CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
To parents and society at large, the school is being held liable for every aspect of students’ performance. So, classroom management plays a very significant role in students’ academic performance. Effective classroom management put the teacher in firm control of the classroom and provide orderliness and safety needed for instruction and learning. Yet, the various reforms in education, like, the National Policy on Education of 1977, revised in 1981, 1998 and 2004 in Wali (2007), failed to mention or address classroom management and the connectivity between students’ academic performance and classroom management.
Classroom Management is one of the neglected areas in our secondary schools, despite the fact that the success or failure of any teaching and learning process depends on the way classroom are managed. Failure to effectively manage the classroom can have an overall negative influence on the entire school, especially in terms of sound academic performance of the school. When this happens other negative consequences follow such as the depletion of the student population of the school because parent/guardians prefer to enroll their children and ward in schools that are performing well academically.
Discipline, is one of the key variable of Classroom Management. Discipline is a function of the interaction between teacher and student that bring about self-control and respect for authority. (Ada, 2004). It entails creating and keeping rules based on reciprocal understanding limits that must not be breeched. What is common in the present time are students breeching the limits, turning violent in classroom, and exhibiting extreme unruly behavior. The result is a class full of arrogance and unruly student resulting in a noisy and chaotic classroom that does not support effective teaching and learning.
This situation agrees no-less with the observation of Martin and Sass, (2010), that over the years, classroom management has been observed to be issue for teachers. They continued that students’ performance has been affected in schools where discipline and behavior issues are not properly handled.
Marzono (2007) also express similar worry when he said that the importance of students feeling safe at school is linked to students’ learning. He said, without this feeling of safety, students will develop anxiety and become uneasy in the classroom. Safety and orderly environment protects students from physical and psychological harm and maintained order so learning can take place.
Another worrisome issue in the public secondary schools is that of teacher’s quality. Nonprofessional teachers’ are been recruited into the system. A professional teacher is one that has passed the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) professional qualifying examination.
A qualified and professional teacher is more likely to change the life of the students by planting the seed of aspiration, noble goals and dreams in the heart of students and be a role model and show the way to greatness to students. A qualified and professional teacher is more likely to resolve and prevent conflict in the classroom, thus, bring about a better classroom environment conducive for teaching and learning, leading to better academic performance.
Poor classroom management may influence the academic performance of students negatively. It is therefore important that teachers learn to effectively manage their classrooms for a greater output. The academic performance of students these days have given many people serious concern. Our secondary school graduates cannot defend their certificates. This could be as a result of indiscipline exhibited by students in classroom such as lateness to classroom, noise making, and so on. Hence the need for classroom management that encompasses teachers’ efforts to oversee the activities of the classroom including student’s behavior, interaction and learning.