Teacher Factors Influencing Use Of Music As A Medium Of Teaching Mathematics In Pre Primary Schools In Nairobi City County, Kenya

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ABSTRACT

Music is a significant teaching strategy in early childhood education it improves development of young children‟s self-confidence, self-esteem and their expression orally and mentally. Despite the fact that, use of music is a strategy that motivates and sustains children‟s interest in the learning of mathematics, research studies in this area are scanty. The purpose of this study therefore was to find out preschool teacher factors influencing the use of music as a mode of teaching mathematics within Kasarani, Nairobi County. The study sought to determine the link between preschool teacher factors namely their training, teaching experience, academic qualifications, and attitude towards use of music in teaching mathematics.Theory of planned behavior by Ajzen and Fishbein (2010) guided the descriptive survey research design study. The study‟s dependent variable was use of music as a medium of teaching mathematics while the independent variables were preschool teacher factors influencing use of music in teaching mathematics. Multistage sampling technique was used to arrive at the required sample size. Specifically, random sampling was used to select 15 preschools out of the 30 targeted and purposive sampling used to select 15 head teachers out of 30 and 45 out of 90 preschool teachers. An observation guide and questionnaires were used to collect data for preschool teachers and head teachers. A pilot study was conducted in four public preschools using their head teachers and eight teachers. To ensure validity of the instruments, the study content was strictly guided by the objectives while the split half technique was used to ascertain reliability of the instruments at a coefficient of 0.7. Quantitative data were analysed using the thematic approach and presented in narrative form while for quantitative data, descriptive statistics involving frequencies, standard deviation, means and percentages were employed. Inferential statistics used to test null hypothesis Chi-Square at alpha value 0.05 (p