Abstract:
Studies confirm that one of the leading indicators of progress towards academic
achievement is proficiency in reading. Studies further prove that effective classroom
instruction in the early grades is the solution to creating strong, competent readers. In
order for children to develop healthy dispositions toward reading and literacy,
experiences in early years must engage children actively in the process of learning.
Despite these findings, the majority of instructions in Early Childhood Developemnt
and Education (ECDE) is still through conventional teaching where the teacher writes
on a board and speaks while learners listen and look and try to absorb facts and also
through less purposed experiences. The purpose of this study was to find out if the
ineptness in reading in the primary school in Bureti Sub-County originates from the
practices employed in teaching early reading. The objectives of the study were to find
out the strategies used in teaching early reading in ECDE; to identify environmental,
administrative and teacher factors that facilitate and those that hinder the teacher’s
choice of experiential strategies for teaching early reading and to examine if the
teaching strategies developed by teachers to facilitate children’s early reading
conform to the basic tenets of experiential learning. This work was anchored on the
paradigm of pragmatism and was based on Kolb’s theory of experiential learning.
The survey research design was adapted for the study. It was carried out in 43 ECDE
centres and 68 primary schools drawn from the 5 educational zones in Bureti Sub-
County. A sample of 95 ECDE and 172 primary school teachers in both private and
public schools and five education officers were selected using stratified, purposive
and simple random sampling techniques. The data for the study was collected using
an observation checklist, questionnaire and interview schedule. Data was analyzed
using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that the use of the
recommended experiential method for ECDE had numerous shortcomings that
hindered its effectual implementation in teaching early reading in Bureti Sub-County
and therefore concluded that this is the starting place for poor reading at later levels
as revealed by the Uwezo report.Teachers’ personal characteristics were largely to
blame because these had the leading influence on the teachers choice of experiential
strategies. Benefits of the findings will be enhanced understanding of the use of
experiential method in teaching in early childhood classrooms which will inform
evidence-based policy on provision of ECDE in an integrated learning package that
can in turn inform curriculum planning. The study proposes that in order to get the
teaching of reading better in ECDE, the county government should step-up In-service
training for teachers and provision of learning materials.