Influence of Teachers‟ Preparedness on English Curriculum Implementation in Kenyan Schools

Abstract

The Government of Kenya (GoK) touts teacher-preparedness as a critical factor that shows the equipping of a
professional teacher for quality performance and satisfactory learner performance in national examinations.
Despite the efforts by the GoK, there is a worrying trend of students completing school with reading and writing
difficulties. The Kenya National Examinations Council (2020) contends students‟ poor performance in English
for the past 5 years, falling short of the average mean of 50%. Descriptive research design was used. A sample of
44 principals, 88 teachers and 345 form three students across 50 public secondary schools in Kakamega North,
were targeted. A questionnaire, interview schedule, classroom practice observation schedule, and focus group
discussion guide were used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically whereas quantitative data
was presented through tables, percentages and frequencies. Chi-square test was performed to test hypothesis.
Response rate was 79.5%. The findings indicated that majority (97.1%) of the teachers participated in
coursebooks and other revision textbook in-service courses as per the changing trends in teaching of English
whereas ICT workshops had low percentages, a gap pointing on teacher level of preparedness. The findings from
principals indicated, teachers of English sometimes declined to take up ICT in-service trainings for fear of
additional responsibilities in school. Findings from FGDs show, teachers were rated average by most students in
terms of preparedness in material use in classrooms. On determining the extent to which teacher level of
preparedness influence implementation of English curriculum in school, teachers‟ opinions had a Mean of
4.0000; Standard deviation of 3.08338; and Skewness of .397, indicating teacher level of preparedness has a high
and strong positive influence on implementation of English curriculum in school if well checked and applied.
The study established a significant relationship between teacher level of preparedness and implementation of
English curriculum (p=0.007<0.05). Findings concur with KNEC (2020), contending students‟ poor performance
in English as unsatisfying.