ABSTRACT

Globally, play has been found to contribute immensely to the holistic growth and development of preschool learners. Although local studies have reported that the use of play in pre-schools is limited, the issue of teacher factors influencing utilization of play as a strategy for teaching has not received much attention. Therefore, this study aimed at establishing teacher factors influencing the utilization of play as a strategy of teaching, in public pre-primary schools in Ruiru Sub-county, Kiambu County. The objectives of the study were to examine teachers’ use of play as a strategy for teaching; and the influence of teachers’ attitudes, experience and  training on the use of play as a strategy for teaching in pre-primary schools. The study was guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action by Fishbein and Ajzen. The study employed the correlational design. The population targeted comprised pre-primary school teachers from 32 pre-schools in Ruiru Sub-county. The study applied stratified  sampling to form eight strata. Simple random technique was used to select the respondents from the strata. The research instruments used were questionnaires and observation checklist guide. Study instruments were piloted in four pre-primary school teachers from another similar sub-county. After the fieldwork, all questionnaires were adequately checked verified. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data based on the study objectives and presented narratively. Quantitative data were organized and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23) was used to aid the analysis. Findings were presented using tables and charts. Pearson correlation was used to test the first null hypothesis while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the second and third null hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05.  All the three-null hypotheses were therefore, rejected. The findings revealed that use of play as a strategy for teaching was moderately present in most of the preschools. The findings further established that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ attitude and use of play as a teaching strategy. Teachers with positive perception of play were more likely to use it as a teaching strategy. There was a significant association between teachers’ training and use of play. Finally, there was a significant positive association between teachers’ experience and use of play. The study recommended that the education administration and the school heads should seek to cultivate a positive attitude among pre-school teachers to ensure that the teachers develop positive attitudes towards the use of play as a teaching strategy. There is also need to ensure that the teachers in the pre-primary schools get properly trained and equipped with the right skills to ensure that they are able to teach the leaners through play as a teaching strategy. Finally, the study recommended further research on school factors influencing use of play as a teaching strategy.