TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND PUPILS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES

 

TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND PUPILS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

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          Background of the Study

The teacher is the pivot upon which the educational process revolves, Sampson (2014). This is because the teacher is expected to have what the learners do not have and should be able to cause the learners under him or her to always desire to increase their want of what the teacher has until they are almost like the teacher. Based on the definition of teaching by Ekanem (2013) as simply the act of helping others to learn effectively and Emah (2015) as a deliberate effort to impact knowledge it could be seen that teachers must be well versed with the process and action as well as the deliberate effort of imparting knowledge before meaningful learning can take place.

To Ekanem (2012) leaning involves a permanent change in the behavior of a person exposed to a learning situation. This change is usually in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. The teaching of social studies as a social science subject is activity-oriented as the suggested method for teaching, it is guided discovery which is resources based (National Teachers’ Institute, 2012). This suggests that the teaching of Social Studies without learning materials will certainly result in poor performance of pupils since the teaching and learning of Social Studies is center on man and his environment, the poor performance affects cognitive, effective and psychomotor domain. 

The problems of poor academic performance of pupils are a matter of deep concern to many in the society. Often, the Nigeria education authorities, the teacher and the public complain of poor academic performance of pupils in our institution of learning. The story is not different in our primary schools. While the teachers blame the parents and the society, parents unequivocally blame the teachers for failing to effectively discharge their obligations to the pupils. A number of reasons can be identified to be accountable for the poor performance of pupils in social sciences. These include the social science curriculum, teacher’s method of teaching, pupils’ social-economic background of parents, government, lack of facilities and interest of pupils in the learning of social science subject and others.

Ajaji (2013), taking a survey from schools reveal that inadequate of good instructional materials, equipment and library facilities in the school also affect negatively the effective learning of Social Studies. According to Ango (2012), pupils’ poor performance in Social Studies globally is basically due to lack of involvement of pupils in the teaching/learning activities right from the beginning of any new concept to be taught, lack of qualified teachers as well as experience in teaching and unavailability and for insufficiency of material in the library. This was Adanyi (2014) noted that a country’s manpower development depends on the qualification of her well-qualified teachers. 

Social Studies at the primary school are meant to develop essential skills and inculcate new knowledge in the learners so as to prepare his /her to become a useful person in society. Social studies, is an important subject is being handled with all amount of seriousness.

The competence of the social studies teachers in this regard would be of immeasurable value. One thing is to be well-grounded in the conceptual understanding of a subject, another thing is to be acquainted with the best method to pass the concept across to the learners for proper comprehension, and a professional teacher would be desirable in this regard.

To Ijaya (2013), excellence in teaching depends on many factors; the teacher’s ability to understand the subject matter (content), experience enough to make good use of library, a clear philosophy and a workable plan for meeting pupils needs.  Also, serious dedication to learning goals and adequate financial support when necessary are also identified as factors upon which good performance in Social Studies depends.

In the same vein, Adodo (2015) revealed that the academic achievement of pupils may be dependent upon a positive attitude from the teacher and the pupils in the teaching and learning process. It is for this reason probably, that Ibukun (2014) asserted that no education can rise above the quality of its teachers. 

ALSO READ: TEACHING STRATEGIES AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

  Statement of the problem

Today teacher is often blamed for the poor academic performance of pupils in Social Studies without actually finding out other related factors that can contribute to the pupil's problems as far as academic is a concern. Government has explored all avenues to turning around the fortunes of the pupils in the subject by providing relevant text books and employing social science teacher to teach the pupils.   Teachers have been adequately motivated to work in terms of regular payment of salaries and allowance prompt promotion and staff training program.

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However, despite all these efforts, the performance of pupils has not been adequately presentable.  This necessitates the study on the influence of teachers’ characteristics on the academic performance of pupils in Social Studies in primary schools. Considering that, the teachers play a vital role in the educational process. It is necessary to examine teacher age, gender, qualification, years of experience and motivation as some of the factors that may play important roles in the success of pupils in the subject. The influence of teachers’ variables in the teaching/learning of social studies on the performance pupils shall be studied.

    Purpose of the Study

This study was designed to investigate the influence of teachers’ variables on pupils’ academic performance in Social Studies in Primary Schools in Essien Local Government Area. Specifically, the study aimed at determining the influence of:..... FOR COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIALS, ASSIGNMENT & PAPERS CONTACT: 09074563328