CONTRIBUTION OF CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION AT KAHUHIA NORMAL SCHOOL IN MURANG’A COUNTY, KENYA (1922-1961)

Abstract

This research focused on the contribution of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) towards the development of teacher education in Kenya, with a special focus on Kahuhia Normal School (KNS).The study objectives included: To trace the historical growth of Kahuhia Normal School from 1922-1961;To examine the role of the Church Missionary Society in the development of teacher education at Kahuhia Normal School from 1922-1961;To explore the part played by key individuals around Kahuhia Normal School to the development of teacher education in Murang’a from 1922 -1961. Historical research design was comprehensively employed. The main sources of data were primary and secondary, where; primary sources included oral interviews, data from Kenya National Archives, documents from the school library, and secondary sources which included books, journals and other written records. Purposive sampling and snowballing sampling techniques were utilized to select 16 participants from various categories. The study targeted former school administrators, village elders, former students and teachers. The collected data was subjected to historical techniques of internal and external criticism to determine the authenticity and reliability of data collected. Guided by the objectives, content analysis was done to categorize the data into historical periods and themes. Oral data was recorded, transcribed, coded and discussed under themes. This enabled drawing inferences about teacher education by Church missionaries in Kahuhia, and it is from these that findings, conclusions and recommendations were drawn. The study findings indicated that the establishment of the CMS and their introduction of early teacher education in pre-colonial Kenya acted an agent in provision for teachers and formed an important basis to the history of education and further research. The study findings indicated missionaries as key stakeholders in teacher education development and therefore should not be underscored. Further research can be done to explore the coming up of girls education in the same institution