CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education is a service which deals directly and indirectly with learners, teachers, people and the public. It prepares individuals for skilful performance or role playing in the society. Schools have a mandate to educate children to acquire relevant skills and knowledge for application in solving problems. To do this successfully, schools need well qualified teachers.
Since no employee can remain qualified with continuous change in societal values and expectations, some form of on-going education and training becomes a necessity. The different methods used in developing teachers in schools include induction, conferences, workshops and seminars. Others are staff meetings, visits and demonstrations, professional training and higher studies as well as exhibitions.
According to Alabi (2005) training and developing programmes need to be organised for teachers to improve their instructional methodology to acquire skills relating to their teaching and skills required for improved performance at work. All these are necessary to enhance their students’ performance.
Hassan (2004) also argued that it is literally impossible to learn a job or enter a profession and remain in it for long with his or her skills basically unchanged. This is more so in a complex and constantly changing organisation like a school that must adapt to changing societal demands and instructional methodology. Thus, no matter how excellent the pre-service preparation and how well qualified teachers are at the time of employment, efforts should be made to develop them personally and professionally on a regular and continuous basis. The schools need well qualified teachers to provide quality learning experiences for students in line with the provision of the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) that no education standard can rise above the quality of its teachers. It is therefore imperative to train and develop the teachers that directly impart knowledge to students, the school leaders that supervise, guide and support the teachers and other support staff that make the work of the teachers and the school heads easier. It is only then that appropriate and adequate knowledge can be imparted to the students resulting ultimately in successful achievement of the goals of education.
Raji (2008) described teachers as preservers of established-tradition. The teacher examines the cultural values of his society, its dynamics and the changing values occurring within the system. He propagates the values, ethics and norms that characterize the society in order to ensure that the children develop in line with the aspirations of the society. Where changes have been instituted, he transmits the values and techniques that facilitate the generation of change.
The teacher is an innovator and agent of change. He approves the curriculum to meet the needs of the child and the society. He engages in continuous research that helps him to meet with the new knowledge available and to keep up with the trend of social and technological change. He gets involved in keeping the profession up to date and ensures adequate course maintenance.
Jamie (2003) pointed out that quality learning depends on the recruitment, retention and development of professional teachers needed to improve the level of performance towards the provision of qualitative education. This means that the key to high standard of education is the quality of teachers who constitute the human input which is indispensable in determining students’ academic performance.
For many years, educators and researchers have carrier out studies on teachers’ job performance with little emphasis on training and development of teachers as panacea to students’ academic performance. Factors such as teachers’ qualification, class size and the motivation given to the teachers in terms of remuneration also have significant impact on teachers’ job performance and students’ academic performance. Nevertheless, teachers’ training and development also contribute significantly to students’ academic performance.