Promoting Kiswahili pre-reading skills among pre-primary children in Njombe district council: teachers` views and instructional practices

This study was intended to explore teachers’ views and practices in promoting pre-reading skills among pre-primary children in Njombe district council. The study was guided by four research objectives namely, exploring the views teachers hold regarding promotion of pre-reading skills among pre-primary school children, examining the relationship between teachers’ views and their classroom instructional practices, identifying teachers’ views on the opportunities available to promote pre-reading skills in pre-primary schools and identifying challenges facing teachers in promoting pre-reading skills among pre-primary children. The study’s conceptual framework was modified from Maingi (2015). The study employed qualitative research approach and multiple embedded case study design. Twelve primary schools with pre-primary classes, 12 pre-primary teachers, 12 head teachers, two ward education officers and the district primary education officer were selected through purposeful sampling procedures. Data were gathered through interview, observation and documentary review and were subjected to content analysis techniques. The findings revealed that pre-reading skills could be promoted through songs and plays, repetitions of practices, teaching-learning materials such as pictures and oral language instruction. Also the findings indicate that there were both consistencies and inconsistencies between the teachers’ views and the observed classroom practices. Some practices such as songs and repetitions were related to teacher’s views about promoting pre-reading skills and others such as plays were unrelated due to contextual realities of the schools that constrained teachers’ ability to follow their views about what works best. The findings also revealed some of the available opportunities in pre-primary schools that helped to promote pre-reading skills such as; workshops and seminars for updating teacher`s knowledge, construction of school buildings, projects economic establishment to offset different school expenditures including buying teaching-learning materials, employing trained teachers to teach pre-primary pupils and school feeding programmes. The study further revealed some challenges in promoting pre-reading skills to pre-primary pupils that included shortage of teaching-learning resources, poor teaching-learning environments, late registration among children, lack of funds and differences in abilities and age. The study concluded that effective promotion of pre-reading skills needed enough teaching-learning resources, professionally trained staff to teach pre-primary pupils, parents’ involvement and building more classrooms to downsize high teacher-pupils ratio. The study recommends that the government should subsidize the pre-primary education in order to improve the teaching-learning environment such as ensuring enough reading materials and building more classrooms to reduce high teacher-pupils ratio. Also the study recommends for the government through its responsible authorities to concertize parents on the precise age and time frame for registering their children to school to avoid registering pre-mature aged and late start of schooling. Furthermore the study recommends for the responsible authorities to ensure regular in-service trainings through seminars and workshop for pre-primary teachers to update their knowledge and skills necessary for addressing new changes.