Using Participatory visual methods to teach character education in Early Childhood settings in Eldoret East Sub-County, Kenya

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.