Relationship between selected teaching cultures and student academic achievement in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out the relationship between selected teaching cultures and academic achievement in the KCSE examination in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. This study was guided by the theories of educational productivity and organisational culture. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was comprised of all KCSE 2021 candidates and all principals of secondary schools in the county. The study used an outlier approach and a multistage sampling technique. The sample size consisted of 2214 students and 80 principals of schools. The study found a positive relationship between teaching cultures and student academic performance in both low and high-performing Kenyan schools. Low-performing schools showed a moderately positive correlation (r = 0.450, p = 0.006), while high-performing schools exhibited a notably strong positive correlation (r = 0.846, p = 0.000). This suggests that the impact of teaching culture on student academic achievement was more pronounced in high-performing schools. In public secondary schools, the correlation is moderately positive (r = 0.458), and in private secondary schools, it had a stronger positive correlation (r = 0.724), with both being statistically significant at the 0.05 level. The study recommends that the school management should among others: consider organising in-service training sessions to equip the teachers with appropriate skills on how to effectively embrace teaching cultures, consider reviewing policies geared towards enhancing the quality and relevance of teaching cultures employed in schools, put in place stringent supervisory procedures to ensure that teachers in schools that are not practicing some teaching cultures do so. They need to be encouraged and supported to prepare schemes of work, and lesson plans, as well as conduct remedial lessons for slow learners.