Teacher Factors Influencing Use Of Play As A Teaching Strategy In Pre- Primary S Chools In Kiambu County, Kenya

Globally, play has been found to contribute immensely to the holistic growth and development of preschool learners. Although local studies have reported that the use of play in pre-schools is limited, the issue of teacher factors influencing utilization of play as a strategy for teaching has not received much attention. Therefore, this study aimed at establishing teacher factors influencing the utilization of play as a strategy of teaching, in public pre-primary schools in Ruiru Sub-county, Kiambu County. The objectives of the study were to examine teachers’ use of play as a strategy for teaching; and the influence of teachers’ attitudes, experience and training on the use of play as a strategy for teaching in pre-primary schools. The study was guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action by Fishbein and Ajzen. The study employed the correlational design. The population targeted comprised pre-primary school teachers from 32 pre-schools in Ruiru Sub-county. The study applied stratified sampling to form eight strata. Simple random technique was used to select the respondents from the strata. The research instruments used were questionnaires and observation checklist guide. Study instruments were piloted in four pre-primary school teachers from another similar sub-county. After the fieldwork, all questionnaires were adequately checked verified. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data based on the study objectives and presented narratively. Quantitative data were organized and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23) was used to aid the analysis. Findings were presented using tables and charts. Pearson correlation was used to test the first null hypothesis while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the second and third null hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. All the three-null hypotheses were therefore, rejected. The findings revealed that use of play as a strategy for teaching was moderately present in most of the preschools.