Teachers’ Attitude And Academic Performance Of Learners With Mental Retardation In Kandara Division Maragwa District Kenya

ABSTRACT

The topic of this study was ‘Teacher’s attitude and academic Performance of

learners with mental retardation in Kandara Division, Maragwa District.

The study was carried out guided by four objectives namely; determining the

profile of the respondents, determining the level of teacher’s attitudes,

determining the level of academic performance of students and determining if

there is any significant relationship between teachers attitude and academic

performance. In the methodology, the study relied on primary source of data,

the questionnaire. The study was based on the theory of Damodar Mohapatra

of inclusion. Teachers from regular Primary schools and units were involved

as respondents. Thirty teachers responded to the questionnaires. Simple

random sampling procedure was used to select the schools and the teachers.

The researcher used questionnaires as data collection tools since all the

respondents were literate. The respondents revealed negative attitudes

towards learners with mental retardation and they said they face various

challenges including lack of curriculum guidelines, lack of teaching aids, and,

lack of training in special needs Education. These challenges were found to

bring about poor academic performance of learners. The researcher

concluded the study by stating that there is a significant relationship between

teacher attitudes and academic performance of learners with mental

retardation, their poor performance stem from a combination of factors

beyond their comprehension including negative attitudes, inadequate

resources among others. The study recommended that, the issue of

curriculum inadequacy should be addressed, curriculum adaptation and

review should be done and schools should be provided with educational

resources. The researcher also advocated for further research on the best approaches for learners with mental retardation.