Teacher related factors in the implementation of science activities in preschools in Nairobi county

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher related factors in the implementation of science activities in pre-schools in Nairobi County. A descriptive research design was used to conduct the study. The study sought to investigate how teacher’s related factors such as professional and academic qualification, teaching strategies and teacher’s attitude influence implementation of science activity curriculum in Early Childhood Education Centres in Nairobi County. Descriptive survey method using stratified and random sampling was used to sample respondents. Respondents were preschool teachers. The study targeted twelve public and twenty eight private preschools. The researcher used the questionnaire which was divided into three sections to obtain information. Data collected was converted into quantitative data and analyzed using cross tabulation and summarized in-form of frequency, percentage and mean. The results were presented in tables and figures. The research study was guided by research questions, which conformed to the objectives of the study. Literature review of the study covered the implementation of science activities and teacher related factors which are teachers’ academic and professional qualification, teaching strategies and teachers’ attitude towards science activity and their influence on implementation science activity in preschools and lastly their effects on the implementation of science activities. Based on the analysis of the study data, the following were the findings on of the study: that there existed a significant relationship between teachers’ academic qualification and preschool children achievement in science activity, that teachers professional qualification impacted positively on the achievement of preschoolers in science activity, that teachers’ teaching strategies did influence preschool children achievement in science activity and teachers’ attitude towards science activities did seem to influence preschool children’s achievement in science activities hence leading to the implementation of science activities. Based on the strengths of these findings, the following recommendations were critical: That there is need for the government and other educational stake holders to promote continuous teacher development through inservice and pre-service training programs. These trainings and seminars will assist teachers in coming up with modern teaching methods. Further research should be carried out on the following areas: Factors influencing implementation of science activity in a larger population of Nairobi County, influence of other stakeholders, factors hindering in-service courses, seminars and effectiveness of teaching methods in implementation of science activity.