Formal educational setting- how it affects the socialization of educable mentally retarded children

Abstract

The objective 0f the study was to determine how far the formal educational system in Kenya meets the needs of mentally retarded children as the function and purpose of education is to prepare children to live and function adequately in our society. I looked at teacher training and curriculum development in regard to the suitability of the primary level system here in Kenya in order to ascertain its relevance to this population of children. I also considered the question of micro teaching and in particular Precision Teaching and its relevance for teaching mentally retarded children. The question of integration vs.segregation was also considered. There are those who are for and others against integration. This situation tends to have far reaching consequences. I also looked at stigma and its effects on the mentally retarded child. I considered how the effects of stigma, through the formal educational setting could be reduced. Given the above orientation I attempted to study two mentally retarded children out of four who were babblers at Jacaranda School in order to see how long it would take them to say their names using Precision Teaching as the tool of learning. Secondly, took four children from Jacaranda School to Muthaiga PrImary School in order to test for stigma. I set out toshow that viith improved performance mentally retarded children can learn and can be accepted in society. However, the results are used only as an indication of change as stigma accrues over time. It will also decrease over time. I attempted to operationalize a model, Precision Teaching) for teaching educable mentally retarded children in order to ascertain its relevance to Kenya. This was done on a limited scale in order to test its strengths and weaknesses. My conclusion was that Precision Teaching as a tool will enhance the learning of mentally retarded children in Kenya given properly trained teachers and curriculum developed for this population of children. I also stressed the need to educate not only the administrators and teachers in the formal educational system but also the "normal" children and their parents in primary schools as well as the general public if integration is to become meaningful.