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SCHOOL FACTORS AND TEACHING JOB PERFORMANCE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLSIN AKWA IBOM NORTH WEST SENATORIAL DISTRICT
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is the cornerstone of the development process in a nation. While it increases the productive capacity of its constituent’s individuals, education has an incremental effect on the society’s aspirations in the economic, social-cultural and political realms. Education is meaningless without teachers playing a pivotal role in ensuring achievement of educational goals. Teachers at all levels of education are the foundationand bedrock of quality education in the society(Clark, 2006).Teachers play a basic and dynamic role in the educational system.
Shannon and Weaver (2004)explained that teachers are professionals and should be appropriate role models to their students by inculcating right values in them. Without the teachers, the education system will be crippled.Teachers’ performance therefore, determines the success or failure of the educational system. Provision of quality education is important for facilitating a nation’s development. Komba (2007) posited that, to improve individual learners’ values, attitudes, behaviours, and skills, quality education is of paramount importance. Teachers are the heart of classroom instruction, so they are key to learners’ productivity and hence to society’s efficiency. Teachers’ job performances play a crucial role in the student’s learning process (Shannon and Weaver, 2004).Teachers’ effectiveness in performance depends on their level of job satisfaction, competence, both academic and pedagogical, as well as a correlation between their training and skills and their position, workload, and work encouragement.
Job performance refers to an act of accomplishing or executing a given task (Griffin, 2012). Teacher’s job performance is defined as duties performed by a teacher at a particular period in the school system in achieving organisational goals (Obilade, 2009). Teacher’s job performance could be measured through teacher’s job satisfaction and job attitudes such as job commitment, feelings of job challenge, job motivation and job responsibility (Chang and Smithikrai 2010). When individuals are satisfied, their job performance might increase and they tend to be more committed to their work. Job performance is important to ensure the quality of instructions taking place at school.
In education system, the performance of teachers is one of the outstanding factors determining school effectiveness and learning outcomes. Naik (2008) explained that teaching is noble, but it is a challenging occupation. In order for teachers to maintain a high level of professional performance in a school environment, they must assume personal responsibility for their own performance, growth and development. Subair andAwolere (2006) viewed teaching as one of the most influential professions in the society. Teachers are the lifeblood of any education system.
Computer science as a course of study in secondary school has been given several names such as computer studies, computer education and computer literacy. Computer science is the effort or the abilityto make the generality of the people computer literate. Computer science according to Edhuze (2003), involved teaching and inculcating in the learner the basicskills required to independently manipulate the computer to achieve educational goals.Okorie (2001) stated that, computer science as a subject is aimed at making students acquireskills and competencies required in this digital word of competitiveness. Such basic skillsand competencies upon graduation make them conversant with term and practicesembedded in the world of computer. Computer science is therefore a subject organized toenable people understand the function, uses and limitations of the computer and toprovide an opportunity for the study of the modern methods of information processing. Okorie (2001) viewed computer science as a processof educating the people on how to use a computer to run a programme and diverseapplication including business, industry and commerce.
Ayogu(2008) opined that, it is expected that bythe end of secondary education, the child has acquired reasonable competence in softwaresuch as word processing, spreadsheet and database analyzing programs that allow learnersinteract with the computer the way they desire. It therefore means that toachieve these objectives, strategies areneeded.A basic appreciation of how the computer works an understanding of the basic principleof operating the computer, hands-on experience using the pre-programmed packageswhich are relevant to the interest of the students as teacher aids in different subjects.
Presently, the performances of computer science teachers are below expectation. Some blame the poor performances on non-challant attitude of the teachers; others attribute the blame on the government poor condition of service and lack of motivation and home environment respectively. The researcher intends to verify the place of school factors that influence teachers’ job performance in computer science. One of the factors that can influence computer science teacher job performance is the school location.
School location is where a school is situated. A school could be located in the urban or ruralarea. The location of the school whether urban or rural affects the teacher’s teaching ability as well as student’sability to study and perform at the level expected of him. Mkpugbe (2008) noted that different aspects of school environment (rural andurban) influence the teacher’s job performance. Anam (2003) on influence of school location on teachers disciplineshowed that urban teachers were more prone to truancy and higher absentee tendency than their counterparts inrural areas. Similarly, Frame (2000) concluded that school location hadsignificant effect on the philosophy, tradition, perspective, discipline and performance of teachers.
Instructional facilities are the different teaching resources and apparatus which a classroomteacher employs to facilitate his or her teaching for the achievement of the stated objective. Agun (2002) defined instructional facilities as those materials which are helpful to the teachers andstudents and which maximize the learning in various areas. The use of instructional facilities inthe teaching of computer science is very important because it provides a concrete basis forconceptual thinking, motivates the people to learn and capture the students’ imagination if used correctly (Ajalla, 2007).Effective teaching of any subject will not only stimulates students’ interest in the subject but alsoenhance their achievement in the examination. To achieve effective teaching and learning process,there is the need for use of instructional facilities.
The principal leadership style is crucial in the teaching learning process. The principal's effective leadership is considered to be an important element in school functioning. It is the key tosuccess in creating a vibrant and an innovative environment, and in achieving teaching and learning excellence (Hallinger and Heck, 2008). The principal as head is accountable for the success orfailure of the school. For the school to achieve its goal, the teachers must be disciplined and committed to theirduties. At all times, the principal should provide disciplinary control over the behaviour of teachers for higherlevel of performance.The teacher should be friendly and ensure computer science teachers are motivated to be productive.
Adequacy of resource centre is paramount in effective teaching and learning computer science. Computer science requires practical approach and the application of skills, knowledge and attitude in operation. It is the teacher’s responsibility to inculcate these required domains in the students.
Taken together, the school factors discussed in the preceding paragraphs may influence the job performance of computer science teachers in public secondary schools. The study is therefore, organised to determine the influence of school facNtors as school location, instructional facilities, the leadership style of the principal, and computer resource centre on job performance of computer science teachers in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Teachers’ teaching job performance is very crucial especially in a course like computer science. The world in now computer centred. The need for computer science teachers to be effective and efficient is sacrosanct to meet up with the contemporary needs of the society.
Despite the importance computer science in secondary schools, majority of computer science teachers in secondary schools do not have fundamental knowledge of computer skills due to non-availability of computer science experts. This invariably may jeopardise the fundamental objectives of the computer science in secondary education. Performance of a given school depends entirely on the teacher‘s effort and if that a teacher is unhappy with his/her job, he/she will not put emphasis into his/her teaching.
Poor teaching job performance of computer science teachers is believed to have affected the performance of computer science students in secondary schools. The poor job performances of teachers has been manifested in teacher unwillingness to participate in school activities, poor attendance, unexpected absence, late coming, lack of additional training, uncreative and non-stimulating teaching, lack of interest in meetings, unhelpful attitudes when assistance is needed, occurrence of hold-ups because deadlines are not kept, resistance to contributing more than what is required of them and development of arguments between colleagues.
The outcome of students’ performance is a reflection of the job performance of teachers. If the teachers are not productive, the educational goal may be defeated. If the school library, instructional facilities and resource centres are not adequately in place, the practical approach to lesson delivery may be a mirage. The aftermath effect will be massive failure of students in public examinations.
Hence, this study seeks to investigate the influence of school factors on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to determine the influence of school factors on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District. Specifically the study intends to determine the influence of:
1. school location on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
2. school instructional facilities on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
3. leadership style of the principal on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District..
4. adequacy of resource centre on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The findings of the study would be immense significance to school administrators, head teachers, Board of Governors, parents and teachers’ association, members of the public, local education officers, inspectors of schools, teachers and research students.
The school administrators may use the findings of the study to understand the factors affecting the computer science teachers’ job performance in secondary schools and as result, focus more on the management of staff as well as their stability of the teaching profession.The study will serve as a guide to the head teachers, Board of Governors, parents and teachers’ association, as well as members of the public, district education officers, district inspectors of schools to realize the effects of poor motivation on teachers’ job performance.
Furthermore, the findings of the study would enable secondary school proprietors to be able to plan systematically for staff retention. Other stakeholders of education (parents, students, teachers, support staff, donors) would use the findings of the study to improve their educational system thereby adding more value to the academic achievement Furthermore, the Ministry of Education would be able to recruit and retain teachers by improving on the working condition of school system. The findings of the study would contribute significantly to the existing body of knowledge in the area of study. Researchers in the related field of study would equally benefit tremendously through improved in research and development areas.
The findings would help the government and the policy makers informulating effective planning and implementation policies andprogrammes for improved school academic activities. It would also providepolicy makers with intelligent forecast and analysis of future needs of theschools in the areas of building and facilities.
The findings would equally provide the school principals the opportunity to improve inschool supervision so as to ensure both qualities teaching and learning in the schools. It would also enable them to appreciate the contribution of school facilities and equipment to students’ academic achievement. The findings would also enable the teachers to appreciate the need for proper instructional delivery. This would equally assist the teachers to improve both in teachingeffectiveness and increased productivity in the schools. The parents would also determine the choice of the types ofschools for their children. This is so because, their wards would enjoy goodschool learning environment that would lead to quality school products.
Finally, the findings of the study would be of benefit to the student researchers as it would provide avalid working document or literature in investigating other areas notcovered by this study. Thus, this would serve as a point of reference to future researchers in the field of study.
1.5 Research Questions
The study is guided by the following research questions.
1. To what extent does school location influence the teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District?
2. To what extent doinstructional facilities influence the teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District?
3. To whatextent does leadership style of the principal influence the teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District?
4. To what extent does adequacy of resource centre influence the job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses will be tested at .05 level of significance.
1. There is no significantinfluence of school location on teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
2. There is no significant influence of instructional facilities on the teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
3. There is no significant influence of leadership style of the principal on the teaching job performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
4. There is no significant influenceof adequacy of resource centre on teachingjob performance of computer science teachers in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District