Abstract
Tutors are the most powerful and influential contributors to the achievement of teacher education curriculum objectives. Tutor beliefs about a knowledge-based curriculum upon which academic rationalism is premised is paramount in intellectual development of teacher trainees. This study sought to determine tutors’ preference on the choice of instructional approaches; to determine tutors’ level of academic rationalism orientation; and to determine the relationship between tutors’ academic rationalism orientation and choice of instructional approaches. This study adopted a correlational design with a mixed methods approach. Tutors’ questionnaire, HODs’ interview guide, classroom observation and document analysis were used to collect data. Sample population involved 178 tutors, 35 HODs, 20 classrooms and 4 documents purposively sampled from five primary teacher training colleges in Kenya. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the study variables as per the study objectives. The study found that there was a significant relationship between tutors’ academic rationalism orientation and the choice of instructional approaches they used. However, despite tutors’ beliefs on knowledge-based curriculum, there was found to exist methodological gaps as tutors experienced challenges in supervising teacher trainees during teaching practice and in comprehensive coverage of the syllabus involving the practical component. The study concluded that there is need to improve teacher management and professional development so as to improve the quality of education in primary teacher training colleges in Kenya. The study recommended review of deployment of tutors by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to primary teachers training colleges to capture tutors who have undergone training in teacher education methodology. The study also recommended regular in-service training for tutors to update their skills on the current trends on use of learner centered instructional approaches.
Highlights
Academic rationalism is concerned with the ‘what of education’
More attention should be paid to ensure that these resources are well utilized to help achieve teacher education curriculum objectives by improving quality of education offered in primary teacher training colleges in Kenya
This study has demonstrated that proper management of tutors is vital in addressing the challenges they are facing, thereby, improving on quality teacher education curriculum delivery
Summary
Academic rationalism is concerned with the ‘what of education’ It is knowledge based so mastery of content is the key concern for academic rationalists. Tutors with an academic rationalism orientation exhibit subject specific pedagogy and assessment skills and have a detailed understanding of the content knowledge of the subject they teach. Tanriverdi and Tezcan [2] assert that subject specialists should focus on selecting content that is most worth teaching, display in depth mastery of subject matter and demonstrate a high degree of intellectual understanding on the knowledge of the subjects they teach in order to produce specialists in their disciplines. Academic rationalism orientation of tutors is critical in the implementation of teacher education curriculum and in addressing the proposed competency-based curriculum reforms in primary teacher training colleges. Academic rationalism has the implication on how tutors equip the trainees with the 21st Century knowledge through various content areas and the instructional approaches they use [17]
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