Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy (JAEP)
Volume-5 | Issue-10 | 308-319
Original Research Article
The Nature of Classroom Environment for Drawing in the Acquisition of Communication Skills in Early Years Education in Kenya
Tonui Betty Chepng’etich, Musamas Joesphine Kemboi
Published : Oct. 19, 2021
Abstract
A conversation is the very heart of schooling and pedagogy. Studies globally and regionally indicate a low reading and communication attainment by children, with 90% of them in 3rd world countries not attaining the average levels required. The majority across Africa struggle to read and communicate, which leads to meagre academic performance, Kenya is no exception to this trend. This scenario has been associated partly with challenges related to communication skills acquisition. Therefore, how teachers' assist learners to obtain the ability to converse is a question in this study. This study sought to explore examine the nature of classroom environment for drawing in the acquisition of communication skills in early years’ education in Kenya. The study was guided by Montesorri model and Dewey's social constructivism theory. The study adopted a pragmatic philosophical approach which allows for a mixed method research design. The study's population comprised of 6 ECDE sub-county Early Years Education program officers, 1201 EYE schools and EYE teachers and 53,276 PP2 class learners in Nandi County. The study stratified Nandi County into six sub-counties and used Yamane formula to arrive at the sample of schools. 300 teachers, one per school was purposively sampled out and 15 teachers were selected through convenience sampling for the interviews. Non-Proportionate purposive sampling was used to pick the drawings from the pupils. A census of 6 EYE program officers was picked as respondents. The research instruments used in this study were questionnaires, interview schedules and direct observational schedule. A mixed approach research design was used whereby quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data were analyzed using themes. There is a substantial positive relationship between the classroom nature of environments in the acquisition of communication skills (β2=0.245, p<0.05). This was supported by views of the teachers and program officers who were interviewed, and observations made on children’s drawing and the classroom environment. The study concluded that the nature of the classroom environment are not adequately prepared with content knowledge on drawing since drawing is an effective tool in EYE and teachers can utilize it to assist learners acquire their communication skills. Therefore, the study recommends refresher courses and further training, especially on how to organize and manage the EYE classrooms as stated in the EYE curriculum design, to improve the teachers' pedagogy in drawing.