THE IMPACT OF HOME ECONOMICS TEACHERS’ QUALITIES ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN WASSCE
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND
Since the mid-twentieth century, the quality of instructors has been a major source of contention around the world. Riovkin, Hanushek, and Kain (1998) discovered in a study that the influence of instructors’ quality on students’ accomplishment is many times more than the impact of any other commonly observed variable, such as home background, attractive classroom climate, and so on.
Teacher quality is a high-priority issue. The quality of teachers varies widely between countries and states. While emphasizing the importance of teacher quality in curriculum implementation, the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, Revised 2004) stated that no nation’s educational system can rise above the quality of its instructors. Teachers are central to any discussion of schools, and the majority of educational policy focuses on their role, either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, as compared to other factors of academic accomplishment, parents, teachers, and administrators usually emphasize the importance of teachers. Teachers play a significant effect on academic performance when compared to other determinants. Instructors are crucial in any educational system because the quality of the system’s teachers has a substantial influence on the system’s overall quality.
For years, educators and scholars have disputed which school characteristics influence student progress. This topic is becoming more significant as policymakers become more involved in school reform, because their programs are founded on the idea of a link between various educational qualities such as class size, teacher quality, school size, and so on. “Quality is the primary necessary element of a product,” according to Peter (1997). High-quality scientific instructors, for example, have characteristics that boost a teacher’s fitness and efficiency when doing tasks associated with science education.
Teacher quality is a prominent topic among policymakers, educators, teacher education institutes, and anybody else interested in (improving public education. The quality of the teacher is the key to improved student performance regardless of the condition of the schools, the affluence of the child, the nature of the community, or any other element in the lives or educational environment of school children, according to the American Council on Education (1999). Good teachers use a variety of teaching methods, experiences, assignments, and materials to ensure that pupils attain a variety of cognitive objectives. Teachers who are well-prepared and highly qualified are crucial if we are to ensure that our kids attain the high standards required for them to live full lives and become productive students.
Ingersoll (1996) defined teacher quality as a measurement of teacher qualification, teaching methods, teacher certification, teacher experience, and teaching preparations. Teacher qualification includes content understanding, pedagogical expertise, teaching qualifications, and speaking ability. Shulman (1987) identified seven (7) areas of professional knowledge as academic subject, knowledge of teaching strategies, knowledge of student characteristics and cultural background, knowledge of curriculum materials and programs, knowledge of teaching environment, subject specific knowledge of teaching strategies, and knowledge of the goals and purposes of teaching. A successful teacher, according to Salvin (2003), must be exceedingly informed about his or her subject matter and know how to motivate youngsters. He must also understand how to use class time effectively and adapt to individual differences.
A home economics teacher should endeavor to learn enough to be able to teach any area of the home economics program’s subject, and he should stay current on both the content and techniques of teaching integrated science in order to be valuable in the classroom.
Teachers who are effective at their occupations are informed about their subjects and can express that information vocally to their students. They are purposeful teachers that constantly study and enhance their own teaching techniques by attending professional seminars and conferences. Reynolds (1995) discovered that excellent teachers can do all of the tasks that are required for effective instruction. Quality teachers are critical thinkers who are aware of their students’ developmental stages and requirements, are continually experimenting with novel problem-solving tactics in the classroom, and have been educated to employ differentiated instruction that respects individual differences.
According to Gregorian (2001), one of the most prominent concerns regarding poor quality teaching in today’s schools is teachers’ preservice learning. According to Darling-Hammond and Frelow (2002), quality teacher preparation programs are crucial in preparing quality teachers. Geo (2007) also highlighted two critical teacher qualification characteristics that have consistently been shown in research to have strong, beneficial effects on student learning: I Teacher subject matter knowledge; he expressed this using mathematics by claiming that teachers with more mathematics knowledge produce higher student accomplishment in mathematics than instructors with less knowledge.
(ii) The teacher’s level of experience is critical. He rationalized it by saying that after five years of experience, he had learned a lot.
The goal of this study is to determine how the characteristics of home economics teachers affect student performance in WASSCE.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Because teachers have received a lot of blame for what they were hired to do, the problems of fluctuation/poor academic performance of students in secondary schools have sparked a lot of debate among different stakeholders in the education industry, including parents, teachers, members of society, and government at all levels. According to Gods Will (2012), a professionally skilled teacher is someone who has gained a systematic body of knowledge from a specialized teacher training program. He knows what he’s talking about. He facilitates knowledge for students and demonstrates an amazing leadership style in the classroom, school, and society.
As a result of the foregoing, various studies on the relationship between teacher quality and academic success have been conducted. One of the studies on teacher quality and student performance was undertaken by Akinsolu (2010), who conducted research on teachers and students’ academic performance in Osun state. Borisade (2011) evaluated teacher characteristics and school variables as indicators of academic achievement in secondary school pupils. Teachers’ characteristics were investigated as a predictor of students’ academic progress in Osun state secondary schools. Akinfe, Olofinniyi, and Fashiku (2012) investigated teacher quality as a predictor of students’ academic progress in Ondo state. Adeyemi (2008) studied instructors’ teaching experiences and students’ learning outcomes in secondary schools in Ondo state. A detailed assessment of the preceding studies reveals that none of them investigated the relationship between teacher quality and students’ academic achievement in Islamic studies. As a result, the goal of this study was to investigate the impact of home economics teachers’ characteristics on students’ WASSCE performance.
1.3 STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The primary goal of the research is to assess the impact of home economics teachers’ qualities on students’ WASSCE performance. Other specific goals of the research include:
1. To investigate the impact of teacher quality on students’ academic progress in home economics.
2. To look at the factors that influence instructors’ efficacy in teaching home economics.
3. To investigate the relationship between the characteristics of home economic teachers and students’ attendance at home economics classes.
4. To assess the school administration’s roles in the recruitment of qualified home economics teachers.
5. To provide solutions to the aforementioned issues
1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
The study developed research questions in order to determine the aforementioned study objectives. The following are the specific research questions:
1. What effect does teacher quality have on students’ academic progress in home economics?
2. What factors influence instructors’ efficacy in teaching home economics?
3. What is the relationship between home economics instructor qualifications and student attendance in home economics classes?
4. What roles does school administration play in the recruitment of skilled home economics teachers?
1.5 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
The study on the effect of qualities of home economic teachers on students performance in WASSCE will be of enormous benefit to teachers, school management, the state government, the federal government, and the ministry of education in Nigeria because it will discuss the relationship between qualities of home economic teachers and students attendance to home economics classes. The research will also investigate the factors that determine effective home economics teaching and learning. Finally, the research will contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the characteristics of home economics teachers.
1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES
The relationship between home economics teacher qualities and student home economics performance will be investigated in the study on the influence of home economics teacher qualities on student performance in WASSCE. It will also go through the factors that determine effective home economics teaching and learning.
1.7 STUDY LIMITATIONS
Financial constraint- A lack of funds tends to restrict the researcher’s efficiency in locating relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as in the data collection procedure (internet, questionnaire, and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will conduct this investigation alongside other academic activities. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.
1.8 TERM DEFINITION
TEACHERS QUALITY: According to the study, teachers’ quality is defined as their skills and professionalism in teaching business education in junior secondary school.
EFFECTIVE TEACHING entails the use of all materials, both intellectual and instructional, in the teaching of home economics.
LEARNING: acquiring knowledge or abilities through study, experience, or instruction.
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