Influence of Selected Factors on the Level of Implementation of Preschool Creative Activities Curriculum in Njoro, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Creative activities serve an important part in promoting children’s learning and development besides enhancing their emotional, intellectual and social skills. Thus, the conscious use of creative activities to promote the development and learning of each individual child should be an omnipresent activity in pre-school. The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of selected factors on the level of implementation of preschool creative activities curriculum in Njoro Sub- County in Nakuru County, Kenya. The selected factors included: the influence of preschool teacher attitude towards creative activities, the level of integration of creative activities in teaching and learning and the provision of resources for creative activities. The research employed survey research design. Structured questionnaires and unstructured interview guides were used to collect data from 80 preschool teachers and 12 head teachers respectively. Findings indicated that head teachers were nonchalant towards how teachers integrated creative activities in teaching and learning. Most teachers indicted their head teachers of relegating provision of essential materials for creative activities to the periphery. The study’s three formulated hypotheses were tested at 95% confidence level using multiple regression analysis. The result showed that 53.7% (R2 = 0.537) variation in the level of implementation of creative activities curriculum was attributed to independent variables. However it was only the level of integration of creative activities in teaching and learning that had a significant influence (β = 0.56; t = 4.405, p<0.05). In order to adequately cater for all essential creative activities, there should be a vote head in all schools budget specifically to cater for Early Childhood Development Education [ECDE] creative materials.