The internal curriculum supervision of life skills education in public secondary schools in Lugari sub County, Kenya

Abstract

The internal curriculum supervision (ICS) is very vital for effective implementation of the school curriculum. The internal curriculum supervisors (ICSs) have a vast of roles to play to enhance effective implementation of the school curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of (ICSs) in the implementation of Life Skills Education (LSE) in secondary schools in Kenya. The objectives of this study were; to explore the extent to which the ICSs are versed with LSE objectives in the secondary school curriculum, to investigate the type of instructional materials the ICSs provide to the teachers of LSE, to examine the extent to which the ICSs facilitate staff development programmes to teachers of LSE, to determine the frequency to which the ICSs oversee the preparation of the professional document of teachers of LSE, to assess how often the ICSs undertake classroom observation on LSE lessons. The study was based on the behavioural theory of leadership that describes instruction leadership behaviour. The study used a mixed method research methodology. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised of 19 public secondary school principals, 19 heads of guidance and counselling and 290 teachers in Lugari Sub County, Kakamega County. The sample size for the study involved 165 teachers of LSE who were selected using systematic random sampling. Principals and heads of guidance and counselling were selected purposively. Questionnaires for heads of guidance and counselling and teachers of LSE, interview schedules for the principals and document analysis and observation checklist were used to provide quantitative and qualitative data. The collected data was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation. The findings were presented in tables, charts and graphs. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis method. The results of the study showed that LSE curriculum in public secondary schools in Lugari Sub County was partially implemented. The internal curriculum supervisors (head teachers and guidance and counselling teachers) lacked adequate knowledge on the objectives of LSE. It was also found out that LSE materials were inadequate in majority of schools. The ICSs rarely organised staff development programmes, monitored, assessed or observed LSE lesson in classrooms. The study recommended that due to partial implementation of LSE, the ministry of education need to organise for workshops and seminars for ICSs and LSE teachers to emphasise the meaning and importance of LSE objectives. The ICSs need to provide the right materials needed for the teaching of LSE in public secondary schools in Lugari Sub County. Seminars, workshops and staff clinics need to be organised to equip teachers of LSE with relevant knowledge. Regular checking of teachers‟ professional documents like schemes of work and lesson plans and regular classroom observations must be conducted to ensure effective implementation of LSE. The findings may be useful to the MOE to ascertain the level of supervision of LSE. It may create awareness, to ICSs on how best they can supervise LSE and it may also be useful to teachers of LSE since it provides information on the assistance they should get from ICSs to effectively implement LSE.