David Hume’s theory of knowledge and its relevance to education in Kenya’s secondary schools with reference to Baringo central district, Kenya

Abstract

The theory of knowledge as espoused by David Hume is built on the principle of sense experience as a basis of human development. Kenya‟s secondary schools education appears to have borrowed from various philosophical theories, with Hume‟s theory of knowledge being one of them. Hence the study aimed at evaluating this theory and its relevance in secondary school education level in Baringo Central District as a point of reference. The study employed descriptive ex post facto research design which was supported by the social science survey. Using a simple random sampling technique, 382 students were sampled out of 7137 total student population in the district. They were chosen from 11 schools out of the possible 24 secondary schools. This simple random sampling method was further used to arrive at a sample of 202 girls and 180 boys out of a total of 3546 and 3591girls and boys respectively. Through purposive sampling method, a sample of 66 teachers from various departments drawn from the selected 11 schools was studied. Questionnaire and observation sheet were used to collect data. This enabled the researcher to gather information on the teaching methods, the content of the curriculum, and the role of the teacher and that of the learner in the teaching process. It also assisted in exploring issues of discipline of the learners. The findings of the study yielded both qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data was analysed using inferential statistics and it entailed making prediction about the qualities of the total population on the basis of qualities of the sample studied. The qualitative data was analysed through descriptive statistics which involved determining measure of central tendency by finding mean, mode and median. There was also the use of philosophical methods in the analysis of data specially the critical and phenomenological approaches. The critical approach enabled the researcher to make rational judgments in assessing the responses given by the participants. The phenomenological method, allowed a detailed description of what was observed in the field. The data collected was presented using tabulation. The findings are expected to be of great value to all stakeholders namely; the policy makers, students, parents, teachers, researchers and the government agencies in their endeavour to provide quality education. It is expected to help policy makers to know the areas that needed to be reviewed in the secondary school education. In addition, it is hoped that the recommendations made after the study would prove quite invaluable in assisting teachers improve on their teaching methods.