Influence of Teaching And Learning Resources When It Comes To Use Of Life Themes Pedagogy In Christian Religious Education (CRE) In Secondary Schools In Kenya

Abstract

There has been a relatively unsteady performance of CRE in the country as reflected in the K.N.E.C reports of the years 2006-2013.This is also evident in the performance at the County level where the trends have kept down streaming. The purpose of this study was to establish the use of teaching learning resources in CRE curriculum in Secondary schools in Bungoma County. The study was based on two theories: Lev Vygotsky’s theory, known as Social Development Theory and Situated Learning Theory (J. Lave).The study employed descriptive survey design. It utilized stratified random sampling to select the schools, purposive sampling techniques to select the teachers of CRE and simple random sampling to select the form three students of CRE in Secondary schools in Bungoma County. The county had a total of 580 teachers of CRE from whom 29 were sampled as well as 425 students based on Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table of sample size determination and Stat Trek (2012) formula. Three research instruments, namely questionnaire, observation guide and document analyses were used for the data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data that was collected. The data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Cronbach alpha of 0.850 was used in the study to test internal reliability of five-point Likert scale items from questionnaires whereas validity especially construct validity was checked by the teaching faculty in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Media as well as guidance from the supervisors. The study revealed that teachers don't fully utilized a variety of teaching learning resources among them video, posters and charts reference books, teachers’ guides and use of resource persons/place. From the study findings it can be concluded that teaching and learning resources are crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked in order to realize success in implementation of the CRE curriculum by applying life themes pedagogy. Furthermore availability of teaching learning resources is an issue that can greatly enhance successful implementation of CRE curriculum when using the life themes.

Key words: Teaching, Learning, Resources, Christian Religious Education.