Influence of tutors’ denominational beliefs in teaching Christian religious education in primary teachers’ training colleges in Lower Lake Victoria Region, Kenya

Abstract

Tutors in primary teachers’ training colleges represent a variety of Christian denominations each with its own set of beliefs and doctrines. In Kenya's Primary Teacher Education (PTE) syllabus, Christian Religious Education (CRE) is one of the cluster subjects. Although CRE is taught to students according to a specified syllabus, tutors' differing denominational beliefs may present student learners with a variety of obstacles, resulting in contentious and divisive religious teachings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of tutors’ denominational beliefs in teaching student learners Christian Religious Education in Primary Teachers’ Training Colleges (PTTCs). The following objectives were formulated to guide the study; to establish tutors teaching and students learning CRE who belong to predominant denominational beliefs in PTTCs in lower Lake Victoria Region of Kenya, to examine the influence of tutors’ and students’ exegesis/interpretation of the bible concepts on CRE in PTTCs in lower Lake Victoria Region of Kenya, to assess different Christian denominations of Roman Catholic, SDA and Protestants that are dominant among tutors and students in PTTCs in Lower Lake Victoria Region of Kenya, and to establish the influence of tutors’ and students’ denominational beliefs on teaching and learning CRE in PTTCs in Lower Lake Victoria Region of Kenya. It was expected that CRE tutors, despite their denominational affiliations, should teach the subject based on students’ day to day life experiences thus the Life Approach whose benefit was to enable students acquire same understanding and meaning to the bible text concepts. The study anticipated challenges in teaching the subject, thus the focus of this study. The study was anchored on Moral Communities Theory (Durkheim, 1912) which suggested that moral communities are groups that strongly influence the beliefs and practices of their members. Human nature, according to Durkheim has incredible flexibility and fertility and that, peoples’ perspectives on the world and how they behave themselves as well as their moral convictions change dramatically over time and place. Based on this study, PTTCs were regarded as moral communities where predominant members could assert their influence on the beliefs and practices of others. The study targeted CRE students and subject tutors, in six Primary Teachers Training colleges (both public and private) in the Lower Lake Victoria Region of Kenya. The study sampled 187 CRE students, 27 CRE subject tutors and 6 heads of CRE subjects through simple random sampling. Data was collected through questionnaires given to CRE students, CRE subject heads and subject tutors. Pilot testing was conducted from CRE students and subject tutors in the selected neighbouring primary teachers training colleges. Quantitative research method was adopted. By providing the instruments for scrutiny to the researcher’s two university supervisors the content and construct validity of data collection instruments was determined. The students' and tutors' questionnaires' reliability was determined using the test-retest method. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. The study’s finding was that students' denominational beliefs had a moderate positive link with their learning CRE, whereas tutors' denominational beliefs had a weak positive correlation with their teaching CRE. To analyse data, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was applied. By considering the following study's recommendations, the findings of this study could be a valuable input to MOE policy makers and curriculum developers at the KICD. The findings of this study may also be useful to tutors who teach CRE.