CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education
is a sine qua non for the social, political, and economic development of any
nation, and it is supposed to be every citizen’s right. Education is generally
for an immediate induction into society and a preparation for adulthood
(Fafunwa, 1974). As stated in the National Policy on Education (Federal
Republic of Nigeria [FRN], 2004), the goals of Nigerian education are to build:
a)
a free and democratic society;
b)
a just and egalitarian society;
c)
a united, strong and self reliant
nation;
d)
a great and dynamic
economy and a land of bright and full opportunity for citizens (p. 1).
Education
is one of the primary means of developing natural potential of an individual
which ordinarily may be hidden if untapped. Education is a strong tool for
social development (Lawal, 1995). The school, an educational institution, is
central to the provision of quality education. Every other sector, for example,
health, economic, agricultural, security, and so on, are dependent on the
educational system. That
is why a nation like Nigeria cannot toy with education if the country is to be
at par with other nations of the world. Similarly, education assists individual
to transfer the knowledge acquired in schools to real life situation in solving
future problems and coping with strategies to equip them for future challenges
(Norton & Schell, 2001).
Teachers
are indispensable in the achievement of the goals of the school system. This is
because they occupy an important position in the implementation of the school
curriculum. They are the managers of the instructional activities within the
school system. This is even exemplified in the assertion in the National Policy
on Education that no nation can develop above the quality of its teachers (FRN,
2004). A competent teacher should be able to relate subject content to
practical life (Norton & Schell, 2001). Teachers are vital in ensuring
quality production of students worthy in learning and character. There is no
alternative to quality teachers if a nation is to achieve excellent performance
in all sectors. The nation must provide qualified, competent, and capable
teachers in her classrooms. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the
quality of the teacher, and there should be connectivity between schools and
teacher education. Study has shown that there is a very strong relationship
between teacher’s quality and students’ performance (Sanders & Rivers,
1996). Any success or otherwise that can be attributed to the educational system
in Nigeria is a function of quality teachers, because the teacher is central to
the development of educational system (Ukeje, 2000).
The
success of any nation depends on quality teaching, which facilitates students'
learning. One of the ways to achieve this begins with quality teacher
education. There is the need to take certain steps so as to make teacher
education be of high quality. Yusuf (2004) noted that effective teaching and
acquisition of knowledge are products of teacher’s efficiency. The importance
of teachers is further underscored by Olugbile (2006), who noted
that: When a medical doctor makes a mistake, a life is destroyed. When an
Engineer commits an error, his mistakes is easily detected. But when a teacher
commits a blunder, the impact is deferred. Before it is discovered many lives
and indeed a nation would have been destroyed. This is because teachers are
nation builders (p. 40).
Wikipedia
(2006) defined teacher education as "the policies and procedures designed
to equip teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they
require to perform their tasks effectively in the school and in the classroom”
(para.1). The document further divides teacher education into initial teacher
education, induction, and teacher development or continuing professional
development. The initial teacher education refers to education given to
pre-service teachers before their entry into the classroom as full teachers.
Induction involves the process of providing adequate training and support to a
teacher during the first few years of teaching, while teacher development or continuing
professional development refers to in-service training programme for serving
teachers.
A
country can only develop and achieve professionalism through an efficient
teacher education programme. There are various developmental indices of
achieving competence in teaching, but the most important means is through
teacher education programme, which is a path towards acquiring the knowledge
and skills of teaching and learning. The programme is specifically designed for
teachers to be able to stimulate and cultivate the right values, attitudes,
skills, and other valuable concepts into children. In another vein, it is aimed
at turning out very qualified, well bred, and competent classroom teachers, who
will ensure that learning actually takes place for better educational
output. Therefore, opportunity must be given to the prospective teachers to be
able to achieve high level of professionalism. Teacher education is aimed at
preparing capable, caring and reflective practitioner (Zeichner, 1996).
Despite
the fact that education is essential to all facets of life, it has been
discovered that production of quality teachers has not been given adequate
attention. Ukeje, (1984) rightly observed that there are many unqualified
teachers in our teaching labour force. The Federal Government of Nigeria is talking
about educational reforms, which is expected to give birth to job creation,
value re-orientation, wealth generation and poverty reduction, improvement of
public schools, reduced class size, improvement in the use of information and
communication technology, and cooperative learning (New Educational Reforms
Policy, 2006).
In
spite of these laudable goals no adequate or corresponding actions geared
towards achieving these goals can be seen in the area of teacher education.
This is because, the teachers who are expected to actualise these objectives
are neither competent nor capable of achieving them. Of all the educational
reforms since the 1969 National Curriculum Conference, less than five percent
focussed on how to improve the teacher quality. Even among the few reforms that
actually addressed the issue, hardly can we point at any one that is equal to
the challenge. None focused attention on how to attract the talented teachers
to the teaching profession, to encourage, and retain them.
In
fact, a great percentage of teachers, who are unqualified, just use the
teaching profession as a stepping stone towards more lucrative jobs.
There
are many examples everywhere, where quality teachers left for better jobs like
banking industries, communication industries, oil companies and some other
corporate organisations. It is a fact that teachers are many, yet, considering
quality, they are very few. In fact, so many classroom teachers have no
business with the teaching profession. School administrators are charged with
the responsibilities of monitoring the school activities , such as students’
evaluation, assesment of contents and welfare of both students and the teachers
Majority
of prospective teachers in Nigerian tertiary institutions are unwilling
students who are not really interested in teaching, but who, because no other
faculties will accept them, opted for a degree in education.
The
tendency is to admit those candidates with weak results at the ordinary level
and entrance examinations. Aside, most of the Faculties of Education students
are Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) holders with less than five credits
passes at Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) level. The situation seems
to be universal. Even in the United States of America, teachers teaching in
their schools at primary and secondary school levels are of low quality
compared to several other professions. The quality of most students pursuing
careers in teaching is mediocre at best (Milken Foundation for Education
Technology, 2007).
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This is a great contribution to knowledge, it form the basis of my work on programme evaluation
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