CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Education is seen as a powerful force that systematically transmits knowledge, skills and cultural values to the society (Kendal, 2007). Pre-school is the educational programme that concerns the holistic development of children from 0 -5 years of age. Early childhood education development (ECDE), or pre-school, is not only a fundamental right for every child but also an indispensable element for learning at subsequent levels of education. The Psychosocial Development Theory by Erik Erikson describes the “eight stages of man” (Erikson 1975). Erikson stage 2 and stage three occur at pre-schooling age of the child. The theory argues that development stage depend very much on social interaction of the child and his environment. This environment centrally is the interaction between the child and the parents what is referred as the parental influence. Because an infant is utterly dependent, the development of trust is based on the dependability and
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is seen as a powerful force that systematically transmits knowledge, skills and
cultural values to the society (Kendal, 2007). Pre-school is the educational programme
that concerns the holistic development of children from 0 -5 years of age. Early
childhood education development (ECDE), or pre-school, is not only a fundamental right
for every child but also an indispensable element for learning at subsequent levels of
education.
The Psychosocial Development Theory by Erik Erikson describes the “eight stages of
man” (Erikson 1975). Erikson stage 2 and stage three occur at pre-schooling age of the
child. The theory argues that development stage depend very much on social interaction
of the child and his environment. This environment centrally is the interaction between
the child and the parents what is referred as the parental influence. Because an infant is
utterly dependent, the development of trust is based on the dependability and quality of
the child’s caregivers. If a child successfully develops trust, he or she will feel safe and
secure in the world. Caregivers who are inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or
rejecting contribute to feelings of mistrust in the children they care for. Failure to develop
trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable.
Guralnick, 2002. observed that as children start pre-school they are faced with many
social challenges which make it difficult for them to adjust to school environment. Partly,
this can be associated with the existing relationship or interaction between children and
their families as some families are supportive while others are quite oppressive a view
that Russell and Reece (2000) alludes to. Pre-school learners are expected to interact
well with others and grow up socially adjusted; this has not been the case in most pre-
school centers in Thika Municipality.
Ndani (2008) in his findings on family types noted that families appeared to have affected
the social competence of children, which is an important element in learning and holistic
development. Ndani observed that family set up has a great role in social adjustment of
the child. Guralnick, M 2002 observes that parental influences affect child’s
responses to external and internal environment. He coded the responses as: Internal
rationale for rationales describing some aspect of the child that is held to be
responsible for success or difficulty in the social tasks. Included here are
mothers’ reasons associated with their child’s personality or disability-related
factors, traits, dispositions, references to maturation, etc. No distinction was
made with respect to how children achieved their current state (i.e., degree to
which learned), but the emphasis was clearly related to existing child
characteristics. Situational rationale for rationales related to the situation or
behavioral characteristics of the child’s peers, this is what we describe as the
influence of the parental type to peer grouping. The emphasis was focused on
the circumstances that can affect peer interactions. External indirect rationale for
rationales related to the actions (or lack of actions) of others that generally
influence peer-related social development, such as providing opportunities to
practice or exercise social skills or creating a social environment that is
influential (e.g., provides a secure or stable environment or has too few toys).
This rationale is observable through the child internal motivation. External direct
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rationale for rationales related to actions (or lack of actions) by others designed
to directly influence peer-related social development. Responses included
specific reference to encouragement, instruction, or modeling. This is no different
to Eriksson’s theory of Psychosocial Development.
The transition of a child from the family to school is a critical process where the child
needs a serious adjustment at school environment especially with his peer group. In the
process of social adjustment, a child’s credibility to form a satisfactory relationship with
his peers resembles the level of social satisfaction he has. For any children, apart from the
early socialization within the family through informal education, education make its way
for the development of socialization among peer group in a more formal setting – the
school.
Action for children in conflict, (2008), established that children from warm loving
families, socialized better, participated in stable peer relationships, became more socially
competent and had fewer difficulties than those whose parents were not. This implies that
a family is the most important influence on child’s social perception of self and others. In
pre-school settings, children have to adjust to strange environment or new social
challenges, and they need to mix with a new and more diverse group of children (Cleave,
Jowett & Bate, 1982; Ledger, Smith & Rich, 1998). In addition, children often have to
depend on their families for school orientation and preparations. Such new experiences
have been shown to impact on their social adjustment.
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Christian, (2004), suggests that healthy family-child relationship improves academic
performance not only do children improve academically, their social behavior and school
attendance also improves with more parental support a view that Epstein, (2003)
expressed agreement to. According to Vygotsky (1978), problem solving, planning and
abstract thinking have a social origin. The parent at home teaches the child and later the
concepts become internalized, so that it occurs within the child.
In Kenya, little research has been carried out on the topic and therefore reliance on
foreign research conclusions has been relied upon. Most children in Kenya begin
schooling with social habits learnt from their parents. Once they join pre-school, children
begin to interact and socialize with a wider community different from their home
environment. Through school activities, teachers are able to identify children social
habits that reflect their family settings. In addition, Arnold (1988) argues that family is
the most important influence on child’s social perception of self and others. Thus, parents
may socialize children either positively or negatively depending on their social-economic
background.
Fabian, (2000) observes that successful social adjustment for pre-school children partly
depends on past experiences and on children possessing the skills and knowledge to
respond to the demands of the school setting. Margetts, (2002) noted that when children
exhibit a range of social skills associated with cooperation, initiating interactions or
assertion, and self control, they are more likely to adjust easily to school and the larger
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social milieu. Difficulties are likely to arise when children are: non compliant;
disorganized; distractible; or when they are anti-social and have difficulty considering the
rights of others. The nature of parent-child relationships can also influence social
adjustment in children.
The nature and quality of early experiences in the family context are generally assumed
to be of key importance for later social-emotional adjustment of children. Accordingly, a
considerable amount of research has focused on associations between parent-child
relationships and the emotional adjustment of children (Collins, Cooper, Albino, &
Allard, 2002) and on linkages between parent-child relationships and later emotional
Observation schedules will be used to capture information on pre-school children’s
behaviour in the school setting.
The researcher will observe and record behaviour manifested in areas of focus, while
paying attention to study objectives. There are many positive aspects of the observational
approach namely observation are usually flexible and do not necessarily need to be
structured around hypothesis. Observational research findings are considered strong in
validity because the researcher is able to collect a depth of information about a particular
behaviour that is not possible to collect through other means. Among the recordable
information expected is, the interpersonal relation among the peers, the type of play the
learners engage in, the toilet behaviour, and the class behaviour.
The advantages of this method: is hat it helps in overcoming issues of validity, bias etc; it
is useful when the subject can not provide information, and it is also useful when the
subject is feared to provide inaccurate information.
3.6 Pilot Study
Before the actual data collection procedure, a pilot study will be carried out in four pre-
schools in Thika Municipality; these schools will not be used for the actual study because
they consist of similar characteristics to the study schools. The objective of the pilot
study will be to improve reliability and validity of the questionnaires. The pilot study will
also help the researcher to familiarize with data collection process.
3.6.1 Reliability
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The test-retest technique of reliability testing will be used to assess the reliability of the
research instruments. The questionnaires will be administered to the pilot sample
respondents twice, with a one week interval, after which the researcher will compare the
two sets for each respondent to find out whether the responses are consistent. A
correlation coefficient for the two tests will be calculated using the test-retest method,
the split-half method (Annabel S Evants & Bryan J Rooney 2007). The test-retest
method involves testing people twice and correlating the measures. The split-half method
measures internal consistency by correlating one half the test items with the other half.
3.6.2 Validity
Validity is the extent that a measure actually measures what it is supposed to measure.
There are a variety of aspects to validity. If a measure looks like it is a reasonable
measure, it has face validity. If a measure includes all the dimensions that are part of a
concept, it has content validity. Predictive validity refers to the extent that the measure
correlates or is predictive of an outcome measure. Predictive validity refers to the validity
of a measurement to be used for the prediction of future performance. In this case, the
researcher will apply predictive validity to assess the validity of the raw data collected
from the field.
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3.7 Data Collection Procedure
After approval of the proposal from the University, the researcher will obtain a research
permit from the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST). After this, the
researcher will visit each of the sampled pre-schools and book an appointment with the
head teachers and teachers to administer the questionnaires. On the appointed day, the
researcher use self-administered, Teachers Questionnaires (T, Q), interview guide and
observation schedules to collect data.
Respondents in the same institution will be approached to fill the questionnaire at the
same time. This will eliminate chances of the respondents influencing one another’s
responses. The respondents will be assured of utmost confidentiality and all effort made
to make them comfortable during the interview. The researcher will clarify any areas
before the respondents fill them in.
3.8 Data Analysis Procedure
Data analysis procedures to be employed will involve both quantitative and qualitative
procedures using MAXQDA1 Computer Program. Data will be analyzed according to the
objectives of the study. This will yield descriptive data. First, data collected using will be
coded and data entered into the computer. On the other hand, data collected from the
open ended questions in-depth interview and information gained through observation will
be categorised, themes established and information coded and entered into the computer
1MAXQDA is a computer program that helps one with systematic analysis and interpretation of ones text. The main focus is qualitative analysis: you can import files, organize them in document groups, develop a system of categories, code segments of your documents, write and organize memos, take advantage of various search functions, and present your research visually with MAXMaps.
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for analysis. Both the quantitative and qualitative data will be descriptively analyzed to
generate frequencies, means, standard deviations and percentages based on the findings.