The Attitude Of Secondary School Teachers Towards Teaching In The Rural Areas

The Attitude Of Secondary School Teachers Towards Teaching In The Rural Areas

Abstract

These studies look on how secondary school teachers in Edo State’s Uhunmwode Local Government Area feel about instructing in rural areas. In the Uhunmwode local government area of Edo State, a sample of 10 junior and secondary schools were used for the study. There were fifty (50) instructors altogether in the sample schools. The following research questions were used, and they received careful consideration through the use of questionnaires.

The association between the surroundings and the instructors’ attitudes toward rural postings, as well as their marital status, sex, and academic background were also tested.

The following information was gathered, analyzed, and presented in tables: Environment has an impact on teachers’ attitudes regarding rural postings. Compared to less experienced instructors, experienced teachers exhibit a more positive attitude about rural postings. More unqualified instructors than qualified teachers exhibit a favorable attitude toward rural postings. More married teachers than single (unmarried) teachers exhibit a favourable attitude toward rural postings. Compared to female instructors, male teachers had a more favorable view about rural postings.

The findings led to conclusions, and the government was advised to take a few steps as a result. It is my sincere wish that the government will follow the recommendations.

Assumable Contents

First Chapter

Introduction

History of the study

Statement of the issue

Research problem

The study’s objectives

Goals of the research

Constraints of the research

importance of the research

Terms used in the study and their definitions

Two Chapters

analysis of relevant literature

Section Three

Research techniques

Participants in the study

Example of the research

research methods

The validity of the test

methods for gathering data

data evaluation

In Chapter 4,

Data analysis and discussion

First research inquiry

Second research question

Third research question

Fourth research question

Research query no. 5

Section Five

Summary, Verdict, and Suggestions

Summary

Conclusion

Recommendations

References

First chapter of the questionnaire

INTRODUCTION

THE STUDY’S HISTORY

John Dewey asserts that education aids in the development of essential mindsets that are strictly correlated with culture in the broadest sense of the word. According to Rusk, education should be used to help each member of society reach their full potential and abilities as well as to enable them to make important contributions to the community’s progress and share in its successes. Therefore, modernization and development depend on education. It was a frequent approach that as soon as a situation was established, one of the first services to be offered was a school to which they aimed to enroll children who would be more easily attracted. The advent of Christianity was followed by the adoption of western types of education. The goal of the school was to improve their evangelistic activities by training personnel who could successfully work as catechists, interpreters, clerks, court messengers, etc. Thomas Birch Freeman, a member of the western Methodist missionary group, founded the first missionary school in 1942 in the rural community of Badagry, in the state of Lagos.

Prior to the intervention of the government, missionaries maintained control over these schools, ensuring that teachers in the remote areas were properly staffed and performing their duties. Rural areas are defined as villages or settlements with a limited population, inadequate housing or lodging, unmaintained roads, and a low level of commercial activity. The majority of the population works in agriculture, and they are hampered by limited access to healthcare, a lack of portable energy and water, and a weak transportation and communication infrastructure. Teachers deployed to rural areas began to oppose their posting in favor of urban centers, which are defined by basic services not found in rural areas, as a result of the aforementioned features of rural areas. To stay in the urban schools, some instructors began to offer flimsy justifications like family breakups and traffic hazards. Some used lobbying to change the posting to metropolitan areas. These caused widespread rural-urban migration, leaving a shortage of teachers to instruct the less advantaged kids in rural schools. As a result, the state government took it upon themselves to post or transfer teachers from urban to rural and vice versa. The majority of the concerned instructors always manage to stay in urban areas where all of their basic and social needs are addressed, thus this policy did not work out. The sit tight condition has been developed among those fortunate enough to live in urban areas.

Do we allow rural schools to gradually close down as a result of the unfavorable perception that teachers have of them? Or would the government make the rural areas congenial and enabling in order to draw instructors to their school? Therefore, it is important to determine how teachers feel about instructing in rural areas, especially in Edo State’s Uhunmwode local government area.

Summary Of The Problem

The ability of citizens to make significant contributions to the expansion and development of the community is unlocked through education, which serves as a genuine agent of change. No educational system can excel above the caliber of its professors, according to a well-known proverb. Despite the fact that the teacher is often considered to be the pivot of the educational process, it is actually the teacher who helps transform educational policies, practices, and programs into actual classroom instruction. Because he is the primary factor in determining the system’s quality, instructors are an essential part of any educational system (Okoye, 2003).

There are several factors that have changed and modified secondary school students’ attitudes. Teachers find it difficult to travel to rural areas to teach because there aren’t enough basic utilities there, and those who must go there or have nowhere else to go do so with mixed emotions. As a result, the quality of rural children’s education suffers. It is well known that ineffective instruction results in undereducated youth. While schools in metropolitan regions are overstaffed, the uneven distribution of amenities and infrastructure in those rural locations fosters a negative attitude toward teaching. Residents of rural areas, including students, are curious as to why professors view rural service negatively. The researcher wants to learn more about the reasons behind the widespread perception that instructors detest working in rural areas. The following questions will receive answers from the researcher.

1. Does the environment have any impact on teachers’ attitudes on rural postings?

2. Does a teacher’s academic background affect how they feel about working in a rural area?

3. Does a teacher’s level of experience affect how they feel about being assigned to a rural setting?

4. Does a teacher’s marital status have an impact on their disposition or rural placement?

5. Does a teacher’s sexual orientation influence how they feel about working in a rural area?

Objective Of The Study

This study aims to investigate secondary school teachers’ perspectives on working in rural schools. There is a risk of lack of seriousness in the way their occupations or duties are carried out because the teachers assigned to the rural areas experienced some conflicting emotions. The Nigerian philosophy of education is based on the integration of the individual into a sound and effective citizen and equal educational opportunities for all citizens of the nation at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, both inside and outside the formal school system, according to the National Policy on Education (N. PE, 1989). However, the teachers’ refusal to accept rural postings has led to a difference between rural and urban styles of education, which promotes educational inequality. The study will help to identify solutions to the unfavorable attitude of secondary school teachers toward rural postings, which makes it desirable to earn the potential of keeping some sort of balance between those places, especially as it relates to education.

Study Questions

The purpose of this study is to direct the researcher in the following areas:

1. Is there a connection between the environment and the instructors’ views on rural postings?

2. Is there a correlation between instructors’ teaching experience and their attitudes toward rural postings?

3. Is there a connection between teachers’ academic backgrounds and their attitudes about rural employment?

4. Is there a connection between teachers’ marital status and how they feel about working in rural areas?

5. Is there a correlation between teachers’ attitudes toward rural postings and their gender?

NECESSITY OF THE STUDY

The study is crucial because rural children must have access to the same educational opportunities as their urban counterparts. In Nigeria, it is relevant and important for the development of industry and technology. In order to address the unsightly trend, it is crucial for the ministry of education to pinpoint the root causes of teachers’ unfavorable attitudes toward working in rural areas. The study is important for understanding the types of rural environments in which prospective teachers will work once hired. This research is useful to many researchers.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study is only focused on public junior and senior high schools in the Uhunmwode local government area of Edo State, as well as all of the instructors working in the chosen institutions, whether they are auxiliary or professional educators. In order to obtain the personal viewpoints of instructors who work in metropolitan areas, the study will also include them.

A glossary of terms

A person’s attitude is reflected in their thoughts and feelings about various things. Here, instructors’ attitudes toward rural postings are what matters.

PROFESSIONAL teachers are those who possess the required training and certification to impart knowledge to students. These individuals include those who have earned a national certificate of education (NCE), a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education (Bed or Med), or a postgraduate diploma in education or technical education (PGDE or PDGTE).

AUXILIARY TEACHERS are instructors who enter the classroom while lacking the required teaching credentials to influence students’ understanding.

PUBLIC SCHOOL: These are educational institutions that get state and federal funding as well as management.

Rural areas are villages or communities that are characterized by a small population, inadequate housing, the presence of unpaved roads, a low level of commercial activity, poor health care delivery, the lack of portable water and electricity, and a poor infrastructure for transportation and communication.

URBAN AREAS: These are towns or cities that contrast sharply with rural areas in terms of their characteristics.

ASSUMPTION OF THE STUDY: The study makes the assumption that because rural locations lack social amenities, instructors often have a negative attitude toward rural postings. It also makes the assumption that because there are fewer teachers in rural schools, students there are intellectually behind those in metropolitan ones.