CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Since the middle of the twentieth century, the quality of teachers has been the subject of intense discussion all around the world. In the opinion of Riovkin, Hanushek, and Kain (1998), the effect of teacher quality on students’ accomplishment is several times bigger than the influence of any other generally observed variable such as students’ family backgrounds, favorable classroom environments, and so on. In spite of the fact that teacher quality vary significantly between nations and especially between states. The National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, Revised 2004), while emphasizing the significance of teacher quality in curriculum implementation, also said that no nation’s educational system can outperform the quality of its teachers in any given country or region. Any discussion of schools would be incomplete without including teachers, and the vast majority of educational policies are geared at or directly address the function of teachers. Furthermore, parents, teachers, and administrators constantly underline the critical role that instructors play in the development of students’ academic success when compared to other determinants of academic performance. When compared to other determinants of academic success, teachers have a less role to play. Education systems are significant because the quality of instructors in any educational system determines to a large part the quality of that system. Teachers are therefore critical in every educational system. According to Peter (1997), “quality is the fundamental and indispensable characteristic of a product.” For example, the traits of high-quality scientific instructors are those that contribute to the fitness and efficiency of the teacher in the performance of the responsibilities that are linked with science education, such as enthusiasm and dedication.
Ingersoll (1996) defined teacher quality as a measure of a teacher’s qualifications, teaching methods, teacher certification, teacher experience, and teaching preparations. In education reform, it is a critical policy issue, and the American Council on Education (1999) stated that “the quality of the teacher is the key to improved student performance regardless of the condition of the schools, the affluence of the student, the nature of the community, or any other element in the lives or educational environment of school children.” Teaching techniques, experiences, assignments, and resources used by quality instructors to guarantee that students achieve a wide range of cognitive objectives are defined as follows: In order to guarantee that our children meet the high standards required for them to live full lives and to become productive students, we must ensure that they are well-prepared and highly competent teachers. Teacher qualification consists of a number of components, including topic knowledge, pedagogical expertise, teaching credentials, and oral communication ability. Professional knowledge for quality teaching has been identified by Shulman (1987) as being comprised of seven (7) areas: 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.
Salvin (2003) noted that a good quality teacher must be well knowledgeable about his or her subject area and understand how to excite students. He must also understand how to make good use of class time and how to deal with variances in personality and learning styles. An integrated science teacher should make every effort to acquire sufficient knowledge to enable him to teach any aspect of the integrated science program’s content, and in order to be effective in the classroom, the integrated science teacher must keep himself up to date on both the content of the integrated science program and the methods of delivering integrated science instruction.
