Abstract:
The study investigated the attitude of students and teachers towards integration of
African Traditional Religion (ATR) in Christian Religious Education (CRE).The
Ministry of Education recommended the teaching of African Traditional Religion
(ATR) in recognition of its multi-religious society. The newly independent nation was
in search of its own genuine culture. African Traditional Religion content (ATR) in
Secondary School is taught at form one and form four levels and examined by the
Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) in Paper 1 question 6. ATR is mostly
covered in form one and covers topics such as African concepts of God, ancestors and
spirits and African moral and cultural values. Learning of ATR concepts present
learners with numerous challenges making learners to regard it as something of the
past and could not help them solve contemporary issues. Life approach is not
frequently used in instruction of ATR content because ATR has been overtaken by
contemporary issues such that citing a life experience is indeed difficult. The study
was guided by the following objectives, to find out the attitude of teachers’ and
students’ on the importance of integrating ATR in CRE, to establish teachers’ and
students’ attitude on the integration of ATR in CRE, to establish how CRE lessons
were conducted in schools and classrooms, to find out problems teachers’ and
students face in CRE lessons and to establish teachers’ and students’ suggestions on
how the integration of ATR in CRE could be improved. The study was carried out
among CRE teachers and forms two students in Homa-bay County. Simple random
sampling technique was employed in choosing the sample size. Questionnaires and
interviews were used to collect data. Data was analyzed through Statistical Package of
Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. The results could be useful to policy makers in
the ministry of Education, Curriculum developers at the Kenya institute of education.
CRE teachers may also benefit in that the results may help them adjust their
instructional strategies.
