INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES AND LOCATION ON TEACHERS’ EFFECTIVENESS: A CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ATIBA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
Abstract
In the knowledge industry, the teacher is the leader during teaching-learning process. Thus, his role in imparting knowledge into the learner cannot be over-emphasised. The teacher teaches in a school, gives information and instructs students on how to do something in the right and best way. When teachers’ effectiveness is not ensured, the students bear the brunt and the whole essence of teaching- learning process is lost. Based on this, this study sought to examine the influence of school facilities and location on teachers’ effectiveness in some selected public secondary schools in Oyo Atiba government area of Oyo state.
A descriptive survey research design of ex-post facto type was adopted. Three different Questionnaires were distributed among 120 secondary school teachers. They are, teachers’ effectiveness scale; school location scale developed by Norfleet and Klitstonis, (2006); and school facilities scale by Norfleet and Klitstonis, (2006). The participants were randomly selected to participate in the study. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regressions were used to and the research questions at 0.05 level of significance
The results indicated that teachers’ effectiveness had significant relationship with school location (r=.208, P<0.05) and school facilities (r=.113, P<0.05). It was also found that the two independent variables had significant joint contribution (.382, p<.05). The equation also showed Adjusted R square of 0.299 suggesting that the independent variables accounted for 29.9% variation in the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness among secondary school teachers. The results further showed both school location (β = 0.263, t = 3.151, p <.05) and school facilities (β = 0.154, t = 1.990, p <.05) had relative significant contributions to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness.
Based on the findings, relevant recommendations were advanced and useful suggestions for further research were also offered.
KEYWORDS: Teachers’ Effectiveness, School Location, School Facilities
Words Count: 290
Introduction
In the knowledge industry, the teacher is the leader during teaching-learning process. Thus, his role in imparting knowledge into the learner cannot be over-emphasised. The teacher teaches in a school, gives information and instructs students on how to do something in the right and best way (Durowoju & Onuka, 2015). Traditionally, teaching process is often assumed to happen only at the individual level and only in classroom. That is, individual teachers perform teaching and individual students receive teacher’s instruction and learn (Cheng, Tam & Tsui, 2002). This simplistic approach is reflected in the approaches to teacher education and development but also in most studies on teacher effectiveness which examine teacher effectiveness mainly at individual level. School education is usually planned and implemented at the program level or the whole school level. Currently school management reforms and effective school movements emphasize whole school approach to improvement of school performance and student learning outcomes. Students are often taught not only by individual teachers but also by groups of teachers or by whole school teachers.
The conception of total teacher effectiveness involves two important categories of actors (teachers and students) at three different levels (individual, group, and school). The processes and effects of teaching and learning may happen in the behavior, affective, and cognitive domains of different actors at different levels. Specifically, teacher effectiveness should involve the behavioral, affective, and cognitive performance of all teachers and students at individual, group, and school levels. The issue of teacher as a factor that affects students’ academic performance has received a lot of attention in the literature and findings have been mixed and inconclusive. A strand of the literature revealed that a number of teacher variables which include years of teaching experience, level of educational attainment or academic qualifications, teacher development programmes, availability of qualified teachers, teacher-student ratio, teacher attitude, degree of job satisfaction, motivation and salary affect students’ learning outcomes (Daso, 2013; Akpo, 2012; Odiri, 2011;Ewetan, 2010; Akinsolu, 2010).
The quality of education at any level depends largely on the quality of the teachers. Thus, the National Policy on Education (2004) states that no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers. Science teacher occupies an important position in science teaching and learning activities. He engages in interactive behaviour with learners, effecting cognitive, affective and psychomotor changes in them (Imhanlahimi and Aguele, 2006). In this regard, it is pertinent to look closely into the teacher as an individual – his personality traits and also the performance of his duties and the environment in which teaching is being performed.
Interest in evaluating teaching effectiveness has increased over time and acceptance of the need to evaluate teaching has continued to grow (Salsali, 2005). This new approach emphasizes not what one believes to be good teaching, but the emphasis is on characteristics and teacher behaviour that are conducive to expected learning outcomes for students (Papandreon, 1995). Quality, relevance and access to education can be attained if and only if educational materials are properly available and utilized in an educational institution. According to Durbin (1989), resources are the only means through which organizational activities, service and satisfactory ends are attainable. For the achievement of organizational objectives, resources play the crucial roles.
School facilities, which are consists of all types of buildings that use for academic and non-academic purpose, equipment, classroom facilities, furniture, instructional materials, audiovisual aids, toilet, ICT, library and laboratory materials and others play a pivotal role to smoothly run teaching and learning process. As Buckley, Schneider and Shang (2004), school facilities enable the teacher to accomplish his/her task as well and help the learner to learn and achieve effectively. Additionally, they emphasized that the availability and proper use of school facilities can affect the interest of the teacher to teach effectively in turn that positively affects student’s academic achievement. Therefore, the school facilities in the school needs a proper attention as they have a great value in the support of teachers and students morale, motivation and plays a significant role to improve the quality of education.
Asiabaka (2008) cited several studies that have shown that a close relationship exists between the physical environment and the academic performance of students. Nwagwu (1978) and Ogunsaju (1980) maintained that the quality of education that children receive bears direct relevance to the availability or lack thereof of physical facilities and overall atmosphere in which learning takes place. The school facilities consist of all types of buildings for academic and non-academic activities, equipment for academic and non-academic activities, areas for sports and games, landscape, farms and gardens including trees, roads and paths. Others include furniture and toilet facilities, lighting, acoustics, storage facilities and packing lot, security, transportation, ICT, cleaning materials, food services, and special facilities for the physically challenged persons. These facilities play pivotal role in the actualization of the educational goals and objectives by satisfying the physical and emotional needs of the staff and students of the schools.
Sofoluwe (2000) cited in Akinloye (2013) claimed that the general education of the learner within the school system could be attributed to the learner, the teacher and the school administrator. The educational output of the students could be increased in terms of individual achievement. The extent of productivity accomplished by the learner is a reflection of an increased change in behaviour in an acceptable positive direction. This is then left with the significant topic of implementing the school curriculum to meet the needs of the learners. Learning out-come is an index of the quality of implementing the curriculum by the teacher in the classroom. A productive teacher therefore is one who strives to implement the curriculum in such a way as to bring about productive learner. The term productivity according to Ahmed (2000) cited in Akinloye (2013) is the degree of efficiency and effectiveness with which an individual contributes to the achievement of set objectives. The efficient teacher to him is that person who accomplishes the tasks set out in the job description of his office schedule with minimum un-sought consequences, cost and time. He puts productivity as a ratio between output and in-put of a teacher and observed that the main problem in measuring productivity is that no standard measurement has been agreed upon. However in a typical school system, what constitutes the productivity of each staff is the accomplishment of the total task assigned to him. Furthermore, one other factor that could affect students’ achievement is school location. Sokoye (2009) cited in Adeyemi (2013) submitted that the location of a school has a significant effect on the academic performance of the child. Since self-efficacy could have effect on both teacher and students’ proficiency, environmental factors such as school locations (rural or urban) could also have effect or impact on the proficiency academic achievement of students. To corroborate this, Ekperekunmo (2002) submitted that location of school can predict or determine pupils achievement in Science. According to Onuka & Emunemu (2010), schools that have provided generations of children and young people with knowledge, skills and attitudes need to become autonomous and responsive. Schools play a vital role in developing and sustaining rural communities and are crucial to Nigeria’s sustainable growth and development. According to Philips (2003) cited in Onuka & Emunemu (2010), in the United States of America, ‘rural’ means a small town having a population of twenty-five thousand people and less, but in Nigeria, ‘rural’ is rather defined by the amenities available or non-existent. Such amenities include electricity, pipe-borne water, motorable roads, and health facilities, among others (Onuka & Emunemu, 2010).
Adeyemi (2013) citing Brown & Susanson (2006) asserted that reasons for variations in students’ achievement are geographical locations (rural or urban), resources, availability of technology and quality of teachers. In other words, students tend to learn and perform better in an educationally stimulating environment that is likely to arouse a higher degree of interest. Adeyemi (2013) found that there was significant main effect of school location on students’ achievement in and attitude to Economics. To buttress this, Brown & Susanson (2006) cited in Adeyemi (2013) found in their study that rural schools are typically less active than urban schools in the United States of America, although with some variation between states and countries. They claim that there is a large Mathematics achievement gap between rural and non-rural areas, although some rural areas are above average and others are just average. Okoye (2008) pointed out that, in Nigeria most rural- based schools lack enough qualified teachers, are poorly equipped and lack basic amenities, all serving as inhibiting factors to good academic performance.
One of the offshoots of seemingly inadequate school facilities and unfavourable location is drastic reduction in teachers’ effectiveness. In the same vein, when school facilities are in good shapes and the location is conducive, teachers have tendency to be effective. Teachers have not been efficient owing to arrays of factors like inadequate required school facilities and equipment. The productivity of teachers is also in jeopardy by virtue of unconducive and noisy environment of some schools’ location. Teaching-learning process requires that basic school facilities be available for efficiency sake. School subjects cannot be satisfactorily taught without sufficient facilities and laboratory equipment. It can be thus be inferred that school facilities and favourable school location are pre-requisite to teaching –learning efficiency. In a situation where teaching-learning process is impaired by bad location, obsolete and inadequate school facilities, teachers’ effectiveness becomes questionable. When teachers’ effectiveness is not ensured, the students bear the brunt and the whole essence of teaching- learning process is lost. In order to fill the existing gaps, this study sought to examine the influence of school facilities and location on teachers’ effectiveness in some selected public secondary schools in Oyo Atiba government area of Oyo state.
Research Questions
The following research questions are raised in the study;
What is the pattern of relationship among teachers’ effectiveness, school facilities and school location?
Is there significant joint influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness?
Is there significant relative influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness?
What is the extent of availability of school facilities among secondary schools in the study area?
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are going to be tested at 0.05 level of significance
There is no significant relationship among teachers’ effectiveness, school facilities and school location
There is no significant joint influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness
There is no significant relative influence of each of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness
There are no availability of school facilities among secondary schools in the study area
Purpose of the Study
The major purpose of this is to examine influence of school facilities and location on teachers’ effectiveness in Oyo East local government area of Oyo state, Nigeria.
The following are the specific purposes of the study.
To examine the relationship among teachers’ effectiveness, school facilities and school location
To examine joint influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness
To examine the relative influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness
To examine the extent of availability of school facilities among secondary schools in the study area
Scope of the Study
This study sought to investigate influence of school facilities and school location on teachers’ effectiveness in Atiba local government area of Oyo state, Nigeria. The study selected some secondary school teachers to examine how school facilities and school location can influence teachers’ effectiveness. Other factors different from these will not be examined.
Methodology
Research Design
This study adopted a descriptive research design of survey type. Survey type of research design was chosen because it will enable researcher to have a grasp of hoe respondents feel about the variables of interests. The researcher will not also subject the respondents to experimental manipulation. In the same vein, the variables under investigation have already occurred or being present in the participants prior to the study. The researcher will not manipulate any of the variables in the study. The main thrust of the study is to examine Influence of School Facilities and Location on Teachers’ Effectiveness: A Case Study of Some selected public secondary schools in Oyo East Local Government Area
Population
The population for this study comprises of secondary school teachers from public secondary schools within Atiba Local government area of Oyo state. There are good numbers of teachers in secondary schools within the selected local government. They comprised of both male and female with diverse age and ethnic groups. Most of the teachers have arrays of qualifications ranging from Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE), Bachelor of Arts in Education, Master Degree in Education and other various qualifications.
Sample and Sampling Techniques
The researcher made use of probability sampling technique; to be specific, multistage sampling technique were used to select schools and participants (teachers) for this study. Four secondary schools were randomly selected (Alaafin High School, Oranyan Grammar School Oyo, Isale Oyo Community Grammar School, Oke Oroki Oyo and Commercial Secondary school, Isale Oyo, Oyo). A total of one hundred and twenty secondary school teachers were randomly selected through a simple random sampling process. Thirty questionnaires were distributed for each secondary school.
Instruments
The major instrument used for data collection in this study was questionnaire. The statements on the questionnaire posed questions that led to achieving the purpose of the study. It is formulated in concordance with the objectives and research questions. The questionnaire is divided into four sections.
Description of Instrument
Section A: this comprises the personal /demographic information of the respondents, such as age, gender, qualification, subject taught and classes taught
Section B: Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire
The questionnaire tagged Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire (TEQ) was designed for school administrators to evaluate the teaching effectiveness of the sampled teachers in each school. The school administrators who responded to TEQ1 were the heads of departments and vice principals of the teachers that participated in the study. The scale consists of 10 items. The items on the scale evaluated teachers’ classroom effectiveness in the areas of subject content mastery, class attendance, punctuality to class, lesson preparation and delivery, student assessment, rapport with students, creativity and resourcefulness, classroom management, communication skills and concern for students’ welfare. It has Cronbach’s Alpha of .76 after reliability analysis through test-retest method.
Section C: School Location Questionnaire
This questionnaire was adapted by the student researcher from the school factors inventory by Norfleet and Klitstonis, (2006). The questionnaire is designed to measure how respondents describe the location of their schools. It consisted of 16 items which are measured on five point likert scale ranged as (5) Strongly Agree; (4) Agree; (3) Undecided; (2) Disagree; (1) Strongly Agree. Examples of items on the scale are “Sometimes, hoodlums gatecrash into my school to perpetrate evils”, “The location of my school facilitates school inspection”. The questionnaire was pilot tested before the actual administration so as to make it culture fair and consistently reliable. The internal consistency value is (Cronbach alpha r) 0.65.
Section D: School Facilities Questionnaire
This questionnaire was also adapted by the student researcher from the school factors inventory by Norfleet and Klitstonis, (2006). The questionnaire is designed to measure how respondents describe the location of their schools. It consisted of 16 items which are measured on five point likert scale ranged as (5) Strongly Agree; (4) Agree; (3) Undecided; (2) Disagree; (1) Strongly Agree
Procedure for the Administration of Instruments
The copies of the questionnaire were administered to the participants in their various schools within the local government area. The principals or vice principals were consulted and their permission sought. The participants were adequately briefed on the need to cooperate with the researcher. The data collection spread over two of three days during which 120 copies of the questionnaire forms were administered.
Methods of Data Analysis
The data will be coded, scored and subjected to data analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) with specific application of simple percentage and Pearson Product Moment Correlation.
RESULTS
Research Question 1: What is the pattern of relationship among teachers’ effectiveness, school facilities and school location?
Table1: Pearson Product Moment Correlation showing the relationship among teachers’ effectiveness and the independent variables
Variables
Mean
SD
1
2
3
Teachers’ effectiveness
29.36
5.56
1.000
School location
27.15
20.44
.208**
1.000
School facilities
23.84
4.78
.113**
.115
1.000
**Correlation is significant at 0.05
In table 1, the inter-correlation matrix of the independent variables (school location and school facilities) and dependent variable (teachers’ effectiveness) scores are computed. From the table, teachers’ effectiveness had significant relationship with school location (r=.208, P<0.05) and school facilities (r=.113, P<0.05).
Research Question 2: Is there significant joint influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness?
Table 2: Summary of Regression Analysis showing the joint contributions of the independent variables to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness
R =.382
R Square =.247
Adjusted R square =.299
Std. Error =10.613
Model
Sum of Squares
Df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
1
Regression
6534.962
2
768.093
7.88
.000a
Residual
58680.47
115
97.523
Total
485986.8
117
*P<0.05
It was observed from table 2 that a significant combined effect of the independent variables (school location and school facilities) to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness among secondary school teachers. The result yielded a coefficient multiple regressions R of .382, p<.05. The equation also showed Adjusted R square of 0.299 suggesting that the independent variables accounted for 29.9% variation in the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness among secondary school teachers. It was revealed that the above variances are the explained variances within the scope of this study. This implies that the above independent factors contributed significantly, even though the percentage of the contribution was not evenly distributed. The other unexplained factors could be variables that are not within the scope of this study. The ANOVA result from the regression analysis shows that there was a significant combined effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable, F (2, 117) = 7.88, p<0.05.
Research Question 3: Is there significant relative influence of school facilities and location on the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness?
Table 3: Summary of multiple linear regressions showing the relative contribution of each of the independent variables to the prediction of dependent variable
Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized Coefficients
t
Sig.
B
Std. Error
Beta
1
(Constant)
64.659
5.454
11.855
.000
School location
.124
.175
.263
3.151
.001
School facilities
.173
.108
.154
1.990
.003
a. Dependent Variable: teachers’ effectiveness
Table 3 revealed the significant effect of each of the independent variables. It was observed that school location has a relative significant contributions to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness among secondary school teachers (β = 0.263, t = 3.151, p <.05). Similarly, school facilities had significant relative contributions to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness (β = 0.154, t = 1.990, p <.05). School location’s contribution was more potent than that of school facilities.
Summary of Findings
The findings of this revealed that both school location and school facilities had significant relationship with teachers’ effectiveness.
It was also found that there was significant joint contribution of school location and school facilities to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness. It was also revealed that both school location and school facilities had relative significant contribution to the prediction of teachers’ effectiveness. It was found that school location had higher contribution and was more potent than condition of service based on the findings of this study. Majority of the respondents agreed that they are not impressed and not satisfied with the school facilities in their schools.
It is safe to conclude that poor wages and salaries, poor and insufficient facilities as well as poor working conditions are constant source of frustration to secondary school teachers in Oyo East Local Government Area of Oyo state. When they engage management in constant strife, the result is decrease productivity. Promotion, better pay fringe benefit and other social incentives are essential factor that motivate the teachers to increase productivity.
Recommendations
Based on the findings, the following recommendations are advanced:
Public schools that are owned by government should be made to be well equipped with school facilities that are capable of enhancing the performance and stimulating the interest of students in physics.
Schools in rural areas should be assisted to be in tune with the technological advancement of their counterparts in urban centres.
Researchers, policy makers and educational planners should be curious to seek reasons for discrepancies between the teachers’ effectiveness in government schools and privately owned schools so as to help the ones that are lagging behind
Teachers should be made to use instructional facilities while teaching and where they are not available, provision and improvisation should be adopted.
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