Abstract
The study sought to find out the types of learning resources available for teaching Social Education and Ethics (SEE) in secondary schools in Bungoma District. A field survey design was used to carry out the research. Questionnaires, interview schedules and an observation checklist were used to collect data. The respondents included the personnel in charge of the District learning resource centre, 1920 Social Education and Ethics students of Forms 3 and 4 classes, 120 Social Education and Ethics teachers and 80 heads of humanities department. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data. The study revealed that types of learning resources for teaching SEE were not adequately available in secondary schools. The most commonly available resources used for teaching SEE were: text books, radios, charts, maps, teacher made materials and newspapers. The study revealed that there were learning resources like reference books and newspapers but SEE teachers were not using them for teaching/learning. The study recommended that education policy makers should review the objectives of Social Education and Ethics and provide the necessary learning/teaching resources for effective implementation of the subject. The study was carried out to provide information to curriculum developers, the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE), the inspectorate and Ministry of Education on the status of learning resources for teaching SEE in secondary schools in Kenya to help identify the steps necessary for improving their availability and use.Keywords: availing learning resources, effect, use, teaching social education, ethics, Bungoma district, KenyaINTRODUCTIONMany scholars in the education sector have emphasized the need to use learning resources for teaching of any subject. This implies that learning resources make learning effective when used for teaching for easier attainment of the laid down objectives. Based on the same strength, this paper suggests that learning resources for teaching Social Education and Ethics (SEE) are vital for effective implementation of the subject in the field. Studies have been conducted by Ogoma (1987), Komen (1991), Munyiilu (1985) and Kiigi (l983) on various aspects of learning and teaching of different subjects like History, Christian Religious Education (CRE) and Geography. The most important finding of these studies has been the lack of adequate resources for teaching because teachers rely mostly on the use of textbooks. Probably SEE, being a new subject in the secondary school curriculum, has the same problems of inadequacy of resources for teaching.Masinjila (1996) has reported that learning resources for teaching SEE are not available in secondary schools in Kakamega District. In fact, the District lacks SEE trained teachers yet a teacher is the central learning resource for any curriculum implementation.The teachers who were found by the authors to be teaching the subject were trained in other disciplines like CRE or the sciences. Nevertheless, a wide range of instructional resources that could be used for teaching SEE are available in Kakamega District schools. They include projected visuals, audiovisuals, non-projected visuals, audio and community resources. In addition, resourceful equipment such as typewriters and duplicating machines were available. The textbooks used were mainly authorized by Kenya Institute of Education (KIE). These books were not comprehensive in the coverage of topics on SEE syllabus.There is a shortage of teaching-learning resources in Kenyan schools. This shortage has been more pronounced in the district than in provincial schools. The findings by Masinjila (1996) indicate that none of the teachers reported complete lack of teaching learning resources. This paper on the status of learning resources for teaching SEE sheds more light on the resources available and the effect of their use for teaching in secondary schools in Bungoma District.
