EFFECT OF RE-TOOLING ON TEACHERS’ USE OF STRATEGIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO GRADE TEN LEARNERS IN SENIOR SCHOOLS IN TRANS-NZOIA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Retooling of teachers in senior schools in Kenya is aimed at ensuring a smooth transition from 8:4:4 to CBE. This is an initiative of the Teachers Service Commission. Retooling started in 2023 and continued up to 2024 for teachers teaching grades 2 to 7. In 2023, the TSC trained 60,642 teachers for these grades. The retooling for Senior school teachers (grades 10 to 12) started in 2025.The training utilized a Smart Cascade Model, where Master Trainers first trained Trainers of Trainers (ToTs), who then led face-to-face, subject-clustered training sessions for the teachers at county or sub-county venues. Teachers were grouped based on their learning areas, such as English, Mathematics, Science, and Creative Arts, to ensure specialized instruction. The primary goal was to equip teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively implement the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and conduct Competency-Based Assessments (CBA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of retooling on teachers’ use of strategies in teaching English in senior schools in Trans-Nzoia County. The study is guided by the following objectives: to determine the effect of retooling on teachers’ ability to employ learner-centred strategies, to determine how teachers facilitated learning in class after retooling, and to establish the challenges teachers of English face when teaching English after retooling.A descriptive survey research design was adopted. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003), descriptive survey design is used in collecting data from the members of a population in order to determine the current status under study. The target population comprised 750 teachers, who were retooled from whom a sample of 250 teachers was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Approval to interview teachers was sought through the County Director of Education, Heads of respective institutions and the teachers themselves. Data were collected through questionnaires and interview guides. The study is anchored on Aileen Kennedy's (2005) Model of Continuing Professional Development, which suggests that “individual teachers attend ‘training events’ and then cascade or disseminate the information to colleagues” (Kennedy, 2005, p.240). Data was analysed descriptively using measures of central tendency. Findings of the study revealed that the teachers had undergone CBC retooling; however, most training sessions lasted short sessions, most of those trainers did not grasp the content so well, the training was not so much tailored to specific learning areas, many teachers still suffer from an attitude of contempt towards CBE and lacked adequate follow-up sessions. The study concluded that effective teacher retooling is key to successful CBE implementation in Senior Schools. It therefore recommends continuous professional development, training of trainers to be learning area specific, need to train teachers based on their learning areas continuously, need to rework on teachers’ attitude towards CBE and peer mentorship programs to ensure effective CBE Curriculum implementation.