CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
That education is the single most important building block on which a nation’s development is founded is an understatement. Indeed, it is the fulcrum, around which all the nation’s enterprises and endeavours revolve. The extent to which these enterprises are functional and the endeavours are worthwhile is largely dependent on the quality of education that a nation provides for its people through the arch-man called the teacher (Abroampa and Wilson, 2013).
Though, the efforts at providing quality education require the inputs of various stakeholders, teachers are the prime vanguards, they are the final implementers of the curriculum. As a result, the quality of learners that an education system turns out is determined by the quality of teachers; to a greater extent, learners’ achievement is determined by the quality of teaching. Without mincing words, one can say that no nation can develop beyond the level of its teachers (Hallack cited in Abroampa and Wilson, 2013).
Nelson (2007) explained that what teachers bring into the classroom dictates the quality of the educational experience of their students. In order to understand how to create optimal learning environments that promote interest in academics, it is essential that teacher variables linked to student interest are studied. Agreeably, teachers perform a myriad of tasks including, but not limited to, managing the classrooms, preparing and delivering lessons, assessing the work of students, and enhancing student motivation for achievement. Perhaps one of the best documented attributes of effective teachers is a strong sense of efficacy.
Teachers’ sense of efficacy is the belief in their capability to make a difference in student learning, to be able to get through even to students who are difficult or unmotivated. Teacher efficacy has been linked to positive students’ outcomes and to student motivation. Teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy find innovative ways to ensure that students learn. Efficacious teachers are not satisfied with underachievers and work diligently with students to promote student self-efficacy (Pollock, 2007; Poulou, 2007; Knoblauch & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2008 and Chong, Klassen, Huan, Wong, and Kates, 2010).
Researchers have shown that teachers’ perceptions and beliefs do not only have considerable influence on their instructional practices and classroom behaviour but also are related to their students’ achievement (Adeyemi, 2013).
In Nigeria, public discussions frequently focus on educational standards. The public’s unhappiness becomes more prominent following the annual release of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination results. Student outcomes do not match the government and parental investment. All stakeholders are concerned about why the system is turning out students with poor results. The National Policy on Education states, “No Education system can rise above the quality of teachers in the system” (FGN, 2006).
It is on this foundation that the researcher seeks to investigate the effect of teacher’s self efficacy on junior secondary school students’ academic achievement in Business Studies.