CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Teacher education is an important aspect of our educational system. It involves the preparation of teachers who are responsible for transforming our educational theories and policies into practice. The National Policy on Education (2004) highlights the purpose of teacher education to include producing highly efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our educational system. For teachers to teach competently and efficiently, they must be adequately exposed to both the academic (theoretical) and practical aspects of teaching. Teaching today is an invaluable asset to the society. Teaching is a process through which a teacher applies his/her knowledge of the learners, subject matter and methodology to help an individual learn. According to Ogunmosunle in Agusiobo and Udegbe (2002) teaching is the use of educational knowledge, methods and space to educate whoever desires to be educated. It involves direct contact between the teacher and the learner. It is a complex variety of mutual activities undertaken by both of them (the teacher and the learner) in order to promote learning. According to Okorie (1997) the professional education of teachers cannot be validated without adequate preparation of prospective teachers for dynamic roles in today schools through practice. The practical phase of teacher preparation commonly referred to as teaching practice is a crucial aspect of teacher preparatory programme in teacher training institutions in general such as school of education in colleges of education and faculties of education in Nigerian Universities. Teaching practice is a period of time during which a student teacher is assigned to a specific institution; primary or secondary school for a supervised teaching as one of the requirements for graduation and effective teaching experience. Okorie in Agusiobo and Udegbe (2002) defined teaching practice as a period that enables student teachers to learn about the actual work of the teacher in the classroom as well as out-of-class experience. Teaching practice provides the laboratory where a student practicalizes what he/she had learnt concerning effective teaching. Student’s teaching practice is an important factor in preparing students for future teaching assignments. According to National Teacher Institution, teaching practice manual (2005), the general objectives of teaching practice are to enable the student teachers;

a. Gain general experience-academic professional, social and physical related to teaching profession.

b. Acquire a wealth of practical experience from all staff they are likely to be in contact with through active participation in the school assigned responsibilities.

c. Bring the student teachers into direct contact with such significant issues as the functions and responsibilities of various categories of school, staff academic and non-academic.

d. Develop competence in proper lesson preparation delivery and assessment.

Teaching practice is an important component of becoming a teacher. It grants student teachers experience in the actual teaching and learning environment (Ngidi & Sibaya, 2003:18; Marais & Meier, 2004:220; Perry, 2004:2).

To achieve the above objectives, the student teacher is usually required to undergo a twelve weeks teaching practice to enable him/her acquire the expected skills which will position him/her as a competent professional teacher. During this period, the student teacher may be face with some challenges which include classroom management, attitude of the supervisors towards the student teachers, curriculum development, instruction and environmental challenges.

 During teaching practice, a student teacher is given the opportunity to try the art of teaching before actually getting into the real world of the teaching profession (Kasanda, 1995). Student teachers also know the value of teaching practice and as remarked by Menter (1989:461), they perceive it as ‘the crux of their preparation for the teaching profession’ since it provides for the ‘real interface’ between student hood and membership of the profession. As a result, teaching practice creates a mixture of anticipation, anxiety, excitement and apprehension in the student teachers as they commence their teaching practice (Manion, Keith, Morrison & Cohen, 2003; Perry, 2004:4). Marais & Meier (2004:221) assert that the term teaching practice represents the range of experiences to which student teachers are exposed when they work in classrooms and schools. Marais and Meier (2004:221) further argue that teaching practice is a challenging but important part of teacher training, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, where the effectiveness of the teaching practice can be diminished or eroded by a range of challenges, such as geographical distance, low and uneven levels of teacher expertise, a wide-ranging lack of resources as well as a lack of discipline among a wide cross-section of learners and educators These challenges, if not addressed, may affect student teachers’ performance during teaching practice and may in the long run affect their perception of the teaching profession (Quick & Sieborger, 2005).

Several studies have been conducted on student teacher’s experience and anxieties during teaching practice (Ngidi & Sibaya, 2003; Marais & Meier, 2004)to mention but two. However a review of the literature indicates that there are limited studies that have been conducted regarding ways in which students’ experiences during teaching practice influence their perception of and attitudes towards the teaching profession The study examined the experiences of Vaal University of Technology (VUT) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) student teachers during their teaching practice in the Vaal Triangle. The study was prompted by a class discussion where students were requested to give reasons for choosing the teaching profession. The majority of the students in that class indicated that they were doing the course by default. The students saw it as a stopgap while they waited for better career opportunities in other fields. Most of the students were from other countries and had been offered government bursaries to enroll for the PGCE program. These students enrolled because they had no alternative, since they were not able to get jobs after their undergraduate qualification and because there was funding available for them to do the PGCE course. The majority of student teachers indicated that they had no intention of teaching after the course. During the year, some students maintained the same attitude while others felt that teaching was “not such a bad thing after all”. All students had continued with the course until the time they had had to go for teaching practice. Towards the end of teaching practice, the student teachers were asked about their experiences during teaching practice and whether these experiences may have influenced their perception of the teaching profession.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The fallen standard of education in Nigeria has reached an alarming stage yet education is the bedrock of development. Iniobong (2008) opined that the future of any nation depends on the quality of her teachers. The National Policy on Education (2004) stated that no educational system can rise above the level of its teaching staff. This shows the role of the teachers and the teacher education program in national development. With the introduction of Universal Basic Education, (UBE) in 1976, only well trained teachers can successfully translate the objective of UBE to reality. Teaching practice is one of the most important aspects of teachers training program in Nigeria aimed at exposing the student teachers to the field to carry out the theoretical knowledge and experience into practice in real classroom situation under the supervision of a sound teacher. In some cases, the objective of teaching practice may not be fully realized, this is because, most student teachers after their student teaching experiences or even after their graduation from college, still lack the required and necessary skills for which they were sent on teaching practice. The inability to fully realize the objectives of teaching practice or the inability of student teachers to perform to expectation can be attributed to certain challenges or inadequacies of the program. The challenges that face student teachers during teaching practice is what necessitates the need for the study and hence the problem of the study.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of this study is to find out the challenges facing student teachers during teaching practice exercise. Specifically, the study seeks to:

1. Determine the classroom management challenges facing student teachers   during teaching practice exercise.

2. Find out the environmental challenges facing student teachers during   teaching practice exercise.

3. Find out the curriculum development and instruction challenges facing student teachers during teaching practice exercise.

4. Find out the supervisory challenges facing student teachers during teaching practice exercise.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will guide the researcher to arrive at a valid result and also to achieve the stated objectives above:

1. What are the challenges of classroom management faced by student teachers during teacher practice exercise?

2. What are the environmental challenges faced by student teachers during teaching practice exercise?

3. What are the curriculum developments and instruction challenges faced by student teachers during teaching practice exercise?

4. What are the supervisory challenges faced by student teachers during teaching practice exercise?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The following people, organizations and establishment will benefit from the findings of this study. Student teachers, teachers in primary and secondary schools, colleges of education and universities, supervisors of teaching practice, government and future researchers. Student teachers are the main benefactors of the findings in the sense that the study will acquaint them with the challenges of the program and the role they can play to surmount the challenges. This will help them to be better graduates that are well equipped with what it takes to face the realities of teaching. It will enable our colleges and universities to equip their students with the rudiments of teaching before sending them to teaching practice. It will also help to device means of removing the problems and thus modify the program. The removal of these hindrances will also make for more effective organization and implementation of the program. The supervisors of teaching practice and the cooperating school teachers will through the findings acquaint themselves with the best and effective measures to adopt in helping the student teachers to realize or achieve the objectives of teaching practice. Future researchers will benefit from these findings because the study will be as a reference for their research in the near future. Finally the findings of this study will benefit the general public because education is the key to building a society.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study covers the three hundred level students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, Oyo state.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Due to limited time and insufficient fund to finance the project the research is limited to one School in Oyo state.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Analysis: detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.

Problems: a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome.

Students Teacher: a college, university or graduate