EFFECTS OF TEACHERS’ MOTIVATION AND QUALIFICATION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Education plays a very important role in the economic development of a country as it is aimed at supplying the economy with human capital that can convert effectively and efficiently other resources into output of high value. It is perceived as the corner stone of economic and social development and a principle means of providing for the welfare of individuals (Orodho, 2004). Educational organizations are established to help society enhance knowledge, attitudes and skills.
The quality of education of a nation could be determined by the quality of her teachers. The most important factor in improving students’ performance in integrated science is by employing seasoned qualified teachers in all schools (Abe and Adu, 2013). Policy investment on quality of teachers is related to improvement in students’ performance. Specifically, the measurement of teacher’s preparation and certification are correlated with students’ achievement in integrated science and others science subject. It is further reported that, teacher’s characteristics such as certification status and degree in area of specialization are very significant and positively correlated with students learning outcomes in integrated science. This report was in line with the findings of Salman (2009).
Abe and Adu (2013) opined that, a teaching qualification or teacher qualification is one of a number of academic and professional degree that enables a person to become a registered teacher in primary or secondary school. Such qualifications include, but are not limited to, the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGDE). The Professional Diploma in Education (PDE), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) and Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE). In Ekiti State, teachers who are academically qualified and those that are professionally qualified are engaged to carry out instructional process.
Academically qualified teachers refer to those who have academic training as a result of enrolment into educational institution and obtained qualifications such as HND, B.Sc, B.A, and M.A. and so on; while professionally qualified teachers are those who got professional training that gave them professional knowledge, skills, techniques, attitudes as different from the general education (Edu and Kalu, 2012). They hold degrees like, B.Ed., B.Sc. Ed, B.A. Ed, and M.Ed and so on. On the other hand, there are studies that have found no significant relationship between teacher educational qualification and students’ academic achievement. For instance, Igwe (2007) investigated the influence of teacher’s qualification on academic performance of students in science subjects in Kano State. Teacher quality is the most important among other critical factors like quality curricula, funding, small class size and learning situation. George (2004) attributed poor achievement of students in integrated science to teacher qualification, inadequacy of materials as well as administrative factors. A qualified teacher as one who possesses professionally based knowledge in the theory and practice of education as well as find job satisfaction in the belief that he/she is making an important contribution to the science, cultural and economic development of his/her country. Such a teacher should equally, be able to understand students’ abilities to exploit educational benefits of the social context within which he/she lives. He/She should be able to assist Students to reach their full intellectual and potentials. Non-qualified and non-professional teachers in teaching profession are killing the profession because they are not really teachers. He regarded them as “bird” of passage that create unnecessary vacuum whenever they see greener pasture and better prospect in the profession they are originally trained for. The comparison of students’ scores in integrated science achievement test based on teachers’ qualifications becomes necessary in order to know if formal teaching methods has any significant effect/influence on students’ performance in integrated science or not.
On the contrary, however, Tuppen (2010) in his study found out that teachers’ length of teaching and administrative experience are not consistently related to students’ performance. The researcher however concluded that it is preferable to embark on advanced training and retraining programmes for teachers since experience alone does not necessarily make one a more effective teacher.
Teachers’ attitude towards science and science teaching are also important. This is because the role of the teacher as facilitator of learning and the contributions to students’ achievements is enormous. For example, the classroom teacher is the one that is saddled with the responsibility of translating the learner’s thoughts into action. In other words, teacher’s experiences and behaviours towards the teaching – learning process in the classroom contributes greatly in shaping students attitude towards their teachers and the subject being taught. This in turn will have an effect on the students’ academic performance.
Slavin (2012); Evans (2012); and Gibson (2012) were of the opinion that students taught by more experienced teachers tend to have favourable attitude towards the subject and perform at a higher level, because their teachers have mastered the content and acquired classroom management skills to deal with different types of classroom problems. Several research findings have confirmed the hypothesis that teachers’ attitude either towards science or science teaching affect their students’ academic performance in science (Philias, 2009).Motivation of teachers is very important as it affects the students directly. This fact is supported by Marques (2010) in her conclusion that motivation, satisfaction and performance are interdependent. Teacher efficacy affects students directly as there is strong correlation between teacher efficacy and students’ performance hence a desired outcome by the students can occur with the help of the teacher. This means that low motivation of teachers affect his performance which affects the students’ performance.
In Nigeria teachers are being paid relatively low salaries. Teachers with more experience and higher education earn more than those with a standard bachelor’s degree and certificate while high school teachers have the highest median salary earning. Many teachers take advantage of the opportunity to increase their income by supervising after-school programs and other extracurricular activities. Merit pay systems are on the rise for teachers, paying teachers extra money based on excellent classroom evaluations, high test scores and for high success at their overall school (Sogomo, 2003).
Schools in Nigeria are fast decaying and the “rot” in the system ranges from shortage of teaching and learning resources to lack of effective leadership and proper motivation of teachers. He pointed out that 2teachers in Nigeria were unhappy, frustrated, uninspired and unmotivated. The school environment is dotted with dilapidated buildings equipped with outdated laboratory facilities and equipments. Teachers at times have to work under the most unsafe and unhealthy conditions. This has no doubt, translated into students’ poor performance in external examinations, their involvement in examination malpractice, cultism and other negative dispositions. In Nigeria, teachers motivation and job satisfaction is not any better. For pay and allowances to the teachers is comparatively low than in the other professions. Teaching profession is considered as ‘profession of the last resort’ where individuals find themselves there after they fail to secure better professional courses. In some schools teachers are not involved in decision making as staff meetings are merely used as directive forums. There is poor housing and working conditions. Provision of teaching and learning materials and equipments to the teachers is sometimes not prioritized.It was recommended that a clear scheme of service and promotion procedures are put in place and measures to achieve greater commitment to teaching through changes in the teaching environment. It is worth to note that teachers in Ekiti State had to fight for salary increments and the end results was that they could only get the increment over a period of three years at times salaries would not be paid. They also face some challenges in the line of their duties such as walking long distance to schools, inadequate schools facilities and equipments and indiscipline of students.
It is imperative in such type of scenario that teachers may experience motivation or demotivation which may affect negatively or positively the performance of the integrated science students in examinations in secondary schools. Signs of motivation are higher performance, lower absenteeism and lower turnover. Motivation, satisfaction and performance are interdependent with each other. Job satisfaction is a decisive factor that determines the general efficiency of an organization. Lack of job satisfaction among teacher’s results in absenteeism from school, aggressive behavior towards colleagues and learners, early exit from teaching profession and psychological withdrawal from work. Hence, poor motivation of teachers would also have the same results as lack of job satisfaction.
In NigeriaSpear (2000) revealed that teacher’s motivation was low due to work overload poor pay and low perception by the society. It is on this background the study sought to investigate into the effects of teachers motivation on academic performance of integrated science students in Ado –Local Government.
Statement of the Problem
Some of the factors leading to poor academic performance in Ado Local Government are shortage of teaching and learning resources, lack of qualified and experience teachers and lack of motivation of teachers. Teachers are unhappy, frustrated, uninspired and unmotivated. The school environment is dotted with dilapidated buildings equipped with outdated laboratory facilities and equipments. Teachers at times have to work under the most unsafe and unhealthy conditions. This has no doubt, translated into students’ poor performance in internal and external examinations, their involvement in examination malpractice, cultism and other negative dispositions. For pay and allowances to the teachers is comparatively low than in the other professions. Teaching profession is considered as ‘profession of the last resort’ where individuals find themselves there after they fail to secure better professional courses. In some schools teachers are not involved in decision making as staff meetings are merely used as directive forums. There is poor housing and working conditions. Provision of teaching and learning materials and equipments to the teachers is sometimes not prioritized it on this basis, the study will examine the effects of teachers motivation on academic performance of integrated science students in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of teachers’ motivation and qualification on academic performance of integrated science students in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
The specific objectives are;
i. To identify the factors influencing the motivation of teachers in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
ii. To determine the attitude of teacher towards teaching and learning of Integrated Science in Ado Local Government.
iii. To determine teacher qualification on student academic performance
iv. To determine the effect of student’s poor academic performance and teacher’s method of teaching integrated science
v. To establish whether teachers’ remuneration has any effects on academic performance of integrated science students in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions:
i. What are the factors influencing the motivation of teachers in Integrated Science in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
ii. What are the impact of teaching experience on students academic performance in Integrated Science?
iii. What effect does teachers attitude have on students’ academic performance in Integrated Science??
iv. Does instructional material have impact on students academic performance in Integrated Science?
Significance of the Study
The findings of the study are significant in the following ways:-Education Management Institute will benefit from the study in getting to know what to include in its post teacher training needs. The findings may be used by academicians and other researchers for further research on how to improve teachers’ motivation in order to enhance integrated science students academic performance. The Ministry of Education will use the findings to improve various teachers’ motivational strategies. The findings of the study will be useful to serving headteachers and BOG in identifying factors that motivate teachers and hence make adjustments where necessary especially as regarded to integrated science student academic performance.
Delimitations of the Study
The research examines the effects of teacher’s motivation on academic performance of integrated science students in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State. However, due to the large number of school in Ado- Ekiti, the research was delimited to five selected secondary in Ado – Local Government Area in Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Definition of Terms
Motivation It is the inner power that pushes you toward taking action and toward achievement. Motivation is powered by desire and ambition, and therefore.
Performance refers to the mean score at the end of four years exams.
Resources refer to all those objects, people, buildings and environment thatwill enhance teachers’ performance.
Teaching refers to provision of information and all activities designed tofacilitate learning.
CHAPTER TWO
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