Selected Teacher Factors and the Use of Collaborative Instruction of English in Secondary Schools in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya

Abstract

Educational reforms in Kenya seek to enable the learner to become an engaged, empowered and ethical citizen. This can be achieved through provision of quality instruction that provides every learner opportunity to learn. This requires highly knowledgeable, reflective professional teachers having meaningful pedagogical skills to facilitate learning. Collaborative instruction, sometimes called cooperative teaching or team teaching, involves educators working in tandem to lead, instruct and mentor groups of learners. It is a significant concept in the field of English language teaching that involves teachers in sharing expertise, decision-making, lesson delivery, and assessment. The purpose of this study was to investigate selected teacher factors and the use of collaborative instruction in the teaching of English language in public secondary schools in TransNzoia County, Kenya. The study was guided by the objective to determine the influence of the teacher’s gender on the use of collaborative instruction in English. The study was guided by the Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population was of 314 respondents that were Heads of Department languages, Heads of Subject English and Teachers of English in Kwanza Sub-County. Simple random sampling was used to sample the respondents from the target population. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used as instruments for data collection. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected. Before the actual data collection, a pilot study was carried out to establish the reliability of the research instruments. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data was transcribed and reported verbatim and thematically. The findings of the study in line with the objective on gender yielded a Chi-Square value of 2. 252 at 3 degrees of freedom and p-value of .522 >.05. From the findings it was concluded that, teacher’s gender has no significant influence on the use of collaborative instruction. Therefore, the study recommends that, both genders should be involved in the design development and implementation of curriculum activities with the view of enhancing collaborative instructions and the Ministry of Education should provide detailed and appropriate guidance on the usage of collaborative instruction