ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MORAL DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS IN CHURCH-SPONSORED SCHOOLS IN KENYA
Authors:
Simon Khaemba Makokha, Joash Mutua Wambua & Rosemary Mbogo
Abstract:
This paper assessed the role played by churches in the moral development of students in Church-sponsored schools in Kenya. A qualitative phenomenological design was adopted to achieve this objective. Participants were selected through purposive stratified sampling along denominational lines with six mainline churches that have sponsored schools for over five decades being considered. Each denomination purposely chose two of its sponsored secondary schools to participate in the study. Some churches opted to have a boy and a girl school, others an urban and a rural, or a school with the strong presence of the church, against another where the church was not strongly involved. Interviews, electronically recorded, manually transcribed, and finally analysed using the Nvivo qualitative data analysis software, were conducted with the school principals, denominational education secretaries, County education officers and in separate focus groups for teachers and for students, with each focus group session having between four to six participants. Five open-ended interview protocols were used in collecting data. Teachers and students with more than two years of stay in the schools were randomly selected. The study found that churches influenced students’ morals in schools. Pseudonyms have been used in place of actual participants’ names.