Jane Gatumu Teachers' & Students' Attitudes Towards Christian Religious Education Scholar's Press Impressum / Imprint Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Oaten sind im Internet uber http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Alle in diesem Buch genannten Marken und Produktnamen unterliegen warenzeichen-, markenoder patentrechtlichem Schutz bzw. sind Warenzeichen oder eingetragene Warenzeichen der jeweiligen Inhaber. Die Wiedergabe von Marken, Produktnamen, Gebrauchsnamen, Handelsnamen, Warenbezeichnungen u.s.w. in diesem Werk berechtigt auch ohne besondere Kennzeichnung nicht zu der Annahme, dass solche Namen im Sinne der Warenzeichenund Markenschutzgesetzgebung als frei zu betrachten waren und daher von jedermann benutzt werden durften. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek: The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Any brand names and product names mentioned in this book are subject to trademark, brand or patent protection and are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. The use of brand names, product names, common names, trade names, product descriptions etc. even without a particular marking in this works is in no way to be construed to mean that such names may be regarded as unrestricted in respect of trademark and brand protection legislation and could thus be used by anyone. Coverbild / Cover image: www.ingimage.com Verlag / Publisher: Scholars Press ist ein Imprint der / is a trademark OmniScriptum GmbH & Co. KG Heinrich-B6cking-Str. 6-8, 66121 Email: [email protected] of Saarbrucken, Deutschland / Germany Herstellung: siehe letzte Seite / Printed at: see last page ISBN: 978-3-639-71020-5 Zugl. / Approved by: London, Kings College, Diss., 1997 Copyright © 2014 OmniScriptum GmbH & Co. KG Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / All rights reserved. Saarbrucken 2014 Abstract The investigations were ex post facto in design. They explored teachers and students' attitudes to Kenya secondary Christian Religious Education in order to draw conclusions which could be used in improving the subject's status. It was undertaken in 37 Kenya secondary schools among 49 teachers and 909 students. They were selected using a random stratified procedure to allow a national representation. The study employed a combination of methods: an open and closed questionnaire, interview and observation of CRE documents. This was effected through: preparation of the questionnaire; validation of the questionnaire; administering the revised questionnaire, interviews, analysing the documents and in-depth analysis of one school. The attitude scores were analysed using factor analysis, descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and analyses of variance. The open responses were subjected to content analysis and some Chi-square tests. The qualitative and quantitative procedures complemented and illuminated each other. The scale had a high alpha of 0.94. The attitude scores were standardised to a convenient measure of scores ranging from 0 to 100. 0 represented the weakest attitude, while 100 indicated strong favourable attitude. The scale's mean was 72, while teachers' mean was 73 and the students' was 72. There were no significant differences among different sample categories. However, the respondents' conception of the nature ofCRE resulted in two groups. The positive-oriented group contended that CRE is useful in personal development, vocational training and improving the final grade. The other group viewed CRE as not functional. 'misinformed' Both groups seemed of CRE's objectives in Kenya secondary curriculum. These findings imply that any recommendation for improving the subject has to be directed towards clarifying CRE's objectives. Thus, the key recommendation pointed to a need to have CRE as part of an integrated Religious Education programme whose main aim would be to lead students towards being religiously educated. 3 Jane Gatumu Dr. Jane C. Gatumu is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi. Jane lectures in educational research methodology, pedagogy, early childhood education, family studies and philosophy of early childhood education. In regard to research, Jane's interests are in religious studies, early childhood education and counselling. 978-3-639-71020-5