Establishing Instructional Strategies Used By Teachers in Public Early Childhood Education Centers in Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya

Dr. Esther Chepkorir Bitok
Kisii University, Kenya
Email: estherbitok@kisiiuniversity.ac.ke
estherbitok2006@gmail.com

Received September 16, 2020; Revised November 26, 2020; Accepted December 6, 2020

Abstract: Teaching strategies used in implementing the curriculum are the arranged interactions of people and materials planned and used by teachers. They include the teacher’s role, teaching styles, and instructional techniques. However in practice, most programs combine elements of both direct instruction and free play. The purpose of the study was to establish the instructional strategies used by teachers in public early childhood education centers in Kenya. The study targeted 3105 Early Child Development Education (ECDE) teachers and heads in the 775 public ECDE centers in UasinGishu County, Kenya taking 341 respondents as a sample. The paper adopted survey and descriptive design utilizing quantitative research methods. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to collect information from the respondent. The study found that the ECDE teachers were using integrated technology strategy, cooperative learning structures in their classrooms, differentiated instruction in their classroom and incorporated play activities in their instruction. ECD teachers employed goal setting, cross-curriculum teaching and class-wide peer tutoring and assessment instruction as their instructional strategies. County education office should step up their oversight on early childhood education.