THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHILDREN AS MOTIVATING FACTOR TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION (GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
- 1.0Introduction
1.1 Background of Study
In the learners oxford dictionary (2003) teaching can be defined as the process of giving lesson in a subject to a class or pupil, or it shows how to do something.
Teaching is seen as unpopular. Teachers and non teachers ranked teaching very low. In the past, the status of teachers were very low in Nigeria while some individual may have positive remark about teaching others bearing in mind how the government in the country treats teachers, regards teaching as an occupation who likes himself should not go into. The low regard for teaching accounts for the negative behavior of teachers.
During the colonial government, Nigerian teachers were regarded as a group that could be ignored without much consequence.
Okeh and John (2002) are of the opinion “But who listens to the poor teachers? His salary is less than a pittance. His clothes are thread bore and his shoes are worn out. He has a family to maintain but the inflation in the land takes no notice of his miserable income.
He thinks of every festive occasion with trepidation for fear of the demand it will make on his lean salary. He has resorted to introduce himself as a civil servant because of the societal stigma attached to what used to be noble.
The situation of teachers described above gave almost all sectors of the society the opportunity to under-rate teachers.
A profession can be defined as a special employment that demands cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills, attitude and values that are unique but of utility value to the members of the society.
Crary (2008) noted that teaching demands a core of specialized knowledge and relatively high level of intelligence. To operate as teacher one needs knowledge of psychology, sociology, administration, philosophy, group dynamics and such others. These disciplines profession prepare teachers.
To assert that teaching has no knowledge base amounts to a baseless exercise, there is well established specialized knowledge, skills and attitudes utilized by those in the business of teaching which are acquired through well defined professional preparation in teaching. In addition, there is constant research aimed at improving teachers understanding of their calling.
We must examine professionalism in teaching from the point of view of a code of ethics and recognition by the public. In every established profession like law for instance, a code of professional conduct exist. It is the code that guarantees the relationship between the client and the professional.
Teaching in Nigeria for instance, there are tacit as well as documented ethical conducts that teachers must exhibit.
Finally the Nigerian union of teachers (N.U.T) is not just a mere trade union but it is constitutional and activities confer on it a solid place as a professional association.
The attitude of children towards teaching can be: the child who has an “I can” attitude will do better in school than the child who constantly say “I cannot”. That is where you as an adult who support the educational process of a child can help.
According to Owen (2002), He stated that the teacher can help by being a good role model. How you feel about yourself greatly influence how your children feel about themselves. Demonstrate positive and responsible habit for your children to copy. Teaching character happens as much from deeds rather than words. These can help in motivating the attitudes of students towards teaching, that is when you have been able to gain their interest and they will want to be like you “the teacher”
