Enhancement of Secondary Schools Students’ Moral Reasoning through the Christian Religious Education Curriculum in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Moral reasoning is important as it equips students with skills to distinguish between right and wrong. It is taught in Kenyan secondary schools through Christian Religious Education (CRE) and other carrier subjects. Despite exposure to moral reasoning content, moral judgment of students is generally unsatisfactory. This suggests that moral education imparted through the CRE and other carrier subjects have not achieved their objectives. This study examined the role of CRE in enhancing moral reasoning of public secondary school students’ in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised all secondary school students in the county while accessible population composed of 10,603 Form Four CRE students. A sample of 386 students was selected using stratified, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques. CRE Students’ Moral Reasoning Test (CRESMRAT) was used to gather data. The face and content validity of CRESMRAT was examined by five research experts from the department of Curriculum Instruction and Educational Management of Egerton University.  The instrument was also piloted for reliability and its coefficient estimated using the Kuder Richardson’s formula (KR20).  The reliability coefficient of the tool was 0.801.  Qualitative data was described and summarised using frequencies and percentages while differences in moral reasoning by gender and school location were determined using the t-test. Role of CRE in enhancing students’ moral reasoning was established using open ended items. The results of the study indicated that the students’ moral reasoning level were average. The results also showed that difference in moral reasoning by gender was significant in favour of the females while the difference by school location was not. Majority of the respondent were of the view that CRE enhances moral reasoning. The results of the study can be used by Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to enhance moral reasoning content of the CRE curriculum and other carrier subjects. Teacher training institutions can use also use the results to strengthen moral education and methodologies in their programmes. Lastly, the results can be used by the society to mold young people into responsible citizens.

Keywords: Enhancement, Moral Reasoning, Christian Religious Education, Curriculum