An Evaluation of the Teaching Methods used by the Christian Religious Education Teachers in Enhancing Secondary School Students' Acquisition of Moral Skills in Kisumu East District, Kenya

Abstract

This investigation was motivated by the extant evidence which indicates that social, economic and political vices are on the rise in Kenya. For example the Kenya police report indicates that nationally crime among the youths stood at 22% between the years 2004 and 2006 from 08% in the period 1998 to 2003.Kisumu east was among the most hit areas with the crime index at 38% in 2006.1n addition to this school drop out stood at 31% whereas HIV and AIDS prevalence stood at 12.5% in the same period. This scenario created a need to examine the mechanisms put in place by the Kenyan society to enhance moral growth of the learner more so in Kisumu East district. The study sought to evaluate the methods used by the Christian Religious Education (C.RE) teachers in secondary schools with the view of determining whether or not, the methods equipped the learners with the ability to identify moral values in societal context. The design of the study was descriptive survey and it was conducted in Kisumu East District of Nyanza Province in the Republic of Kenya. The study population consisted of forty seven schools, forty eight teachers and three thousand two hundred and twenty five form two students. Using stratified sampling technique, fifteen mixed secondary schools, five from each of the three administrative units in the district were randomly selected for the study. A population of three hundred and forty three students determined by use of the Fischer formula and then simple randomly sampled formed the sample. Added to the above sixteen C.R.E teachers within the study schools were sampled purposively for the study. Data was collected as follows: the teachers were observed using a rating scale as they taught C.R.E. Secondly, the learners were given a test to ascertain their affective achievements with regards to value identification in societal context and an in-depth interview was conducted with the teachers. Data was also generated through documents analysis in which the teacher's schemes of work, the syllabus and curriculum guides were scrutinized to determine their adequacy in addressing the learners' value needs. To ensure the usefulness of the instruments in collecting data, they were piloted to ascertain their reliability. They were also critiqued and corrected by the experts from the faculty of Education to determine their face validity. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, means and percentages then presented in form of tables. Information from the interviews and documents was analyzed qualitatively by transcription and organization into categories as per the emergent themes then reported and presented in narrative form. Data obtained from the instruments showed that, teachers of C.R.E in secondary schools were not adequately using the right methods of inculcating values in the learners. The research further revealed that the teachers were not acquainted with the valuing models that are supposed 'to be used in teaching morals: Secondly, critical thinking and social relating skills were inadequately taught to the learners. The teachers were not aware of the assessment modes to be used in establishing learner identification and acquisition of moral values. The research concluded that moral decadence experienced in Kisumu East district is due to teachers' inability to use the right methods of teaching values using C.RE. Due to this, there is an urgent need to review the C.R.E. teaching curriculum guide to emphasize on valuing, critical thinking and social relating skills. The examination should also include assessment in affective achievements by the learner. The findings of this study are useful to the designers of curriculum at Kenya Institute of Education and the C.RE teachers in a secondary school classroom since it contributes to the theory and practice of value education