An Investigation of Psychosocial Support and Participation of Learners Affected by HIV/AIDS in Baringo Central Sub-County

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of school feeding programme on enrolment and retention rates in public pre-primary schools in Sigor Division, Chepalungu District, Bomet County. Sigor division has low enrollment rates of children in pre-school; it is also evident that there are drop outs. The research was carried out in Sigor Division in Chepalungu District in the 56 public preschools amongst pre-school teachers, pre-school SMC chairpersons and head teachers. The main objectives of the study included establishing availability of feeding programme and its effects on enrolment rates and retention, finding out how management and effectiveness of school feeding programmes affects enrolment and retention rates and also to give suggestions on how the feeding programmes could be improved so as to enhance enrolment and retention rates. The study was guided by Abraham Maslow theory of hierarchy of needs, this theory postulates that SFP motivate and attract learners to enroll in preschool and be retained upto the end of the school calendar. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was 560 subjects including 56 Head teachers 112 teachers and 56 SMC chairpersons. Data was collected by use of questionnaires, observation check list and interview schedule. Data collected was analyzed for descriptive statistics (percentage, means and frequencies). Pre-school teachers, parents, Ministry of Education, health sector players and other key stakeholders in early childhood development and education sector may use the information collected to enhance the effectiveness of the feeding programmes as a strategy for improving enrolment and retention rates. Data was analyzed using statistics (frequencies and percentages), the findings revealed that there are 26 pre-schools with SFP, while 30 pre-schools did not have the said programmes. There were 147 teachers and headteachers who responded and also 56 chairpersons, making total respondents 203. Most of the teachers and head teachers were male and likewise to chairpersons. The feeding modality in the schools with SFP was the school meals. Majority of teachers were of the opinion that SFP affects enrollment rates positively. It was evident that enrollment was low prior to implementation of SFP and changed to high upon implementation. Findings showed that SFP is effective in enhancing enrollment and retention rates. The biggest challenge to SFP as per findings include: - poverty, parental attitude and hardship area climatically. Chairpersons recommended education of parents as a way of enhancing SFP majority of teachers and head teacher mentioned parents and school committee as responsible for funding SFP. The study concluded that SFP exist in 26 schools out of 56. It also concluded that low enrollment rates and retention are caused by absence of SFP among other factors. It also concluded that effective management is recommended to achieve the objectives of school feeding programme. It also recommends that parents need to be educated on the importance SFP and also be empowered economically. The other recommendation is that there should be effective management of SFP for positive results. The study finally suggests further study to understand other factors affecting enrollment rates and retention. Article visualizations:

Teaching and Learning Resources refer to the materials that the classroom teacher uses to help the learners to acquire and understand knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes that he/she introduces during his/her lesson. Teaching and learning resources include but are not limited to structural facilities like properly ventilated classrooms, furniture, kitchen, safe clean water, playground, toilets, and play grounds. Teaching and learning resources entail also instructional materials including text books (course books and supplementary books), charts, wall maps, picture books, flash cards, and real objects(realia), to name but a few. The general aim of this study was to examine the influence of the teaching and learning resources on the integration on the national goals of education in Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE). Since this objective was about the relationship between the teaching/learning resources and the integration of the national goals of education, the researcher used the Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient to determine whether there was a relationship between the teaching and learning resources and the integration of the national goals of education in Early Childhood Development and Education, and the strength of the relationship if it existed. The N=158 including 28 head teachers and 130 preschool teachers. The n=66 including 14 head teachers and 52 preschool teachers. The head teachers were interviewed following the guide with the following questions in the interview guide: What is the influence of the teaching and learning resources on the integration of the national goals of education? The head teachers interviewed indicated that the correlation coefficient between the teaching and learning resources and the integration of the national goals of education rates at 0.85. This shows that there is a very strong positive (relationship) correlation between teaching and learning resources and the integration of the national goals of education. The preschool teachers responded to questions in the questionnaires. (a) The closed questions required the respondents to indicate the extent to which they agreed/disagreed on the statements given on a scale of 5-1. (b) The open ended questions required the respondents to state, on their opinion how teaching and learning resources influenced the integration of the national goals of education in Early Childhood Development and Education. The respondents indicated that the teaching and learning resources’ prevalence presented a very strong positive correlation between the teaching and learning resources and the integration of the national goals of education in Early Childhood Development and Education, which is statistically significant (p<0.05). The study established that teaching and learning resources influence effective implementation of Early Childhood Development and Education programmes in preschools. A unit increase of the teaching and learning resources would lead to an increase in effective Early Childhood Development and Education by a factor of 0.702. This study recommends that Early Childhood Development and Education centers should be provided with the age appropriate, relevant, and adequate teaching and learning resources. These resources will go a long way in enhancing effective curriculum content delivery as they create a conducive learner friendly environment fully equipped with structural and instructional resources that learners can freely, actively, interestingly, variably, and creatively manipulate to generate, create and acquire knowledge, concepts, skills, and attitudes with minimal teacher guidance. Article visualizations:

Inclusive education increases access and participation of children with special needs in the general classrooms. This study investigated the influence of availability and the adequacy of learning resources on the implementation of inclusive education in public preschools in Belgut Sub-County. The study adopted Social Model Disability Theory (1975). The study used descriptive survey research design. The study population comprised of 160 preschool teachers and 65 primary head teachers. The sample size for the study was 113 preschool teachers and 56 head teachers. Data for the study was collected using an observation checklist, pre-school teachers’ and the primary school head teachers’ questionnaires. Data was analysed with the help of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and the study findingswere presented in frequency distribution tables and percentages. The study findings revealed that most of preschools in Belgut Sub-County lacked adequate essential learning resources such as large print books braille machines, and hearing aids. The study concluded that unavailability and inadequacy of teaching and learning materials hamper proper implementation of inclusive education in public preschools in Belgut Sub-County. Hence, the study recommended that the Ministry of Education should allocate more funds to public preschools to enable the head teachers purchase adapted learning resources. Article visualizations:

Music is a significant teaching strategy in early childhood education it improves development of young children’s self-confidence, self-esteem and their expression orally and mentally. Despite the fact that, use of music is a strategy that motivates and sustains children’s interest in the learning of mathematics, research studies in this area are scanty. The purpose of this study therefore was to find out influence of preschool teacher training on the use of music as a mode of teaching mathematics within Kasarani, Nairobi County. The study sought to determine the link between preschool teacher training and use of music in teaching mathematics. The descriptive survey research design was used to structure and guide the study. The study’s dependent variable was use of music as a medium of teaching mathematics while the independent variable was preschool teacher training in use of music in teaching mathematics. Random sampling was used to select 15 preschools out of the 30 targeted and purposive sampling used to select 15 head teachers out of 30 and 45 out of 90 preschool teachers. An observation guide and questionnaires were used to collect data for preschool teachers and head teachers. The study findings established a significant association between teacher training and use of music during mathematic instructions. The study concluded that preschool teachers in Kasarani Sub-County were using music to teach mathematics and that trained teachers used music to teach mathematics than their untrained counterparts. The study recommended the Kenya institute of curriculum development should come up with modules on step by step guidelines on how to teachers should integrate music during maths lessons. Article visualizations:

This research study examines the problematic issues associated with developing a programme of in-service training for teachers on the topic of self-discipline in preschool children in Thailand. The study is predicated on the notion that a lack of understanding of ways to enhance self-discipline amongst young children can lead to difficult and challenging behaviour issues in schools, which may also contribute to poor academic achievement and poor social skills later on in the education system. It is noted that training on the topic of promoting self-discipline for preschool children has rarely been provided for Thai teachers and that the in-service programmes that do exist tend to be focused on short courses that emphasise the acquisition of knowledge through direct instruction in the form of lectures and presentations. This study thus focuses on the development and subsequent analysis of the effectiveness of a teacher education programme using the Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation (SECI) Model of training and development, which was originally developed in Japan, in order to develop teacher knowledge and skills in relation to the promotion of preschoolers’ self-discipline in one school in Thailand.A mixed-methods approach was employed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data on the head teacher, deputy head teachers, preschool teachers and preschoolers. Three methods including semi-structured interviews, semi-structured observations and classroom observations were used to collect the quantitative data, while the quantitative data was collected by questionnaires and behaviour checklists. The study was conducted in one nursery school in Bangkok, as a case study. The sample consisted of one head teacher, three deputy head teachers, 24 preschool teachers and 527 preschoolers. A total of 24 preschool teachers participated in all sessions of the programme for 9 weeks, excluding pre- and post-test. The data gathering in the study was divided into three phases: (1) before the programme, (2) the programme implementation, and (3) after the programme. The programme was conducted on preschool teachers and then evaluated on both teachers’ and preschoolers’ outcomes.The research findings revealed that the programme was effective in enhancing both teachers’ knowledge and behaviour in promoting preschoolers’ self-discipline, which resulted in improved self-discipline amongst the preschoolers involved in the study. Moreover, the findings also indicated that the adapted SECI model used in the programme could be considered a successful mechanism for preschool teachers’ professional learning and practice.There are several recommendations for further research. Firstly, further research should be conducted in other phases and types of school to confirm whether the SECI model is suitable for the training and development of teachers in all phases of education in relation to developing children’s self-discipline. Secondly, it is recommended that studies are carried out to examine whether similar programmes can be applied to other school issues and challenges in all phases of education. In addition, it is suggested that the provision of teacher education programmes in Thailand in general should be expanded and that those programmes should make greater use of social learning approaches. Finally, it is recommended that follow-up studies should be implemented in order to examine further the crucial issues of the maintenance and enhancement teachers’ knowledge and skills in Thailand.

Learner readiness enhances academic achievement and predicts children’s performance in the near future. Children who are ready are less likely to experience behavioural and emotional problems and score higher in reading, mathematics and fine motor skills than those who are not ready. However, teachers are still struggling with learners from preschool who are not well prepared for grade one. This paper provides empirical evidence of the influence of teacher characteristics on learning readiness among 5-6 years old using data obtained from 356 pre-schoolers and 55 preschool teachers in public pre-schools in Kimilili-Bungoma Sub County, Kenya. The multiple regression analysis results indicate that selected teacher characteristics variables (age, years of schooling and number of workshops attended) are statistically significant in explaining variations in learning readiness among pre-schoolers. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education, County and Sub-County Education office and public preschools should ensure that preschool teachers managing learners are qualified and attend more in service training. Article visualizations:

This study focuses on the quality of preschool classroom practices in Bangladesh. The study uses a postcolonial theory in an effort to explore and explain what is currently occurring at this level of education in light of Bangladeshi government’s push to provide quality preschool for all children. The aim was not to make generalisations based on the limited data collected in this research but to provide insights into current practice standards, and those that are articulated in the literature as ultimately representing quality preschool education. The study, which involved a government, a private and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) preschool, adopted qualitative data collection approaches of document analysis, classroom observation and semi-structured interviews with two head teachers, a Program Organiser and six teachers who were purposefully selected from these schools. A postcolonial analysis of the data according to seven dimensions of quality indicators suggests that the research represents a substantial and significant contribution to knowledge, in three domains. First, it contributes to the knowledge and understanding of how the participants in this study conceptualised quality based on academic merits. This understanding of quality was found to influence the preschool teachers’ pedagogy. In this regard young children are subjected to teacher directed teaching, coaching, memorising of facts through rote learning, and frequent testing to prepare them to pass primary school entrance examination and get a chance to enter their favourite primary schools. Secondly, the study contributes to our knowledge of the curriculum documents in use in these preschools to inform teaching practices in Bangladesh. Such knowledge elps to improve an understanding of the curriculum making processes which currently exclude teacher’s and the community’s inputs. This is important for the future by noting that quality preschool depends on policies and programs that adopt a consultative approach rather than top-down models. Thirdly, the study contributes to knowledge about the consequences of poor structural resources, and colonial relationships that the teachers develop with children, and how the wellbeing of children is often not given serious attention and therefore, compromising the quality of preschool programs being delivered to young children in Bangladesh. Based on these findings the study proposed a transformative postcolonial model for developing quality preschool systems in Bangladesh.

Play enhances all areas of a child's development socially, emotionally, physically, cognitive, language and literacy skills. In Kericho County, statistics at Kericho District Centre for Early Childhood Education show that 90% of ECDE teachers do not fully utilize play in teaching and learning in ECDE centres. The objective of the study was to assess play activities used by teachers in play in ECDE centres. The study adopted the Piaget’s theory (1896-1980) of intellectual development. The study adopted mixed methods approach both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study was carried out in Kericho Sub-County since minimal research has been done on the utilization of play in early childhood education curriculum in the County. The target population was 161 head teachers and 347 pre-school teachers from which a sample size of 48 head teachers and 104 pre-school teachers were selected using simple random and stratified sampling techniques from every educational zone in the sub-county. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews and observation and analysed using descriptive statistics. The results were presented using frequency distribution tables, pie charts, and bar graphs. Qualitative data from interviews and observation was analysed in themes and categories identifying similarities and differences that emerged. The study may inform the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to produce relevant instructional materials on play for Early Childhood Education in Kenya. The study concluded that there were different types of play activities available in ECDE centres although not all were utilized. The study recommends that all stake holders need to cooperate to help equip preschools within their locality with enough play materials necessary to promote participation of outdoor activities. Article visualizations:

In this highly competitive society, to raise an employees' identity and sense of belonging toward his job and organization has become a very important issue for a leader of an enterprise or a company, as well as for a leader of an educational organization. In this study, according to the relevant literature, propose a theoretical model, and the use of preschool teachers in the Hualian area for survey data, which includes samples of public and private preschools, to discuss the influential mechanism of organizational commitment. The model of influential organization commitment includes organization climate and job satisfaction. The analysis of this research found out: preschool teachers respected the value commitment of the organization was rather high, but their continuance commitment wasn't very high. The Analysis of Structural Equation Modeling shows: According to the invariance test result we are not able to use the same model to explain the factors which affect teachers in public preschool and those in private in this mechanism of organizational commitment. Therefore we set up separate modelings for each group. In these two modelings we can see that different organizations have direct influence on organizational commitment or have an indirect influence with job satisfaction. The influential mechanism are very complicated, because the attributes of private and public schools are very different. At the end of this article we also provide some suggestions for preschool educational management and the following research.

Parental involvement in pre-school education still remains questionably low when it comes to promoting pre-school children’s education amidst the diverse family backgrounds in the current generation. Parents have shown mild and inconsistent involvement in their children’s educational activities leading to poor academic achievement. Sikalame zone which is the location of this study has been facing challenges of low community and parental involvement which has contributed to the neglect of early childhood development centers. The study therefore aimed at finding out the extent of parental involvement in pre-school activities and establishing the influence of parents’ level of education on their involvement in pre-school activities. The study was guided by Joyce Epstein theory of parental involvement. Descriptive research design was adopted for this study. The study had a target population of 42 preschool teachers and 450 parents with preschool children in Sikalame zone. All the teachers of the selected pre-schools were involved in the study. A simple random sampling technique was carried out to select 90 parents who were included in the sample, resulting to a total sample size of 126 respondents. Questionnaires for both teachers and parents were used to collect data. Collected data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The analyzed data were presented using bar-graphs, tables and pie charts. Findings revealed that majority of parents did not get involved in their children academic activities and rarely assisted their children with homework implying that parents were not fully engaged in their children’s education. The chi-square test results showed that the level of involvement in the children’s education had significant association with parent’s level of education. The study concluded that parents’ level of education influenced their involvement in preschool education in Sikalame zone. The study recommended that there is need for the preschool administrators to provide some form of training to parents, so that their involvement will have a meaningful impact on the children’s development. Article visualizations:

The study sought to underscore the influence of parental involvement in activities at school on learning outcomes among preschool learners. Its purpose was to determine the influence parental involvement in activities at school on learning outcomes among preschool learners in Mbooni Sub County, Makueni County. The study adopted a descriptive survey design that use structured interviews and questionnaire that intended to verify information, perceptions opinions and views of the respondents and an observation schedule for collecting data on the learning outcomes of the children. The dependent variable of the study was learning outcomes among preschool learners in Makueni County, Kenya, while independent variable was parental involvement in activities at school. The target population was teachers, parents and preschool learners in the County. Purposive sampling was used to select the teachers and parents whereas simple random sampling was used to select learners. A sample of 42 teachers, 33 parents and 72 ECDE learners were involved. Validity of the instruments was tested during piloting. Reliability of the instruments was ascertained through testing and re-testing to a sample that was not sampled for the actual study. Data was collected after acquiring permit from NACOSTI. Instructions and arrangements on how to collect the data was made with regard to dates agreed between the researcher and the respondents on when to deliver the questionnaire and observe the children during live lessons as well as conducting of the interviews. Data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically along the specific themes and presented in narrative forms whereas the quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 23). The data was presented using tables in order to get the findings. This study may inform teachers, parents and policy makers about the influence of parental involvement in activities at school on children’s learning outcomes in Mbooni East Sub County. The study highlighted the significance of parents- teachers meeting, parent teacher child association, school feeding programmes as well as parents being resource person in passing first-hand information to children as they discuss different roles they undertake in the community. The study thus recommends partnerships of all stakeholders through proper communication and feedback. The National and County Governments should ensure food security in the preschools to enhance school retention, attendance rates, and enrollment for better learning outcomes among other benefits. Article visualizations:

Teaching instruments are an essential component of teacher preparedness, lesson development, curriculum implementation and evaluation of instructional outcomes However, although studies reviewed showed there was a relationship between teachers’ attitude and their instructional practices, there was little information about any link between their attitude and preparation of teaching instruments and hence the focus of this study. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the attitude of pre-school teachers’ influencing their preparation of teaching instruments (PTI) in Kesses Sub-county, Uasin Gishu, Kenya using the descriptive survey research design. A sample of 17 (25%) public pre-schools/ headteachers out of 68 of them and 34 (25%) out of 136 pre-school teachers were selected. Piloting was done in four pre-schools and data collected using questionnaires for teachers and oral interviews for head teachers. To enhance the validity of the instruments, the study content covered all the study objectives while the split half technique was used to determine reliability at a correlation coefficient of 0.76. Data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques while chi-square test was computed to establish the significant influence of teachers’ attitude on the preparation of teaching instruments. Although a number of teachers had problems with preparation of teaching instruments, the chi-test did not find a significant relationship between the two variables. The study recommended that a working partnership between teachers and stakeholders should be developed in order to establish a support system to help pre-school teachers in preparation of teaching instruments. Article visualizations:

Given the importance of teacher beliefs in shaping classroom behavior, this study set out to examine the levels of Teacher-Self-Efficacy among pre-school teachers in Nairobi and Kiambu counties Kenya. It was grounded on the self-efficacy theory by Bandura which focuses on teacher self-beliefs. The study adopted a descriptive survey method for data collection. The target population was 8211 pre-school teachers in Nairobi and Kiambu counties. The sampling frame was the 2751 pre-schools in Nairobi and Kiambu counties which were clustered into sub counties and stratified random sampling was used to get ten sub counties. From each sub county, twenty pre-schools were randomly sampled with proportionate allocation from both public and private pre-schools. From each pre-school, one teacher was randomly sampled for inclusion in the study. Data was collected using a modified Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy in 2001. One hundred and ninety-four pre-school teachers filled a questionnaire which had been piloted on three pre-school teachers not used in the study. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings reveal high self-efficacy levels among pre-school teachers in Nairobi and Kiambu counties. It is envisaged that the findings from this study may inform policy at National Centre for Early Childhood Education (NACECE) and District Centres for Early Childhood Education (DICECE) in order to increase the levels of Teacher Self-Efficacy. The researcher recommends TSE scores should be used as a basis for hiring preschool teachers. Article visualizations:

Early childhood is the foundation of primary education and beyond, it is with this concern that proper implementation of the ECDE curriculum has to take place through provision of adequate and necessary support to pre-school teachers. This study investigated the administrative support that was provided to schools during the implementation of early childhood development education curriculum in Baringo North Sub County, Kenya. This study was guided by Gross et al theory on curriculum implementation which asserts that for any successful implementation, suitable conditions must be fulfilled such as administrative support. The study used descriptive research design. The study used selected schools in Baringo North Sub County, which had 120 pre-schools, 160 pre-school teachers, 120 head teachers and 5 DICECE officers. Results showed that head teachers played a major role in the implementation in purchasing some of the required resources, through initiating the parents to support the teachers though it was found that they were not adequate at the time of the study. The head teachers and DICECE officer claimed that they never received adequate support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to assist in the implementation of the ECDE curriculum. The paper recommends that for effective implementation of the curriculum, top administrative support should be provided to teachers to enhance effective curriculum implementation. Article visualizations:

Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) refers to the education that children receive during the early stage of their childhood. Early Childhood Education could also be a major input into a child’s formal education. The main purpose of this study was to investigate efficacy of County Government on financing public pre-school education in Kenya, a case of Eldoret East Sub-County, Uasin-Gishu County. This study was guided by the following objectives to assess the influence of administrative support on financing public pre-school education in Eldoret East Sub-County. This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study targeted 1 sub-county education officers, 174 Head Teachers, 174 Pre-school teachers and 174 SMC chairpersons in the Eldoret East Sub- County. It used a purposive sampling for the 1 sub-county educational officers and simple random sampling for the 52 Head Teachers, 52 Pre-school teachers, and 52 SMC chairpersons. The researcher used questionnaires. With the aid of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) descriptive (Percentage, frequency, means, standard deviation) and inferential statistical methods (Pearson Correlation Coefficient) were used to analyze and present the results. The study findings indicated that there was significant relationship between administrative support and financing pre-school education. The study concluded that infrastructural development funds for ECDE schools in the county were mainly from the County government and parents. Not all financial transactions were recorded in ECDE centers and at the same time, audits were regularly conducted on all projects. The study recommends that strategic mechanisms be put in place to lobby for financial support of ECDE programs from different stakeholders. It is further recommended that training of ECDE centre committees on financial management skills be done so as to improve on financial management. It is hoped that the findings of this study will be of great importance to policy makers on understanding the best strategies that if implemented will promote efficacies in the administration of ECDE funds. Article visualizations: