Abstract

The study focused on the effect of teachers’ characteristics on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in the Buea municipality. The study was guided by four objectives:1) To determine if the qualification of teachers has an effect on the academic performance of students.2)

To find out if teaching experience is related to the academic performance of students.3) To examine the relationship between teachers’ classroom effectiveness and students’ academic performance.4) To ascertain the influence of teachers’ skills/expertise on the academic performance of students in the Buea municipality.

This employed questionnaire as a technique to collect data to inform the audience. This technique was also complemented by documents. From the results presented in chapter four, the following were found: The study showed a strong positive relationship between teachers’ characteristics and academic performance.

The formal qualification of teachers is an important indicator of their knowledge and competence in teaching. Trained and qualified teachers are more successful with students as the quality of this training makes or mar the end product of a teacher’s job.  Fully prepared and certified teachers know how best to handle students and draw out their intellectual resources.

Qualified teachers bring prestige to a school as their efforts bring about increased student performance. People trace students’ performance to their teachers. Experienced teachers pass across knowledge and information which students do not possess by formulating teaching tasks using insight and experience.

Hence, students taught by teachers with long years of experience achieve at a higher level. Effectively managed classrooms, elementary ICT skills/expertise, proper behaviour, and discipline in a multicultural setting are significant for students to perform well academically

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Research is all about trying to seek the possible best problem. In respect to this problem to be examined on this topic (The effect of teacher’s characteristics on students’ academic performance in the Buea Municipality).

With this at hand, therefore, Tangura (2012) define a teacher’s characteristics as being able to engage students with humor, creative lesson, and managing his or her classroom effectively. To him, all these characteristics are what should be seen and which are very visible to any teacher.

The extent to which effectiveness can be visible is seen in the outcome or performance of the student. This means that Academic performance is the extent to which a student, teacher, or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals. Completion of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees represents academic achievement.

Under this chapter, the following aspects and subheadings were discussed with respect to the research topic. Background to the study, Statement of the Problem, Objectives of the study, research questions, research hypothesis, justification of the study, Significance of the study, and Scope of the Study.

Background to the Study

Historical Background

Teachers have a direct responsibility to shape a student’s academic performance and are the most important school-based factor in their education (Rockoff, 2004; Rivkin, HanushekKain 2005; Aaronson, Barrow & Sander, 2007). This is why it is important to examine which teacher characteristics may be related to student academic performance.

Considering which teacher characteristics produce the best student academic performance at the Secondary School level can help the school in identifying unique ways to increase student performance with the teacher resources available to them.

Excellence in academic life demands a high level of intelligence; but in addition to intelligence, recent studies have indicated that there are other factors that can be useful predictors of academic performance (Busato, Prins, Elshout, &Hamaker, 1999, 2000; Chamorro Premuzic & Furnham, 2003). One of the factors is teachers’ characteristics.

Teachers cannot be undermined in the discussion of knowledge transfer or education in every way. Teachers are very instrumental to the transfer of knowledge. Ali (2009) observes that there is a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ characteristics and student academic performance.

According to Thompson, Greer, & Greer (2005), there are twelve characteristics that are central to what students conceptualize as good teaching which connects to caring for students, both academically and personally, and strengthens recent indicators for academic performance.

Three characteristics are: displaying fairness, having a positive outlook being prepared, using a personal touch, respecting students, maintaining high expectations. Possessing a sense of humor, possessing creativity, admitting mistakes, and being forgiving, showing compassion, and developing a sense of belonging for students.

As humans, we possess an ingrained sense of fair play. We react negatively whenever we are dealt with by someone in a manner that violates what we think constitutes fairness in a situation.

Any sign of favoritism, or lack of fairness, can leave scars that last a lifetime. Borich (2000) suggests that effective teachers are those who use meaningful verbal praise to get and keep students actively participating in the learning process.

Effective teachers are generally positive-minded individuals who believe in the success of their students as well as their own ability to help students achieve.

Competence and knowledge of the content area being taught is something that makes a well-prepared teacher more likely to take time during lessons to notice and attend to behavioral matters, effective use of instructional time, student participation, and thereby, academic success. Teachers must show interest in their students, as this promotes bonding.

Teachers with a sense of humor make learning fun. If a teacher has a quick wit and the ability to break the ice in difficult situations with the use of humor, students recognize the strength reflected in these teachers, as they provide a wonderful model for how to deal with embarrassing situations effectively. Students remember unusual things that their teachers did in their teaching.

They remember how it is related to a subject matter being taught which captivated their interest. Irvine (2001) suggests that students defined teachers who set limits, provides structure, held high expectations and pushed them to achieve as their favorite teachers.

Generally, these behaviors affect student learning. Working to include these traits into everyday teaching routines will ensure that students have a positive school experience as well as a successful one. Rice (2003) recognized five broad categories of teacher attributes that appear to contribute to teacher quality. They are experience, preparation programs and degrees, type of certification, course work was taken in preparation for the profession, and teachers’ own test scores.

Performance as a variable is linked to the teachers’ experience, resulting from the ideas generated in the course of learning, training, acquired classroom management skills/expertise. Teachers’ experience has a significant effect on student performance in the sense that students taught by more experienced teachers achieve at a higher level because their teachers have mastered the content and gained classroom management skills/expertise to deal with different types of classroom problems (Gibbson, 1997); therefore, the academic performance of students is dependent on the characteristics that a teacher portray.

According to Mumare& Philip (1981), experience has a significant positive effect on the connection that exists between the quality of a teacher and the academic performance of students cannot be overemphasized because they both work for hand in glove in showcasing how quality education could be enshrined in an academic process and this could be inferred from the words of Strong (2007); that asserted a positive relationship between teachers’ verbal ability and students’ achievement.

Parents are keen at seeing their children enroll and graduate from prestigious educational institutions as most compete to offer their best educational programs and be at the forefront of academic excellence. People who are directly involved in the students’ academic life are the teachers who provide help to these students.

Classroom teachers are primarily responsible for student academic achievement as a school’s primary focus is on the academic preparation of students.

Contextual background

A teacher by their very definition is that which guide and impact knowledge to students, pupils and to the community as well. His/her communicate the knowledge through their professional skills. These skills can only be successfully pass across when he/she is well trained. Today in the Cameroon context, teachers do face a lot of difficult trying to pass across this knowledge to students.

Inadequate finance. It entails a lot financially to train a well-qualified teacher. There are several schools aimed in Cameroon which its forcus are to train teachers for example GTTC (primary) and ENS (secondary).To get into such schools is not easy since it entails a lot of financial expenditures. Most teachers today are not well trained and therefore such will caused students to perform poorly

Time of training. To become the best, you must be well trained and this has to be done intensively. The required time to train teacher are three years in Government Teachers training College for primary schools teachers and Two for ENS secondary schools teachers.

Some teachers still yet are unable to complete this training but yet will still go into the classroom to teach. It’s often said “You don’t give what you don’t have”. When such a teacher handles a particular class and such students always perform poorly.

Monotonous practices of some teachers which have made them become very dull. The world now our days in fast changing in respect to the technological changes. Most teachers in Cameroon and Buea in particular don’t carry out research nor update themselves since they always do one and the same thing over and over.

Some still stick with their old notes book and don’t even change their teaching styles and some come to class without note claiming they have all the materials in their head but at the end of the day will give wrong stuff to children thinking its right.

Teacher-Student relationship. In recent times in Cameroon we have witness that this issue has been a great problem. Students having affairs with teachers until the extent where the students become pregnant.

A well trained and qualify teacher wont dive into such because by the very attributes of a teacher is self-decline and acting as a role model to the students. This action will go a long way to lose the respect of the teacher among students and will lack of seriousness and therefore will cause a drop in students’ academic performance.

Attitude of the Government towards teachers. Most teachers now our days turn to suffer especially in some secondary because of Growth loan. After leaving ENS and teaching the government does not pay for about three to four years. The only means of survival is to go look for another schools and as a result will have to abandoned their own schools and students.

Objective of the Study

General Objection

The main objective is

To investigate if teacher’s characteristics affect students’ academic performance.

The specific objectives are:

1. To determine if the qualification of teachers have an effect on the academic performance of students.
2. To find out if teaching experience is related to academic performance of students.
3. To examine the relationship between teacher’s classroom effectiveness and students’ academic performance.
4. To find out if teacher’s skills/expertise influence the academic performance of students.

Research Hypotheses

General Research Hypotheses

H0: There is no significant relationship between teacher characteristics and

Students’ academic performance

Ha: There is a significant relationship between teacher characteristics and

Student’s academic performance.