The nature, access and use of instructional materials in kindergarten schools a case study in Atwima Nwabiagya district

Abstract

The study investigated the nature, access and use of instructional materials in kindergartens in the Atwima Nwabiagya District in the Ashanti Region. Specifically, the study sought to identify the nature of instructional materials that are available and accessible in kindergartens in the district, determine the extent of use of instructional materials by the kindergarten teachers in the district, find out the challenges in the availability and accessibility of instructional materials in kindergartens schools in the district, find out the challenges in the teachers’ usage of instructional materials in the district. A descriptive research design was used to collect data from a sample of 160 kindergarten teachers through a structured questionnaire. The reliability test for each segment of the questionnaires yielded Cronbach’s alpha scores of 0.79, 0.73, 0.65 and 0.85 respectively. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. According to the findings, majority of instructional materials for teaching at the kindergarten level were unavailable and a few which were available too were insufficient, manufactured and poorly conditioned. Results indicated that, majority of the kindergarten teachers never used instructional materials in teaching and learning and this was due to their unavailability. The findings showed that, majority of the kindergarten teachers had challenges with availability and accessibility of instructional materials. Moreover, results revealed that majority of the kindergarten teachers were not confronted with competency challenges in the use of instructional materials in teaching. Based on the findings, it is recommended that school authorities should provide and make instructional materials accessible to teachers. Again, kindergarten teachers should improvise some of the instructional materials locally and the Ministry of Education should supply the required instructional materials to the Kindergarten schools in the district on time.