Previous research and document evidence obtainable in popular media has consistently reported that Kenyan students’ moral standing and general conduct in the wider society does not reflect acquisition and practice of values learnt through the teaching or Christian Religious Education (CRE) at the form four level. This has caused complaints among those stakeholders in education who are concerned that the moral well being of the youth is on a downward trend. This suggests that either the teaching of CRE is defective or the Kenyan education system as a whole does not contain relevant elements that could enable students acquire relevant moral skills. Another possibility could be the existence of a discrepancy between the CRE program objectives and the instructional practices meant to achieve them. From the literature that was reviewed, it was evident that the nature of this discrepancy had not yet been established for effective intervention strategies to be put in place. The purpose of this study was to determine possible reasons for the assumed discrepancy between the stated objectives of teaching CRE in Kenyan secondary schools and current moral standings that does not reflect acquisition of moral skills. Specifically, the study determined whether the methods of instruction employed by the teachers of C.R.E in Kisumu East district secondary schools enabled learners to identify and acquire morals in societal context. Four instruments used in collecting data included: A graphic observation rating scale, a learner’s test, an in-depth interview schedule and documents analysis guides. The study population comprised 3225 students and 48 teachers. Out of the population, 16 teachers and the 343 learners were selected using stratified random sampling technique. The obtained results suggested that teachers rarely used the valuing methods in inculcating moral skills in their students. Another notable finding was that while the CRE syllabus contained relevant elements that could assist students acquire moral skills, it was the implementation of the skills through the teaching methods adopted that was likely responsible for limited valuing skill acquisition.

Key words: Objectives, valuing methods and learner identification, acquisition of moral values.