Instructional innovations applied to enhance the teaching of Kiswahili in secondary schools of Busia County, Kenya

Abstract

Pedagogical practices that apply innovations all over the world are considered as a strategy of transforming the quality of education. The teaching of Kiswahili in public secondary schools in Kenya has undergone reforms to improve its quality. Despite the efforts made by the government and other stakeholders in education to improve the teaching and learning, the teaching of Kiswahili continues to face challenges. A large number of teachers face criticism for neglect of appropriate teaching approaches. Concerns raised on how teachers incorporate instructional resource materials and apply innovations to manage the learning environment need address. The focus of this study was to investigate the instructional innovations applied to enhance the teaching of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Kenya. The objectives of the study were, to find out instructional innovations applied by teachers of Kiswahili in Busia County to coordinate learning activities. The study examined how teachers incorporate resource materials as innovation to enhance instruction. It examined how teachers apply innovations to manage the learning environment. Lastly, the study examined possibility of mobilization of incentives as innovations. The Constructivist language learning, theory guided this study. The study adopted mixed method approach and descriptive survey design. It targeted all the 92 public secondary schools in Busia County, out of which, 28 schools participated Also included were 74 Kiswahili language teachers and 281 form four students from the sampled schools.The selection of schools and teachers was through stratified sampling, while students was through systematic random sampling technique. Data collection instruments included questionnaires for teachers and students, classroom observation and document analysis schedules. Validity of the instruments was established through expert opinion, while reliability through pilot studies. Data analysis was through descriptive statistics in form of frequencies and percentages. The qualitative data was interpreted and presented in form of narrations. The quantitative was presented form of figures and tables. From the findings; few cases were observed where teachers used resource materials as innovations. The study found out that innovations applied to manage the learning environment and incentives applied as innovations enhance learning. Based on these findings, this study recommended support be given to teachers through formation of collaborations, mentorship programs and other learning networks to encourage adoption of innovations in teaching. In addition, the study recommended, formation of regional language resource centers in county education offices, to offer support to teachers to incorporate innovations to improve teaching. It is hoped, the findings and recommendations of this study, will be useful in filling gaps on innovations in teaching.The findings will provide knowledge for curriculum developers and teachers to enhance the learning of Kiswahili.