Influence of teacher’s motivational strategies on academic achievement of primary school pupils in home economics

CHAPTER ONE

1.1     Background of the Study

Teachers are the hub of the educational system in Nigeria and the World at large.

Teachers are at the forefront of the battle for national development. It is true to mention that the key to the attainment of these goals has been entrusted to the teachers. If teachers are able to incorporate psychological principles of motivation into their teaching of home economics, learners may find learning home economics more stimulating.

Teacher’s motivational strategies are those methods used by the educator or a teacher to facilitate learning among a particular group of learners in a specific situation. In a simpler term, Uwameiye (2016) added that it is what the teacher does to help students learn. The application of motivational strategies by primary school teachers, make learning more certain to involve learners, less abstract, less tedious and less threatening. This could enhance academic achievement amongst primary school pupil in home economics moreover, Hargreaves (1994) cited in Rudhumbu (2014) argued that one major reason why teachers fail to effectively communicate what they are teaching is their inability to plan for motivational strategies in their teaching.

Various factors have been deduced for the poor performance of pupils in home economics. The interest of pupils in home economics has been related to the volume of work completed, pupils task orientation and skill acquisition, pupils personality and self-concept, feeling of inadequacy, motivation and self-confidence (Uwanieiye and Osho, 2011), anxiety, shortage of qualified home economics teachers, poor facilities, equipment and instructional materials for effective teaching (Adeyemo, Oladipupo and Omisore, 2013), use of traditional chalk and talk methods, large class size to teacher’s ratio (Plaxcedia, 2015) among others. In addition individual characteristics such as intelligence, cognitive styles, and personality play an important role in learning and instruction as does the context of learning. Other research findings have shown that individual students’ characteristics variables such as motivational orientations, self-esteem and learning approaches are important factors that could influence academic achievements among primary school pupils in the subject area.

A lot of new and modified old methodologies have been proposed to improve performance in home economics. Instructional materials have also been designed and developed to aid in home economics teaching and learning. Tella (2007) opined that all these are to help break the cycle of poor performance by motivating pupils to learn home economics. Teacher’s motivational strategies and academic achievement of primary school pupils in home economics are considered as an important aspect of effective learning. However, a learner’s reaction to education determines the extent to which he or she will go in education. That is why Hall (1989) cited in Tella (2007) believes that there is a need to motivate pupils so as to arouse and sustain their interest in learning home economics. It is, therefore, critical that, teachers have the professional competencies necessary for imparting knowledge to the learner. As such, proper methodologies need to introduce so that, teaching and learning can be fruitful.

The subject home economics involves the use of a number of teaching methodologies depending on the topics being covered, level of understanding of the learner, available resources, teacher competencies, as well as the availability of time. These methodologies are designed to enhance the learner’s knowledge and skills acquisition. Pupils should be allowed to work together in a small group to complete a problem, project or any other instructional goal, while teachers act as a guide or facilitator. Johnson and Johnson (1999) cited in Uwameiye (2016) postulated that learners positively depend on each other, engage in face to face interaction, assessed individually and held accountable for equally haring and contributing to the mastery of learning goals, develop appropriate collaborative and interpersonal skills to teach and encourage each other to learn and reflect and assess the effectiveness of growing, for future learning This method is different from the traditional group method where the pupils have low independence. In co-operative learning, students take responsibility only for themselves. The discovery that students can get information from sources other than the teacher is able to expand the resources of the learner. Therefore, the problem in the teaching of Home Economics lies where the teacher is the only source of information since they use only traditional methods of instruction such as lecture and note taking, instead of using methods where active learning take place. Therefore, the present research work is to look at teacher’s different motivational strategies that can enhance the academic achievement of primary school pupils studying home economics in Uruan local government area of Akwa Ibom State.

1.2     Statement of Problem

Home Economics is one of the courses which attract low enrolment in Nigerian educational system. The low enrolment calls for much concern and researchers have attributed this to the problems relating to the teaching and learning of the subject. Instructional methods and the learning environment influence students learning. Pupils should not be regarded as passive recipients or onlookers, rather, they need to be more practical in their learning. Teachers, on the other hand, may fail to employ proper methods of teaching in the various topics in relation to the age and level of understanding of pupils. Certain methods may be very much divorced from the level of comprehension of the learner, while the resources available may not support the teaching of a particular topic. Also, improvising the available resources and being creative is another attribute that lacks in most home economics teachers. The unavailability of infrastructure and equipment in some of the schools has been a great hindrance in the normal delivery of the subject. This has, therefore, resulted in pupils not performing at maximum as is expected. Therefore, this has triggered the study to explore on teacher’s motivational strategies in teaching home economics to enhance the academic achievement of primary school pupil in Uruan Local Government Area.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to assess the influence of teacher’s motivational strategies on the academic achievement of primary school pupils in home economics in Uruan local government area.  Thus the study seeks to:

i.             Assess how teachers’ motivation through frequent social conversation with pupils influences academic achievement of primary school pupil’s home economics in Uraun Local Government Area.

ii.            Examine hoe teachers’ regard for pupil’s perspective influence academic achievement of primary school pupils in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area.

1.4     Significance of the Study

The research will highlight suggested ways for improving the academic performance of primary school pupil on home economics. The research will be relevant in the following areas:

The research work will try to find out ways of encouraging the primary school pupils so that they can have a meaningful and personal relationship with their teachers that will enhance academic achievement in home economics.

The study will enlighten school administrators and teachers on ways of improving the teaching and learning of home economics in order for pupils learning outcomes to be fully maximized. The study will also assist teachers of home economics to design the appropriate motivational strategies that fit into the curriculum of the subjects. The study will help student harness both newly developed strategies and existing ones so as to lead to improvement in their academic performance.

1.5     Research Questions

For the purpose of this study the following research questions were formulated:

(1)               How does teacher engaging in frequent social conversation with pupils influence academic achievement of primary school pupils in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area?

(2)               What influence does teacher’s regard for pupil’s perspective have on the academic achievement of primary school pupils in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area?

1.6     Research Hypothesis

To guide the study, the following null hypotheses were formulated:

(1)         Teacher engaging in frequent social conversation with pupils does not significantly influence the academic achievement of primary school pupils in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area.

(2)         Teacher’s regard for pupils perspective has no significant influence on the academic achievement of primary school pupils in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area.

1.7     Limitations of the Study

Due to the facts that much work has not been done in this field and as such many related kinds of literature were not found. Furthermore, time and financial constraints were also the limitations encountered, this is so because the time allotted for the study which was expected to be carried out alongside semester courses was very short. Similarly, unavailability of funds for transportation to schools within the study area also constituted the constraints some of the schools were located in remote areas which made accessibility difficult due to non – motor-able road.

1.8     Delimitation of the Study

The study was restricted to examining teacher’s motivational strategies and academic achievement of primary school pupils in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area. This research work employed only primary five (5) pupils selected schools in the study area.       

1.9     Operational Definition of Terms

v  Teacher: A person who helps others to acquire knowledge, competence or values. It is a person who teaches or instructs, especially as a profession.

v  Motivation: The act or an instance of providing with a reason to act in a certain way. It is simply the desire or willingness to do things.

v  Strategy: Strategy is the procedure or method by which goals are reached, a purpose accomplished or a result is achieved.

v  Achievement: something that is accomplished, particularly by great effort, courage or special skl1s.

v  Student: The person who receives the knowledge and learning offered in school, after official admission.

v  Teacher’s Motivational Strategies Are those methods used by the educator or a teacher to facilitate learning among a particular group of learners in a specific situation.

Pupils perspective: The views, ideas or ways of looking at something by pupils in the classroom.