Influence of corners of interest on instruction of creative activities competencies among pre-primary learners in public pre-primary schools in imenti south sub-county, meru county, kenya

Abstract

The enthusiasm children exhibit indicate learning is a natural and exciting activity done out of curiosity for pleasure and in the process, learning take place. Young children require stimulating and pleasant experiences to cultivate learning competence to form a firm attitudinal foundation for later learning by creating learning corners to sustain interest and also engagement in preschool classroom learning activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of corners of interest on instruction of creative activities competencies among pre-primary school learners in public pre-primary schools in Imenti South Sub-County. The study determined the influence of availability of corners of interest, utilization of corners of interest, adequacy of corners of interest and the challenges encountered in the utilization of corners of interest on the instruction of creative activities competencies among pre-primary learners in Imenti South Sub- County, Meru County. The study was guided by Social Learning theory by Bandura and Cognitive Development theory by Jean Piaget. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study considered five wards in the sub county as strata and obtained 48 head teachers and 123 teachers a total of 171 respondents. Pilot tests were done in the neigbouring Imenti Central sub county where five preprimary schools were involved; five headteachers and 13 teachers were involved. The questionnaires content validation was done and judgmental approach involving 5 experts was done. The content validity ratios for the question items were 0.99. Half split method was used to determine the reliability index of the questionnaire giving a Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.787. The study considered the tools valid and reliable for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were captured from the respondents. Qualitative data captured was thematically analyzed. Quantitative data captured was analyzed giving both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics which were presented as frequencies and percentages. Chi-Square test was done and gave inferential statistics; the p-value at 0.025 significance level that was used to rule on whether to reject the null hypothesis or not, the contingency coefficient that measured the degree of association between the independent variable and the dependent variable and linear to linear value that estimated the level of influence of the independent variable over instruction of creative activities competencies. All the null hypotheses were rejected and the study concluded that the four investigated components of corners of interest had significant influence. The study made recommendations focusing on ways to improve on ensuring consistently in skill acquisition among the preprimary learners and continuous improvement in the sector. The study suggested areas for further research which can lead to generalization of the conclusions and recommendations. The study provided sufficient empirical literature to the domain of early childhood education, the teacher, head teachers, parents and government organs in the sector.