EFFECT OF SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL MENTORSHIP ON JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

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EFFECT OF SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL MENTORSHIP ON JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study titled, “Influence of Social Studies Teachers Professional Training on Junior Secondary School Students‟ Performance in Kaduna State”. The study had

fiveobjectives, five research questions, and five null hypotheses.The objectives were to determine the influence of knowledge of subject matter, use of instructional materials, use of communication skills, years of teaching experience and teacher professional qualifications on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study covered only social studies teachers within the three (3) senatorial zones of Kaduna State, namely zone one (1)Northern Kaduna, zone two (2)Kaduna Central and zone three (3)Southern Kaduna. The study reviewed related literature on behaviourist theory, constructivist theory, social learning theory, profession and characteristics of a professional teacher, teacher education and objectives. Others include, teacher and the world of education, concept of social studies, performance, elements of teaching effectiveness in social studies, effective teaching procedures in social studies and communication. Out of the three reviewed theories, the social learning theory was used as a guide to the study. Under empirical studies, the study reviewed research works that are related to the study, some of the studies shows that the variables investigated have significant influence on the performance of students. The study adopted descriptive survey design. Two thousand, two hundred and seventy one (2, 271) social studies teachers of public secondary schools formed the population of the study. A total of three hundred (300) social studies teachers selected from thirty (30) public secondary schools were sampled based on stratified sampling technique. The study adopted the stratified sampling technique. The instrument used to collect data was a fixed response questionnaire designed by the researcher. Frequency and percentages were used in analyzing the respondents‟ opinions, while one sample t-test was used to test the hypotheses at P<0.05 level of significance for acceptance or rejection and all the hypotheses were rejected. The findings revealed that knowledge of social studies, teachers‟ use of instructional materials in teaching and learning, teachers‟ communication skills, teachers years of teaching experience and teachers' professional qualifications have positive influence on the performance of students in social studies. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others, that focus should be made on improving teachers‟ performance through workshops on subject matter knowledge and on effective communication skills. Also, recruitment of teachers should be based on professional training and area of specialization.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.5        Background to the Study

Education is an important instrument for achieving national development. It is through the process of education that mastery is generated for the transformation and advancement of both the individual and the society at large. It is thus the building block for social, economic and industrial development of any nation. The level of sophistication attained by various countries as regards poverty reduction, self-reliance, scientific, economic and technological development cannot be deprived from gigantic strives made in the educational system and indeed the level of competency and effectiveness of the teachers who are the main implementers and the translators of the educational policies(Obadara, 2011).

Every educational system at all levelsdepends heavily on teachers‟ competence for the execution of government educational programmes. Teachers are highly essential for successful operation of the educational system and also important tool for educational development. Without competent teachers employed to work in a school, educational facilities will be too difficult to be utilized. Undoubtedly, the success and quality of any educational system depends on the quality and quantity of teachers input into the system. Since there is no educational system that can improve better than it‟s teachers, the commitment of teachers to the system is a vital issue. The teachers interpret the aims and goals of education through what they teach and educate the students as well as in accordance with educational policies. Darling-Hammond (2000), asserts that, the nationinterested in improving students‟ performance should have to look into the preparation and qualification of teachers as some of the forces that makes the teacher competent.

For education to continue to rise, it is imperative that teachers at various levels of education be committed to their jobs so as to put in their best in the attainment of school goals. Darling-Hamman (2000), stated that, the single biggest factor affecting academic growth of any population of youngsters is the effectiveness of the individual classroom teacher. The teachers‟ effects on academic growth carry more weight than any other factor.

The teacher is one of thechief determinants of educational achievement, whose academic qualification, relevant professional training, work experience among others are most significant determinants of students‟ performance. Similarly, teachers at all levels of education play an important role of pivoting the growth and direction of education. It is an acceptable fact that teachers are the most important elements in education and that teachers are highly instrumental to the success of any government programmes. This is because apart from being at the implementation levels of any educational policy, the realization of these programmes also depends greatly on teachers‟ dedication, competency and commitment to their jobs(Adeyemi, 2007).

In any educational system, the social studies teacher performs the significant function of perpetuating society‟s heritage and energizing human resources towards social progress. This shows that the teacher isan important variable in the teaching and learning process. Hathie (2003), observed that the teacher accounts for about thirty percent of variance in students‟ achievement. His mastery, skills and attitude are instrumental in creating the conditions for learning. Indhumathi (2011), identified the teacher as the initiator of the learning process, the facilitator of learning skills, the coordinator of learning sequence and indeed the pivoted element in the entire education development. This makes the social studies teacher the most formidable determinant of quality learning.

Some characteristics that make the social studies teachers competent have been discussed in several studies. For example,Leigh and Mead (2005), noted that the teacher characteristics include attributes such as teachers‟ mastery base, sense of responsibility, communication skills, his experience, in-service training and inquisitiveness. Social studies teachers must possess vital skills such as personality characteristics and behaviours that students perceive to impact their motivation to learn, since it is a teachers‟ job to connect with each student to foster the passion and excitement to learn (Littkey, 2004).

A resourceful instruction needs to give all students the opportunity to grasp the content taught at a time. Parker (2000), notes that the social studies teacher has a responsibility to include controversial issues and current events in the curriculum. He believes that students need to study issues on which there are some disagreements so as to practice analyzing problems; gathering and organizing facts; discriminating between facts and opinions; discussing differing viewpoints and drawing tentative conclusions. Exposing students to controversial issues in their studies enable them to develop the capacity for ethical and moral reasoning so that they become critically reflective thinkers. The social studies classroom should therefore focus on using instructional materials which will help mold students‟ character (Dube, 2009). Lack of use of appropriate instructional materials for the intellectual level of students denies students‟ active participation in their learning. Jotia (2008), has observed that “lack of students‟ involvement in the teaching process makes teachers the subjects of the learning process while students are dissolved to the level of objects that are just receiving deposits and their critical awareness is compromised.” Teachers should bear in mind that the effective teaching of social studies which can help them achieve the goals is learnt through effective use of instructional materials, participation in teaching and learning, doing and experiencing.

Instructional materials are the devices developed or acquired to assist or facilitate teachers in transmitting, organizedmastery, skills and attitude to learners within an instructional situation. Teachers use different instructional materials to motivate learning. Teachers often make use of textbooks, charts, models, graphics, realia as well as improvised materials. The success in skill and mastery acquisition in an instructional situation depends on the suitability of the instructional material, adequacy and effective utilization of the available materials.Experience is an important indicator of professionalism, thus experience teachers have a richer background to draw and contribute insight and ideas of the course of teaching and learning are open to correction and are less dictatorial in the classroom.Anita (2013), stated that, students taught by more experienced teachers achieve at a higher level, because their teachers have mastered the content and acquired classroom management skills to deal with different types of classroom problems. Furthermore, more experienced teachers are considered to be more able to concentrate on the most appropriate way to teach particularly students who differ in their abilities, prior mastery and background. Well professionally qualified teacher is one who was fully certified and held the equivalent of a major in the field being taught. Huang and Moon (2009), documents that the professional qualification accounted for approximately 40 to 60 percent of the variance in average of students‟ achievement in assessment. The good performance of students was attributed to the excellent instructions given by professionally qualified teachers in addition to other inputs.

Teachers have been shown to have an important influence on students‟ academic performance and they also play a crucial role in educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into actions and principles based on practice during interaction with students. Both teaching and learning depends on professionally trained teachers (Uchefina, 2001).

Professionally trained teachers need an understanding of the subject matter so that they will not only understand core ideas, but know how to structure those ideas and understand how those ideas relate to each other. Pedagogical content mastery: so that teachers can make ideas accessible to others and recognize how others‟ understanding of ideas depends upon their prior experience and the context. Teachers also need mastery  of development that can formulate productive learning experiences by understanding children‟s/adolescents‟ thinking behaviour, interest and current mastery , as well as understanding the troubles they might experience within particular domains at particular ages in particular contexts. Teachers must be able to understand how to support further growth in a number of domains-social, physical and emotional as well as cognitive.

Teachers need an understanding of differences so that they can truly connect with their students, understanding “difference that may arise from culture, language, family, community, gender, prior schooling, or other factors that shape peoples experiences, as well as differences that may arise from developed intelligences, preferred approaches to learning or specific learning difficulties.” Teachers can structure tasks and feedback so as to encourage extensive efforts, without either relinquishing the press for understanding when the going gets tough or discouraging students so that they give up altogether. Generally, there is need for social studies teachers to be professional educators who should by aptitude, education, training, compartment and social status, be able to display expertise, mastery and skills on their teaching to assist students in their performance, acquisition of skills, altitudes and mastery through the use of choices and a variety of teaching methods and media, access information and achieve versatility in mastery and deliver the education effectively.

Other attributes of teachers that have great influence on students‟ performance include adequate teacher training in any of the teacher training institutions, mastery and mastery of the subject matter, physically fit for the job, interest in the job, good sense of humour, emotional stability, ability to communicate effectively, open mindedness, good human relationship, experience and use of relevant instructional materials (Udo, 2006).  During instructional periods, students are expected to acquire mastery and certain cognitive and behavioural skills. To do this, they work on content that is presented in various ways with the help of various media, ranging from very concrete to symbolic and highly abstract forms. They are also required to carry out activities, which can be purely physical and behavioural, effective or cognitive in nature. The teacher chooses the mastery and the required skills to transmit or impart to the learner. He also decides on the appropriate methodological approaches to facilitate meaningful learning and develop extra-curricular activities that enrich learning. The teacher is a facilitator of learning and therefore must be resourceful and improvisional. Teachers as much as possible should be qualified, suitable and interested in the teaching profession. They should cultivate the right attitude, be dedicated to duty and professionally qualified. This will help teachers to teach students successfully. Teachers have to be academically qualified as well as professionally competent to be able to perform in their post.

 

1.2       Statement of the Problem

The responsibility of teaching social studies successfully rests on the shoulders of those who specialize in the subject. Today many teachers teaching social studies in Nigerian schools are not social studies specialists but specialists in subjects like History,

Geography and other social sciences. Many schools employ untrained teachers to teach various subjects. Some of such teachers know what to teach but find it difficult to teach. Some of them do not know what to teach (Guga and Bawa, 2012). Even among the social studies teachers, some possess some generic pedagogical skills, yet have limited subject matter mastery, while some possess a substantial amount of subject matter mastery, yet unable to design and implement instructional methods and teaching skills to enhance students‟ learning due to lack of pedagogical abilities (White, 2000). Again, some social studies teachers see themselves as masters who have been teaching for a long period as such they ignore the use of relevant instructional materials in their teaching. Researchers have confirmed that effective learning can take place mostly when students are actively involved in the teaching and learning process, but many social studies teachers ignore student‟s active involvement in the teaching and learning process. For example, Kosgei, Mise, Odera and Ajayi (2013) in their research titled, „influence of Teacher characteristics on students‟ academic performance among secondary schools‟, proved that students learn better when they are actively involved in teaching and learning.

Also,Savage and Armstrong (2004), proved that teachers‟verbal behaviours are related to students‟ performance.A carful understanding of students highly depends on his ability to communicate effectively in the class. The result of Junior Secondary School social studies students in 2014/2015 session shows that out of the one hundred and eighty-five thousand, nine hundred and twenty (185,920) students that sat for the junior secondary school certificate examination across the KadunaState, seventy-six thousand, two hundred and ten (76,210) students passed with high grades, while fiftyseven thousand and ninety-eight (57,098) students pass with average grades and fifty two thousand six hundred and twelve (52,612) students failed (Kaduna State Ministry of Education). In view of the above mentioned problems, this study aimed at examining the influence of social studies teachers‟ professional training on Junior Secondary

School students‟ performance in Kaduna State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The study sought to achieve the following objectives:

  1. examine the influence of social studies teachers‟ mastery of the subject matter on students‟ performance in Kaduna State;
  2. find out the influence of teachers‟use of instructional materials in teaching and learning on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State;
  3. investigate the influence of teachers‟ communication skills on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State;
  4. examine the influence of teachers‟ years of teaching experience on students‟

performance in social studies in Kaduna State; and

  1. findout the influence of teachers‟ professional qualification on students‟

performancein social studies in Kaduna State.

 

1.4        Research Questions

The following research questions guided the conduct of the study:

  1. To what extent does teachers‟ mastery of the subject matter influence students‟

performance in social studies in Kaduna State?

  1. How does teachers‟ use of instructional materials in teaching and learning influence students‟ performance in socialstudies in Kaduna state?
  2. To what extent does teachers‟ communication skills influence students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State?
  3. To what extent do teachers‟ years of teaching experience influence students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State?
  4. How does professional qualification of teachers influence students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State?

 

1.5        Research Hypotheses

            The study was guided by the following hypotheses:

Ho1: Teachers‟ mastery of the subject matter have no significant influence on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State.

Ho2: Teachers‟ use of instructional materialsdoes not have significant effect on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State.

Ho3: Social studies teachers‟ communication skillshave no significant influence on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State.

Ho4: Social studies teachers‟ years of teaching experience have no significant influence on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State.

Ho5: Social studies teachers‟ professional qualifications have no significant influence on students‟ performance in social studies in Kaduna State.

 

1.6       Significance of the Study

The findings of this study was significant, especially in view of its contributions to existing studies in Nigeria. The Government-Federal, State and Local will benefit from the findings of this study. Other beneficiaries of the findings of this study include, school administrators, teachers, studentsand the society.

The governments who are the custodians of education will see the need to employ teachers based on their professional qualifications and areas of specializations not on mere assumption and who you know. The study will also make the government to see the need of providing opportunities for social studies teachers to further their studies. Again the study will make the government see the need for providing adequate instructional materials and resource centres in schools.Social studies teachers would benefit from the findings of this study for the fact that they are charged with the responsibility of proper implementation of social studies curriculum, there are a lot of expectations on them as such findings would encourage them to always use

instructional materials and to plan ahead for successful service delivery.

Also,the findings from this study will make social studies teachers to see the need for allowing active participation in teaching and learning. Among this also the findings of this study, will assist social studies teachers in improving their productivity.The general public will also benefit from the findings of this study in the sense that, it will make people to know that social studies is not history nor geography as such only those who specialize in the subject can teach it effectively.The study would also be significant to curriculum planners and developers for the fact that it will serve as a feedback to the education sector, teacher training institutions. It will also influence policy formulation pertaining to the training of social studies teachers in future.Students would also benefit from the study for the fact that it will assist in bringing up solutions to the problems under investigation and thus it will contribute to improvement on students‟ academic performance. The study would also provide empirical information on teacher-related factors that could predict students‟ academic performance in social studies. It would again contribute to research efforts geared towards finding solutions to the problem of poor performance in social studies. It will also serve as an eye opener to teachers and other stakeholders on the need for teachers to be appointed base on their area of training.

Ministries of education will also benefit from the findings of the study especially when it comes to the issue of employment. Also the findings of the study will be useful to local government education authorities for the fact that they control education at the grassroots level. The findings of this study would provide information to private school owners on areas to consider for effective teaching of social studies. Teachers from other subject areas would also benefit from the findings of this study especially in the area of instructional materials utilization in teaching and learning. Also the findings of this research will be useful to Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), National

Teacher‟s Institute (NTI) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) respectively.

Lastly, other members of the society will also benefit from the findings of the study especially with reference to the need for effective integration of the school and the home for the fact that both the school and the home aimed at achieving the same goal.

 

1.7       Scope of the Study

 The main focus of this study was to find out the influence of social studies teachers‟ professional training on junior secondary school students‟ performance in Kaduna state. The teachers‟ variables used in this study were mastery  of subject matter, use of instructional materials in teaching and learning, social studies teachers communication skills, social studies teachers‟ years of teaching experience and social studies teachers‟ professional qualifications.The study covered of a total of three hundred and fifty two (352) public junior secondary schools in the three (3) senatorial zones of Kaduna State. That is, zone one (1) Northern Kaduna, zone two (2) Kaduna

Central, and zone three (3) Southern Kaduna respectively.

EFFECT OF SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL MENTORSHIP ON JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

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