ABSTRACT
This
study investigated the influence of teacher training and development programmes
on students’ academic performance in Ilorin West LGA of Kwara State.
Simple
random sampling method was used to select twenty secondary schools used as
sample for the study. Also, 200 teachers were randomly selected as respondents
to the questionnaire used for the study. Three null hypotheses were generated
and tested using the Pearson product moment correlation statistic to analyse
the data.
The
results indicated that there well trained teachers significantly influence
students’ academic performance.
Based
on the findings, it was recommended amongst others that teachers should be
trained and re-trained from time to time. They should also be given the
opportunity to attend seminars, workshops and conferences so as to improve the
academic standard of their students.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE
PAGE I
CERTIFICATION
II
DEDICATION
III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IV
ABSTRACT VI
TABLE
OF CONTENTS VII
LIST
OF TABLES X
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background
to Study 1
Statement
of the Problem 6
Purpose
of the Study 8
General
Questions 10
Research
Questions 10
Research
Hypothesis 11
Significance
of the Study 12
Operational
Definition of Terms 14
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW THE RELATED
LITERATURE
Importance of training and development
in the
provision of qualitative education 17
Staff Development Programmes in
schools 22
Types of Staff development programmes 25
Influence of teacher training and
development
programmes on students’ academic
performance 31
Influence of training and development
programmes
of teachers on students’ performance
in mathematics 35
Benefits of teacher training and staff
development 39
Summary of the Literature Reviewed 42
CHAPTER THREE: - RESEARCH METHOD
Research
Design 45
Population
46
Sample
and Sampling Technique 47
Research
Instrument 47
Validity
of the Instrument
48
Reliability
of the Instrument 49
Administration
of the Instrument 50
Data
Analysis 50
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Demographic
distribution of respondents 53
Testing
of Hypothesis Formulated 59
Discussion
of Finding 64
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
Summary 66
Conclusion
67
Implications
of the Study 68
Recommendations
69
Limitations
of the Study 71
Suggestion
for Further Studies 71
REFERENCES
73
APPENDIX
77
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1:
Distribution of Respondents on the basis
of
Gender 53
Table
2:
Academic Qualification of Respondents 53
Table
3:
Mean and standard deviation showing the influence of teachers’ attendance of
workshops and seminars on student’s academic performance in mathematics
(N=100). 54
Table
4:
Mean and standard deviation showing the extent to which teachers acquisition of
higher certificate influence students academic performance in mathematics
(N=100). 56
Table
5:Percentage
scores of responses on impact of teachers’ years of training on students
academic performance in mathematics. 60
Table
6:
Summary of PPMC (r) on the impact of teachers attendance in seminars and
workshops on students academic performance in mathematics. 60
Table
7:
Summary of PPMC (r) on the impact of
teacher
qualification on mathematics
students’
performance 62
Table
8:
Summary PPMC (r) on impact of teachers’
year
of training on students’ academic
performance
in mathematics. 63
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
Education is a service
which deals directly and indirectly with learners, teachers, people and the
public. It prepares individuals for skilful performance or role playing in the
society. Schools have a mandate to educate children to acquire relevant skills
and knowledge for application in solving problems. To do this successfully,
schools need well qualified teachers.
Since no employee can
remain qualified with continuous change in societal values and expectations,
some form of on-going education and training becomes a necessity. The different
methods used in developing teachers in schools include induction, conferences,
workshops and seminars. Others are staff meetings, visits and demonstrations,
professional training and higher studies as well as exhibitions.
According to Alabi
(2005) training and developing programmes need to be organised for teachers to
improve their instructional methodology to acquire skills relating to their
teaching and skills required for improved performance at work. All these are necessary
to enhance their students’ performance.
Hassan (2004) also
argued that it is literally impossible to learn a job or enter a profession and
remain in it for long with his or her skills basically unchanged. This is more
so in a complex and constantly changing organisation like a school that must
adapt to changing societal demands and instructional methodology. Thus, no
matter how excellent the pre-service preparation and how well qualified
teachers are at the time of employment, efforts should be made to develop them
personally and professionally on a regular and continuous basis. The schools
need well qualified teachers to provide quality learning experiences for
students in line with the provision of the National Policy on Education (FRN,
2004) that no education standard can rise above the quality of its teachers. It
is therefore imperative to train and develop the teachers that directly impart
knowledge to students, the school leaders that supervise, guide and support the
teachers and other support staff that make the work of the teachers and the
school heads easier. It is only then that appropriate and adequate knowledge
can be imparted to the students resulting ultimately in successful achievement
of the goals of education.
Raji (2008) described
teachers as preservers of established-tradition. The teacher examines the
cultural values of his society, its dynamics and the changing values occurring
within the system. He propagates the values, ethics and norms that characterize
the society in order to ensure that the children develop in line with the
aspirations of the society. Where changes have been instituted, he transmits
the values and techniques that facilitate the generation of change.
The teacher is an
innovator and agent of change. He approves the curriculum to meet the needs of
the child and the society. He engages in continuous research that helps him to
meet with the new knowledge available and to keep up with the trend of social
and technological change. He gets involved in keeping the profession up to date
and ensures adequate course maintenance.
Jamie (2003) pointed
out that quality learning depends on the recruitment, retention and development
of professional teachers needed to improve the level of performance towards the
provision of qualitative education. This means that the key to high standard of
education is the quality of teachers who constitute the human input which is
indispensable in determining students’ academic performance.
For many years,
educators and researchers have carrier out studies on teachers’ job performance
with little emphasis on training and development of teachers as panacea to
students’ academic performance. Factors such as teachers’ qualification, class
size and the motivation given to the teachers in terms of remuneration also
have significant impact on teachers’ job performance and students’ academic
performance. Nevertheless, teachers’ training and development also contribute
significantly to students’ academic performance.
This is because for
teachers to perform his roles effectively, he must employ techniques that meet
both short and long term objectives. To achieve this, teachers need to be
trained, re-trained and constantly developed to meet the dynamism of the
society.
In view of the
foregoing therefore, this study is carried out to examine the influence of
teachers’ training and development programmes on the academic performance of
students in mathematics in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Statement
of the Problem
The fact that
education is the only effective tool which can solve socio-economic, political
and technological problems of both developed and developing countries has made
various governments to place emphasis on the quality of teachers, since
education is the key to national development and only teachers hold the key
that can turn it for national development, the need then arise to train and
develop the teachers to the aspirations of the society. It is therefore
expected that only the intellectually promising and qualified persons are
engaged in the teaching industry.
According to Wycoff
(2006) teachers’ expertise as measured by performance, years of experience and
completion of an advanced degree accounted for roughly 40% of the variance in
students’ academic performance. However, little attention has been placed on
the influence of teacher training and development programmes on students’
academic performance in mathematics. A careful assessment of secondary schools
in Nigeria today clearly revealed that students’ academic performance in
external examinations has been low. Some people attributed the students’
academic performance to poor teachers’ remuneration, inadequate facilities in
schools and students’ indiscipline. Other schools of thought put the blame at
the door step of the government for not providing the teachers with the
opportunity to engage in training and development programmes after they have
been recruited.
The problem of this
study therefore is to confirm or refute the authenticity of whether teacher
training and development programmes influence students’ academic performance in
Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State or not.
Purpose
of the Study
The main purpose of
this study is to examine the influence of teacher training and development
programmes on students’ academic performance in Ilorin West Local Government of
Kwara state.
Specifically, the
study is conducted to achieve the following goal:
1. To
examine teachers’ qualification as pre-requisite to students’ academic
performance in secondary schools.
2. To
determine the ‘extent to which teachers’ training and development programmes
influence students’ academic performance in secondary schools.
3. To
inquire into whether the body responsible for recruitment, promotion and
transfer of teachers use teachers’ participation in training and development
programmes as a condition for their promotion in Ilorin West Local Government
of Kwara state.
4. To find
out other factors that are responsible for students’ academic performance in mathematics
in junior secondary schools within Ilorin West Local Government of Kwara state,
apart from teachers’ training and development programmes.
5. To
suggest methods that can be used to enhance students’ academic performance in mathematics
in junior secondary schools.
General
Questions
1. Has teachers’
qualification and years of training have any influence on students’ academic
performance in mathematics in junior secondary schools?
2. Has teachers’
teaching experience have any influence on students’ academic performance in
secondary schools?
3. Do mathematics
teachers in secondary schools attend conferences, workshops and seminars after
recruitment?
4. What
influence does teacher training and staff development programmes have on
students’ academic performance in mathematics in junior secondary schools?
Research
Questions
1. Has regular
attendance of workshops and seminars by teachers have any significant impact on
students’ academic performance in mathematics in junior secondary schools?
2. Has acquisition
of higher certificate by teachers have any significant impact on students’
academic performance in mathematics in junior secondary schools?
3. Do
teachers’ years of training any significant impact on students’ academic
performance in mathematics in junior secondary schools?
Research
Hypotheses
The following
hypotheses are generated for the study:
HOl:
Regular attendance of workshops and
seminars by teachers do not have any significant impact on students’ academic
performance in mathematics in junior secondary schools?
HO2:
Acquisition of higher certificates by mathematics teachers does hot have any
significant impact on students’ academic performance in secondary schools?
H03:
Teachers’ years of training do not have
any significant impact on student’s academic performance in mathematics in
junior secondary schools?
Significance
of the Study
The significance of
this study to teacher, government and educational planners cannot be over
emphasised. This is because, the quality of education of a particular country
depends on the quality of its teachers. To this end, this study is significant
in the following ways:
- The
findings and recommendations of this study will assist the government and
policy makers on the need to organise seminars, workshops and other in-service
courses which will improve their instructional methodology and ultimately
enhance the students’ academic performance.
- The
findings of this study would benefit the teachers because it would create in
them, the need to acquire higher qualifications, attend workshops and seminars
and other in-service courses capable of improving their job performance and the
academic performance of their students.
- The findings
will also be beneficial to educational planners and policy makers because they
will be able to identify those factors that can enhance students’ academic
performance in secondary schools.
- The
study will also serve as a useful resource to students of education and those
already in the field to further enrich their knowledge.
Operational
Definition of Terms
For the purpose of
this study, the following terms and variables are operationally defined.
Teaching:
This refers to the expression of intent by secondary school teachers with the
aim of bringing about a desirable behaviour of learners in secondary schools
within Ilorin West Local Government Area.
Teacher:
This refers to a person who handles various issues which arise in connection
with learning in secondary schools within Ilorin West Local Government Area.
Influence:
This refers to factors underlying responsibility of a number of behavioural
manifestations. In this study, influence refers to the factors of teacher
training and development programmes that make students to have low or high
academic performance in secondary schools within Ilorin West Local Government
Area.
Students’
academic performance: This refers to the result of students
at the end of examinations in secondary schools within Ilorin West Local
Government Area.
Training
and Development Programmes: These refer to activities
engaged in by teachers to enhance their knowledge, skills and attitudes in
order to teach students more effectively in secondary schools within Ilorin
West Local Government Area.
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