TEACHERS’ PARTICIPATION IN CURRICULUM CONCEPTUALISATION AND EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN KENYA

Abstract

Most curriculums start to gain life from the time they are conceived and written. In order to create a strong curriculum, teachers must play an integral role in every step of the process of curriculum development. Within the context of the current curriculum changes in education in Kenya, stringent demands are being made on teachers to deliver. This study focused on teacher participation in curriculum conceptualization and effective implementation of secondary school curriculum in Kenya. The study employed descriptive survey research design and was conducted in Meru and Nairobi Counties, Kenya. The target population was 3146 secondary school teachers comprising of 1781 males and 1365 females. Stratified random sampling was used to draw the participating schools and teachers. A sample of 342 teachers participated in the study. A questionnaire for teachers and an interview schedule for principals were employed in data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analyses. The study results established that there was a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ participation in curriculum conceptualisation and effective implementation of secondary school curriculum in Kenya. Teachers strongly agreed that participation would improve their ability to interpret the philosophy, aims and goals of education as well as the general and specific objectives of the curriculum. However, results also indicated that teachers participated in curriculum conceptualization to a small extent due to the top- down models of curriculum development employed by Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). This study recommends that teachers should be involved in the planning and development of the curriculum in all stages. Also, curriculum development should be decentralized to local levels starting with school committees, sub-counties, counties and finally to the national level taking into considerations all relevant contributions by various stakeholders.