Abstract
This study was conducted to survey the factors influencing the effectiveness of economics teachers in some selected public secondary schools in Ondo state. The research design of the study was descriptive survey design. The population of the study was sixty three (66) economics teachers in the public secondary schools. Fifty three (53) economics teachers were sampled in twenty selected schools. The instrument used for data collection was Economics Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire (ETEQ). The validity and reliability of the instrument were tested. Data collected were presented in a table, mean and frequency distributions were used to analyse the data. The findings shows that teaching and learning of economics in public secondary schools in Ondo state are affected by some factors among which are; poor method of teaching, inadequate instructional materials and some personal factors like residential problem and mental health of economics teachers. Based on the findings some recommendations were made thus; to make teaching effective, employment of teachers especially economics should be based on assessment through written test and trial teaching to guide against the influx of quacks into teaching profession. Also the government should try as much as possible to organize from time to time, seminars, workshops and symposium for economics teachers on contemporary issues in the field. I don’t care attitude should be removed from various bodies concerned with educational development and replaced with education consciousness.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.8 Background to the study
Economics is one of the important subjects taught in secondary schools. It is important to both students and the society at large because it cuts across all spheres of human endeavour as it can be seen in its simpler definition by Robbins (1975) who sees economics as a science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. By this definition Robbins emphasized economics as a science and that economic analysis should be based on scientific and logical process rather than vague judgments.
The importance of economics as an instrument of nation building and national development cannot be over-emphasized. It is based on this axiom that Nigeria as a sovereign nation requires quality teachers in order to achieve National Development Goals through effective teaching and learning of economics in the senior secondary schools.
Teachers are the fabric of any educational system. This is so because teachers act as a hub around which any educational system revolves. According to Ogunrinde (1999), teachers are conformists who are expected to be armed with sound knowledge in their subject areas with a view to achieving academic excellence in the classroom situation. Igbede (1999) pointed out that teaching occurs when teachers interact skillfully with the learners. Idisi (2012) also stressed that effective teaching can only be attained when resourceful, competent, and dedicated teachers are employed to teach, so as to guide against inefficient use of methods and strategies in teaching and learning process.
Effective teaching is not universal but depends mainly on individual teacher’s teaching habit, and the school setting in which the teacher finds himself. Teacher effectiveness has been defined as ―the impact that classroom factors, such as teaching methods, teacher expectations, classroom organizations and use of classroom resources, have on students’ performance (Ogunriide, 1999, Ifeta, 2012; Jimba, &Agenyi, 2012). To be effective in teaching, teachers are expected to be honest, dedicated, firm, committed and consistent in their job for better learning outcome. When these variables are lacking in a teacher, teaching becomes ineffective. In view of this therefore, the research seek to find out the factors that influence economics teacher effectiveness in public secondary schools in Ondo .
1.2 Statement of the Problem
All over the country, there is growing concern about the inability of teachers to effectively perform their task of teaching students especially in Public schools. This has led to declining standard of education in the country. This is manifested by high mass failure of students in national public examinations such as WAEC and NECO. This showed that students have not been well taught and prepared by teachers in the various subjects It is on this premise that this study attempts to make a survey of factors influencing economic teachers effectiveness in some selected secondary schools in Ondo
