Professional development programs influencing management of early childhood development centers in kakamega east sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

Institutional management is perceived as a crucial factor in improvement and effectiveness of achievements. Good performance of organizations depends on the quality of the trained personnel. In Early Childhood Education centres, achievements are based on the adequacy of trained management staff. In Kakamega East Sub- county, majority of ECDE centres are perceived as mismanaged by those in charge. Through Professional Development programs, continuous improvements in institutions’ management can be realized. This study sought to analyze the extent to which Professional Development programs have influenced the management of resources in ECDE centres in Kakamega East Sub County. It was guided by the Richard Gardner theory and adopted a mixed methods approach to survey and randomly sample 78 ECDE teachers, purposively select 12 ECDE managers and 1Curriculum Support Officer from a targeted a population of 78 ECDE centres, 256 ECDE teachers and 78 ECDE managers. Piloting of the instruments was done using test-re test strategy to yield .89 Cronbach’s alpha value. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and recorded verbatim while quantitative data was analyzed by use of Pearson Correlation Coefficients. The results of the survey established that there was a significant 58% positive relationship between professional development Programs and Management of Resources in ECDE centres implying that a positive change of 58% in professional development Programs could positively initiate a substantial improvement in management of resources in ECDE centres. The researcher recommended that more resources should be committed in continuous professional development programmes to keep ECDE managers abreast on current and emerging strategies in management of educational institutions.