INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS’ TEACHING EXPERIENCE ON TEACHING OF LITERACY SKILLS AMONG GRADE ONE PUPILS IN MOMBASA, KENYA

Authors

  • Emelda Juma Olando Department of Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Margaret Mwangi Department of Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i11.4005

Keywords:

early childhood, influence, teaching, experience and literacy

Abstract

Early childhood years are crucial in children’s literacy development since the development of language and literacy begins at birth and is a lifelong process. For early childhood education to be a success, teacher experience is imperative for teaching literacy. The teachers’ experience informs the necessary literacy skills for the child which include writing, reading, speaking, listening and drawing. Policies governing basic education in Kenya do emphasize the importance of skilled, experienced teachers in the classroom, including early childhood settings. However, such requirements have not been adhered to and therefore numerous early childhood teachers lack experience in children literacy issues. This study sought to determine how teacher’s experience influences the teaching of literacy skills in primary school in Mbaraki Zone, Mombasa County, Kenya. Descriptive survey design was adopted in the study. The target population for the study comprised of 20 head teachers, 800 Grade one pupils and 40 Grade one teachers of all the twenty primary schools in Mbaraki Zone, Mombasa County, Kenya. Purposive sampling approach was used to obtain the sample for the primary school head teachers and Grade one teachers because they are relatively small. Three learners were sampled randomly from each class that had a participating teacher. The study findings revealed that majority of teachers had more than five years of experience teaching literacy skills. The inferential analysis revealed that the teaching experience had a statistically significant influence on reading (p 0.014), speaking (p 0.021), listening skills (p 0.038) as well as basic skills (p 0.019). The study calls on the ministry of education and the schools to ensure that teachers assigned to grade one should have extensive experience teaching literacy skills to promote teaching of literacy skills in the classes.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Emelda Juma Olando, Department of Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
    Emelda Juma Olando is currently a grade 2 homeroom teacher at Aga Khan Academy, Junior School, Nairobi since 2018, pursuing Master’s Degree in education, Early Childhood Education, after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education at Moi University (2014). She holds a diploma from Kenyatta University and Certificate in Early Childhood Education 2009 and 2017 respectively. She is enthusiastic with literacy skills development in early years, and this is evidenced in her story publication by Moran Publishers in 2013.
  • Margaret Mwangi, Department of Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
    Dr. Margaret Mwangi is Emelda Juma Olando’s project supervisor at Kenyatta University, Kenya. She lectures students at the school of education, Early Childhood and Special Needs Education Department. She has worked at Kenyatta University since 2010.

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Published

2021-11-08

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 11 (2021)

Section

Articles

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