IMPACT OF TEACHING PRACTICE EXPERIENCES OF ECONOMICS EDUCATION STUDENTS PERCEPTION OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION IN UNIVERSITY OF JOS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Education is yet the greatest power man has developed either for his continued progress or eventual destruction. Education is the only potential instrument for social reconstruction and other education is the founder of quality in the schools.
Education is the only cornerstone for any nation and for some time a big industry in Nigeria. Teachers therefore have a role to play in the development of a nation especially in building up leaders and intellectuals of tomorrow who will sustain the nation’s development.Although Nigeria has succeeded in several ways to prepare teachers with various teaching qualifications along with opportunities for further training, this has not been reflected in the academic performance of students in primary and secondary school.
Teaching is a profession just like law and medicine and it also happens to be one of the oldest professions in Nigeria, Unfortunately, it is the least developed in terms of standard of training and practice. This continues tobe a source of concern to professionals and even to the governments. Moore (1989)
According to the advancedlearners’ dictionary (2014) a profession means occupation and special training like law, medicine and so on. Profession can also mean a calling or vocation where a performance requires the performer on an elaborate exposure to an esoterictheoretical knowledge acquired after many years of endeavors and moral study. A profession can be likened to a social club which is govern by a code of ethics, the most outstanding of which are expertise authority, responsibility, commitment, dedication, autonomy  and emotional maturity.With the National Policy on Education (2004) the minimum teaching qualification in Nigerian institution of learning is National Certificate in Education (N.C.E)
Faculties of education in universities arecharged with the training of teachers under the supervision of lecturers, staff and assessors, because of the nature of teaching given teaching practice a piece prominence in its syllabus.
Teaching practice is a compulsory course and it is the singular course which attracts four credits compulsory course unit in science-related education courses and two creditcompulsory course units in other departments of the Faculty. It is a compulsory course for all students in 400 level final years in the Faculty of Education University of Jos.No student in faculty of education programs can be awarded a degree certificate except and until there is evidence of pass performance level in the teaching practice.
The training of teachers now becomes largely the responsibility of faculty of education in university of Jos. Students go on six weeks teaching practice and come back with varied experiences. In other words, students experience problems in their teaching practice life. Hencethe need to identify these problems and suggest possible solutions to them.Teaching practice occupies a key position in teacher education program. It is an integral part of the teacher education program which is geared towards preparation of new entrants into the teaching profession.
According to Afolabi (1999), teaching practice exercise enables the student teachers to get acquainted with the practical knowledge of teaching and learning process including lesson plan preparation, presentation, classmanagement, communication skills,evaluation and the required personality of professional teachers. Nwanekezi (2011) remarked that teaching practice is the name of the preparation of student-teacher for teaching by practical training.
From the foregoing, it can be inferred that teaching practice is a school-based internship program with the main aim of introducing prospective teachers to teaching and its routine under the guidance of qualified professionals to develop skills, attitudes and competence in the profession. The exercise provides trainee the opportunity to utilize the various teaching methods in actual classroom conditions under constant supervision of competent and experienced teachers.
