Greener Journal of Educational Research

Greener Journal of  Educational Research Vol. 5(2), pp. 037-049, March 2015

 ISSN: 2276-7789 

Research Paper

Manuscript Number: 020915029

DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJER.2015.2.020915029

 

Implications of Teacher Competence and Medium of Instruction on the Implementation of Kenyan Sign Language Curriculum in Secondary Schools in Kenya: Analytical Assessment

 

*¹Lenod  Salanwa  Ilondanga, ²Dr. P. A. Oracha,

³Prof. L. O. A. Othuon and ⁴Dr. E. M. Simatwa

 

¹Box 235 Mumias. E-mail: lenodilondanga @yahoo. com. Tel: +254722810353

²Department of Special Needs Education, Private bag Maseno University. E-mail: poracha @ yahoo.com, Tel: +254713957116.

³Department of Educational psychology, Private bag Maseno. E-mail: lothuonus @yahoo. com. Tel:+254714642524

⁴Department of Educational Management and Foundations, Private bag Maseno, E-mail: simatwae @yahoo. com. Mobile:  +254735261121

 

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: lenodilondanga @yahoo. com 

Abstract

Curriculum implementation is a crucial, difficult and unavoidable phase in curriculum development. It entails putting into practice the officially prescribed courses of study as intended. The way a curriculum is introduced can create a discrepancy between the proposed curriculum and the actual practice in schools. For deaf students to achieve the goals of education there was need to include Kenyan Sign Language in the curriculum. This was attempted in 2007 in standard one, five and form one classes. It was noticeable that this was the same year teachers were called upon to prepare materials and be in-serviced for the implementation. In 2008 there was an outcry of teachers expressing their discomfort in teaching Kenyan sign language without adequate preparations. The purpose of this study therefore, was to examine teacher factors during the implementation of Kenyan sign language curriculum in Kenya. Descriptive survey design was used in the study. The target population comprised of 15 sign language teachers from 4 secondary schools spread out in four districts in Kenya namely; Nyeri, Mumias, Rongo and Bondo. The sample size consisted of 13 teachers. The study employed saturated sampling technique because the population was too small. Data was collected by use of questionnaire, interview schedule and lesson observation checklist. A pilot study was conducted in one of the schools selected through simple random sampling technique.  The instruments used in the study were presented to Lecturers in the faculty of Education at Maseno University to ascertain their face validity. Reliability was computed using Cranbach’s Alpha which showed 0.361, 0.440, 0.481 and 0.468 for objectives, content, teaching materials and evaluation respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented as frequency counts, percentages and charts. Qualitative data was collected, categorized into emergent themes which were reported. Results indicated that teachers had professional certificates, attended in-service courses and had experience; teachers used different media of instruction Based on the findings, this study concluded that although teachers’ level of competent was average they needed proficiency examination to improve. Although teachers used Kenya sign language as the language for instruction there was no uniformity in the medium of instruction.

 

Key words: Teacher competence, Implementation, Kenyan sign language, Medium of instruction.

Return to Content       View [Full Article - PDF]    

[Full Article - HTML]              [Full Article - EPUB]

References

 

Abagi, O. (1997). Status of education in Kenya: Indicators for planning policy formulation. Nairobi: Institute of policy analysis and research.

 

Adoyo, P. O. (2004). Kenyan sign language and simultaneous communication: Differential effects on memory and comprehension in deaf children in Kenya. Kisumu; Kenya: Lake Publisher Enterprise.

 

Adoyo, P. O. (2002). Stichproben: Emergent approaches towards sign bilingualism in deaf education in Kenya. Retrieved from  http://www.uninie.ac./ecco/stichproben  June 14 2008

 

Akach, P.O. (2001). Kenyan sign language dictionary. Nairobi: KNAD.

 

Baker, C. et al (1978). ASL: A look at its history structure and community. T.J Publisher. Retrieved  from http://wwww.geocities.Com.heartland/ridge/html September 11 2008

 

Bekalo, S. & Welford, G. (2000). Practical activity in Ethiopian secondary physical sciences: Implications for policy and practice of the match between the intended and the implemented curriculum. Research Papers in Education, Vol 15 No. 2 pp185-212.

 

Berker, J. (2011). History of sign language. Retrieved October 04 2008 from about.com/cs/signfeats/a/signcareers.htm

 

Butterworth, R. & Flodin, M.(1995). American sign language. Published by Berkley group. Retrieved June 18 2008 from http://www.sotan.ac.uk

 

Brindley, G. & Hood, S. (1990). Curriculum innovation in adult ESL. In G. Brindley (Ed.) The second language curriculum in action Pg. 232-248. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.

 

Cohen, L & Manion, C. (1994). Research methods in education. London: Croom Helm Ltd.

 

Connelly, F. M., & Lantz, O. C. (1991). Definitions of curriculum: An introduction. In A. Lewy (Ed.), The international encyclopaedia of curriculum pg. 15-18. New York: Pergamon Press

 

Chhem, R.K. (2001). Curriculum design and implementation. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books  October 06 2008

 

Dalin, P. (1978). Limits to education change. Macmillan Press Ltd.

 

Elmore, R. & Sykes, G. (1992). Curriculum policy. In P. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum Pg 185-215. New York: Macmillan.

 

Fullan, M. (1992). Successful school improvement: The implementation perspective and beyond. Buckingham: Open University press.

 

Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of education change. New York: Teachers college press.

 

Fullan, M., & Stiegelbauer, S. (1991). The new meaning of educational change (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

 

Garet, M.S. (2001). What Makes Professional Development Effective? American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 38, No. 4 pg. 915–945.

 

Goldblatt, P., & Smith, D. (2005). Cases for teacher development: Preparing for classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage publisher.

 

Gregory, S., & Hartley, M.G. (1991). Constructing deafness. Britain: Pinter Publisher.

 

Hawes, H. (1981). Curriculum and quality in african primary schools. Britain: Longman group Ltd.

 

Liddell, S. K. (2003). Grammar, gesture, and meaning in american sign language. Mouton: Cambridge University Press.

 

Ministry of Education. (2004). Secondary syllabus for learners with hearing impairment: Kenyan sign language. Nairobi: K.I.E.

 

Moores, F. D. (1996). Educating the deaf. Psychology, principles and practices. Houghton: Miflin company.

 

Mugenda, O. M., & Mugenda, A. G. (1999). Research methods: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Nairobi. African Centre for Technology Studies Press.

 

Mule, L. (1999). Indigenous language in school curriculum. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books on June 17, 2008.

 

Ndurumo, M. (1987). Development and implementation of sign language in Kenya. Helsinki: The Finnish Association.

 

Okombo, O. (1994). Kenyan sign language: Some attitudinal and cognitive issues in the evolution of a language community. Hamburg: Signum.

 

Okumbe, J. A. (1998). Educational management theory & practice. Nairobi: University press.

 

Onyango, O. J. (2008). Kenyan sign language. Retrieved from http://ren.wikipedia/org/wiki  July 06 2008

 

Orodho,J. A. (2004). Techniques of writing research proposal and reports in education and social sciences. Nairobi: Masola Publisher.

 

O’Sullivan, M. C. (2002). Reform implementation and the realities within which teachers work: A Namibian case study. Compare, Vol.32 No.2, Pg 219-237.

 

Posner, J. G. (1992). Analysing the curriculum. Newyork: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

 

Republic of Kenya, (1999).Totally integrated quality education and training report (TIQET) Nairobi: Government printer.

 

Republic of Kenya, (2010). The proposed constitution of Kenya. Nairobi: Government Printer

 

Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Rod, R. B., & Flodin, M. (1995). History of sign language. New York: Berkley publisher Company.

 

Sani, F. & Todman, J. (2006). Experimental design and statistics for psychology. Sage: Blackwell publisher.

 

Segoria, L. P., & Hudson, D.M. (2009). Implementing education reform. EFL Teachers   perspective in ELT Journal. Vol. 2 Pg 154-162

 

Shiundu, J. O., & Omulando, J. S. (1992).Curriculum theory and practice in Kenya. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.

 

Snyder, J., Bolin, F., & Zumwalt, K. (1992). Curriculum implementation. In Jackson. P (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum Pg. 402-435. New York: Macmillan.

 

Stokoe, W. C. (2001). Sign language versus spoken languages. Gallaudet University Press. A journal on Sign Language Studies  Vol.1 No. 4, Pg 425-436. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/html  September 15 2008

 

Upton, G. (1988). Staff training and special education needs. London. David Fulton Publisher.

 

Weisel, A. (1998). Issues unresolved: New perspective on language and deaf education. U.S: Gallaudet University Press.  Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books? on September 11 2008.