The Role of the Church in Implementing Holistic Child Development Programs A Critical Assessment of Selected Churches in Arusha Town, Tanzania

Abstract

The purpose this study was to critically assess the extent to which churches in Arusha town have implemented holistic child development programs. The objectives of the study were to identify various holistic child development programs implemented in the selected churches; to develop standards for assessing holistic child development programs; to asses and deduce the extent to which the selected churches have implemented holistic child development programs and finally to recommend appropriate ways of implementing holistic child development programs. An interview guide containing semi-structured questions was administered to 39 respondents in 13 purposively selected churches in Arusha town. The data were then coded and analyzed with SPSS version 10.0 for Windows program. The study found that the majority of the churches implement the activities for spiritual development. Further, there is a high degree of knowledge on the importance of cognitive development of children among the churches. Churches are engaged in the monitoring of school performance through school and home visits as well as inspection of children exercise books. There is also consistent and appropriate provision of tutorial lessons for all age categories. The study also found out that there is no clear demarcation of activities in holistic components for child development among the churches. Some activities apparently meant for socio-emotional development were classified also as cognitive development activities. Similarly, choruses and songs were classified as spiritual activities while musical concerts were classified under socio-emotional development. There is limited information on progression through the holistic components. Most activities done at one age category were not implemented at an advanced 100 Abstracts level in the next category. The churches introduced some new activities in the next advanced age category with no prior basis and with limited levels of implementation.