Use of Conventional Teaching Resources in Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya

Education is core to national development as it provides the human resource and intellectual capital to drive economies. Attaining this hence requires meaningful and gainful learning through the incorporation of a range of instructional resources that help develop learners skills, attitudes and practical competencies required in the ever changing market economy. However, in spite of the various government interventions to increase access to education, empirical research evidence shows that students continue to perform dismally in both formative and summative evaluation. The paper therefore sought to determine the dynamics existing in the utilization of conventional teaching resources in secondary schools in Bungoma County. The paper was guided by the Cognitive Theory of Instructional as propounded by Jean Piaget that emphasizes the significance of instructional resources in the teaching and learning process. The paper adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population consisted of teachers and students from public secondary schools in Bungoma County. In order to have a representative sample, this paper employed stratified random sampling to select schools. Questionnaires, interview and observation schedules and document analysis were used as data collection instruments. Validity was established through expert opinion. Reliability was established through piloting. Data was analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics. The findings showed that majority of teachers, students and principals were of the opinion that public secondary schools in Bungoma County had inadequate conventional instructional resources. It was further deduced that funding, number of students and teachers’ ease of use influenced the acquisition of conventional instructional resources in public secondary schools in Bungoma County. From the findings it was recommended that educational stakeholders should improve the quality of instructional through proper identification, selection and utilization of instructional resources. There is need for all stakeholders including the County Government, National Government and the Private sector to contribute financially and materially in the provision of conventional instructional materials and resources. Keywords:Convectional, education, teaching resources, teaching resources, utilization, DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-22-06 Publication date: November 30th 201