PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHF.RS’ USE OF CULTURALLY RELEVANT INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN TEACHING IN KIENI WEST DISTRICT, NYERI COUNTY, KENYA

ABSTRACT

Pre-primary school forms the  beginning  of  formal  education  in  Kenya.  Research indicates that children who obtain quality pre-primary education have a headstart in life. It is also evident that early exposure and use ot’ culturall y relevant instructional materials prepare children to be well ad justed in 1 ife. Children are also equipped with problem solving skills that are important for daily 1 iving. A culturally relevant pedagogy provides a way for learners to maintain thei r cultural identity while succeeding academically. Despite many studies carried out on the use or instructional materials in pi’iirary schools, secondary schools and teacher training  colleges.  not much is known on what happens in pre-primary  schools. The  purpose of’ this study was to establish pre-primary school teachers’ use of culturally relevant instructional materials in teaching. The study sought to determine the relationship  between  the use of culturally relevant instructional materials by pre-primary school teachers and the factors which are believed to influence their use. Theory of  culturally  relevant pedagogy by Gloria Ladson-Billings (1 994) guided this study. An exploratory descriptive survey design was employed while stratified random sampling technique was used to select a proportionate number of private and public pre-primary school teachers. A total sample of 98 pre-primary school teachers’ was selected for the study drawn from 121 pre-primary schools in the District. Questionnaires and observation schedules were used to collect data. The data collected was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative  and  quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics computed included frequencies, standard deviation, means and percentages. The inferential  statistics used to  test  null  hypotheses  were  t-test  and   Pearson   Product   Moment   Correlation Coef ticient at alpha value 0.05 (p<0.05). Results morn data alialj sis  revealed  that there is nti significant difference in use of’ culturally relevant i nstructional materials between public and private pre-primary schools. Most of” the instructional materials used in teaching were culturally relevant but inadequate. the relationship between availability of culturally relevant instructional materials. attitudes towards culturally relevant instructional materials and pre-primary school teachers’ use of culturally relevant instructional materials was significant.  However,  the  relationship  between use of culturally relevant instructional  materials,  teaching  experience.  and professional qualifications were not significant. To improve the use of culturally relevant instructional materials in pre-primary schools. capacity building and sensitization seminars for pre-primary school teachers and other stakeholders on development and use of culturally relevant luaterials  in teaching should  be orgalsized by DIC EC E officers at the District level.