English Language Teacher Education At The Primary Level In Kenya From1945 And Its Implications On The Kenyan School System

ABSTRACT

Teacher education is a very vital factor for successful second language teaching. It determines the quality and quantity of teaching and learning. This study sought to investigate the early establishment and development of English language teacher education in the country. Looking at the history provides us with an opportunity to reflect on and analyze the practices of the past. Consequently, we can learn what lessons the past may have for us. It also provides us with a point of reference from which we can reflect on and seek to understand the present practices. The required data was elicited by visiting and interviewing the teacher educators and teachers trained especially at the Kahuhia Normal School during the pre-independence era. Interviews conducted with six retired teachers and five pioneer teacher trainers were recorded on tape. Secondary data was also collected from their workbooks and Biographies. Resource persons at the Kenya Institute of Education's English Department were also interviewed in order to establish the current policies that guide English Language Teacher education in Kenya today. This was done in an attempt to establish the role played by the missionary educators in the establishment and development of ELTE, the assumptions which informed ELTE and how ELTE curriculum was implemented. Further attempts were made to establish the current policies on ELTE by examining commission reports, media reports and biographical materials. This study was based on the theory of Cultural Dependency and Linguistic Imperialism. The theory of Cultural Dependency is drawn from the Dependency Theory (1948) which deals with the economic analysis of underdevelopment in the Third World countries. It demonstrates how the education system is used to introduce, nurture and perpetuate cultural dependency especially through inherited colonial languages like English. The theory was used to investigate the initial establishment and consequent development of language and language in education policies and practices in Kenya. A descriptive design was adopted in which the data was read through and arranged, according to the themes, in to sections and sub-sections. From the findings, the indisputably vital role of the missionary educators in collaboration with the colonial government in the establishment of English Language Education in Kenya was established. Curriculum at the missionary based teacher training colleges was wide and holistic leading to a high level of professionalism. Much more emphasis was laid on the English language which was not only a compulsory subject for all the trainees but also a medium of instruction and an major entry requirement. The micro language policy and language in education policy in the mission based institutions have undeniably contributed to the dominance of the English language in education in Kenya to date. The English syllabus was structural and grammatical influenced by Behaviorist Theory. It focused more on pattern drills, and an oral approach to the teaching of English. The entire curriculum including the English syllabus, materials, methods, ideologies, and underlying assumptions was imported from England with little adaptation to the African culture. At the primary school level, the English language syllabus was rather shallow and simplistic but from the workbooks it is evident that the syllabus at the Teacher Training level it was more comprehensive.