PROBLEM STATEMENT TOPIC: TEACHERS ‘COMPETENCES AFFECT STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCES

PROBLEM STATEMENT

TOPIC: TEACHERS ‘COMPETENCES AFFECT STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCES

(Teachers’ Competence In Relation To Students’ Academic Achievement)

The objective of the research is to analyse the effect of teachers’ competence towards student academic performances. Teachers are regarded as most important person that would whether directly or indirectly influence students’ performance and academic achievement level.

As we all know, today world achievement level of student in their academic performances highly influence by their teacher attributes and competences. Teacher’s competence refers to the right way of conveying units of knowledge, application and skills to students. The right way includes knowledge of content, process, methods, and means of conveying content. Teacher’s competence also refers to the ability of the teacher to help guide and counsel his or her student to achieve high grades. Most of the evaluations carried out for purposes of determining whether or not a public school teacher is competent involve an administrator (a principal, assistant principal or curriculum supervisor) visiting a classroom, recording observations and filling out a checklist indicating whether the teacher has demonstrated several defined behaviours. Anselmus (2011)

A characteristic of a competent teacher is that the teacher encourages students to reflect on social reality and empowers them to transform the existing conditions that shape their lives. Moreover, a competent teacher is one who engages student in dialogue and manages through dialogue to achieve genuine learning because when student and teachers are engaged in shared critical dialogue, they mutually create and construct knowledge instead of passively transmitting it, since they can share their experiences, reflect upon them and finally make critical evaluation regarding the way they themselves have obtained that knowledge and those experiences. Gutek (2004)

  Some attributes of teacher competences is because of poor teachers subject knowledge.  Means teachers do not have the capability of teaching and handling the subject that they are supposed to give the lecture.  According to Eggen & Kauchak (2001), there are three dimensioning under which a teachers’ knowledge of subject matter can be measured; namely content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge of content and general knowledge. The implications of these dimensions are that a teacher cannot teach what he or she does not know. Adediwura & Tayo (2007) further emphasised existence of high correlation between what teachers subject knowledge and what they teach students. In line with these finding, Adediwura & Tayo (2007) further accentuated that the ability of a teacher to teach effectively depends on the depth of knowledge the teacher possesses. Therefore, a teacher whose understanding of the subject content is thorough uses clearer expressions comparative to those whose backgrounds of subject mastery are weaker.

Teaching method is the factors that contribute to the teacher competences. Teaching is an interactive process which encompasses participation by both students and the teacher. In addition, lecturer teaching skill is may also become the attributes that would affect student academic performances. Adunola (2011) indicated that teaching methods used by the teachers’ should be best for the subject matter because if the method is not aligned with the specific outcome, then the result will be either poor or a failure. In certain cases, poor students’ achievements are attributed to poor teaching styles Kang’ahi ( 2012). Since every individual student interprets and responds to questions in a unique way (Chang, 2010), alignment of teacher’s teaching methods with students’ preferred learning styles helps to improve students’ achievements (Zeeb, 2004). Ayeni (2011) maintained that teaching is a continuous process that involves bringing about desirable changes in learners. Bharadwaj & Pal (2011) indicate that teaching methods work effective if they suit learners’ needs. Adunola (2011) further maintained that bias in selection of teaching methods by teachers in areas in which they exclusive monopoly knowledge should be avoided to improve students’ results.

More than that, teacher’s experience sometimes directly affects the student academic performance.  Experienced teachers as those who have taught for many years (5 years and above) and are able to motivate students and hold their attention, know how to manage their classroom effectively and can change course in the middle of a lesson to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities to enhance students learning. Rodniques (2010)

Teachers’ Understanding of Students’ Assessment is also one of the factors that contributes to teacher competences. The defined assessment as the process of obtaining information that is used to make educational decisions about students to give feedback to students about their progress, strength and weakness; to judge instructional effectiveness and curricular adequacy as well as inform policy. Thus the various assessment techniques includes formal and informal observation, qualitative analysis of student performance and products, paper and pencil tests, oral questionings and analysis of students’ records. The assessment competence of a teacher as identified by the association to includes’ knowledge and skills which is critical to a teacher’s role as educator. By establishing standards for teacher’s competence in students’ assessment the association subscribed to the view that student assessment is an essential part of teaching and that good teaching cannot exist without good assessment. American Federation of Teachers National Council on Measurement in Education National Education Association (1990)

Teachers’ attitude in class and while teaching also several of the attribute that will somehow affect the student academic performance.

As for the conclusion does teachers performances really bring affect toward the student performance especially in academic performance.