Co-Curricular Activities: Are they Determinants of Holistic Education of Students in Secondary Schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties, Kenya?

Peter Waweru NDIRANGU¹ and John Aluko ORODHO²

Greener Journal of Educational Research, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 055-064, April 2018

¹Principal of Magogoni Community Secondary and Technical School, Thika East Sub- County, Kiambu County, Kenya.

²Associate Professor of Research and Statistics in Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, School of Education, Kenyatta University,  Kenya.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The co-curricular activities, which constitute dynamics of holistic education, are fairly well documented (Ampofo & Orodho, 2014; Nesan, 2009; Teneja, 2009).  It is also instructive to note that most of these co-curricular activities fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school education. Often a range of activities in the form of   clubs and sports activities is available to learners which might occur during normal school hours, lunch break or after school (Ampofo & Orodho, 2014; Nesan, 2009).  In fact, majority of the co-curricular activities are largely voluntary and are offered throughout the school career from the pre-primary to the secondary level (Taneja, 2009; Workfolk, 2010). Where co-curricular activities are compulsory, they are viewed as a means of enhancing social interaction, leadership, healthy recreation, self-discipline and self-confidence (Biruk,2015; Wasonga,2015)..

The foregoing, notwithstanding, two divergent viewpoints regarding co-curricular activities, some in favour and some opposed to the importance and use of co-curricular activities as an indicator of holistic education (Nesan, 2009; Samaaris, 2009).  One of the arguments in favouring activities prepare learners practically for the future because they make students get used to working in teams, exercising their bodies, taking initiatives and recreation (Ampofo & Orodho, 2014). It also arguable that the normal curriculum has limitations, with the result that learners who only experienced rigidly academic study may not be able to apply theoretical knowledge in practical situations (Nesan, 2009). Another benefit of co-curricular activities is that, quite a number of these activities have a strong physical (as opposed to mental) bias. Learners have to abandon their desks and face new challenges. By giving equal weight to co-curricular and formal academic activities the school system can turn out more versatile and well-balanced individuals who are more competent all round (Nesan, 2009; Wolfork, 2010).

A further   argument   in favour of co-curricular activities is that every learner has a basic human right to demand and receive a broad education. Learners have different aptitudes and should be given ample opportunities for development before specializing in a specific field of interest. They need skills that   equip them for family and leisure life too. The learner who prefers science should not have to give up music if that is also part of his/her interest, and a learner who majors in social studies should not be deprived of physical sports activities for that reason. Moreover, co-curricular activities offered after school hours can be an excellent opportunity to discover new meaning in life rather than waste time lazing around or maybe even making trouble out of boredom. The success of co-curricular activities often depends on building links between the school and the wider community ( Biruk,2015). This means in practice that local enthusiasts help learners to gain specific skills, and schools send learners out to work on community projects ( Biruk,2015; Wolfork, 2010).

Arguments against co-curricular activities contend that   academic curriculum is   much more important and must continue to be given more status in schools than the co-curriculum. Such critics maintain that obtaining recognized qualifications is more essential than co-curricular activities (Marrais,2011). Higher education institutions place a greater premium on academic curriculum than on the co- curriculum when selecting students, and so do employers when recruiting workers (World Bank,2010) 

The genesis of holistic education can be traced back in history to the earlier writings of the Swiss humanitarian Johann Pestalozzi, the American Emerson and the progressive educationist Francis Parker ( )and John Dewey ()and other pioneers such as Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner, among others, who all have insisted that education should be understood as the art of cultivating the moral, emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions of the developing child. It was not until the 1970s, that an emerging body of literature in science, philosophy and cultural history has provided an overreaching concept to understand this way of conceptualizing education - a perspective known as holism (Miller & Pound,2011). In this context, a holistic way of thinking seeks to encompass and integrate multiple layers of meaning and experience rather than defining human possibilities narrowly. Simply put, this concept challenges the conventional academic school system and contends that, every child is more than a future employee to be prepared through formal academic manner, and every person’s intelligence and abilities are far more complex than his or her scores on standardized tests in the academic sense of the word (Miller,2000; Miller & Pound,2011).

Gang (1990) posits that the purpose of holistic education, either directly or indirectly, is related to the concepts of wholeness and interconnectedness.  The researcher argues that holistic education would enable students to inculcate a better sense of harmony and spirituality and develop a global perspective on issues by appreciating the interconnectedness of all disciplines of learning besides the core themes of spirituality and connectedness, Rudge (2008), quoting from education 2000, states ten basic tenets of holistic education:

Nourish the inherent possibilities of human development, Honour the individuality and creativity of each student, design learning to be experience-centric, embrace the concept of wholeness as the foundation of the education process, situate educators to be facilitators of the learning process in an organic manner, present students with opportunities to making choices at every stage of their learning endeavour, power learning to be participatory and democratic in orientation , mentor students to be global citizens by appreciating the diversity of human experiences and commonality of human interests (Rudge, 2008:1).

Miller (2000) frames holistic education to be the transformation of an individual and society to become more balanced and inclusive in their behaviour, thinking and activities. Holistic education is grounded to spiritual values and beliefs that support the inner transformation and spiritual evolution of humans. What seems to be emerging from this review is that unlike reformers such as Dewey and Holt  who advocated greater democracy and freedom but kept spirituality separate from education, contemporary holistic educators promote the integration of spirituality in education. These descending views against co-curricular activities notwithstanding, it is   arguable that, there is good justification in exposing the learners to a variety of the co-curriculum activities. This study attempted to examine the extent these co- curricular activities contribute to the holistic education of a learner.

2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

2.1. The Study Design

The study adopted   the mixed methods research and specifically employed the explanatory sequential mixed research design (Creswell, 2012; Orodho,2017). mixed research design is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and “mixing “both quantitative and qualitative approaches in a single study or a series of studies to understand a research problem (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The choice of mixed methods is premised on the fact that the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, in combination, provide a better understanding of the research problem and question than either method by itself (Creswell,2005; Orodho, Nzabalirwa, Odundo, Waweru & Ndayambaje, 2016). A further justification for the choice of this design was hinged on the fact that the design enables the researcher to use a qualitative strand to explain initial quantitative results (Creswell, Plano, Clark, et.al. 2003; Creswell, 2012; Orodho,2012).

 2.2. Population and Sample selection

Combinations of stratified random sampling and purposive sampling procedures   were used to select a sample size of 627  from the target population of 275,000. The combinations of sampling methods were justified due to its ability to provide an opportunity for random selection of subjects and ability to strategically chose subjects for the study who have the required knowledge and experience on issues being investigated (Cohen & Manion, 2011; Cresswell,2012, Orodho,2009 ,2012). Combinations of random and purposive sampling techniques yielded a sample size of 390 for Kiambu and 317 for Samburu Counties, making and combined sample size of 707.

2.3.  Research Instruments and Data Collection

The study used questionnaires for school principals, senior teachers and students. The questionnaire for School Principals and teachers contained both structured and unstructured questions. Questions in this section focused on type of school, years of teaching experience in the school and enrollment as well as performance in national examinations at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) for the past three years.  The students’ questionnaire contained both structured and unstructured questions. The section   therefore, contained a Likert scale types of questions where the respondents were required to indicate their level of agreement with statements that express a strong or weak indication of the extent to which they consider the co- curriculum as determinants of students’ holistic education.  The main structures put in place to promote various aspects of co-curricular curriculum and the achievements in holistic education indicators were assessed.  The study also employed qualitative instruments such as interviews for school principals, members of the Board of Management (BoM), and Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QUASO);

Piloting was done in one school in Kiambu County and one in Samburu County. These two schools where be excluded from participating in the main study. The purpose of piloting was to determine the validity and reliability of the research instruments, especially the questionnaires, to be used for data collection. The content validity of the instruments was assessed by a panel of experts who are well versed in research methods.  This study employed the split half method to determine the reliability. A value greater than .75 for the correlation coefficient of each of the questionnaires designed for School Principals, and senior teachers was separately deemed adequate to declare the questionnaires as reliable (Brook,2013; Creswell,2003; Turner,2010).

            The data were collected from multiple sources to provide the richness and the depth of data in line with   the explanatory design procedure which is a variant of mixed methods research was carried out in two phases (Creswell, et.al, 2011). Data collection strategies were   implemented in two phases, starting with the implementation of the quantitative strand. Phase one involved the implementation of the quantitative strand through administration of questionnaires to school Managers, teachers and students.  The second phase of the study was implemented on completion of analyzing the results from the first quantitative phase of the study. Using the quantitative results, the researcher identified the senior teachers and members of the Board of Management (BOM) who had displayed sound knowledge of co-curricular activities as a determinant of holistic education of learners for further scrutiny.  A qualitative evaluation research was undertaken to investigate the extent to which the co-curricular activities were being implemented in schools.

2.4. Data Analysis Techniques and Procedures

The quantitative data from questionnaires were coded, entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Computer programme version 20. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, means, standard deviations and percentages) were computed by the SPSS Computer programme to determine the respondents’ perceptions and rankings of the role of academic and non-academic dynamics on holistic education in the study locales.   Descriptive statistics were generated from analyzing Likert scale items which were created by calculating a composite score (sum or mean) from five Likert type items (Orodho, Ampofo, Bizimana & Ndayambaje, 2015). For this reason, the composite score for Likert scales used in this study were analyzed at interval measurement scale. The qualitative data were analysed using Atlas.ti qualitative software. The identification codes were provided as P01, 02, for principals, T01, 02 and so on for teachers.

The following null hypothesis was tested at a significance level of .05:

HO: There is no significant relationship between Co-curricular activities and holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties. Independent sample t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the level of significance.

3.0 FINDINGS AND DISCUSION

3.1. Influence of Co-Curricular Activities on Holistic Education

The main objective was to assess the influence of co-curricular activities on provision of holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties. A related null hypothesis was that there was no significant influence of co-curricular activities on holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties.

The respondents were requested to rank the various attributes of co-curricular activities in terms of their influence on promoting holistic education.  The results are presented in Table 1. Table 1 shows that the mean and standard deviations for the five items ranged from (M=2.66, SD= .99) to (M=3.33, SD= .99). The highly ranked aspect of co-curricular activities that had considerable influence on provision of holistic education was teamwork and wide life exposure (M=3.33, SD= .99).  The second highly ranked aspect was that well-balanced co-curricular activities influenced the provision of holistic education (M=3.29, SD= .99) as cited by all respondents.

Table 1: Co-curricular and Holistic Education

The third highly ranked component cited was that co-curricular activities led to practical life (M= 2.98, SD=1.04).  Co-curricular activities produce well balanced individuals was the forth with variety of co-curricular activities at positions 4 and 5, respectively the components of co-curricular activities that contributed to holistic education.

A follow up of the findings was made in an attempt to find out the extent to which the views of the respondents regarding co-curricular activities and holistic education differed across the study locales of Kiambu and Samburu counties. Cross-tabulations of type of respondents by locale yielded results presented in Table 2. The results in table 2 indicate that, an almost equal portion of principals in Kiambu and Samburu Counties, constituting approximately one third of the total, considered the influence of co-curricular activities to provision of holistic education to be either important or very important. This suggests that   the general rating was fairly low, with a majority of principals in the two locales not considering co-curricular activities as influencing the provision of holistic education.

Table 2: Co-curricular and Holistic Education by Respondent and Study Locale

Table 2 carries data which indicate that, while less than 10 percent of the senior teachers from Kiambu considered co-curricular to be a contributing factor to holistic education, nearly half of their counterparts, constituting 42.9 % in Samburu held similar opinion. Thus, comparatively, despite the general low rating, a larger percentage of teachers in Samburu County attached greater premium to co-curricular activities influence on holistic education unlike their colleagues in Kiambu County.

Table 2 carries data that revealed that, while 30.0 % of the students in Kiambu considered the contribution of co-curricular activities to holistic education to be either important or very important, nearly half of their counterparts in Samburu County held similar view. This suggests that to a large extent, students in Kiambu County did not consider   co-curricular activities to influence holistic education as to their counterparts in Samburu County. Observations during interview sessions confirmed that a large proportion of students in Samburu were engaged in co-curricular activities compared to their counterparts in Kiambu County. The overall result that emerged was that, more respondents of all categories in Samburu County attached higher premium to the contribution of co-curricular activities to holistic education than their counterparts in Kiambu County.

3.3. Co-curricular Activities and Holistic Education by respondent and Type of School

An attempt was made to investigate the extent the perceptions of respondents regarding the influence of co-curricular activities on provision of holistic education varied across various types of school classifications. A cross-tabulation of responses regarding the influence of co-curricular activities on provision of holistic education by type of schools was performed and results depicted in Figure 1.

Fig 1: Influence of Co-Curricular Activities on holistic education by school classification

The data carried in Figure 1 indicate that on average very few respondents in the various school classifications considered co-curricular activities to contribute positively to holistic education.  Nonetheless, the students who rated the contribution of co-curricular activities to holistic education were basically from sub-County Schools (10.5%) followed closely by their counterparts in national schools (9.574%) and County schools (5.159%), respectively.

The overall picture that emerged was that, the influence of co-curricular activities on the provision of holistic education was rated low, although students in sub-county and national schools posted more favorable rankings compared to their counterparts from county schools.

4.3.4. Testing the null hypothesis on co-curricular activities and holistic education

H_O: There is no significant influence of co-curricular activities on holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties.  The test of hypothesis was based on the information generated from principals, senior teachers and students’ responses.  The chi-square homogeneity test of association was used to test the influence of co-curricular activities on provision of holistic education. Table 3 indicates the results of the chi-square test.

Table 3: Chi-Square Tests correlation of influence of co-curricular activities and holistic education by respondent and locale

The results indicate that for principals χ2 (df=4, N=20) = 2.813, p=.590) indicates that the p-value generated by SPSS was greater than the level of significance alpha =.05 used to test the hypothesis. This led to the retention of the null hypothesis that there was no significant influence of co-curricular activities on provision of holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties. The results suggested that principals were of the opinion that the co-curricular activities did not significantly influence provision of holistic education.

The results for senior teachers χ^{2 (}df=2, N=76) = 15.778, p=.001) revealed that the value generated by SPSS was less than the critical alpha = .05 used to test the hypothesis. This finding led to the rejection of the null hypothesis at level of significance alpha=.05.  Consequently, the alternative hypothesis stating that there was a significant influence of the co- curricular activities on provision of holistic education was adopted. It was concluded r  that,  senior teachers held the position that co-curricular activities significantly contribute to holistic education.

The results for students χ²(df=4, N=450) = 14.992, p=. 000) revealed the p-value generated by SPSS Computer programme version 20 was less than the significant level set at p = .05 to test the hypothesis. This finding led to the rejection of the null hypothesis at the significance alpha level of .05. Consequently, the rejection of the null hypothesis led to the adoption of the alternative hypothesis that there was a significant influence of co-curricular activities on provision of holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties. The students therefore, portrayed a strong perception that co-curricular activities significantly influenced provision of holistic development.

The overall chi-square result for all respondents χ² (df=4, N= 546) = 22.452, p=. 000 revealed that the p-value generated by SPSS of .000 was less than the confidence level of p= .05, hence  the rejection of the null hypothesis. This led to the adoption of the alternative hypothesis that co-curricular activities significantly influenced provision of holistic education. A close examination of results indicated that these significant differences were spread across various respondents, types of schools and the two counties.

3.4. Triangulating Quantitative and Qualitative Data

The qualitative results from the second phase of this study were used to assist in interpreting and or corroborating the quantitative results in the first phase. In an attempt to justify the use of co-curricular activities on holistic education, one Quality Assurance and Standards Officer in Samburu County averred:

The purpose of holistic education should either directly or indirectly, be related to the concepts of wholeness and interconnectedness.  The QUASO maintained that through co-curricular activities, students should acquire holistic education that enables them to inculcate a better sense of harmony and spirituality and develop a global perspective on issues by appreciating the interconnectedness of all disciplines of learning (QUASO, Samburu County).

The implication of the foregoing citation from QUASO is that, co-curricular activities should be used to nourish the inherent possibilities of human development in terms of creativity of each student, design learning to lifelong.

This finding is in tandem with studies by Rudge (2008) who  noted that,  embracing  the concept of wholeness as the foundation of the education process, situate educators to be facilitators of the learning process in an organic manner, present students with opportunities to making choices at every stage of their learning endeavour, power learning to be participatory and democratic in orientation , mentor students to be global citizens by appreciating the diversity of human experiences and commonality of human interests.

Some senior teachers and principals interviewed tended to support the role of co-curricular activities when they stated that:

Co-curricular activities prepare learners practically or the future because they make students get used to working in teams, exercising leadership and taking initiatives. They further noted that normal curriculum has limitations, with the result that learners who only experienced rigidly academic study may not be able to apply theoretical knowledge in practical situations (senior teacher, 09, 11, 23 in Kiambu & 06; 17.38 in Samburu).

The foregoing sentiments from the senior teachers and principals tended to support the role of co-curricular activities in facilitating holistic education. Some BoM members and senior teachers tended to similarly support the role of co-curricular activities in fostering holistic education when they argued that:

 In most cases co-curricular activities have a strong physical (as opposed to mental) bias. Their role in facilitating holistic education is not very clear and usually not formally examined by the Kenya National Examinations Council. Learners have to abandon their desks and face new challenges.  However, by giving equal weight to co-curricular and formal academic activities the school system can turn out more versatile and well-balanced individuals who are more competent all round (BoM 12.17.36.43 & Senior teacher, 02, 38 ,56 Kiambu County & BoM 02.21,56 in Samburu County).

Several BoM members and senior teachers interviewed tended to similarly support the role of co-curricular activities when they stated that:

Co-curricular activities are that every learner has a basic human right to demand and receive a broad education. Learners have different aptitudes and should be given ample opportunities for development before specializing in a specific field of interest. They need skills that will equip them for family and leisure life too. The learner who prefers science should not have to give up music if that is also part of his or her interest range, and a learner who majors in social studies should not be deprived of physical sports activities for that reason ( BoM, 12,35 in Kiambu & Teachers,  03, 22, in Samburu County).

The implication of the foregoing sentiments of members of the BoM and senior teachers is that, co-curricular activities offered after school hours can be an excellent opportunity to discover new meaning in life rather than waste time lazing around or maybe even making trouble out of boredom. The success of co-curricular activities often depends on building links between the school and the wider community. This means in practice that local enthusiasts help learners to gain specific skills, and schools send learners out to work on community projects (Wolfork, 2010).

The interview reports from members of BoM in Kiambu County and principals in Samburu County seemed to send opposing signals when they reported that:

 Academic curriculum is much more important than co-curricular activities and must continue to be given more status in schools than the co-curriculum. Such critics maintain that obtaining recognized qualifications is more essential than co-curricular activities. Higher education institutions place a greater importance on the curriculum than on the co- curriculum when selecting students, and so do employers when recruiting workers (BoM 02, 06, 09, 27, 43 in Kiambu County & Principal, 11, 15.23, 46 in Samburu County).

This dissenting view against co-curricular activities notwithstanding, it is arguable that, there is good justification in exposing the learners to a variety of the co-curriculum activities. The quantitative aspect of this study established that albeit at smaller magnitude, co- curricular activities contribute either individually or in combination with other activities to the holistic education of a learner.

The results of this study are in tandem with most studies carried out in developed and developing countries, especially in African countries.   In particular, the finding of this study are in line with those by Ampofo and Orodho (2015) , Nesan (2009) and Wolfork (2010).By giving equal weight to co-curricular and formal academic activities the school system can turn out more versatile and well-balanced individuals who are more competent all round (Nesan, 2009; Wolfork, 2010).Furthermore, it is clearly worthwhile to expose that, learners to a wide range of experiences that display at least a reasonable resemblance to the reality of conditions in the outside world where they will have to study, live and work once they leave school.

It seems justifiable to assume that judiciously balanced combination of academic and co-curricular learning experiences is likely to enable learners to cope better with life in a society where people have to change career several times in the course of their working lives. Learners’ must, therefore, have a working acquaintance with a balanced range of skills (Nesan, 2009; Orodho, 2014).

4.0. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1. Study Conclusions

The study examined the influence of co-curricular activities on holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties, the main conclusions were that; although the, the test of hypothesis revealed that senior teachers and students yielded negative significant influence of co-curricular activities on holistic education, the following specific conclusions were reached:

1.   These attributes considered most important were: the inculcation of teamwork and wide life exposure among students, practical life, and nurturing of well-balanced individuals, amongst others.

2.   , it was evident that to a large extent, principals in the two locales did not consider co-curricular activities as an important contributing factor to holistic education.

3.   to co-curricular activities are an influencing factor to holistic education

4.    Students in Kiambu County did not consider co-curricular activities to be of critical influence on holistic education like their counterparts in Samburu County. Observations during interview sessions confirmed that a large proportion of students in Samburu were engaged in co-curricular activities more than their counterparts in Kiambu County. Overall, students in Samburu County, just like their teachers, cherish co-curricular activities than their counterparts in Kiambu County.

5.   It was established that on average very few respondents in the various school classifications considered co-curricular activities to contribute positively to holistic education. Nonetheless, the students who rated the contribution of co-curricular activities to holistic education were basically from sub-County Schools, followed closely by their counterparts in national and county schools.

6.   There were no significant differences between the rating of principals regarding the contribution of co-curricular activities to holistic education in Kiambu and Samburu Counties.

7.   the senior teachers held the position that co-curricular activities significantly influenced provision of holistic education and the views significantly differed across the study locales of Kiambu and Samburu Counties.

8.   It was thus concluded that according to the students’ perception, there was a significant influence of co-curricular activities on holistic education of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu and Samburu Counties. The students therefore portrayed a strong contention that co-curricular activities contributed significantly to holistic education.

9.   unequivocally maintained that, through co-curricular activities, students should acquire holistic education that enables them to inculcate a better sense of harmony and spirituality and develop a global perspective on issues by appreciating the interconnectedness of all disciplines of learning

10. There was good justification in exposing the learners to a variety of the co-curriculum activities. The quantitative aspect of this study established that albeit at smaller magnitude, co- curricular activities contribute either individually or in combination with other activities to the holistic education of a learner.

The overall objective is that by giving equal weight to co-curricular and formal academic activities the school system can turn out more versatile and well-balanced individuals who are more competent all round and expose learners to a wide range of experiences that display at least a reasonable resemblance to the reality of conditions in the outside world where they will have to study, live and work once they leave school.

4.2. Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study from the quantitative and qualitative phases, it was recommended that the use of co-curricular excellence in meriting school outcomes should be one way of enhancing the status of co-curricular activities given that they have been found to highly contribute to the provision of   holistic education in secondary schools.

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