The pedagogical competencies of History teachers in secondary schools in Nsukka Education Zone
CHAPTER ONE
Background of the Study
History is one of the oldest curricular subjects organized and taught in senior secondary schools. History is defined as the study of the past and present events. In teaching History in our secondary schools, these are some specific things that we really want to achieve in the lives of the learners. An educator who lacks objectives cannot really educate. It is against this background that efforts have been made to specify what History should do, it should help man to:-
Understand the totality of his environment
Study the present and past events of human live
Have an intelligent understanding of his role in contemporary society
Stimulate himself towards personal and rigorous reactions to the changes and challenges of his time
Have knowledge and trace some certain illness of various families.
Summary, History is designed to produce well ordered personalities or men of strong character for the nation. “Then teaching on its own is a very complex and involving enterprise (Durojaije, 1976:38), effective teaching is characterized by demonstration of a large number of tendencies, skills, attitudes and competences. A good teacher is supposed to internalize these attributes and demonstrates them freely during teaching. The extent he demonstrate, proficiency in the various attributes is the extent to which his lesson are prone to be successful (Dunkins and Biddle 1974, Ogoamaka, 1984).
Basically, the pedagogical competencies required of any teacher are as follows:-
Pedagogical competencies relating to instructional planning.
Pedagogical competencies associated with improvisation of instructional materials
Pedagogical competencies relating to lesson or instructional presentation.
Requisite competencies for effective evaluation of classroom instruction.
The fundamental aim in teacher education is to in calculate in student teachers these basic competencies required for effective planning, execution and evaluation of classroom instruction in specific subject areas. Ideally, all teachers should attain mastery of all the basic instructional competencies before they graduated from teacher education institutions. However, the institution may not have enough facilities to ensure these and moreover the assessment technique in institution may be sensitive and valid enough to yield dependable measures of the students teachers: level of all the competencies. This seemly lack of facilities and insensitivity of assessment technique is capable of creating in teacher education institutions, such situation without mastering all the basic competencies required for effective teaching. It is therefore necessary that the specific competencies in which most of the teachers especially History are supposed to possess and evaluate vis-Ã -vis the current practices in schools.
Statement of the Problem
The acquisitions of basic pedagogical competencies are prerequisites for effective classroom instruction. For teachers to be effective, they should be capable of applying freely and confidently all the competencies in their classroom teaching. However, since not all the competencies can depreciate due to lack of exercise, it has become imperative that the degree of proficiency and confidence of teachers in demonstrating the competencies be monitored on regular basis. The problem for this study therefore is what are the pedagogical competencies of History teachers in Nsukka Zone in Enugu State.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to ascertain the pedagogical competencies of History teachers in Nsukka Education Zone.
Specifically, this study seeks to:
Find the influence of years of experience in the pedagogical competencies of History teachers in Nsukka Education Zone.
Determine how sex influences pedagogical competencies of History teachers in Nsukka Education Zone.
The Significance of the Study
It is the belief of the researchers that the outcome of this study will:-
Create awareness in the minds of the teachers about the pedagogical competencies needed by teachers of History. This finding will document information on pedagogical competencies needed by History for further effective teaching. It will serve the teachers as reference material for consultation and consumption at need.
Provide information to the administrators on the available materials for the teaching of History as well as the teaching methods employed by the teachers in teaching the subject. This would equally enhance better supervision on the part of the supervisors.
Give the chief supervisory principal P.P.S.M.B Nsukka Zone and his supervisor’s insight into why some teachers do well in their teaching profession while some do not. This would enable the board see the dare need of organizing training workshop and seminars for effective teaching of History in secondary schools.
Help to highlight teachers’ problem in the curriculum implementation and make recommendation for their solution.
Finally help the teachers to teach the student better and in turn produce children that would be academically; for their own good and the good of this society.
Scope of the Study
The study was limited to teachers of History teaching in Governments schools in Nsukka Education Zone in Enugu State. It deals with the pedagogical competencies of History teachers.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:-
How does sex determine the pedagogical competencies of History teachers in Nsukka Zone?
How does experience of History teachers influence the pedagogical competencies?
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
This chapter reviewed relevant literatures. The review was organized under the following sub-headings:
Conceptual Framework
Empirical Studies
Summary of Literature
The Focus of the History Teacher on Pedagogy
The Oxford-Advanced Learners Dictionary of current English defines “Pedagogical” simply as “The science of teaching”. Ejili, (2002) in his write-up says that teaching involves a professional who is a chief facilitator of learning in an educational system.
Akubue, (1992) SAID THAT, “Teaching” in generally is a unique persona activity in which the teacher spends a considerable part of his time in influencing the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of students. Durojaiye, (1916:38) equally asserted that pedagogy is a very complex and involving enterprise. He said that effective teaching is characterized by demonstration of a large number of tendencies, skills, attitude and competencies. According to him, a good teacher is supposed to internalized these attributes and demonstrate them freely during his teaching. Dunkin and Biddle (1974) garnished the statement by saying that, “the extent a pedagogist demonstrates proficiency in the various attributes, is the extent to which his lessons are prone to be successful.”
The Aims and Objectives of Teaching and Learning History in Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria
The Nigeria Educational Research Council (N.E.R.C.) believes that teaching and learning of the history can help the Nigeria Youths in making the two types of preparation specified in the new National Policy on Education.
Preparation for useful living within, and
Preparation for higher education
The writers of this NERC curriculum where therefore guided by more about history.
To provides more opportunity for Nigeria Youths to learn more about history.
To enable the youths to accept history as a course to study.
To help the youths to understand the basic teachings of history.
To prepare the youth for higher education.
Desired Competencies of a History Teacher
Just as we have said before, teaching is a very complex and involving enterprise, which is characterized by demonstration of a large number of tendencies, skills, attributes and competencies. A good teacher is expected to have these attributes and demonstrated them freely during his or her teaching some of the desired competencies of a history teacher are:
Ability to plan long-range scheme of work
Ability to review and identify suitable textbooks
Ability and readiness to develop daily lesson plans
Ability to state cognitive in behavioural terms
Ability to state effective objective in behavioural terms
Ability to state psychomotor objectives for all instructional topics
The teacher should have competencies in selecting appropriate instructional materials.
Ability to improvise instructional materials
Ability to state the aims and objectives of teaching history in our Secondary Schools.
Determining and applying appropriate set induction
Appling good questioning technique
Involving the students in instructional process
Effective communication in class
Application of effective class control pleasure
Ability to identify and manage the individual differences found among students in this classroom
Good chalkboard usage
The teacher should also be able to give mark and score class work or test appropriately.
Teachers should be competent in the application of the varied teaching methods and strategies. E.g. teacher-centered methods and equally learner-centered methods.
Ability to motivate the students to learn
Ability to utilize materials available to him/her to make lessons more understandable
Ability to know their subject matter well
Ability to use reward and punishment wisely
Ability to relate concepts to contemporary circumstances
Ability to simplify ideas for learners to understand
Ability to use evaluation data to improve teaching and learning.
In conclusion, it must be noted that any history teacher who tries to familiarize himself with the latest research findings with teaching in more likely to be better inspired to teach more confidently and be a more effective curriculum implementer.
The Personal Preparation of a History Teachers
Effective teaching of history is closely related to the teacher as a person or his ability to use the power of his personality in his class. By virtue of this power, a history teacher has at his disposal an authority capable of commanding desired students behaviour (Akubue 1992). Generally speaking, an authority is one who determines what the rules are or one who enforces the rules.
A really powerful personality can be of great advantage when attempting to create an educationally stimulating order, because his personality is likely to be positively affects his student’s initiations. If we accept that personality is one strong weapon of a history teacher. It then follows that to fully apply this weapon; one should start by being familiar with the basic elements of his authority. These include:
His authority as an arbiter and as a delegated representative. By this authority, it is the responsibility of the class teacher to see that the purpose of history education are achieved within the classroom setting.
One who is skilled and competent in his chosen field has very good chances of commanding respect from his students. This is because he is seen as not only in authority with delegated power but as one who is an authority with achieved influence.
The authority derived from this general behavior towards the class or the impact of this personality to the class.
The history teacher needs all the three element of authority for effective best in a situation in which the third element predominate since it teaches to attract better behavior of the class.
Professional Preparation of a History Teachers
In addition to personal preparation, history teachers needs professional preparation which generally includes preparation with subject matter and those learning experiences which prepare students teachers for their professional commitments for the teaching process. This preparation takes place in teachers’ planed programme of studies. This is more imperative because of innovations introduced in the history curriculum of these two ties, levels since the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 system of education “teacher preparation institutions should ensure that teacher trainees are equipped for these innovations this means that the course content should be in alignment with the syllabus that is operative at the secondary schools.
This alignment id more crucial today than before following the findings of Akubue (1987) and even when teachers are familiar with the subject matter, they still require educational foundation so as to add a professional touch to their academic subject. The professional aspect in question should include:
A thorough knowledge of basic principles of teaching and learning and the skills to apply these principles.
Adequate knowledge of the learner and factors that determine the quality of the learner’s response to the educative process.
Adequate knowledge of the value construct that motivates the learner and the capacity to assist him to acquire the essential attitudes and to modify negatives ones.
Sufficient awareness of classroom management procedures
Adequate understanding of effective methods of teaching and satisfactory application of such methods. In the field of experience through practice teaching.
Adequate knowledge of the necessary techniques for measurement and evaluation of learning outcomes.
The essence and ramification of both personal preparation and professional training will be of immense value to the history education of students because of construct a superstructure of moral scaffolding a teacher requires personal and professional foundation on pedagogy.
Approaches of Teaching History
Researchers on how to improve teaching and learning have shown that methodology is an integral part of teaching and a variable one that is known to influence how or poorly a subject will be learned. A teaching method is described as a procedure for utilized resources and for providing opportunities for students to encounter the context.
Certain questions are considered before choosing a particular teaching method some of these questions are will be method to be used be rights for:
The learner
The teacher
The subject matter
The time available
The resources
The facility
The object
The seven guidelines are most likely to assist a history teacher in developing the skills for selecting appropriate strategies and to avoid the trial and error in a teaching situation.
The selection of teaching method can depend on the objectives they are intended to achieve these teaching methods are broadly divided into two. The teacher centered method and the learners centered method.
Teacher Centered Method
These are methods were the teacher is the principal actor. These methods include the lecture method, the story telling method, demonstration method, questioning and note giving method. These are among the most frequently used method by teachers.
Lecture Method: The lecture method can be described as a method where by the teacher gives out all the facts he wants to the student to acquire and master without caring whether the students are actively participating in and contributing to the success of the lesson. Many have criticized this method in that the teacher has not done real teaching that spend his time in taking. It is because of this that some educationists have referred to this method as teacher-centered. It is therefore expected that the teacher using this method should join it up with one or more other methods like questioning or demonstration to make the learners have the opportunity to participate.
Story Telling Method: This method is among the oldest methods used in teaching history. Students on their own part cherish it since it stirs up their imagination, stories are very useful tools that have. They fix moral truths in the mind when detailed explanation fails. Those with virtues become incarnate in the mind through stories and also sympathy can be aroused and enthusiastic, devotion can be encouraged.
Demonstration Method: This is a method where a teacher tries to make his lesson or clearer and more understandable by carrying out some activities before the students in the form of an experiment to prove a point. The teacher at times makes some kinds of bodily movement to just convey what he has in mind to the students. Though it is a teacher centered method, but it leaves indelible message in the learner.
Questioning Method: Question is a teacher’s verbal utterance, which seeks responses from the learner. Essentially, it is a teacher-controlled device for prompting thought, making appraisal and moving students towards the goals of instruction. It is one of the commonest and readily available techniques of most teachers who spend about 70-90 percent of the class, asking questions, when correctly employed, questions can be used to:
Stimulate analytical thought
Diagnose student’s difficulties
Determine student’s progress
Motivate students
Clarify and expand concepts
Encourage students’ participation
Give specific direction of thinking
Encourage students’ self-evaluation.
There are two important elements in questioning: One is the level of thinking it stimulates, while the other is the type of response it elicits. Both have a strong influence on the kind of learning that takes places.
Note Giving:- Notes are a synthesis of idea perhaps collected from different sources. Note are mini book and a memory aid collected for easy reference. They are complied to save student the problem of seeking information where textbook are not readily available. With this background the teacher should.
Consult more than one source
Avoid lifting clunks from books
Pick out only the relevant points from book
Make a summary of ideas collected
Arrange in a logical sequence for easily reference.
Note giving has indeed found to be one of the very effective ways of summarizing lessons on the chalkboard.
Learner Centered Method: These are methods where the students are principal actor unlike in teacher-centered methods. Some of these methods are:-
Project Method: The project method emanated from the educational ideas of John Dewey, an American education. Dewey argued that education should not prepare a child forth the blind future but rather it should prepare him for life in contemporary society. The project method is therefore concerned with engaging students in the process of finding solutions to real problems in the society. Project method in really learner oriented. It forces students to work on a particular topic or problem. It can be undertaken by a whole class, by individuals.
Class Assignment: Class assignment serves as a major tool for delivering a particular lesson. After each lesson an assignment is given to evaluate the students.
Discussion Method: This method is a thinking together process, which encourages co-operation in learning. Discussion method can be applied in handing almost all the subjects taught in secondary schools. The leader in the discussion may be the teacher, a resource person, or a member of the class and he or she should take the responsibility of regulating the discussion. The method is significantly important; it is very effective in moulding children’s character, developing self-confidence, and self-reliance and leadership skills.
Inquiry Method: This method is very important especially with the increasing interest place on the scientific approach to teaching and learning. It includes surveys, interviews, questionnaires and field trips by student under the guidance of the teacher. Through this method students collect information from sources other than the teacher. The students are at times made to work independently so that a deeper understanding of the topic is gained. This method is particularly suitable for teaching history.
Resources Available for Teaching History
Over verbalization in teaching often makes the lesson boring. Modern technology has been working to control this weakness in teaching. Hence to avoid too much talking, it is now recommended to explore a combination of all the external senses of learning, founding, seeing and feeling as learning resources. These are three main categories of resources:-
Visual Aids: These are ideas that relate the sense of sight, feeling and touching which make a lasting impression on the learner. It has been observed that 60% of the learners readily recall information associated with visual perception. Visual aids include:
Three-dimensional materials such as object, models, specimens
Printed materials such as books, workbook and programmed materials
Chalkboard
Flannel board
Bulletin board
Still pictures: Still pictures are two types.
Non-project e.g. Illustration overhead projects photographs.
Project e.g. Slides, filmstrip, overhead projector opaque objects
Graphics: These include charts, maps, posters, diagrams, cartoons etc.
The teacher
2. Audio Aids: These are aids that relate more to the sense of hearing. They include the radio, record player, taps recorders and the human voice.
Audio Visual Aids: These are aids that make it possible to combine the external senses especially those of seeing and hearing they include T.V, view equipment and the cinema.
There aids whether visual, audio or audio visual serve a lot of purposes. They can be employed to:
Focus and sustain attention
Show basic structures of concept
Harmonize scattered information
Explain relationships
Challenge students imagination
Serves as reference material
Enhance retention or concept
Give new concepts to things outside the range of ordinary experiences
Help class members to share experiences together
Reinforce verbal messages of the teachers
As teachers make use of these resources in history in their lessons the accusation of over verbalization will be reduced to the arrest minimum.
Evaluation in Teaching History
Evaluation is the procedure for measuring the degree of success in any venture or activity in relation to the set objectives; in teaching and learning situation, it is seen as a measure or assessment of the extent to which the pupils or student have mastered the desired skill or the extent to which they have acquired the expected knowledge of some concepts, fact or ideas. Aguokogbuo (2002), saw evaluation as a process of determining nature and extent of change in the behaviour of the learners after being exposed to content and experiences Bloom et al (1971), view evaluation as the systematic collection of evidence to determine whether in fact certain changes are taking place in the learners as well as to determined the degree of changes in individual learners. We have known that usually, instruction is geared towards the achievement of cognitive, affective and psychomotor behaviour. This is unlike what had seen obtained in the far post years. Where evaluation was only limited to paper and pen only. This style involved testing the cognitive obvious of students only with no regard to the affective and psychomotor learning. Hence, according to the national policy on education, attitudes, values, physical skills and abilities are important for the students as well as cognitive skills.
Evaluation of cognitive learning involves measuring the pupil’s knowledge and understanding in a subject by means of oral or written tests. In this the instructor is able to give a value for or quantify the progress which the student makes in his learning to facilitate the evaluation of cognitive learning outcome, the instructional and behavioural objective should be stated clearly and categorically.
Another area of learning outcome, which we evaluate relates to students internalization behaviour attitude values or emotion. These fall within the affective domain. In order to evaluate student’s behaviour a norm has to be established to provide the yardstick. For example to assess the students behaviour one may be concerned with their mode of dressing neatness, emotion, the way they talk, respect, loyalty, attentiveness and so on. However, learners’ behaviour’s are influenced by a number of factors including the home, schools community peers and the self.
The third aspect of learning outcome, which we evaluate, is the psychomotor. The focus here is a measure of the extent to which the child is able to apply the skills, which he has acquired.
Also one need to understand that evaluation should be; continuous, cumulative, systematic, comprehensive and guidance oriented (FMEST, D983).
It is continuous because learning is a continuous process and for the teacher to ascertain how well he/she has done his job, he/she has to evaluate all his/her teaching; aggregate performance is considered in computing the final performance. It is systematic because evaluation is planned and agreement reached by all involved as to the specific:
There should be an intensified campaign at the local levels to acquaint teachers in general and head teachers in particular with the basic tenets and objectives of UBE programme.
Head teachers should be trained in the art of Educational management either at the preserves or in service level and this should be recognized as a pre-requisite for any appointment to the post.
Durojaiye (1976:36) saw teaching (pedagogy) as a very complex and involving enterprise. In his view effective teaching should be characterized by a large numbers of tendencies, a skill contributes and competencies and a good teacher is supposed to internalize these attributes and demonstrate them freely during his teaching.
Nwagu (1992) who reached into the pedagogical competency deficiencies among social science teachers said that the fundamental aim in teacher education is to inculcate in student teachers those basic competencies required for effective planning, execution and evaluation of classroom instruction in specific subject area. He advocated that all teachers should attain mastery of all basic instructional competencies before they are graduated from teacher education institutions. Lovell (1973:139) asserted that knowledge and competencies acquired but not used or exercised over a period of time would definitely diminish and could eventually exterminate. This finding implies that untrained teachers should immediately be deployed in order not to have the competencies acquire depreciate as a result of non-usage.
Nwagu (1992), said that, ‘experience in secondary school teaching shows that most supervisors of institution show little or no interest in teachers pursuit of the affective and psychomotor objective of their classroom instructor,’ this short coming is of a pathetic one in the social science field and especially in the teaching of history. In teaching history in secondary schools, the three behavioural domains must be focused on so as to produced balanced human beings in the society.
In conclusion, it is evident that there is the need for pedagogical competency acquisition beef up among secondary school teachers in the land. Since it is so, history teachers could not be an exception hence the need of reading into such a problem.
Summary of Literature Review
The literature review of the study has been organized in three-board perspective.
Conceptual Studies
Empirical Studies
Summary of the Literature Review
Pedagogical competencies refer to the skills, attributes, knowledge, power and authority supposed to be possessed by a teacher to help him/her perform better in the teaching business proficiency in the various attributes is the extent to which his lessons are prone to be successful.
The desired competencies of a history teacher were also highlighted in the literature review. It is expected that teachers should acquaint themselves with those competencies so as to be better inspired to teach more confidently and be more effective curriculum implementer.
Researcher on how to improve teaching and learning have equally shown that methodology is an integral part of teaching. Teaching method has been described as a procedure or a set of procedure for utilizing resources and for providing opportunities for student to encounter the content. Before a particular teaching method is used these questions are needed to be asked like; will the method to be used right for:-
The Learner
The Teacher
The Subject Matter
The Time Available
The Resources
The Facilities
The Objectives
These questions would always guide a teacher to choose a suitable method for a particular topic.
Generally teaching methods are divided into two. These are the teacher-centered method and the learner-centered methods. The teacher, centered methods are the types in which the teacher is the principal actor. These methods include the lecture method, the story telling method, demonstration method, questioning method and note giving method. The learner centered methods is where the learners/students are the principal actors. These methods include: protect method, class assignment, discussion method, simulation method, enquiry method, dramatization method. Creative activity method and problem solving method.
Whichever teaching method that a teacher adopts for a particular lesson, there is equally the need for him/her to couple such a method with some kind of teaching resources or aids to avoid over verbalization in teaching, these teaching resources are grouped into three categories. These are visual aids, which relate to the sense of sight, feeling and touching. Auto aids, which relate more to the sense of hearing, like the radio, tape recorder etc. Audio visual aids which combine the external sense, especially those of seeing and hearing like the T.V, video equipments etc. these aids whether visual, audio or audio visual serve a lot of purposes to seeing that the students learn better.
Another area of pedagogical competencies looked into is in the area of evaluation. Evaluation has been defined as the process of measuring the degree of any success many venture or activity in relation to the set of objectives. In evaluation, the cognitive effective and psychomotor behaviors are been considered this agrees with the declaration of the National Policy on Education that ‘attitudes’, values physical, skills and abilities are important for the students as well as cognitive skills F.M.E.St. (1983), Stated it that evaluation should be continuous, cumulative, systematic, comprehensive and guidance oriented in nature. Approaching evaluation from these perspective helps give a true and helpful assessment of the learner’s performance.
In the course of the literature review, empirical studies were carried out under pedagogical competencies among teachers in others subject areas from other education zones from the already carried out studies, it was revealed that many teachers both in primary and secondary school have the need to beef up their pedagogical competencies in order to brace up with the growth and development in our educational system. As a result of that Nwagu (1992), recommended a kind of review. In the training programme of our degree teachers to help them acquire the fundamental skills and competencies that would brush them up for better performance.
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