work attitude in secondary schools in Anambra State.
Table 4: t-test of Significant Difference in the Mean Ratings of Principals and Teachers on the Training Practices adopted by Principals for enhancing Teachers’ Work attitude
Results on Table 4, reveal that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of principals and teachers for all the eight items listed with the exception of item 14 as the training practices adopted by principals for enhancing teachers’ work attitude. The overall t-calculated value of 1.53 is less than t-critical value of 1.96.
S/N ITEMS
Respondents Mean SD t-cal t-crt. Remark 10 Providing
opportunities for members of staff to attend seminars
Principals Teachers
2.78 2.59
1.14 1.17
1.17 1.96 Not Sig.
11 Organising orientation programmes for new staff in school
Principals Teachers
2.82 2.57
1.18 1.15
1.50 1.96 Not Sig.
12 Encouraging members of staff to attend conferences
Principals Teachers
2.86 2.56
1.00 1.13
1.85 1.96 Not Sig.
13 Organising workshop in school
Principals Teachers
2.33 2.38
1.01 1.13
-0.30 1.96 Not Sig.
14 Supporting staff to undertake refresher courses
Principals Teachers
3.12 2.50
1.19 1.15
3.68 1.96 Sig.
15 Granting study leave to staff for their career development
Principals Teachers
2.61 2.36
1.17 1.10
1.51 1.96 Not Sig.
16 Inviting resource persons to enlighten teachers on innovative instructional practices
Principals Teachers
2.65 2.42
1.13 1.12
1.41 1.96 Not Sig.
17 Organizing symposium for staff
Principals Teachers
2.47 2.37
1.06 1.06
0.62 1.96 Not Sig.
Overall Principals
Teachers
21.65 19.76
8.44 8.83
1.53 1.96 Not Sig.
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46
Thus, the null hypothesis is not significant. This therefore implies that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers on the training practices adopted by principals for enhancing teachers’ work attitude in secondary schools in Anambra State. The null hypothesis was therefore not rejected.
Discussion
The result of this study revealed that the reward practices adopted by principals for enhancing teachers’ work attitude in secondary schools in Anambra State include:
recommending outstanding staff for promotion, issuing of commendation letters to dedicated staff, praising outstanding staff during staff meetings, applauding committed staff during school assembly, involving dedicated staff during decision making in school. One possible explanation for these as the reward practices adopted by principals could be as a result of zeal to improve teachers’ devotedness to their jobs and also inculcate positive attitude in them. The reward practices which boost the morale of teachers in charging their instructional roles may account for the recent second position of the state in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) in the 2018/2019 academic session. This finding agrees with the finding ofAjmal, Bashir, Abrai and Khan (2015) who reported that the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards practices such as employee recognition (commendation), acknowledgement, praises, authority to perform tasks, respect and appreciation with gift items adopted by managers positively influence employee attitude to work. The similarity in the two findings is not surprising as a result of time span, within three years reward practices might still remain the same.
These reward practices boost teachers’ morale and inspire creativity. It stimulates desirable behaviour and reduces undesirable behaviours like lateness and absenteeism.
Further analysis revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers on the reward practices adopted by principals for enhancing teachers’ work attitude in secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria.
This corroborates the finding of Onyali and Akinfolarin (2017) who reported that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers on principals’ reward (incentive) practices for secondary schools improvement in Oyo State, Nigeria. The agreement in the findings of the two studies could be attributed to geographical location as the two studies were conducted in Nigeria, where similar policy are applied in managing schools. The no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers with regard to reward practices is made obvious in some areas like; recommending outstanding staff for promotion, issuing of commendation letters to dedicated staff, giving gift items to committed staff, applauding committed staff during school assembly and equipping the offices of committed staff.
The finding of the study shows that the training practices adopted by principals for enhancing teachers’ work attitude in secondary schools in Anambra
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State include; providing opportunities for members of staff to attend seminars, organising orientation programmes for new staff in school, encouraging members of staff to attend conferences and supporting staff to undertake refresher courses.
The possible reason for this finding is that technological advancement and education reforms could have made the principals in the state to provide opportunity for teachers’ training in the secondary schools. This is in line with the finding of Udoa and Ikpe (2012) who found out that training programme such as workshops, seminars and conferences administered in school significantly influences teachers attitude to work. This also supports Ezeugbor, Onyali and Okoye (2017) who reported that the training practices adopted by principals in Anambra State include; encouraging teachers to participate in staff discussion forum, organizing workshops to enlighten teachers about innovations on teaching methodologies, encouraging teachers to attend conferences in order to up-date their knowledge and organizing symposium for teachers to enhance their skills. The similarity in the findings of the present study and that of Ezeugbor, Onyali and Okoye is not surprising as a result of the fact that the two studies were carried out in the same state within a short space of five three years and thus the same population participated in the two studies.
On the other hand, this finding contradicts the finding of Hassan (2013) which revealed among others that the professional development programmes for teachers that are not in practice in pakistan include: arranging different training programmes, coaching, mentoring, re-fresher courses, workshops and seminars among others. This contradiction in the findings of the two results may be attributed to difference in time span time and geographical location. The difference in geographical location indicated dissimilarity in educational policy, programme, funding and participants who might hold varied views on training practices in their various countries. These practices may be the reason why secondary school teachers in Anambra State, Nigeria are dedicated to their teaching roles as may be connected to outstanding performance of students in external examinations in the state in recent years. The current technological advancement in all the facets of education system and changes in school curriculum makes these training practices imperative for teachers to adapt to innovation in the education system.
It was also revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers on the training practices adopted by principals for enhancing teachers’ work attitude in secondary schools in Anambra State. This collaborates with the finding of Nnebedum and Akinfolarin (2017) that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers on principals’ training practices for enhancing staff personnel administration in secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. The agreement in the two findings could be as a result of the fact that the two studies were conducted in Nigeria in which similar policy are operated in secondary schools across the country. The no significant difference is evident in the areas of providing opportunities for
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members of staff to attend seminars, organising orientation programmes for new staff in school, encouraging members of staff to attend conferences, organising workshop in school, granting study leave to staff for their career development, inviting resource persons to enlighten teachers on innovative instructional practices and organizing symposium for staff.
Conclusion
Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that principals adopt reward and training practices. The reward and training practices to enhance teachers’ work attitude include recommending outstanding staff for promotion, issuing of commendation letters to dedicated staff, providing opportunities for members of staff to attend seminars, organising orientation programmes for new staff in school, encouraging members of staff to attend conferences and supporting staff to undertake refresher courses.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
1. Principals in collaboration with individuals, philanthropists and Alumni associations of secondary schools should single out a day in every academic session for the reward of outstanding performance in the school. During the occasion, prizes should be given to such staff that performs excellently to encourage them.
2. The State Government should in collaboration with Ministry of Education work out modalities for principals’ professional advancement in the management of human resources through training in form of workshops and symposium that will refresh their mind on those concepts, ideas, skills, methods and practices that enhance attitude of work of teachers and also generality of staff in secondary schools.
References
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Ezeugbor, C.O., Onyali, L.C. & Okoye, F.O. (2017).Adoption and utilization of effective conflict management strategies for promoting peace-culture in secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. European Scientific Journal,11(31), 281-293.
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Hassan, D.A. (2013). Analysis of professional development practices for teachers in Pakistan: A comparative case study of public and private schools of Pakistan (Punjab). International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 3(4), 311-324.
Hussain, S., Ali, R., Khan, M.S., Ramzan, M. & Qadeer, M.Z. (2011). Attitude of secondary school teachers towards teaching profession. International Journal of Academic Research, 3(1), 985-990.
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Nnebedum, C. & Akinfolarin, A.V. (2017). Principals’ human capital development practices for enhancing personnel administration in secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Advanced Research and Publication, 1(1), 356-361.
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administrative strategies for effective human resource management in public and private secondary schools in Enugu State. National Journal of Educational Leadership, 3(2), 174-183.
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(2012).The relationship of human resource practices and job performance of academicians towards career development in Malaysian private higher institutions. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences, 57(1), 102-118.
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Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(10), 305-311.
Uzoechina, G. & Nwankwo, I.N. (2016).Teachers’ participation in administrative decision making in secondary schools in Onitsha education zone of Anambra State. National Journal of Educational Leadership, 3(2), 28-35.
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IMPACT OF TEACHER PROFESIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON TEACHING AND LEARNING IN JUNIOR SECONDARY
SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE
Obineme, P. O.
Department of Educational Management and Policy, Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
Abstract
This study examined impact of teacher professional development on teaching and learning in junior secondary schools in Anambra state. It was guided by four research questions and one hypothesis was tested. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised of 4,095 junior secondary school teachers in the school. Multi stage procedure involving proportionate sampling and simple random sampling (balloting without replacement) were used to draw the sample. This amounted to 180 teachers as sample for the study. Instrument used for data collection was a 20 item questionnaire distributed to 180 junior secondary school teachers. Out of this number, 158 were duly completed, returned and used for the study. The instrument for the study was tagged Impact of Teacher Professional Development on Teaching and Learning (ITPDTL) with reliability coefficients of 0.76, 0.74, 0.68 and 0.73 for the four clusters and an overall coefficient of 0.72. The reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha technique. Analysis of data collected was done g arithmetic mean scores to answer the four research questions while t-test was used in testing the hypothesis at 0.05 alpha level. Findings revealed among other things that to a high extent, teachers are aware of terms like instructional material, teaching methodology, evaluation and classroom management. Findings also revealed that most teachers, to a high extent lacked the professional development in these areas due to lack of consistent re-training exercise. It also revealed that year of experience has been helpful in teaching profession. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that teachers need retraining workshops on uses of instructional materials, sensitization on methods of teaching, use of different evaluation strategies and exposed to classroom management practices to effectively manage students in their classes.
Keywords: Teacher, professional development, instruction, Anambra State.
Introduction
Education has been the mechanism through which societies generate the knowledge and skills required for its survival and sustenance. Education also
Impact of Teacher Professional Development on Teaching …
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improves the quality of lives and leads to a broad social benefits to individuals and society. Little wonder nations have thrown their weight behind education which has been the pillar of success among economies of the world. Okezie, Okpe and Ngwakwe (2018) posit that Education all over the world is seen as the corner stone of development and the major social services which the government of any nation, communities, parents and philanthropic organizations give to their children.
Education authorities have seemed to agree that increasing standards for pre-service education of teachers will not necessarily lessen the need for continued in-service preparation and professional growth.
No amount of time spent in college or university will complete the preparation of the teacher for classroom tasks. Teachers, like doctors, priests, and lawyers, must continue with their education after graduation. Constantly applying new techniques and materials make education in service absolutely necessary. If teachers are to become real leaders in their respective schools, teachers must be provided with a programme of in-service training which is concerned with doing and not merely with listening. Orji (2010) asserts that education unlocks the door to modernization, but the teacher holds the key. A teacher here is one who teaches in a school or college. In the view of Obidike (2016), a teacher is a person whose occupation is teaching others especially children. He is also someone who instructs others or provides activities, materials and guidance that facilitate learning in either formal or informal situation. The teacher is the initiator of teaching and learning in any school. Without teaching, learning may not take place. Teaching as perceived by Kalule and Bauchamina (2013), is an interaction involving the learner, the subject matter, and the teacher. Teaching is to a teacher what learning is to a learner. According to Onwuka (2010), teaching goes along with learning.
Learning is an activity which involves the teacher and learner and at the end, the learner acquires certain skills, knowledge and experiences which help to shape his behavior. Zailani (2015) defines learning as a relatively permanent change in behavior due to practice and experience. This definition is a confirmation of Ojo (2012), who views learning as a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of insight, practice, experience or stimuli in the behavior. Teaching and learning cannot be effective when teachers lack appropriate professional development and skills to do their job better.
Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. Alabi (2011) asserts that teacher development significantly related to teacher productivity. Thus, Afe in Iyunade (2017) defined Teachers’
professional development as that component of any educational system concerned with the education and training of teachers to acquire the necessary competencies and skills in teaching for improvement in the quality of teachers in the school
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system. It is often planned and systemically tailored and applied for the cultivation of those who teach or will teach, particularly but not exclusively in primary and post primary schools. It has been described as intensive and collaborative, ideally incorporating an evaluative stage. If school teachers do not have the tools they need to teach students effectively, their students will suffer. To teach effectively, teachers need access to ongoing teacher professional development. This professional development enables teachers to improve their own education through seminars, workshops, and classes.
Through teacher professional development, teachers learn new teaching strategies to improve the quality of instruction. However, Darling-Hammond, Hyler, Gardner (2017) posit that effective professional development is structured on professional learning which results in changes to teacher knowledge and practices, and improvements in student learning outcomes. This allows them make changes in the way they teach their students and incorporating innovative teaching methods in the classroom. It teaches them how to work with a variety of learning styles, since not all students learn the same way. It also helps teachers change their day-to-day teaching methods, encouraging them to accept new methods based on accurate education research. The researcher is aware that for a teacher to do his job diligently, he must be conversant with methodology, use of instructional materials, classroom management, evaluation techniques and record keeping; these are observed impacts derived from professional teacher development. These were partly recognized by Enemuo and Obidike (2012) who identified academic qualification, personal attributes, motivation, learning theories, behavioural management, knowledge of ICT and other instructional aids.
Teachers are crucial inputs of any educational system because they have the command of the knowledge and skills to be imparted to the learners. Hence, the quality of teachers determines to a great extent the quality of teaching and learning outcomes. Since the inception of the present government of Anambra state, there has been various developmental programmes put in place for teachers in order to enhance especially, quality basic education. Such programmes include among others, in-service training, ICT training, seminars, workshops and induction programmes for teachers. These programmes concentrate on updating teachers knowledge on learners evaluation, methods of teaching and learning, students discipline, classroom management, and use of instructional materials.
Despite government effort and investment in teacher development programmes, the quality of teaching among teachers seems not to have improved to any appreciable level. Some educators blame this on ineffective management of the programme by those concern, while others attribute it to the poor attitude of some teachers toward the teaching profession. Therefore, it becomes pertinent to pose the question “To what extent does teacher professional development relate to quality teaching and learning in junior secondary school?
Impact of Teacher Professional Development on Teaching …
54 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of teacher professional development on teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state. Specifically, this study sought to examine the:
1. Extent professional development of teachers on instructional materials impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state.
2. Extent professional development of teachers on methodology impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state.
3. Extent professional development of teachers on evaluation impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state.
4. Extent professional development of teachers on classroom management impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state?
Research Questions
The following research questions guided this study
1. To what extent does professional development of teachers on instructional materials impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state?
2. To what extent does professional development of teachers on methodology impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state?
3. To what extent does professional development of teachers on evaluation impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state?
4. To what extent does professional development of teachers on classroom management impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state?
Hypothesis
There is no significant mean difference between the opinions of urban and rural teachers on the impact of teacher professional development on teaching and learning.
Methods
This study examined impact of teacher professional development on teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state. It was guided by four research questions and one hypothesis was tested. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised 4,095 junior
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55
secondary school teachers. Multi stage sampling procedure involving proportionate sampling and simple random sampling (balloting without replacement) techniques were used to draw the sample. This resulted to 180 teachers as sample for the study. Instrument used for data collection was a 20 item questionnaire tagged Impact of Teacher Professional Development on Teaching and Learning (ITPDTL). It had reliability coefficients of 0.76, 0.74, 0.68 and 0.73 for the four clusters and an overall value of 0.72. The reliability coefficient were determined using Cronbach Alpha technique. Copies of the instrument were administered on 180 junior secondary school teachers sampled. Out of this number, 158 representing 87.9% were duly completed, returned and used for the study.
Analysis was done using arithmetic mean scores to answer the four research questions while t-test was used in testing the hypothesis at 0.05 alpha level. Items with mean scores above 2.5 were taken as agreement while those with mean scores below 2.5 were taken as disagreement. For the hypothesis it was rejected if the t-cal is greater than t-crit, otherwise it was accepted.
Results
Table 1: Extent to which professional development of teachers on instructional materials impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra State.
S/N ITEMS _
X Decision 1 Extent to which you were taught the significant of
improvisation in teaching and learning in your training years
2.27 Disagree
2 Extent to which you have been involved re-training exercise on use of instructional material for teaching
2.14 Disagree 3 What extent are you aware of the use of instructional
materials in teaching
3.21 Agree 4 What extent have your school principal organize
workshop on instructional material in your school
2.08 Disagree
Data analysis in Table 1 show that the mean scores for items 1-4 were 2.27, 2.14, 3.21 and 2.08 respectively. Items1, 2 and 4 were disagreed to because they recorded mean scores below 2.50. The respondents however agreed to item 3 with a mean score of 3.21 which was above the cut off mean of 2.50.
Impact of Teacher Professional Development on Teaching …
56
Table 2: Extent to which professional development of teachers on methodology impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state?
Analysis in Table 2 show that the mean scores for items 5-10 were 2.91, 2.19, 1.74, 2.92, 3.14 and 2.94 respectively. Items 6 and 7 were disagreed to because their mean scores were below 2.50. The other items namely 5,8,9, and 10 were agreed to because their mean scores were 2.50 and above.
Table 3: Extent to which professional development of teachers on evaluation impacts teaching and learning at junior secondary schools in Anambra state
S/N ITEMS _
X Decision 11 The extent to which you perform as a teacher on
evaluation skills is low because you have not been exposed to re-training exercise
1.94 Disagree
12 Extent to which knowledge acquired during teacher training helps in doing your job as a teacher
3.23 Agree 13 Your professional training as a teacher made you
conversant in the use of summative and formative evaluations in teaching
2.15 Disagree
14 Extent of evaluating students’ cognitive, affective and motor learning experiences
2.17 Disagree 15 Extent to which you need continuous re-training to be
more effective in use of evaluation in class
2.72 Agree
Data analysis in Table 3 show that the mean scores for items 11-15 were 1.94, 3.23, 2.15, 2.17 and 2.72 respectively. Items 11, 13 and 14 were therefore disagreed to because their mean scores were below 2.50. Items 12 and 15 were agreed to because their mean score were 2.50 and above.
S/N ITEMS _
X Decision 5. Extent to which your years of experience in teaching
help you select appropriate methods in teaching.
2.91 Agree 6 You read often to re-awake your knowledge on
appropriate methods to teach
2.19 Disagree 7 Extent to which you use teacher centered methods 1.74 Disagree 8 To what extent do you apply learner centered methods 2.92 Agree 9 In your years of observation, what extent do students
response to learner centered methods
3.14 Agree 10 Knowledge you acquired from a workshop on
methods to an extent helps you in teaching
2.94 Agree