Influence of Instructional Methods on Child Friendly School Environment in ECDE Centers in Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Education is fundamental to improving children's social and economic outcomes worldwide. The study sought to establish the influence of instructional methods on a child-friendly school environment among ECDE centres in Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya. The study was informed by Constructivism instructional theory and Reggio Emilia's philosophy of educating young children. The study targeted 2151 Early Child Development Education (ECDE) teachers and heads in the 576 public ECDE centers in Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya, comprising 1728 ECDE teachers, 422 head teachers, and one County Quality Assurance and Standards officer. A sample size of 271 respondents was used for the study. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out using Pearson's correlation coefficient on the quantitative data. It was used to determine the relationship between the effect of Instructional methods on supporting a child-friendly school environment in public ECDE Centres in Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya. The findings further revealed that instructional style was positively and significantly associated with the school learning environment (r=.431, n=271, p<0.01), indicating that instruction style influences the school learning environment by 18.61%. Therefore, teachers should create an enabling learning environment that is inclusive to all learners and take care of social interactions among learners. The finding informs the best practices that could be employed to enhance the child-friendly learning environment.