Publication: Factors affecting implementation of geography curriculum in public secondary schools in Embakasi central sub-county, Nairobi county, Kenya
Total Views 51
total viewsTotal Downloads 20
total downloadsDate
2015-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mount Kenya University
Cite this Item
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the factors affecting geography curriculum in public
secondary schools in Embakasi Central in Nairobi County. The study was guided by the
following objectives: to find out the factors affecting geography curriculum in public secondary
schools, secondly, to find out the extent of Geography teachers involvement in the curriculum
development process in public secondary schools in Embakasi Central, to identify the
availability and use of teaching and learning resources and the teaching methods used by
Geography teachers, to determine the level of the support of the school administration and
QASOs in enhancing Geography curriculum implementation process through supervision, and
professional development and to establish the challenges facing Geography teachers in the
process of implementing curriculum. Descriptive design was used for the study. The study was
carried out in Embakasi Central sub-county, Nairobi County in Kenya. The target population for
the study was 42 qualified secondary school teachers from 4 public schools within Embakasi
Central in Nairobi County and employed by the T.S.C. A total of 4 schools were randomly
sampled for the study. Systematic sampling procedure was used to sample schools for the actual
study. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample the respondents for the study. The
technique was chosen because only a specific group of people were sampled for the study. The
researcher sampled averagely 2 Geography teachers from each of the schools studied and the
school principal. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used as instruments for data
collection. Questionnaires were used to get data from teachers while interview schedules was
used to collect data from the school principals. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies,
percentages, means and standard deviations was used to describe the data; this was done using
the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The analyzed data was presented in form of
frequency tables, bar graphs and pie charts. The study found out from data collected and
analyzed that the major challenges facing teachers in the implementation of Geography
curriculum in secondary schools included: incomplete syllabus coverage, inadequacy of teaching
and learning resources, disconnect between how marking is done in KCSE and what is covered
in class and in text books, perception that the subject is too hard thus only a few students choose
it, inadequate funds for field work, poor performance in National examinations and inadequate
time allocation for Geography as a subject. The recommendations which were drawn by the
researcher to help remedy problem: regular supervision and inspection to ensure that teachers
prepare professional documents, use teaching aids and the right methodology in teaching,
teachers should be involved in the development of the curriculum, schools should provide
adequate resources for effective implementation of the curriculum and QASOs should ensure
frequent visits for consistent assessment of schools and schools B.O.M to ensure that employ
trained teachers who meet the set standards.