A STUDY OF ATTITUDES OF TEACHERS AND PUPILS TOWARD THE TEACHING AND LEARNING Of M~THEMATICS RESPECTIVELY IN UPPER PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MASIMBA EDUCATIONAL ZONE, IRIANYI DIVISION, KISII DISTRICT (KENYA) •

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the attitudes held by the primary school teachers and pupils toward the teaching and learning of Mathematics respectively. The study was done at Masimba Educational zone, Irianyi Division, Kisii District. It is a typically rural area inhabited by Abagus1i. The zone consisted of thirty seven schools but due to time limit the researcher selected five schools for the study. Randomly selected sample of 40 teachers and 151 pupils participated .in the research. The pupils were from standard seven. The writer used two questionnaires, one for teachers and the other for the pupils. The questionnpires were administered personally by the researcher in the schools involved. The responses were tabulated itemwise and data analysed and interpreted. The analysis was done using percentages. The main findings of the study were: 1. Primary school teachers in Masimba Educational Zone had a positive attitude toward the teaching of Mathematics.

2. The Pupils in standard seven in Masimba Educational zone had a negative attitude toward the learning of Mathematics. 3. There was no significant relationship between the teachers! attitude and his background It was suggested that 8 study to be carried out to unearth the factors affecting teachers to have a positive attitude toward teaching Mathematic~ and how the conditions can be bettered and another research to look into the attributes to the negative attitude~ of pupils to learning Mathematics. It was implicated that although the teachers have a positive attitude toward the teaching of Mathematics, it does not necessarily rule out the possibility of some teachers instilling fear and hatred in some pupils as far as Mathematics is concerned.