Relationship Between Quality of Teacher-pupil Interaction and Primary School Readiness in Preschool Pupils in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

A lot of attention and emphasis has lately been placed on the development and education of young children. One of the specific areas of concern is on the quality of experiences that young children are exposed to at the early learning centres. This research paper sought to examine the relationship between the quality of teacher-pupil interaction and primary school readiness in preschool pupils in Nairobi County. The sample comprised 156 preschool pupils and 39 teachers in 39 preschools. The Pearson product-moment correlation statistics was used to examine this relationship. The findings indicate that there is a significant and positive relationship between the quality of positive-relationship dimension of teacher-pupil interaction and primary school readiness. A significant but negative relationship was found between the quality of harshness and detachment dimensions of teacher-pupil interaction and primary school readiness. A weak correlation that is not significant was found between the quality of permissiveness dimension of teacher-pupil interaction and primary school readiness. The researchers recommend that only trained and qualified teachers who are more likely to be aware of the desirable styles of teacher-pupil interaction should be deployed in early learning centres. Those already working should be given in-service training to enable them keep abreast of the best pedagogic practices.

Keywords: Teacher-pupil interaction, Primary school readiness