RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHERS ATTITUDE AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOKOTO SOUTH

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

School is a place where people learn different types of skills and abilities in order to be useful to themselves and the society in general. The school, in essence, provides total manpower to the society, and serves as a place where norms and traditions of the society are transmitted from generation to generation. The mission of the school is to produce relevant indigenous manpower for developmental activities and the bases of the need and aspirations of the society, so that the community can progress and develop especially in this age of globalisation. Besides, some of the functions the of school are that of generating and updating knowledge on contemporary issues for the purpose of unity, progress and development of human society among others Abubakar (2009).

Education on the other hand is the key to the socio economic development of any nation and social mobility of an individual while Secondary school education is the foundation of every other educational pursuit. Maduewesi (2005) in the same vein states that a sound secondary education is the pre-requisite to all other education, children need a sound secondary education because it is a gateway to whatever the individual can achieve through education. The National Policy on Education NPE (2005) describes secondary education as the key to the success or failure of the whole system. The objectives for secondary education put emphasis on a balance between physical and intellectual development of a child. It also aimed at widening access to basic education, eliminate present inequalities in enrolment between urban and rural, ensure greater retention and ensure long-term permanent literacy for those children who had completed the system.

The achievement of the stated objectives of secondary school education, in Nigeria largely depends on many factors, among which are secondary school teacher’s attitude and experience, this is because attitude affects the success of the individual in his interpersonal relations and, as has been demonstrated by research, there is a positive correlation between favourable attitude and learning, (Saka, (2002). Therefore, becoming a successful teacher presents a great challenge

today than at any previous time in history (Isyaku, (1993).

Students expect more from their school and their teachers. This shows that teachers are very important in the teaching and learning processes because they give proper and adequate training to their students to enhance production of competent individuals that will promote desired development of any nation, it should be noted that education is the instrument for social change and parameter that develop and improves the intellectual and moral abilities of the child. The importance of the teacher in education at all levels is reflected in the 2004 National Policy on Education, as it declares that “no educational system may rise above the quality of its teachers”.

Eso (1998) observed that to be an effective teacher is to possess the skills essential for enhancing classroom control and discipline. It is the teacher’s competence, ability and resourcefulness to efficiently utilize the appropriate language, methodology and available instructional materials to bring out the best from learners in terms of academic achievement. To Abimbade, (1999) teachers are said to be effective when their teaching can lead to students’ learning. Nothing has been taught until it has been learnt and this happens when the teacher succeeds in causing a change in behaviour in the learner. It is therefore important that the teacher must see teaching as an attempt on his own part to transfer what he has learnt to his students. A growing body of research suggests that schools can make a difference and a substantial portion of that difference is attributable to teachers.

Isyaku (1993), Abimbade (1999) and Aluede (2009) stressed that for successful teaching and learning to take place, there are many factors, among which are teacher attitude and experience. As such the study is aimed at finding out the influence of teachers’ attitude and experience on social studies achievement of secondary school students.

1.2     Statement of the Problem.

It is a known fact that education is the vehicle upon which wheel of national development revolves Fafunwa (2003). Proper education hinges on effective classroom management through the activities of teacher .These show that for an effective teaching-learning to take place at whatever level of education, teachers are of paramount importance.

Olaofe (1997) and Maduewesi (2005) declared that teachers are very important in teaching and learning process, government and society believes that teachers play a significant role in improving the quality of education given at all level, this is why different teacher programmes were put in place in order to improve the quality of teachers towards

their teaching subject.

Teaching on the other hand is a deliberate effort by experience person to impart knowledge, information skills to less experience person through a process that is morally and pedagogically accepted, this implies that different factors need to be in place before teaching take place, among which are: mastery of the subject matter, classroom management, time management, use of proper teaching materials, teaching method etc and all these depend on the teachers attitude and teachers teaching experience.

Unfortunately, It’s an obvious fact that the standard of education in Nigeria is falling where a primary six students cannot make a correct sentence and the performance of university product in the field of work, Olaofe (1997).Can these problem be attributed to teachers attitude and teachers experience? Because in some of our primary schools not all teachers teaching social studies that are trained social studies teachers. Thus, there is need to urgently investigate the social studies achievement of secondary school students. It has been observed that many experienced teachers always leave teaching to other profession. Could the problem of pupil’s achievement in secondary school social studies be attributed to teacher’s attitude on the part of secondary school teachers? This study is therefore set to investigate the influence of teachers’ attitude and experience on the social studies students’ achievement in

Sokoto State.

1.3  Objectives of the Study:

The purpose of this study is to investigate into the influence of Social Studies teacher’s attitude and experience on the achievement of primary schools students, and specifically the objectives of the study are:

• To determine the achievement of secondary school students in Social Studies Education taught by teachers with positive attitude and those taught by teachers with negative attitude towards the teaching of the subject.
• To determine the factors that influences the level of achievement of secondary school students in Social Studies Education taught by

highly experienced and inexperienced teachers.

 1.4  Research Questions

The data of this research will seek to address the following questions:

1. Is there any difference between the level of achievement of secondary school students in Social Studies Education taught by teachers with positive attitude towards the subject and those taught by teachers with negative attitude towards the subject?
2. Do the social studies achievements of secondary school students taught by highly experienced teachers in the subject differ from those taught by inexperienced teachers?

 

1.5Hypotheses.

The major hypotheses established for this study is to find out the extent to which teacher’s attitude and experience influence the social studies achievement of students in primary school. The hypotheses are

precisely stated as follows:

1. There is no significant difference between the achievement of secondary school students and their teacher’s attitude towards the subject.
2. There is no significant difference between the achievement of secondary school students in Social Studies Education taught by highly experienced teachers in the subject and that of those taught by inexperienced teachers.

 

1.6     Significance of the Study

The purpose of conducting any research is to make significant contributions to knowledge. This research therefore intends to makes significant contribution to knowledge, specifically in the area of education and Social Studies Education in particular. The findings of this study will provide information on the influence of teacher’s attitude and experience on the Social Studies Education achievement of secondary school students, that will be useful for the improvement of the quality of education in Nigeria, It will also provide empirical data on the influence of teachers attitude and experience on the Social Studies achievement of secondary school students.

The findings will be of benefits to curriculum planners on the importance of teacher’s attitude and teaching experience on the Social Studies achievement of students not only in Social Studies education but also in other teaching subjects. The knowledge gained from this study would be of significant importance to governments and education policy makers to see the importance of encouraging and establishment of different educational programme to secondary school teachers to inculcate positive attitude towards their teaching subject.  Furthermore secondary school head teachers will see the importance of giving teachers their teaching subject from their area of specialisation.

Finally, the state secondary education board that are responsible for the recruitment of secondary school teachers will see the significance of recruiting teachers with teaching experience and retaining experienced teachers for proper academic achievement, and finally it will help teachers to develop positive attitude towards their teaching subject.

 

1.7 Scope of the study

This study was delimited to all primary six students and all primary six Social Studies Education teachers in Binji Local Government Area of Sokoto state. The Social Studies Education achievement of secondary school students was the sole concern of the study.

 

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHERS ATTITUDE AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOKOTO SOUTH

 

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