ABSTRACT
The study attempted to investigate the
evaluating of the effectiveness of teaching styles in the early childhood
education in selected nursery schools in Mainland Local Government Area of
Lagos State. In this study, some relevant and related literatures were reviewed
under sub-headings. The descriptive research survey design was applied in the
assessment of the opinions of the respondents with the aid of the questionnaire
and the sampling technique. A total of 150 (one hundred and fifty) respondents
were used in this study. Three null hypotheses were formulated and tested in
this study with the use of the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient
for hypotheses one and two, while the independent t-test statistical tool was
used for hypothesis three respectively. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05
level of significance. At the end of the tests, the following results emerged: that
there is a significant relationship between teaching styles and teaching
effectiveness at the early childhood education, that there is a significant
relationship between teaching styles and children’s academic performance at the
early childhood education and that there is a significant difference between
learning outcome of children taught with appropriate teaching styles and those
taught with inappropriate teaching styles at the early childhood education.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents
vi
List of Tables ix
CHAPTER
ONE 1
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 5
1.3 Purpose
of the Study 6
1.4 Objectives
of the Study 6
1.5 Research
Questions 7
1.6 Research
Hypotheses 8
1.7
Theoretical Framework 8
1.8 Significance of the Study 10
1.9 Scope and Limitation of the Study 11
1.10 Contextual and Operational Definition of Terms 12
CHAPTER TWO 13
2.0 Literature
Review 13
2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 Concept of Teaching,
Learning and Collecting as a Method of
Teaching Children 13
2.3 Scheduling Technique as a Teaching Style in Early Childhood
Education and Demonstration Style of Teaching Children 22
2.4 The Use of Describing as a Method of Teaching Children,
Encouraging, Praising and Helping as Teaching Methods in
Childhood Education 30
2.5 Facilitating and Feedback as Methods of Teaching Children 39
2.6 The Grouping, Listening and Questioning Methods as Teaching
Techniques in Early Childhood Education 47
2.7 Reading
and Singing as Teaching Methods in Early Childhood Education 60
2.8 Summary of Review 67
CHAPTER THREE 68
3.0 Research
Methodology 68
3.1 Introduction 68
3.2 Research Design 68
3.3 Population 68
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique 68
3.5 Research Instrument 69
3.6 Validity of the Instrument 69
3.7 Administration
of Instrument 70
3.8 Procedure for Data Analysis 71
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA
ANALYSES AND RESULTS 72
4.1 Introduction 72
4.2 Descriptive Analyses of Bio-Data of
Respondents Based on
Sex, Age, Qualification, Religion and Marital Status 72
4.3 Descriptive Analyses of Data Collected from
the Respondents
Based on the Research Questions 74
4.4 Testing of Hypotheses 81
4.5 Summary
of Findings 84
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION,
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 85
5.1 Introduction
85
5.2 Discussion
of the Findings 85
5.3 Summary
of the Study 87
5.4 Conclusion
89
5.5 Recommendations
89
References
91
Appendix
101
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1
Background of the Study
Education is a systematic process whereby an
individual is exposed to and provided with the opportunity of acquiring
knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which develop cumulatively with a view
to preparing him well to enable him to satisfactorily integrate effectively in
the society, pursue a career and sharpen his quest for continuous learning.
Education involves teaching, and teaching has been generally defined by
Encyclopedia Americana (1995) as to educate, instruct, discipline or an act of
imparting knowledge to a learner. According to Ekueme and Igwe (2001) it is the
art and practice of imparting to the learner skills, values and norms that can
be useful to the total development of the individual (Anyanwu, 2003).
There is no gain saying the fact that the method(s)
adopted by a teacher, affects the learning outcomes of the students or
children. For instance, professional and well experienced teachers know the
appropriate teaching methods to use at any given time of their teaching –
learning process. Experienced and properly trained teachers know what to and
how to teach at the various levels of our educational system (the pre-primary;
the primary; the secondary, and the tertiary) levels. At the pre-primary level,
care must be taken by professional teachers to adopt the down-to-earth
method(s) of teaching the child because of immaturity at that level (Enoch,
2002).
According to Anyankanshi (2000), at the early
childhood stage, teachers ought to apply the methods in their teaching that
will assist the child to learn the necessary things he/she ought to learn,
rather than being confused and failing to learn what he/she ought to learn.
Anyakanshi recommended four types of teaching styles – the play-way; the gaming
and stimulation; the role playing method and the demonstrator methods of
teaching. He is of the opinion that, the play-way method affords the child the
ample opportunity to express himself freely in a play-way environment as
children love to play naturally. Concerning the gaming method, Anyakanshi
opined that the gaming and stimulation method, like the play-away method, is an
excellent method of teaching children at the early stage, as it makes the child
to be stimulated about the things he/she is learning. The role playing method
teaching also allows the child to practicalize what is going on in the
classroom. This is because, the role a child plays in the classroom during
teaching, ever remains indelible in the brain of the child, while the group
activity method of teaching the child, enables him/her to learn from his/her
peers. This method is very good as it enables the children to trade ideas and
learn from one another in group (Uzoma, 2004).
Recent research on teacher effectiveness has produced
a number of findings that should be of interest to those who work with young
children, particularly in the primary grades. Although results of these studies
are by no means conclusive, and possibly cannot be, they do provide a fairly
accurate description of how effective teachers operate in their classrooms.
This description suggests that effective teachers (i.e.) teachers whose classes
consistently show gains in achievement rely on traditional methods of
instruction, at least in the basic skills. This is not to say that open
education or child-centered teaching methods are not useful in early childhood
education. These methods are sometimes essential to reach certain curriculum
goals. But current findings suggest the wisdom of a return to the basics in
teaching methods, as well as in curriculum, for early childhood education
(Blaney, 2006).
The research findings that support traditional methods
for teaching basic skills come from major studies conducted in the U.S.A. and in Great Britain.
The term “traditional” should perhaps be defined. Here it does not mean rigidly
structured lessons for the entire class. As the word is used here it means
teacher-directed instruction of small groups. Findings from a number of studies
suggest that it might be wise to modify traditional methods if they are to be
effective in helping young children learn, though nothing radically new or
unique is suggested by the current findings. Surely, it is interesting and
confronting to know the many commonly used teaching methods are effective
(Adamson, 2000).
The various teaching style that one uses in a
classroom can have a profound impact on students’ comprehension. In early
childhood education, there are various teaching styles examples of which
includes the play-way method, self discovery, group activity method,
demonstrator style, gaming and stimulation style, role playing, bulletin board
styles etc. Teaching styles could be seen as all embracing concept referring to
the teacher’s way of getting students to learn through structured methodology
in order to bring about positive learning outcome (Arnolds, 2002).
According to Glender and Gillian (2004), teaching
style is the way of introducing the students to give attention to what is to be
learnt. The teacher directs their attention to what is to be learnt, he
observes the students and diagnoses their feelings and interests and follow as
best as he can, the progress of their understanding.
Research into teacher’s choice of teaching methods
suggest that many teachers have a fairly narrow and conservative repertoire of
teacher’s behaviours which often mimic those teaching methods they experience
in their own schooling. According to Adegbiji (1997), teaching younger children
is challenging and rewarding and whatever approach or strategies a teacher
adopts to teach these young ones goes a long way to bring effectiveness to
their learning, hence the need to evaluate the styles.
Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and
weaknesses of programmes, policies, personnel products, methods and
organizations to improve their effectiveness. Rossi and Fireman (1993) define
evaluation as the systematic application of social research procedure for
assessing the conceptualization, design, implementation and utility of
programmes. In addition, evaluation in education can identify effectiveness of
the method used in carrying out instruction and the impact of the child’s
knowledge and attitudes.
The fact that early childhood is unique and precious,
brings about the need for this study on what appropriate teaching styles to be
used to achieve effectiveness in early childhood education. The principles
underpinning the approach to teaching in this study are based on the following
facts:
1.
That
all children deserve excellent teaching.
2.
Teaching
is highly complex and dynamic, making the process about how best to respond to
the children in supporting their learning.
3.
That
careful and critical reflection on teaching styles should be relevant to
teaching goal.
4.
That
teaching styles should be relevant to all children, that is, they must be
developmentally appropriate.
5.
It
is also based on the fact that teaching styles should be anti-discriminatory
and drawing on information about the best practice from the research and international
developments in early childhood field (Glender and Gillian, 2004).
It is in the light of these considerations that this
study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching styles in early
childhood education with a view to finding solution to the problems of wrong
choice of teaching styles and strategies for teaching the young ones.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Teaching methods or styles, no doubt, affect the learning
ability of the child. This is because, the method of a teacher adopts, to a
large extent, determines the outcomes of the child. Therefore, good teaching
methods bring high academic achievement, while bad teaching method generally
results into rote learning and low academic outcomes amongst the children,
especially at the early childhood stage.
These days, most teaching styles teachers adopt in
coaching the children at the early childhood education are faulty and the
resultant effects have been rote learning, low academic achievement and general
poor standards of education in Nigeria
as a whole. This is because in Nigeria,
teaching profession has been infiltrated by a lot of charlatans and
unprofessional teachers who do not have any business in the classrooms. Due to
the fact that the teaching profession has not been regulated, untrained and
inexperienced teachers in other words, known as “cheats”, have entered the
stage and brazenly bastardized the teaching profession. These untrained teachers,
adopt the negative and inappropriate methods of teaching the child.
Consequently, this has brought about negative results of low performance by the
child, because no child will ever rise higher than the knowledge of his/her
teacher.
The study attempted to examine the evaluation of the
effectiveness of teaching styles in the early childhood education.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The study aimed at evaluating some teaching styles and
their effectiveness among teachers in some selected early childhood
institutions in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The specific objectives of this study were to:
1.
Emphasize
the need to use appropriate teaching styles and techniques in early childhood
institutions.
2.
Identify
some teaching styles that are highly effective in teaching young children.
3.
Ascertain
the impact of inappropriate use of teaching styles and techniques for the
child.
4.
Examine
the teaching styles that are commonly used by teachers in some selected early
childhood institutions.
5.
Find
out whether or not there will be any difference between learning outcome of
children taught with appropriate teaching styles and those taught with
inappropriate teaching styles at the early childhood education.
1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions were raised in this
study:
1.
What
is the need for appropriate teaching styles for the early childhood
institutions?
2.
What
teaching styles are highly effective for early childhood education?
3.
What
is the impact of the inappropriate use of teaching styles in child learning?
4.
What
teaching styles are commonly used by the teachers in early childhood
institutions?
5.
Is
there any difference between learning outcome of children taught with
appropriate teaching styles and those taught with inappropriate teaching styles
at the early childhood education?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following
hypotheses are formulated and tested in this study:
H01: There will be no significant relationship between
teaching styles and teaching effectiveness at the early childhood education.
H02: There will be no significant relationship between
teaching styles and children’s academic performance at the early childhood
education.
H03: There will be no significant difference between
learning outcome of children taught with appropriate teaching styles and those
taught with inappropriate teaching styles at the early childhood education.
1.7 Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of the study is based on the
works of:
- Piaget
(1974) theory of intellectual development.
- Howard
Gardner (1983) theory of multiple intelligences.
- Eisner
(1985) connoisseurship evaluation model.
Piaget views the course of
intellectual development in terms of progressive changes in cognitive
structures. The stages identified by Piaget are:
1. Sensory motor period
(0_2years)
2. Preoperational period (2_6 or
7years)
3. Concrete operational period
(6 or 7 through 11or 12 years)
4. Formal operational (11 or
12years onward)
Piaget (1974) theory of intellectual development: He believes
that children cannot and should not be taught concepts until they are
developmentally prepared to learn them. He is also concerned with the medium
the teacher uses to transmit knowledge to the children.
The theory seeks to describe an extensive
cognitive process within the individual student. It takes little or no accounts
either of motivational and emotional components of the learning and teaching
process or of the profound influences the learning environment and the teaching
styles have on both the nature of that process and the outcome of learning.
Gardner’s
(1983) theory of multiple intelligence: He suggests that an array of different kinds of
intelligences exist in human beings. Gardner’s
theory argues that intelligence as it is traditionally defined does not
adequately encompass the wide variety of
abilities humans display.
He argues that students will be
better served by a broader vision of education wherein teachers use different methodologies,
exercises and activities to reach all students not just those who excel at
linguistics and logical intelligence. The theory has been widely criticized in
the psychology and educational communities. The most common criticism argues
that Gardner’s
theory is based on his own intuition rather than empirical data and that the
intelligence is just other names for talent or personality types.
Eisner’s connoisseurship evaluation model (1985) He believes there are three things embedded in
evaluation i.e. Description, interpretation and assessment. Eisner has
recommended a process called educational connoisseurship that will supposedly
produce more hard data and outcomes and furnish a rich quantitative description
of educational life as a consequence of effective teaching styles and
techniques. Eisner notes that to employ the procedure of educational criticism,
evaluators should ask such questions as what has occurred during the school
year, what are the teaching styles and techniques used in achieving the stated
educational objectives? How appropriate and effective are the teaching styles?
1.8 Significance of the Study
It is a general belief that early childhood education
is of great importance, because it is the foundation for other level of
education just as foundation is the strength of the structure. The study shows
some features of effective teaching styles and at the same time create
awareness about some appropriate and effective teaching styles and techniques
in early childhood education. However, the recommendations and findings of this
work would be beneficial to the following:
1.
To the children: They will be able to enjoy the use of appropriate
teaching styles, thereby making learning interesting and eventful.
2.
To the parents: They will be able to get values for their money and
commitment to the education of their wards through better academic performance.
3.
To the teachers: The teacher will be able to overcome the problem of
using inappropriate teaching styles and thereby experience a result oriented
teaching.
4.
To the school authority: The school will be able to supervise thoroughly and
ensure the use of appropriate teaching styles through their knowledge of
features of these teaching styles.
5.
To the government: The government will be able to put in place policy
that will make teachers to undergo training and workshop that will avail them
the knowledge of different teaching styles for the institutions in the country.
1.9 Scope and Limitation of the Study
This study covered the evaluation of the effectiveness
of teaching styles in early childhood education in Lagos State.
1.10 Contextual and Operational Definition of
Terms
The study would constantly make use of the following
terms: Early Childhood Education, Teaching Styles, Teaching Techniques and
Teaching Effectiveness.
1.
Teaching styles: It is an embracing concept referring to the teacher’s
ways of getting students to learn through structured methodology.
2.
Early childhood education: Formal education that is received from three to six
years.
3.
Teaching effectiveness: The ability of the teacher to achieve the stated
objectives at the end of the teaching.
4.
Teaching techniques: Teacher’s ways or method of teaching.
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