CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study
Education
is widely considered to be an investment to achieve both human and economic
growth. Unfortunately in Nigeria, the term is seriously losing its meaning. The
education system of Nigeria is not given the adequate attention that it
deserves. This is evident in the educational budget of Nigeria as there has
been considerable drop in the budget for education by the federal government on
a yearly basis. The literacy rate in Nigeria is recorded as about 62% in 2018. Nigeria
has been struggling for promotion of literacy for decades, but is consistently
swamped by the population growth, poverty and socio-cultural practices. Nigeria
has a population of nearly 200 million people, of whom roughly one-fourth, or
52 million, is between the ages of 5 and 16. Nigeria’s Constitution guarantees
all of these children a free and compulsory education. Until Nigeria increases
the literacy rate that education system will remain poor.
Nigeria
is challenged by material constraints such as well-constructed and
well-furnished school buildings and classrooms (the case of building collapse
that recently occurred in Lagos Island where scores of students and teachers
were wound and several died in the ugly incident in February this year)
resources, well-designed curriculum, teachers'' experience and a manageable
class size. The main issue that is faced by the children in government school
is unqualified teachers. Qualified teachers play a crucial role in making
schools effective. The personal and professional attainment of teachers has a significant
impact on students’ achievement. However, the quality of teacher training is
scarce and obsolete rendering it ineffective for classroom teaching. In
government schools teachers are very old but course change every year. No
proper trainings are conducted to update the knowledge of the teacher, still
having low qualification and use the typical style to teach the students. Most
times, teachers hardy know about the new concepts included in the new
curriculum. Teachers were dominant in classrooms but they used to read out a
chapter from a textbook and students simply listened to them.
Teachers are
considered as the important foundation of our educational system in Nigeria.
The personal and professional development of teachers puts direct impact on
student achievement. In government schools teachers are very old but academic
course change every year. No proper trainings are conducted to update the
knowledge of the teacher, still having low qualification and use the typical
style to teach the students. Most times, teachers hardy know about the new concepts
included in the new curriculum. Teachers were dominant in classrooms but they
used to read out a chapter from a textbook and students simply listened to
them. Under qualified teachers are appointed who cannot effectively manage the
process of teaching and learning in schools effectively which reflects in poor
performances of students and dissatisfaction among parents regarding the
performance of government schools. This is especially worrying because poor
instruction and ineffective teaching reduces the demand for education which in
turn reduces the pool of qualified teachers. This then create a picture of how
teachers are viewed by students and the general public. Therefore, this study
shall assess factors responsible for poor
image of a teacher by using selected secondary schools in Ikeja, Lagos State,
as a case study.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Teachers are
considered very important pillar in nation building. Qualified teachers play
very important role not only in their profession but also in the grooming of
students. Unfortunately in Nigeria there is lack of qualified teachers in some
government schools. Although schools are upgraded and syllabus is English
medium but schools do not have well educated teachers. Teachers have minimum
knowledge about their subjects and lack of teacher training affect the
education standards. There are many reasons for the lack of qualified teaches
in schools such as; one of the major challenges to increasing the educational
standards in Nigeria is lack of trained professional teaching trainees.
Although a broad
range of advance teaching methodologies implemented in the classroom,
researches have shown that teachers play the important role in the success of a
school. Even though, principals find it difficult to firing teachers due to
resistance from teachers unions. The negative effects of teaching can ruin
several generations in the school and destroy the strong foundation of
education that helps in future profession. Mostly secondary school teachers are
most often hired into the classroom. Regardless of their educational
background, those teachers do not work on personality grooming of the students.
Researchers said students who have at least four good teachers in a row will
excel. Students who have two bad teachers in a row will never recover. Schools
that need good teachers the mostly in rural areas, often have the worst
teachers. Students who struggle in government schools also work hard in college
or never manage to get into college.
Some unqualified
teachers incompetently teach students, so that they could not get the grades
needed to pass a class. This leads to some students dropping out of high school
and some unqualified teachers pass students too easily, causing the students to
pass out with high school diplomas but insufficient skills. This whole
situation causes the teachers to be viewed with biased mind. Schools that fire
unqualified teachers often see increases in academic excellence in the
classroom and how the school is generally regarded in its locality. A few
teachers might have a reputation for quality teaching because their classes
frequently have high standardized test scores, but the teacher only produces
successful test takers by teaching the test. Students do not necessarily
develop a greater comprehension of the course content that they can take with
them beyond the classroom. Therefore, how students turn out to be both socially
and academically will determine how their teachers will be view as in the
picture image of the teachers. Therefore, this study will assess factors responsible for poor image of a teacher by
using selected secondary schools in Ikeja, Lagos State, as a case study.
1.3 Research Objectives
The main
objective of this study is to assess factors
responsible for poor image of a teacher by using selected secondary schools in
Ikeja, Lagos State, as a case study. Specifically, the objectives are:
i)
To understand the
reasons why teachers are viewed in a poor image
ii)
To examine the problems
for teachers that
are responsible for their poor image
iii)
To study the qualities
of effective teachers
1.4 Research
Questions
The following are
some of the questions which this study intends to answer:
i)
What are the reasons
why teachers are viewed in a poor image?
ii)
What are the problems for teachers that are responsible for their
poor image?
iii)
What are the qualities
of effective teachers?
1.5 Research
Hypotheses
The followings are the research hypotheses to
be tested in this study:
i)
There
is a significant influence of the poor image of teachers and students’ academic
achievement
ii)
There
is a significant relationship between poor image of and teachers’ performance
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study informs educational
stakeholders such as parents, government, curriculum developers, and school
administrators on factors responsible for poor
image of a teachers, the extent of how this affects their effective and
teaching and consequently, th academic achievement of students. If, as Eccles
(1987) has argued, ‘task value’ beliefs are central to explaining the nature of
students and teachers’ attitudes teaching and learning particular subjects,
then this study helps in identifying those tasks which are viewed negatively,
such balancing a wide range of student
needs, overemphasis on
standardized testing and so on.
This study therefore documents findings on the factors
responsible for poor image of a teacher by using selected secondary schools in
Ikeja, Lagos State, as a case study.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study was limited to the factors that are responsible for poor image of a
teacher in selected secondary schools in Ikeja, Lagos State. Therefore,
five senior secondary schools in Ikeja Local
Government Area of Lagos shall be selected for this study.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
There
are two main limitations to this study. First, the sample was limited to junior
secondary school teachers and students. This limits the generalization of the
research findings to other populations. Second, the survey information is
self-reported data. Therefore, the results might be affected by the teachers’
social desirability to provide desired information rather than accurate
information.