Assessment of availability and utilization of audio-visual instructional resources for Oral literature in Butere district secondary schools, Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, the teaching of Oral Literature in public secondary schools is a matter of great concern. Performance of secondary schools in Literature has been poor for a long time and gets worse in spite of the competitive teacher training programs in the country. Little is known about the availability and utilization of audio-visual resources to improve performance in Literature. The purpose of this study was to assess the availability and utilization of audio-visual teaching resources in teaching Oral Literature among high schools in Butere District. The specific objectives were; to find out availability of audio-visual instructional resources, to determine the utilisation level of audio-visual resources in teaching and learning Oral Literature, to evaluate Oral Literature knowledge and skills in developing audio-visual instructional resources and to describe challenges faced in adoption and use of audio-visual resources in teaching and learning Oral Literature. Bruner's theory of discovery learning guided the study. The target population comprised of25 headteachers or their deputies and 75 Oral Literature teachers. The sample size comprised of 25 headteachers or their deputies and 63 Oral Literature teachers. The instruments for data collection comprised of observation checklist, interview guides and a self administered questionnaire. Validity and reliability of instruments was determined through a pilot study and discussion with supervisors. The results from the field were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. Analyzed data was presented using tables, pie charts, graphs and narrative form for the case of qualitative data. The study established that most audio-visual instructional resources were unavailable in many schools. The common audio-visual instructional resources identified were; textbooks, storybooks, short forms, poems, journals, narrative collections, drums, horns, cassettes and resources persons. Those devices that were unavailable in most schools were; accruements, still pictures, pianos, slides and videos. Teachers (63%) were found to have requisite skills in utilizing the audio-visual resources but this was not the actual case in teaching and learning. the reasons they gave to underutilization is lack of these resources in schools, high cost of these instruments, scarcity, requires a lot of time and lack of places and facilities to store these resources. The study recommends that schools should invest more in acquisition of modem audio-visual instructional media, government need to support schools in acquisition of audio-visual instructional media and teachers need to change their attitude towards the utilisation of audio-visual instructional media in teaching of Oral Literature.