Abstract
The purpose of this research was to establish whether there was a significant relationship between teachers’ attitudes and levels of utilization of instructional materials (IM) in Pre-Primary Schools in Kenya. The study adopted the Ecological Systems Theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design and data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. A sample of 164 teachers comprising of 76.2% females and 23.8% males participated in the study. Results established that 86.4% of the teachers had positive attitudes towards the instructional practice. In terms of utilization of instructional materials, the researchers determined that 62.1% of the respondents achieved high levels while 37.9% attained low levels of utilization of instructional materials across the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) activity areas. The Chi-Square results revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ attitudes and utilization of instructional materials (χ2 = 4.094; d.f.= 2; p = 0.043). Further analysis using the regression test revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ positive attitudes and levels of utilization of instructional materials (β =0.516; p = 0.001). These findings established that teachers who had positive attitudes attained higher levels of utilization of instructional materials in their classrooms compared to their counterparts who had negative attitudes. Therefore, it was concluded that teachers’ attitudes were a significant factor in promoting the utilization of instructional materials in ECDE activities. This implies that a positive attitude is an important attribute of a pre-primary school teacher. Therefore, there is a need to inculcate positive attitudes towards the utilization of instructional materials among teachers during pre-service and in-service training sessions to promote the best practices in instruction at the pre-primary school level.
Highlights
Pre-primary education is an integral part of Kenya’s system of education and it forms the foundation of formal education
According to Adebayo and Adigun (2018), the use of instructional materials in schools in Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, Nigeria indicated that a majority of the teachers used instructional materials in teaching sciences as all the respondents indicated that there were instructional materials readily available and they had used them in their instructional exercises
These results indicated that teachers who had positive attitudes toward utilization of IM attained significantly higher levels of utilization of instructional materials in their classrooms compared to their counterparts who had negative attitudes
Summary
Pre-primary education is an integral part of Kenya’s system of education and it forms the foundation of formal education. Anini (2011) observed that instructional materials for children should appeal to their natural curiosities as well as the desire to explore and experiment. Omayio (2013) observed that instructional materials ought to stimulate the child’s natural curiosity, enabling their desire to explore the world, which in turn provides children with opportunities to broaden their knowledge. There is inadequate information in Kenya on the effect of teachers’ attitudes on the utilization of instructional materials, thereby justifying the need for such a study in pre-primary schools in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between teachers’ attitudes and utilization of instructional materials in pre-primary schools. The null hypothesis stated that there was no statistically significant relationship between teachers’ attitudes and utilization of instructional materials in ECDE
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