Assessment of teacher participation in english curriculum development in secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Teacher participation in curriculum development is a decision-making process widely recognized as an avenue to tapping on teachers’ knowledge and experience gained from constant interaction with learners and the curriculum at school to enrich the national curriculum particularly in the centralized curriculum development systems such as Kenya. Further, the National Curriculum Policy (NCP) in Kenya mandates the County Education Board (CEB) to research into and propose content that will relate the local needs to the national curriculum. However, this policy has not been operationalized at the counties in development of curriculum content yet it is intended to involve teachers in enriching the curriculum which has substantial influence on interpretation of the curriculum in use. This study adapted Taba’s (1962) theory of curriculum development that considers teachers as key to curriculum development. Teacher participation is aimed at minimizing the discrepancy between intentions of curriculum developers and actual curriculum use as manifested in variations in student achievement. In Vihiga County, English has had a mean of 4.44 against a national mean of 4.52 for 2021-2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination. The purpose of this study was to assess teacher participation in development of the English curriculum in secondary schools in Kenya. Objectives of the study were to: explore teachers’ views on relevance of the English curriculum, assess teacher expertise for participation in curriculum development, assess the support for teacher participation in curriculum development and to determine application of NCP on teacher participation in development of curriculum content. The study was based on descriptive design. The target population of 572 consisted of 157 Principals and 412 teachers of English drawn from secondary schools in Vihiga County Kenya, the chairperson of CEB, the County Quality Assurance and Standards Officer (CQASO) in Vihiga County and the chairperson of Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) English subject panel. Sample sizes of 70 Principals and 184 teachers of English were calculated using Yamane’s (1967) formula and respondents selected using simple random sampling technique while the chairperson of CEB, the CQASO and the chairperson of KICD English subject panel were selected using purposive sampling technique. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data. Validity of the questionnaire was ascertained by experts in the field of study from Maseno University. Reliability of the questionnaire was established through a pilot study and accepted at r value of .7589. Qualitative data was analyzed by generating thematic categories. Quantitative data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Results of this study are significant to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and central curriculum developers in enhancing teacher expertise and support for participation in curriculum development. The findings established that relevance of the English curriculum was limited in relation to learning needs. Findings also revealed that teachers of English had inadequate curriculum development expertise and limited support essential for operationalization of the policy on development of curriculum content. The study recommended that teacher expertise and support be enhanced through collaborative effort between central curriculum developers and MOE for operationalization of NCP to enable teacher engagement in reflective practice that will improve relevance and development of the curriculum.