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TEACHER RELATED FACTORS INFLUENCING IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM AT LOWER PRIMARY IN LUANDA SUB-COUNTY, VIHIGA COUNTY KENYA
Kenya is currently rolling out the competency-based curriculum at primary school level. The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher related factors that influence implementation of competency-based curriculum at the lower primary school level in Luanda sub-county, Vihiga County Kenya. Four objectives guided the study. They were: to determine how teachers’ professional qualifications, pedagogical content knowledge, technological skills, and perceptions’ influence implementation of CBC at the lower primary school level. The study used descriptive survey design. The study targeted 50 head teachers, 620 lower primary school teachers and 900 Grade 3 pupils. All the respondents were sampled using simple random sampling technique. A sample of 15 head teachers, 186 teachers and 90 pupils was selected for the study. Data were collected using questionnaires for teachers, interview guides for headteachers and focus group discussion guides for the pupils. Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study findings showed that teachers and headteachers agreed that teachers’ qualifications influence implementation of competency based curriculum (teachers: M = 2.86; headteachers: M = 2.98). Majority of the teachers (87.1%) rated themselves as having sufficient content knowledge to implement competency based curriculum and a similar percentage (87.1%) were of the opinion that content knowledge influences how teachers engage with learners, influences what they learn and how well teachers can use instructional materials; thereby curriculum implementation. Teachers (80.71%) were of the view that they were well equipped with pedagogical skills required to facilitate implementation of competency based curriculum and they could use different teaching and learning methods. Headteachers equally agreed and said that how teachers handle content inside of a classroom is key to implementation of competency-based curriculum. From the findings, only a small percentage of teachers (8.0%) said they had limited exposure to ICT tools and knowledge of using them. The teachers rated their perceived ICT knowledge and skill as moderate, M = 3.18; SD =1.14. Overall, it was clear that teachers perceived ICT efficacy was low (M = 2.98; SD 1.63). Most teachers were not using technology to deliver content most of the time (M =2.21; SD = 1.55). However, an overwhelming majority (84.69%) was of the opinion that ICT influences implementation of competency based curriculum positively since the curriculum is digitally-based. The findings revealed that almost all (98.6%) of the teachers held positive perceptions towards implementation of the curriculum. It was concluded that teacher related factors influence implementation of competency-based curriculum. The researcher recommended that the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and Teachers Service Commission should continue training teachers on ICT knowledge and skills that are very critical to implementation of the new curriculum.
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