Abstract:
The destiny of a country is shaped in her classroom. Hence intensive preparation of the teacher is critical. The purpose of this study was to determined Primary Teacher Education (PTE) Trainees’ perceptions regarding their competence to teach science in primary schools. Mastery of science content and Science Process Skills (SPS) is a critical component pertaining competency to teach science at any level of education. Female teachers have tended to evade teaching of science in primary schools in Kenya and hence a gender perspective was adopted. A descriptive survey research design was used. The target population was the 2014 second year trainees in the five public primary teachers training colleges in the Rift Valley Zone. Stratified proportionate random sampling techniques were used to select 177males and 172 females. Primary Teacher Trainees Questionnaire (PTTQ) was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the data. The study found out that more male trainee than female trainees had studied the three science subjects in secondary schools. Overall more male trainees than female trainees expressed high level of conceptual understanding of biology, chemistry, physics, PTE science and SPS. Mastery of SPS was high among male trainees than female trainees. More male trainees than female trainees also indicated they had acquired adequate SPS and that science process skills made them better teachers. More male trainee than female trainees further indicated they were ready to teach science during teaching practice and after training. This data was used as a springboard for exploring ways in which PTE could be structured to ensure trainees are more competent to teach science in primary schools. The study recommends PTE science education to be competence based and not content based, science tutors’ to use SPS approach in teaching of PTE science. Science in Kenya’s primary schools be taught by teachers who specialized in science during training, PTE training provides a gender-appropriate training to demystify gender differences in performance in science and promote gender equity in science education. Affirmative action be used in subject specialization selection to ensure gender parity in science education. Finally Kenya National Examination Council to include practical science examination measuring competency to teach science.
