Emergent reading competencies are building blocks for learning to read. To successfully acquire these competencies, leaners have to be supported to utilize their interest and talents through personalized or experiential learning. Kenya is currently implementing a Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) which aims to make learners active participants in the learning process. However recent studies have shown that teachers still tend to teach content as opposed to building competencies. The focus of this study was to assess if teaching activities in emergent reading instruction in Kenya conform to the basic tenets of experiential learning. The study utilized the survey research design. Data was collected from 102 Pre-Primary one (PP1) teachers in public and 34 in private preschools who were randomly selected from Bureti Sub-County in Kenya, using questionnaire and observation checklist. The study found that basic tenets of experiential learning are largely adhered to in the public preschools, while there is still a lot to be desired in the private schools. The study recommends that continuous retraining was necessary especially in the private entities as well as availing experts in the field to mentor teachers and model best practice in competency based education.
Sustainable Development Goal 8 calls for full, freely chosen and productive employment and decent work for all. However, Evidence from statistics shows that employment opportunities have continued to diminish world over and that the shortage of jobs is expected to continue in the near future. Africa bears the brunt for this unemployment situation. The good news however, is that early childhood education in Africa is growing in leaps and bounce and is expected to continue growing as awareness around it intensifies. By making a critical analysis of pertinent literature, this paper sought to establish evidence to the fact that development in the early childhood education might be the magic bullet for the unemployment menace in Africa. It was expected to inspire policy makers to step-up investment in early childhood education and mark it as a career of choice for the 21st century and beyond.
Study after study has shown that reading is the single most important skill necessary for success in school and life. Emergent reading is the first stage in the developmental continuum in learning to read and consists of the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are presumed to be developmental precursors to conventional reading. In other words, students who are unable to grasp early print concepts as emergent readers may experience difficulty with reading later. In this regard, multiple assessments of reading have reported poor reading achievement in Kenyan primary school children. The Uwezo studies since 2010, for instance, have highlighted a reading crisis. The reports indicate that there has been no improvement in reading from the inception of the study despite the government launching intervention programs among them ‘Tayari’ and ‘Tusome’ which were meant to improve reading skills. This study investigated the instructional process issues in emergent reading in a bid to unravel this predicament. The study was carried out in Bureti Sub-County in Kericho County. It involved a sample of 95 pre-primary 1 teachers randomly selected from public and private schools. Data was collected using an observation checklist, a questionnaire a focused group discussion and was analysed descriptively. Instructional process factors found to impede experiential emergent reading strategies included unclear goals for reading lessons, pressure from parents for quicker learning outcomes, time allocated for the experiences was insufficient, that the teachers were overloaded with other responsibilities, large pupil numbers, among others. The results of the study will inform evidence-based policy on the implementation of the Competency-based Curriculum in Kenya and any other part of the world.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.