THE IMPACT OF TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS QUALIFICATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ECONOMICS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
It is imperative to enunciate the nature and trend
of educational progress in any developing country. Education is a systematic
intellectual and moral training, geared towards obtaining knowledge,
development of character and also mental development that will ensure human
survival. This becomes a reality through effective teaching and learning. The
performance of students in school greatly depends on the ability and capacity
of the prospective teachers and the school administration.
Hence, an efficient, reliable and courteous
teacher equipped with professionalism, creative imagination, costly ingenuity
and depth of experience is a necessity for optimal performance in the 21st
century.
The differential scholastic achievement of
students in Nigeria has been and is still a source of concern and research
interest to educators, government and parents. This is so because of the great
importance that education has on the national development of the country. All
over the country, there is a consensus of opinion about the fallen standard of
education in Nigeria (Adebule, 2004). Parents and government are in total
agreement that their huge investment on education is not yielding the desired
dividend. Teachers also complain of students’ low performance at both internal
and external examination. The annual releases of Senior Secondary Certificate
Examination results (SSCE)
conducted by West African Examination Council
(WAEC) justified the problematic nature and generalization of poor secondary
school students’ performance in different school subjects.
The National Policy of Education states, “No
Education system can rise above the quality of teachers in the system” (Fgn,
2006). Orgunsaju (2004), states that the academic standard in all Nigerian
educational institutions has fallen considerably below societal expectations.
Blumende (2001), corroborated this view when he reported that the decline in
the quality of education cannot be ignored by anyone who is aware of the
significant role of education as an instrument of societal transformation and
development. There is a need to focus on teachers’ adequacy and competency in
respect to their pedagogical practices and strategies and mastery of the
curriculum and subject content (Chall & Popp, 1990; Stuart, 2004; Rodgers,
2001). In support of the aforementioned scholars, Ekwesili (2006),
institutionalized the Private Public Partnership (PPP) and School Based
management Committee (SBMC) to manage secondary education and to promote school
effectiveness since students’ success depends on the amount of learning that
takes place in the classroom and other related how effective and efficient the
teacher performs in schools. Ijaiya (1998), concurred and opined that improving
the quality of the teaching force in schools is seen as the key to raising
student achievement. Thus, raising educational standards should be the
government’s number one priority. Similarly, Lassa (2000), and Guga (1998),
claimed that education cannot be provided by just anybody, it requires a
teacher who plans and
delivers the lessons or instruction in such a way
that objectives can be achieved. An uncertified teacher cannot prepare students
for WASCE/GCE because it is unlikely that they could pass. Corroborating
this,,. Owolabi (2007), stated that government should find all possible means
to retain veteran and experienced teachers who are still willing to serve so
that they can contribute their wealth of experience to improving the system.
The Baguada Seminar Reports on Quantities and Qualities in Nigerian Education
(NERC, 1980) as cited by ESA, (2005) also shared the consensus that teachers are the main
determinants of quality in education: If they are apathetic, uncommitted,
uninspired, lazy, unmotivated, immoral, and anti-social, the whole nation is
doomed. If they are ignorant in their disciplines and thus impart wrong
information, they are not only useless but dangerous. Therefore, the kind of
teachers trained and posted to schools may well determine what the next
generation will be like. Based on the aforementioned statement, this study
examined the relationship between the quantity and quality of teachers/the
relationship between the quality and quality of teachers/principals and
students’ academic performance in economics.
Abraham and Keith (2006), used a questionnaire as
the basis for constructing an index of school effectiveness. Their findings
revealed that teachers were the key drivers of internal school conditions for
effectiveness, development and school change. Ibitoye (2003), discovered that
there is a significant relationship between enrolment, utilization of
classrooms provided for teachers, the teaching of learning activities and
students
academic performance. In the same way, Akpofure
and N’dipu, (2000), reported the need for schools to maintain a manageable
carrying capacity in utilization of classrooms, libraries and laboratories for
effective teaching and learning. To them, this will pave the way for quality
assurance in schools. A similar study by Aduwa (2004), on determinants of
students’ academic success, reported that a student’s home environment, their
cognitive abilities, self-esteem, self-concept, (2005), contended that the
provision of all these factors may not have significant principals, teachers
and other school teams. Also Ehrenberg and Brewer 1995), and Ferguson (1991)
asserted that students learn more from teachers with strong academic skills.
According to these researchers, teachers’ assignments depend on their
qualification of the subject (s) being taught. Middle and high school students
learn more from teachers who hold Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees in the
subjects they teach and from experienced teachers than they do from less
experienced ones (Darling-Hammond, 2000).
In a study on human resource and organizational
achievement, Egungun (1992) found that the placement of only the right
employees in the right jobs, at the right time and places assist greatly in
attainment of organizational set goals and objectives.
Different studies showed that the most important
resource input in the school is teacher quality (TQ) that predicts student
achievement. The economists, who measure the effect of TQ on student learning
and achievement, provide
evidence of
the importance of teaching. Researchers look for he teachers’ effectiveness as
a determining factor for student achievement. An effective teacher will have
students with a good test score. In this way, the researchers isolate he effect
of TQ from that of other factors that may affect student achievement.
TQ has an
important role in student achievement as Goldhaber (2003) stated that:
Teachers
clearly play an important role in shaping the future of individuals as well as
of entire generations and in recent years, new research has demonstrated the
dramatic effect that teachers can have on the outcomes of students from all
academic and social backgrounds.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
The annual
release of SSCE results conducted by the WAEC justified the problematic nature
and generalization of poor secondary school students’ performance in different
school subjects including economics. In the just concluded SSCE examination,
WAEC made known that only 20% of students passed five (5) compulsory subjects. Adebule (2004), stated that all over
the country, there is a consensus of opinion about the fallen standard of
education in Nigeria. Parents and Government are in total agreement that their huge
investment on education is not yielding the desired dividend. Morakinyo, (2003) believe that the
falling standard of academic achievement is attributable to teachers’ non use
of verbal reinforcement.
So therefore,
it is observed severally that senior secondary school students pay less
attention to elective subjects i.e economics and teachers’ attitude towards
changing this view in students through their prospective skills, method of
teaching and level of experience is poor.
1.3 PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The purpose of
the study is to examine the impact of teacher’s educational qualification on
the performance of senior secondary school students in economics. Specifically,
the objectives of the study are:
·
To Examine the
impact of teacher quality on the academic achievement of secondary school
students in economics.
·
Determine the
qualities that make up a good economics teacher.
·
Examine the
roles of economics teachers in improving students’ performance.
·
Examine the
relationship between economics teachers teaching method and students
performance.
·
Suggest for
educational planners and policy makers in the state teaching service
commission.
1.4 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
·
What is the
level of teacher’s contribution towards student’s performance in economics?
·
What are the qualities
that make up a good economics teacher?
·
What is the
level of teachers increase in the performance of senior secondary school
students in economics in this present millennium?
·
What is
students’ perception on their poor academic performance and teacher’s methods
of teaching?
·
How can
educational qualities of teachers lead to students’ performance in economics?
1.5 RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS
The research
seeks to test the following null hypotheses and make decisions on their outcome
based on the data that will be gathered.
H0: Teacher qualities have no strong influence
on academic achievement of senior secondary school students.
H0: There is no significant difference between
teachers’ years of experience and student’s academic performance in economics.
1.6 SCOPE
AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The research
study will look at the impact of the teachers to the performance of senior
secondary school students in economics.
Because of
time constraint, This study will be delimited to the research design in the
five (5) randomly selected secondary schools in yaba local government area of
Lagos state, namely, Lagos city college, kings college Lagos, queens college,
eletu odibo secondary school and our lady of Apostle school, Yaba.
Out of the
five randomly selected schools, fifty (50) students offering economics will be
randomly selected in all.
Research
instrument will be the questionnaire, while a non-parametric test will be used
to present the data.
1.7 SIGNIICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings of the research work will be of help
to teachers, students, school management and educational planners as well as
the entire society. It will guide the school management on what qualities and
qualifications to look for in recruiting facilitators. It will also give
teachers an insight into what is expected of them. Also, these findings can be
used to guide educational planners about the need for qualified economics
teachers to facilitate effective teaching and learning in secondary schools.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following terms were define according to the
circumstances of their usage.
Teacher
qualification: This refers to
the level of academic achievement of a teacher beginning from the level of
teachers training to the level of in-service training.
Student
performance: This refers to the
ability and capacity of the student to achieve an educational aim.
Economics: Economics is a science of allocation and
distribution of scarce means to satisfy human unlimited wants.
Teacher
education: This refers to a
means through which prospective teachers are trained to teach.
Human
resources management: It is a means
of supervising, directing and controlling the numbers of people who have
skills, educational and experience that are critical for the socio-economic
development of a country.
Educational
planning: This is a proposed
intention at achieving educational aims and improving teaching and learning.