Teacher Cognition about Technological Pedagogical Knowledge of a Teacher of English for ICT Integration in Secondary Schools in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

English language teaching (ELT) is an area that has changed over the years from very teacher-cantered approaches to learner-cantered ones, and these changes have brought changes in materials and technology devices. This paper examined teacher cognition about technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) of a teacher of English for ICT integration in secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Teacher Cognition and TPACK frameworks viewed from two main landscapes. Teacher cognition included teachers' thoughts about instruction and beliefs about students, classrooms, learning, and their own teaching performances, contextual factors like attitudes, thoughts and beliefs of a teacher about ICT integration. While TPACK covered personal and professional constructs of teachers involving pedagogical technological and content knowledge (TPACK). The study was based on the pragmatic world view, and utilized the convergent parallel mixed methods design embedded within mixed methods approach. Both purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample of 19 teachers of English selected from 10 secondary schools. Quantitative data were collected using the questionnaire whereas qualitative data were collected using in-depth interview. Data were sequentially analysed. Both descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to analyse quantitative data. The descriptive statistics utilized were: frequencies and percentages that were derived using the statistical package for the social science (SPSS) software and data presented in tables, graphs and short descriptions. The results of the study revealed that secondary school teachers of English in Nairobi County, Kenya lack professional and personal factors which include teachers' limited TPACK knowledge, lack of exposure to technology, lack of knowledge about ICT tools and their uses, resulting to limited knowledge and skills required to integrate ICT in instruction. The study concluded that whereas teachers of English appreciate the integration of ICT in the instructional process, did not integrate ICT in their instruction, hence recommends that teachers be provided with required support at different levels to enhance the application of ICT in language teaching; underscoring the importance of reflective practice for continued teacher development in ICT.