CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The idea of good teacher for each individual is variable.
Students´ perception, opinions and/or experiences about a good teacher
are different. A good teacher has been considered, sometimes, as a
perfectionist, encouraging, approachable and caring, other times as
intelligent, but above all, as enthusiastic, funny, clever, affective
and understanding, open, and with a relaxed style while teaching.
Holt (1964) addressed that learning is enhanced
by the teachers´ knowledge, enthusiasm and responsibility towards
creating a warm class climate enhancing “the students desire to learn
and to accept the challenges of thinking and enquiring into all that is
offered by the teacher”. Stronge et al (2004) stated that teaching is
vocational, and most good and quality teachers are passionate about
their chosen profession. However, he also added that a good teacher is
always in a constant learning process due to changes in terms of the
students’ characteristics, the curriculum, the community, and finance
among many others.
According to Gibbs (2002) “Teachers need to be
able to survive the demands, threats and challenges within the diverse
circumstances of teaching” He stated that a good and quality teacher
needs the capacity to be persistent, flexible, and innovative on new
teaching approaches and be prepared in the case of failure. For Stronge
et al. (2004) the good teacher has a psychological influence on the
students, having a strong influence on their achievement. According to
Killen (2006), the good teacher is the one who has clear objectives and
own goals of teaching. A teacher can provide the students with the
answer of a question, which can be effective only if the main objective
is simply to compare and analyze different results. However, if the
objective is to make the student think about the option of providing
different possible answers, the teacher, in this case, may be regarded
as ineffective. Smith (1995) stated that teachers and teaching need to
be creative to allow the students learn naturally. He also added that
educational institutions should spend more time on “doing” and less time
on “talking about learning and teaching” In addition, Gurney (2007)
suggested that instead of reflecting on theory and practice, we should
reflect on what we do in the classroom.
A good teachers need to focus on students’
achievement. Alton-Lee (2003) pointed out that an effective link
between school and cultural context is needed and this is often times
considered as a challenge; apart from being caring, and enhance
assessment, feedback and evaluation, as well as being responsible to
students learning process, the curriculum goals, the multiple tasks and
the contexts. Gurney (2007) suggested that to be a good and quality
teacher there should be an interaction among different factors. One of
them is the teacher´ knowledge, enthusiasm and responsibility for
learning. Another factor is that good teachers should provide the
students with activities and assessment that encourages them to learn
(and learn through experience), as well as having an engaged feedback.
Finally, to create a warm environment and a relationship with the
students in which respect will enhance learning. According to Borich
(2000), the responsibilities of good teachers are to have lesson
clarity, instructional variety, teacher task orientation, engagement in
the learning process and student success rate.
Therefore, good teachers do not teach in front of
the class doing a good demonstration on the extensive and deep content
knowledge, they teach to promote and enhance learning. Besides, they
knows how to manage, not only their knowledge, but also the classroom
and the students in terms of discipline, work, interaction between
teacher- students-students, how to give instructions, and how to assess
and evaluate activities, the students and their own work. Therefore, to
be a good teacher also implies to have a series of qualities, in terms
of professional and personal skills.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Good teachers are distinguished by their dedication to the
students and to the job of teaching, and feel responsible for the
achievement and success of the students and own professional
development. Good teachers really believe that all students can learn,
although all learn differently. They strive to motivate and engage all
their students in learning rather than simple accepting that some
students cannot be engaged and are destined to do poorly.
There are many different types of teachers. For instance, among
many others, there are those who walk into the classroom, and some
students do not even notice them; also there are some who seem to be
authentic dictators, and students are even afraid to ask anything in
the classroom. There are those who read from a book, or talk
constantly, during the whole session, while students keep just copying;
or even those who just talk, and by the end of the lesson, students do
not even know what the lesson was about, because the objectives,
structure and/or theme were not clear, even for the teacher. However,
all these as prompted the researcher to examine the challenges and the
qualities of a good teacher in some selected secondary schools in Gboko
Local Government Area.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To examine the qualities of a good teacher.
- To identify the challenges of teaching profession.
- To examine the relationship between teachers and students in Gboko Local Government Area.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- What are the qualities of a good teacher?
- What are the challenges of teaching profession?
- What is the relationship between teachers and students in Gboko Local Government Area?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of this study:
- The result of this study will educate the general public on
the qualities of a good teachers and its influence on the student
performance and behaviour.
- The findings from this study will form a useful guide for the
government and the stakeholders in the education sector on the
challenges of teaching profession with a view of finding a sustainable
solution.
- This research will be a contribution to the body of literature
in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic
performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future
research in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study will cover the attribute of teachers in secondary
schools in Gboko local government area. It will cover the qualities of a
good teacher and also identify the challenges of teaching profession.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to
impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant
materials, literature or information and in the process of data
collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will
simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This
consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
REFERENCES
Alton-Lee, A. (2003) “Quality teaching for diverse
students in schooling: Best evidence synthesis”, Wellington: Ministry
of Education.
Borich, G.D. (2000) “Observation skills for effective learning”, 4th edit. Prentice Hall, UK
Gibbs, C.J. (2002). “Effective teaching: exercising
self-efficacy and thought control of action” Auckland University of
Technology, New Zealand, Annual Conference of the British Educational
Research Association Exeter England. [Accessed on 19th Feb. 2010] http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002390.htm
Gurney, P. (2007) “Five factors for effective teaching” Journal of Teachers´ Work, Vol. 4, Issue 2, 89-98
Holt, J. (1964) “How children fail” Nueva York, EUA : Dell
Killen, R. (2006) “Effective teaching strategies –Lessons
for research and practice” 4th edit., Thomson, Social Science Press,
UK
Smith, F. (1995) “Let's declare education a disaster and get on with our lives”. Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 584-590.
Stronge, J.H., Tucker, P.D. & Hindman, J.L. (2004)
“Handbook for qualities of effective teachers” Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA, USA