Exploratory study on the teaching of clay work in secondary schools in Wakiso District

Abstract

The study sought to explore the teaching of clay work in the secondary schools of Wakiso district, the study specifically looked at the nature of teaching, teachers’ competence and availability of instructional materials in the teaching of clay work in these secondary schools. The study used cross sectional survey design to carry out the study, where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Data was collected from art students, art teachers and head teachers and data was collected using questionnaires and interview guide.

From the findings, it was revealed that the teachers and students are not very much interested in clay work. Also it was established that the nature of teaching is largely affected by lack of competent teachers, who as the result cause disinterest of the subject among students. However, some respondents appreciate the effort of teachers and reported that teaching of clay work was averagely good, as some teachers have interest in the subject. From the findings it was revealed that the biggest challenge facing the teaching of clay work is the absence of competent teachers as those who are experienced run away for better opportunities. In the findings, it was also found out that students report a lot of boredom in teachers way of teaching, this demonstrates a lot of inefficiency in the teaching of this discipline. Some respondents, however, revealed that teachers are competent in the teaching of clay work. In the study, it was also revealed that availability of instructional materials in the teaching of clay work is another challenge since it was found out that such resources are not available as schools cannot afford to buy them as they are very expensive and these include furniture, kiln and clay materials among others.

It was therefore concluded that the nature of teaching is affected by lack of interest among teachers and students. That teacher’s competence is largely lacking among teachers and instructional materials for clay work in most schools are lacking as most schools do not have all the necessary materials. It is therefore recommended that there should be new modes of teaching, impromptu evaluations and also there is need to institute a fee that will help in buying of materials that are necessary in the teaching of clay work.