TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF TEACHERS FOR IMPROVING QUALITY OF TEACHING AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN LAGOS STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The teacher is one of the most important inputs in the education system. He shapes the direction and influences to a great extent other educational inputs to
achieve the stated goals of the education industry. The extent to which this can be done depends on the quality and quantity of training received by teachers
since the quality of educational outcomes depends to a great extent on the quality of teachers. In recognition of this enormous role that the teacher plays,
Ukeje (2007) observed that the power to heal or kill, build up or tear apart depends particularly much on the teacher who is the most important part of the
education process. Teacher productivity seems to be a nagging issue in education. This low performance by teachers could be attributed to many factors and could also have adverse erects on students’ performance which is one of the outcomes of teacher productivity. Productivity can be measured as a ratio of output to input. In the context of school system, productivity is measured in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness,
since the realization of goals and objectives in the school depends on the efficiency
and effectiveness of the teachers (Garret & Poole in Ajayi&Afolabi 2012). Training is a very important aspect of sta development. Training according to Udo in Ezeani&Oladele (2013) is the development of specific skills and attitudes needed to perform a particular
job or series of jobs to maximize the productivity of the individual and improve the overall organizational efficiency.
Ohakwe also inEzeani&Oladele (2013)
defined it as a continuous assistance or coaching, given to an employee in order to make him have current knowledge of the job content, scope and
relationship within the organization. Retraining is an on-the job training used by organizations to bring about development and improved competency in
workers. This is essential especially with the frequent policy changes in education and also in the evolving new knowledge and technology based society.
Retraining teachers can help to reduce mistakes and improve innovations in the teaching profession. Training and retraining of teachers can be done in different
ways. The purpose of training and retraining is to update, develop and broaden the knowledge that teachers had acquired during the initial teacher
education and/or provide them with new skills and professional understanding. It improves the effectiveness of teachers. In the words of Ngala & Odebero
(2010) training and retraining were seen as a vehicle to improve on teachers teaching effectiveness. They further noted that teachers getting involved in sta
development programmes, particularly pursing higher education and training motivate them into taking their teaching roles more seriously. Teacher training
programme in Nigeria has undergone radical changes over the years. It started with the training of Grade IV; Grade III; Grade II; the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and now Institutes and Faculties of Education in the Universities. The essence of these changes is to improve the quality and competence of the teachers (Okeke, 2012 & Wellington 2012). Okafor (2015) reairmed that teachers are the main determinants of quality in education. She pointed that if they are uncommitted, unmotivated, uninspired and untrained the whole nation is doomed. This entails that the kind of secondary school teachers trained in
Nigerian Colleges of Education need re-training or upgrading to enhance quality and performance (FME, 2008).
