Parental involvement and perceptions of their role in early childhood development education pedagogy in Kenya

This paper examines the role of parents and perceptions of both parents and teachers towards early childhood development based on a study conducted among preschool parents and teachers at Mumias Town, Kenya. The descriptive research design was adopted. The data sources were: a parental involvement questionnaire for pre-school teachers, a parental involvement interview schedule for the pre-school parents, and document analysis. Simple random sampling was done for the pre-school parents and saturated sampling for pre-school teachers. Multiple data analysis methods were used. It emerged that both teachers and parents held positive perceptions towards parental involvement in early childhood curriculum development. Teachers indicated that their teacher-education courses did not equip them with knowledge and skills on parental involvement strategies while parents indicated that in most pre-schools, teachers had a negative attitude towards parental involvement in instructional activities. Parents were involved at the curriculum implementation level when they paid fees, provided teaching and learning materials, interacted with teachers, supported children with homework and assisted with child discipline at school. The study recommended, among other things, an adult literacy programme for pre-school parents; early childhood education parental awareness programme.