Abstract:
The rising cases of youth engagement in anti-social behaviour in Kenya present the
need to invest in teaching of character education. In Kenyan schools, different
approaches have been used to teach character education. Upon trying unique
approaches, this study explored the use of participatory visual methods in teaching
character education in early childhood settings in Eldoret East Sub-County, Kenya.
This study was guided by two objectives: to establish approaches initially used by
teachers to teach character education in early childhood settings and to explore
teachers’ experiences and views of using participatory visual methods to teach
character education in early childhood settings in Kenya. This study was anchored on
Dewey’s Constructivism Learning Theory. The interpretivist paradigm was adopted
where a qualitative approach and a multiple case study design were employed. This
study targeted grade 3 teachers from public primary schools in Eldoret East Sub
County. Purposive sampling was used to obtain 8 teachers from 4 public primary
schools. Qualitative data was generated through drawings, individual interviews and
reflective journals. Data was analysed thematically through systematic open-coding of
the raw data. The findings of this study revealed that teachers initially used teacher-
centred approaches and subject integration to teach character education. It also
revealed that participatory visual methods were new in the teaching of character
education and that they could also be suitable in teaching other subjects. This study
showed that participatory visual methods were effective in teaching character
education and also in developing talents and professional competencies in learners.
This study concluded that participatory visual methods are new approaches as an
alternative for better teaching of character education in early childhood settings. This
study recommended that pre-service and in-service teachers should receive training on
use of participatory visual methods in their respective colleges and through
professional development programmes. Policy makers should develop a separate
curriculum for character education to be taught as a standalone subject. It also
recommended the need for the new curriculum in Kenya to employ the use of
participatory visual methods in teaching to enhance learners’ competencies. Further,
other forms of participatory visual methods ought to be explored in teaching character
education.
