School Environment and Learning Ability of Pupils in Selected Primary Schools in Ikutha Sub County, Kenya

ABSTRACT The purpose of the research was to establish the contribution of the School Environment towards the learning process of pupils. It was guided by three objectives i.e, To establish the contribution of school environment on pupils learning in selected primary schools in Ikutha Sub County, Kenya;To determine the learning ability of pupils in the selected primary schools in Ikutha Sub County, Kenya and to determine the relationship between school environment and learning ability of pupils. The study was guided by the Jean Piaget’s theory of Cognitive development (Jean Piaget 1952). The study adopted a descriptive survey design which described school environment and learning ability. The study population comprised of teachers and pupil’s care takers in the schools from which a population of 100 teachers was taken and a sample size of 80 teachers was got using the Sloven’s formula. The findings of the study revealed that classrooms in Ikutha were specious and allowed learners to interact as they moved around was highly ranked with a mean 3.00 while interpreting the components on school environment. The highest mean among the components of school environment was 2.9 both the play ground and the classroom environment. While determining the level of learning in pupils, the study revealed a high mean o f 3.2 for both Evaluation and teaching and learning material as very crucial in supporting learning. The study found out whether school environment and learning ability of pupils were related upon which the study expressed a correlation between the school environment and the learning ability a level of significance of 0.000 implying that there is a positive relationship between the two variables. The study concluded that the level of school environment in the area of study was high since there was proof of the needed school facilities like play ground, classroom among others. It also concluded that the null hypothesis of “there is no significant relationship school environment and learning ability” was rejected hence proving that there was a relationship between school environments and learning ability. The study recommended that there is need to involve more stakeholders in improvement of learning environment to boost development of primary education and also that there is a need to improve on sustainability of learning environment to increase learning possibilities and development.

 TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION A

DECLARATION B ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

CHAPTER ONE 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.1.1 Historical Perspective 1

1.1.2 Theoretical Perspective 1

1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective 2

1.1.4 Contextual Perspective 3

1.2 Statement of the problem 4

1.3 Purpose of the study 5

1.4 Research Objective 5

1.4.1 General objective 5

1.4.2 Specific objectives of the study 6

1.5 Research questions 6

1.6 Hypothesis 6

1.7 Scope of the study 6

1.7.1 Geographical scope 6

1.7.2 Content scope 7

1.7.3 Theoretical scope 7

1.7.4 Time scope 7

1.7.5 Significance of the study 7

iv

CHAPTER TWO 9

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 9

2.3 Theoretical perspective 12

2.4 Related studies 13

CHAPTER THREE 18

METHODOLOGY 18

3.0 Introduction 18

3.1 Research design 18

3.2 Research population 18

3.4 Sample size 18

3.5 Sample Selection 19

3.6 Research instruments 19

3.7 Data Gathering Procedures 20

3.9 Data Analysis 22

3.10 Ethical Considerations 22

CHAPTER FOUR 23

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS 23

4.0 Introduction 23

4.1 Determining the School Environment 23

4.1.1 Physical structure as an element of School Environment 23

4.1.2 Play Ground as an element of School Environment 27

4.1.3 Classroom as an element of School Environment 28

4.2 Level of learning ability in Pupils 30