Kowino, O. J, Kochung E. J, Agak, J.O
Previous research and document evidence obtainable in popular media has consistently reported that Kenyan students’ social standing and general conduct in the wider society does not reflect acquisition and practice of social relating skills learnt through the teaching or Christian Religious Education (CRE) at the form four level. This has caused complaints among those stakeholders in education who are concerned that the social well being of the youth is on a downward trend. This suggests that either the teachers of CRE do not provide the learners with social relating skills or the Kenyan education system as a whole does not contain relevant elements that could enable students acquire relevant social relating skills. Another possibility could be the existence of a discrepancy between the CRE program objectives and the instructional practices meant to achieve them. From the literature that was reviewed, it was evident that the nature of this discrepancy had not yet been established for effective intervention strategies to be put in place. The purpose of this study was to determine possible reasons for the assumed discrepancy between the stated objectives of teaching CRE in Kenyan secondary schools and current social standings that does not reflect acquisition of social relating skills. Specifically the study determined whether the teachers of C.R.E in Kisumu East District secondary schools provided learners with social relating skills in societal context. Four instruments used in collecting data included: a graphic observation rating scale, a learner’s test, an in-depth interview schedule and documents analysis guide. The study population comprised 3225 students and 48 teachers. Out of the population, 16 teachers and the 343 learners were selected using stratified random sampling technique. The obtained results suggested that teachers rarely provided the social relating skills to their students. Another notable finding was that while the CRE syllabus contained relevant elements that could assist students acquire social relating skills, it was the implementation of the skills through the teaching methods adopted that was likely responsible for limited social relating kills acquisition.
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