Abstract.
The study was designed to investigate administrative constraints to teacher effectiveness in government secondary schools in Benue state and consequently suggest ways of curbing them. The study investigated the following issues: organization for curriculum implementation, instructional supervision, school plant management, school community relations and motivational factors. Five research questions and five null hypotheses guided the study. A questionnaire designed by the researcher, validated by experts and tested was used as the research instrument. This was administered to 33 principals and 655 teachers of government secondary schools in Benne State. The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while the z-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings amongst others, indicate that the following constitute constraints to teacher effectiveness: organization for curriculum implementation, school plant management, school community relations and in-adequate motivation. Supervision of instruction however did not constitute a constraint. The major implications of the findings are that teachers can hardly be effective in the face of innumerable administrative constraints. Based on the findings recommendations were made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
. Conscious of the fact that success in the realization of educational goals depends largely on the teacher, the National Policy on Education, FRN (2004), recognizes that the quality of education is guaranteed by teacher effectiveness. The teacher’s task is to teach, educate, provide educational guidance, promote the quest for scientific knowledge and conduct regular assessment (FRN, 2004).In view of the important and diverse nature of the teacher’s job, the necessary resources and conducive working environment must be provided to facilitate the effective execution of his/her task. The provision of favourable physical and psychological working environment is the task of school administrators.
The quality of such administrative service transcends location so that principals and teachers in all schools are supposed to be offered a fair and equal opportunity to be effective. This is particularly important because the practice in the state has been that education zonal offices are located in the local government council headquarters and they appear to concentrate on schools nearby. As a result, teachers in the distant areas stand the risk of being deprived of needed motivation because the officers in the zonal offices do not extend their services to such areas.
The most important factor in teaching is the teacher, not technique method or curriculum because he translates all these into meaningful learning experiences for students, (Abiogu and Ugwuja 2007). Next to the quality of the teacher is the quality of administrative services provided in schools to enhance effective teaching. By implication, teacher effectiveness goes along with the quality of administrative services provided, A teacher here refers to one who guides and tutors another towards the acquisition of desired knowledge and skills,
The concept of teacher effectiveness is elusive given that teaching is a complex activity (Zeichner, 2006) However for the purpose of this study, teacher effectiveness refers to the process of the teacher’s interaction with the students in educating them and students performance in tests and examinations (Hughes, 2001). In Benue State constraints to teacher effectiveness are multiple Ada, (2000) identifies some to include: a)lack of professional training b)physical characteristics of the teacher, c) personality traits, and d) administrative constraints.
In the first instance, teaching is one of the most difficult jobs because human behaviour is complex and difficult to modify or change especially if one is not equipped to do so, (Abottchampman , Hughes & Wyld, 1992). This lack of professional training becomes a major constraint to teacher effectiveness .Physical characteristics such as voice quality and non-verbal communication skills and such effective qualities as fairness, patience, humour and concern for students can enhance teacher effectiveness (Dimmock, 2005). Therefore a teacher who lacks these qualities will likely fail to foster the social, emotional and psychological development of the child. Other personal attributes that can affect teacher effectiveness include: good health, punctuality, regularity and fairness (Okoh, 1990). In addition, personality traits such as self-concept, aggressiveness, locus of control and attitude to work in general, are believed to affect effectiveness. These personal attributes are particularly desirable if the teacher is to view teaching as a cause beyond oneself (Dimmock, 2005). This implies that love for the job itself will lead to greater commitment and self sacrifices, without which teaching becomes a stop over to other jobs or just another boring means of earning a living. In such a situation teacher effectiveness is sacrificed.
Some of the contributing factors to teacher effectiveness, of course, lie on the school administration. The decision to dwell on administrative constraints stems from various factors. In Benue State, 90% of teachers in government secondary schools are trained,(Benue State Education Summit Digest,2005). The premise is that they possess adequate professional competencies. Secondly, this researcher shares the views of Bello, (2000) that it is possible for teachers lacking desirable physical and effective traits to be given adequate training and provided conducive working environment. Thirdly, because of fewer job opportunities in Benue State, due to lack of industrialization, some people going into teaching are just looking for job and need to be highly motivated by school administrators to be effective.
Finally, many of the decisions involving the organization and running of schools in the state are made by school administrators. Such decisions as organization for curriculum implementation, supervision of instruction, provision of adequate facilities and equipment, provision of favourable school community relations and staff motivation, rest with the school administration,(Focho, 2006) Evidently, a proper articulation by school administrators of these issues will enhance effective teaching or quality delivery which will be reflected in high students performance in examinations. On the contrary, if these issues are not handled satisfactorily by school administrators, dissatisfaction sets in reducing motivation and effectiveness while promoting teacher stress, (Oboegbulem, 2004).
A constraint here may be taken to mean a hindrance, therefore, administrative constraints may include those hindrances emanating from the way schools are managed. The term school administrator is not limited to any one person or position, rather it refers to any one involved in the management process of the school. These include’ principals, vice-principals, subject masters, state ministry of education, teaching service board, and local government education officers, director of secondary schools, curriculum planners, the state government, the minister of education and the federal government. Considering that teacher effectiveness is a function of teacher characteristics (professional, and personal) and the quality of administrative service, it is evident that administrative constraints can make a teacher ineffective despite the possession of desired characteristics.
