Abstract:
This research was designed to determine the factors that influence the attitude of
students towards Christian religious education. Consequently, the present research
faced a dual purpose. In the first place, it sought to identify the type of attitude students
in Nairobi secondary schools offering CRE as an examinable subject express towards
CRE and secondly to ascertain the demographic and pedagogical variables that may be
related to such attitudes.
Two hundred and twenty-two (222) Forms 2 and 3 students were randomly
selected from six schools operating the local 8.4.4 system of education to make the
research sample. The students were requested to rank by preference the subjects they
were taking in the present term of the research. From the rank lists, two groups of
students were identified: those who ranked CRE high and those who ranked CRE low.
These two categories of students formed the bases for the examination of the factors
that were considered to influence the attitudes of students towards CRE. The crosssectional
design was used and the instrument for data collection was designed after the
Likert Method and Scaling. The student version of the Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences was used for analyses of data collected.
The research revealed that generally, students have a positive attitude towards
CRE, but the positive attitude was not related to demographic factors of age, level of
education, Church attendance, involvement in Church activities and gender. The
attitude of students was related to pedagogical factors. The students' perception of the
role of CRE in the curriculum, the content and approach of CRE, and the textbooks
used in CRE were found to be related to the attitudes of students towards CRE.
Students generally accept the role of CRE in the curriculum as worthwhile.
Unlike those with a negative attitude towards CRE, students with a positive attitude
towards CRE have a favorable disposition towards the content of CRE, the approach
teachers use for CRE and the textbooks used in CRE. Notably, the research revealed
that students do not generally perceive their teachers as honest, friendly and
dependable, they are, generally further convinced that their teachers do not know them
very well.
