Fostering the Teaching of English Language in Nigeria Primary Schools: the Need for Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development and Training
Abstract
This article highlights how English language teachers professional development and training programmes fosters teachers’ professional competences in the teaching of the subject. English Language is vital in developing communication and social skills in learners as it does empower learners to compete favorably with their peers around the world. The ex-post factor approach of the survey design was adopted in the study. A random sampling technique was used to select twenty primary schools in Oyo state, Nigeria, with 168 English teachers who were currently undergoing the SUBEB/UBEC teacher professional development programme (2018). Two instruments: Teacher Teaching Competence Scale (TTCS) with Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.68 and the Teachers Checklist Observation Scale (TCOS) with Scott Pi reliability coefficient of 0.71 were used for data collection. The data collection lasted for a period of fourteen weeks. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and correlation at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that teacher’ attendance and exposure to a professional development and training programme; does enhance their professional teaching competences. It is therefore expedient that stakeholders in the education sector; especially governmental agencies, sponsor and encourage practicing primary teachers in attending and participating in professional development programmes; incentives should also be given to these teachers. This will go a long way at ensuring that these teachers look forward to attending such programmes at any time in the future
References
Ajani O. A (2018). Needs for In-service Professional Development of Teachers to Improve Students’ Academic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Arts Social Sci J Vol. 9 (7): 330. doi: 10.4172/2151-6200.1000330.
American Federation of Teachers (1995). Program, Organization, History.
https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1761/American-Federation-Teachers.html
Atsua G.T and Abdullahi U. (2015). Impact of Teacher Professional Development Programmes on Competency of Universal Basic Education Teachers in Benue State, Nigeria.
Bartram M. and Walton R. (2002). Correction: A Positive Approach to Language Mistakes. Boston: Thomson Heinle.
Cherubini, G., Zambelli, F. and Boscolo, P. (2002). Student motivation: an experience of inservice education as a context for professional development of teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(3), 273e288.
Dymoke S, Harrison J.K (2007). Professional development and the beginning teacher: issues of teacher autonomy and institutional conformity in the performance review process. Journal of Education for Teaching 32: 71-92. 9.
Ermeling, B. A. (2010). Tracing the effects of teacher inquiry on classroom practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(3), 377e388.
Frey, N., and Fisher, D. (2009). Using common formative assessments as a source of professional development in an urban American elementary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 674e680.
Garet M.S., Porter A.C., Desimone L., Birman B.F., Yoon K.S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal 38: 915-945. 5.
Hirsh S. (2005). Professional development and closing the achievement gap. Theory into Practice 44: 38-44. 6. Lee HL (2005) Developing a professional development programme model based on teachers’ needs. The Professional Educator 27: 39-49. 7.
Lee, H. B. A. (2003). The Dialogue between Higher Education Research and Paractice. (R. Begg, Ed.) London: Kluwer acdemic publishers.
Levine, T. H., and Marcus, A. S. (2010). How the structure and focus of teachers’ collaborative activities facilitate and constrain teacher learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(3), 389e398.
Maduekwe, A.N. and Ajibola, B.C. (2007). Strategies for teaching English grammar: An analysis of grammar lessons in Lagos State schools. Journal of studies in education. Faculty of Education, University of Lagos. Vol. 10 , 87- 101.
Mohammed M.K, David M., Mohammad A. and Ansia K. (2011). Analysis of Professional Competency Enhancement Program of Nahe on the Performance of College Teachers. International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 18.
Mohammed, A. M. (2006). Creating opportunities for continuing professional development of teachers: The National Teachers’ Institute experience, A Lead Paper presented at the 1st National Conference of the Faculty of Education, University of Abuja, 17th-21st, October
Morais, A. M., Neves, I. F., and Alfonso, M. (2005). Teacher training processes and teachers’ competence e a sociological study in the primary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(4), 415e437.
Osiesi P.M and Adeyem O.A (2019). Transforming Practicing Primary School Teachers Quality and Classroom Interaction Patterns through In-Service Training Programmes. Ibadan Journal of Educational Studies (IJES), Vol. 16, 2, 156-161.
Ponte, P., Ax, J., Beijaard, D. and Wubbels, T. (2004). Teachers’ development of professional knowledge through action research and the facilitation of this by teacher educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(6), 571e588.
Richard N. (2020). English Language: History, Definition, and Examples. How It's Evolved Over Centuries—And Still Changes Today. Thoughtco. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-english-language-1690652
Robinson R. and Carrington S. (2002). Professional development for inclusive schooling. International Journal of Educational Management 16: 239-247.
Seymour, J. R., and Osana, H. P. (2003). Reciprocal teaching procedures and principles: two teachers’ developing understanding. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(3), 325e344.
Vojtcova, MGR Nadesda. (2008). Training Future Elementary Teachers to Use Picture Storybooks. In: International Conference – ELT in Elementary Education, Bratislava Slovakia, 93-97 November 2008, pp. 10-14.
Westera. W (2001). Competences in Education: A Confusion of Tongues. Journal of curriculum studies, 33 (1), 75-88.
Copyright (c) 2020 Obateru, Oluwatoyin Tolu
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In submitting the manuscript to the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE), the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- The publication has been approved by the author(s) and by responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
License and Copyright Agreement
Authors who publish with International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or edit it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.