Influence of teachers’ characteristics on the development of socio-emotional skills of preschool children in Atandi zone, Homabay County - Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of teacher characteristics on the socioemotional development of pre-school children. The motivation for the study was the perspective of not viewing socio-emotional development as an event but rather a process that requires being inculcated into the class work. The specific objectives as evaluated were to determine whether the teacher‟s professional qualification influences the development of socio-emotional skills of preschool children, examine whether the teachers‟ monthly income influences the development of socio-emotional skills of pre-school children, establish whether teachers‟ age has an influence on the development of socio-emotional skills of pre-school children as well as examine whether teachers‟ gender influences the development of socio-emotional skills of pre-school children. The study had a conceptual framework that drew the independent variables of teacher characteristics and the indicators of socio-emotional development of responsibility, empathy, and co-operation. The research design was a descriptive survey. This included drawing a sample from an estimated population of preschool teachers in Atandi zone, as well as some preschool children who were observed during the study. The research tools were a semi-structured questionnaire which was administered one-on-one to the targeted preschool teachers and an observation schedule which was administered to measure aspects of the children‟s socio-emotional development. A descriptive form of analysis was used in this study. The main finding of the study was that the teachers‟ professional qualification, teachers‟ monthly income, teachers‟ age and teachers‟ gender influence the development of socio-emotional skills in children. The implications of the findings of this study are that teachers have a cordial relationship with children, teachers display positive characteristics and professional qualification is essential for any teacher whose aim is to impart knowledge, attitudes, and skills to learners. It was recommended that the study requires being done in other counties that are in the urban setup.