An investigation into Teachers' knowledge and appreciation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Children in primary schools in Busia County Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to determine the teachers' knowledge and appreciation of Attention Deficit Hyperactively Disorder (ADHD) children in primary schools in Busia District, Kenya. The main aim of the study was to establish the challenges children with ADHD faced in classroom instruction in a regular classroom. The theoretical framework hinged on the Carl Rodgers theory of person centered perspective which holds that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth. The objectives of the study were to: establish the existence of ADHD children in primary school classrooms; determine the extent to which attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects the performance of children in middle level primary school; find out what intervention measures were put in place to ensure children with ADHD benefit from primary education; examine the challenges that teachers face in the instructional process of handling ADHD children; assess the effect of ADHD in terms of gender. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was 420 teachers and 6 Ministry of Education officers. The sample population drew 125 teachers and 6 Education officers. The population was drawn from 25 primary schools using simple random sampling technique while the education officers were raised using purposive sampling. The study used questionnaires and interview schedule as instruments of primary data collection. Some document analysis was done to corroborate the primary data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study findings provided guidelines upon which conclusions and recommendations were made on how best ADHD children should be handled in schools. The results point to the need for the Ministry of Education to develop strategic teacher training policies and methodologies that would enable teachers to identify and handle the ADHD children - who are the forgotten minority. The results of this study have practical implications for parents, teachers, counselors and Ministry of Education policy makers.