RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS CHARACTERISTICS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN EDUCATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

What kids learn, remember, and practice after they graduate from high school has a direct influence on the nation's abilities and skills. What a person learns both officially and informally influences his or her potential to contribute to national progress. Educated human resources are the people and staff who drive country progress (Aghenta, 2006). As a result, the level of growth of each nation is determined by the quality of education obtained by its population. A variety of factors influence school system success, including the quality of input and school process characteristics. (2008) (Ochuba). Education goals can only be met with a well-organized school system that ensures all parts of school life are adequately stated and successfully coordinated.

Teachers are critical to ensuring great education delivery. They are most renowned for their role in educating kids under their supervision. The most common duty that instructors do in the classroom is to provide pupils with relevant knowledge by following the curriculum. Teachers disseminate knowledge to students through numerous ways such as lecture, small group activities, and hands-on learning activities. They also play a variety of additional functions in the classroom. Teachers set the tone in their classes, create a welcoming environment, mentor and develop kids, serve as role models, listen for signals of problems, and so on (Fraser & Walberg, 2005). They are thus accountable for promoting the schools' purpose and ethos through structured classroom prayer, involvement in the school's liturgical life, and modeling suitable norms of behavior.

According to Adeogun (2010), the quality of the educational system is determined by the quality of its teaching staff, and a school without human resources may be unable to meet the educational system's goals and objectives. According to Adesina (2010), teachers are the primary indicator predictors of excellent education. In schools, highly qualified and devoted instructors are required. It has been demonstrated that there is a strong link between what instructors know and what they teach. Thus, the capacity to teach successfully is dependent on the teacher's knowledge, and knowledge can take many forms.

Teaching is time, effort, and commitment intensive in a variety of ways. Teachers educate students for the labor market and the socioeconomic growth of their respective countries. They are expected to be strong role models and to meet their pupils' intellectual, social, and emotional requirements (Williams, 2013). Their efficiency is a reflection of their devotion. They adapt to varied learning styles and classroom dynamics in the classroom by employing excellent classroom management skills to create a healthy classroom atmosphere that is safe, resourceful, and productive. The perception of teaching quality by students is relatively tightly related to measures of student involvement, and the associations primarily function in predicted directions (Xuehui, Emily & Tanja, 2008). Students who say that teachers care about them, treat them fairly, and encourage them to ask questions have much higher educational goals. Students who claim that their professors assign a lot of homework and constantly lecture in class have significant negative consequences.

Because educators are at the heart of every educational system, the quality of educators in each school system reflects and influences the overall quality of the school system as well as the potential of the children within the system (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). Educators, as lifelong learners, provide students with the skills and tools they need to succeed academically and socially. To achieve this, more consistent and effective programs that appropriately equip educators and provide them with the information, skills, and resources required to successfully engage children and boost academic achievement are required (Intrator & Kunzman, 2006). Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in an unfriendly classroom atmosphere. Teachers create a good and successful learning environment by planning and delivering various classes that accommodate to a wide variety of student skills and interests. It also entails establishing realistic and rigorous academic achievement criteria for students. Teachers must demonstrate commitment to teacher professional development by participating in and attending suitable inservice courses, as well as committing to a program of professional study.

Teacher training, teaching experiences, pedagogical methods, and professional development are all teacher concepts that have an influence on students, and this study focuses on these characteristics. Teachers with the required characteristics have been identified as the most important resources in the educational system because they are the ones who interpret the educational aims and goals and guarantee that pupils are educated in accordance with them. According to Odunusi (2009), teachers with the appropriate attributes are the heart of every educational system because of their dedication and excellence. According to Dalton and Moir (2002), teacher training can give instructors with the tools they need to help students improve their academic performance. According to Lauriala (2008), reformative in-service education for teachers is capable of creating teacher cognitions and elements critical to changes in knowledge about students, learning, and teachers' responsibilities.

The importance of teaching as a vocation cannot be overstated. Teachers' qualities must be clearly established and standardized in order for pupils to achieve. Students' success is heavily dependent on the ability of their professors. It is often assumed that teachers who possess the requisite characteristics will have a significant impact on their pupils' academic progress. This is what this study intends to investigate.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Teaching is a vocation that offers difficulties, excitement, personal fulfillment, and the opportunity to encourage and support others in achieving their objectives. Fargo, Johnson, and Kahle (2007). To motivate their children to learn, good teachers collaborate with their colleagues, parents, other professionals, and community members. Teachers gain attributes such as excellent knowledge in certain subject areas, patience, a good sense of humour, and so on as a result of the intensive training they get throughout their pre-service training. These characteristics are critical for achieving long-term behavioral changes in students. Teachers with these attributes are supposed to motivate and push pupils to work hard in order to raise educational standards.

However, there have been widespread complaints that academic performance of Nigerian pupils in general, and Lagos State in particular, has fallen short of expectations.

Many pupils struggle with reading and numeracy. According to Ochuba (2008), there has been a public uproar about the continuous fall in educational standards in Nigeria, as evidenced by public examinations and the performance of education outputs that are inadequate for employment.

So, does this imply that instructors' characteristics have no beneficial influence on their pupils' performance? If that's the case, what may have been the underlying causes? The purpose of this research is to examine the link between the quality of instructors and the academic achievement of students in the Metropolis.

1.3 Purpose of Study

The main purpose of this study is to assess teachers’ characteristics and students’ academic performance in Nigerian secondary schools in Education District (IV), Lagos. Specifically, this study aims to:

1. Find out the relationship between the quality of teachers and students’ academic performance in Education District (IV), Lagos.

2. Determine the influence of teacher experience on students’ academic performance in Education District (IV), Lagos.        

3. Determine the influence of teachers’ in-service training on students’ academic performance in Education District (IV), Lagos.        

4. Examine the influence of teacher’s professional development on students’ academic performance in Education District (IV), Lagos

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were answered in this study:

1. Will the quality of teacher have any significant effect on the performance of secondary school students?

2. Will teacher experience significantly affect the  academic performance of secondary school students?         

3. Will the in-service training of teachers affect the performance of secondary school students?

4. What is the influence of teacher’s professional development on students’ academic performance in Education District (IV), Lagos?

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study would hopefully provide some insight for educational planners and policy-makers by highlighting some basic but apparently neglected educational services such as education resource centre services, in-service training and internal supervision of instructions.

The suggestions of this study may positively assist teachers and school administrators to re-examine the educational services that are provided by them and identify the services which are essential for quality teaching and learning.

The findings of this study may also hopefully contribute to existing literature by extending the stock of knowledge on the influence of educational services on teacher quality in Lagos state secondary schools. It will also provide some useful reference materials for future researchers who might be interested in conducting similar studies elsewhere. Furthermore, the study places much emphasis on the fact that teachers should be academically, physically and intellectually sound to be able to produce quality students which the nation needs in this millennium.

Finally, the study is expected to guide educational planners on the provision of educational services that may improve the quality of secondary school teachers

1.6 Delimitation of the Study

This study is delimited to teachers’ characteristics and students’ academic performance in Nigerian secondary schools. It covers Education District (IV), Lagos State.

1.7 Definition of Key Terms

The following terms are defined operationally as they are used in this study:

Teacher training: The policies and procedures designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community.

Teaching experience: Familiarity with teaching skills and knowledge acquired over months or years of actual practice.

Pedagogical practices: The method and practices used in teaching.

Professional Development: This encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities including credentials such as academic degrees, to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning opportunities situated in practice.

Academic achievement: Examination result of students at the end of an achievement test.

Teachers self-efficacy: This refers to the extent to which a teacher is able to promote students’ learning.

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