants, not passive recipients. Playful learning environment can be serious, creative, and imaginative as well as being fun and playful. According to Karaka, Nyangasi and Githii (2013) learning is a highly personal and individual process. The children must be actively involved i.e. carry out investigations, develop curiosity and powers of observation and inquiry, explore basic questions and suggests solutions. They must manipulate a variety of materials in search for patterns and relationships while looking for solutions to problems. 9

10 ISSN: Conclusions and Recommendations The objective of this study was to analyze teacher factors influencing the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County. The study therefore concludes that Teacher attitude and Teaching styles factors influence the implementation of Tusome program in lower primary public schools in Mvita Sub-County. The first object of this study was to establish the influence of teacher attitudes on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school. The results showed that teacher attitudes have influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school. The study noted that one of the aspects of teacher attitude which may slow down the progess of tusome program was time factor. This study therefore recommends that enough time to check and mark pupils work should be given. Finally, it was also found that teacher style has influence on the implementation of the Tusome program in lower primary school with the teaching methods teachers use methods which were found not meeting the needs of all learners. This study therefore recommends that policies regarding teaching methods should be effectively implemented. Eg. The use of learner centered methods. REFERENCES Babbie E, (2010). The Practice of Sociall Research.10th Edition/ Wasworth. Thomson learning. Linet, M. (2014). Teacher related factors influencing implementation of IEC in Ekerenyo Division, Kenya Med project University of Nairobi. Somerset, A. (2009). Universalizing primary education in Kenya: The elusive goal. Comparative Education, 45, Ngware, M. W., Oketch, M., Mutisya, M., and Abuya, B. (2010). Classroom observation study: A report on the quality and learning in primary schools in Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya: African population and Health Research Center. Uwezo (2012). Are Our Children Learning? Literacy and Numeracy across East Africa. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2007). World Education Report. United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris. 249 Piper B., Ralaingita W., Akach L. and King S. (2016). Improving procedural and conceptual mathematics outcomes: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial in Kenya, Journal of Development Effectiveness, 8(3), Mugenda, O., and Mugenda, A. (2010). Research methods: quantitative and qualitative approaches. Nairobi: Acts Press. 10