Factors influencing the choice of Christian Religious Education by Secondary School students in Makueni Sub-county, Makueni County-Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors that influence the choice of Christian Religious Education by secondary school students in Makueni Sub-County, Makueni County. The research was guided by four objectives that focused on whether the students’ interest in other subjects influence their choice of Christian Religious Education in Makueni Sub County, if future career prospects influence students’ choice of Christian Religious Education, whether there are gender differences in the choice of Christian Religious Education among KCSE students and to investigate whether teachers’ guidance on subject selection influence students’ choice of Christian Religious Education. The theoretical underpinnings of this research are based on transformational character modeland structural – functional approach to religion which has its roots in Emile Durkheim works on religion. Durkheim argued that religion is, in a sense, the celebration and even (self-) worship of human society. Given this approach, Durkheim proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions. In these models, principals and career guidance teachers set directions, guide the students and redesign their schools to promote the selection of subjects by students for their career prospects. This research was conducted in Makueni Sub-county. The final study sample included 10 principals and 10 career guidance teachers randomly selected from ten secondary schools from Makueni Sub- County. The sample also included 12 subject teachers and 100 form three students who were purposefully sampled and included in the study sample. The study utilized a mixed method research approach specifically the converged parallel design. The design provides for the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data in the same phase and then merging the two sets of the results into an overall interpretation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in Tables. Qualitative data was coded according to content, analyzed based on emerging themes and presented in narrative form.