ASSESSMENT OF TEACHERS’ COMPETENCIES IN THE TEACHING OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU EDUCATION ZONE.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Education is indispensable for all nations aspiring towards basic knowledge to  achieve greatness.  It is based on this premise that Ogbonnaya (2003) asserted that a nation that considers compulsory education for citizens sees it as an agent of sustainable growth and development.  In recognition of the above, education in Nigeria is an instrument  “par  excellence  for effecting national development” (Federal Republic of Nigeria, FRA, 2004: 49).  Education represents the totality of the institutional structures and processes that determine both learning and teaching as the means for the transmission and improvement of a society’s repertoire of knowledge, ideas, abilities, beliefs, culture and morality from one generation to another (Ibrahim, 2004).

Okeke (2009) observed that the functionality of Nigeria’s education is in doubt from his research findings on the high rate of unemployment among educational output form primary to university levels in Nigeria. According to Nnamani (2007) statistics shows that  up to 40% of graduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria remain unemployed after the National Youth Services Corps.  This ugly trend in educational output in Nigeria continues to grow unabated with severe consequences to the educations rector. The nation’s educational system has not provided enough job opportunities for its outputs or graduates (Haris, 2010).  In recognition of the inability of the economy to absorb the teeming unemployed youths, the Federal Government of Nigeria though the National Education Research Development Council (NERDC) proposed the introduction of entrepreneurship education in the entire school curriculum in the country.

An entrepreneur  is a person who  takes risks,  has initiative  and creativity and  makes things happen through the skills bestowed on the person (Obosode, 2009).   An entrepreneur, therefore, applies creative and innovative talents to start their own business or project or expand one that already exists.   The skills that will enable individuals operate their jobs or businesses

have to be taught in schools by the teachers so as to realize the self-reliant bid of the government. The necessary skills needed to be impacted on the students are contained in the curriculum.  The entrepreneurship education curriculum offers subjects like basic technology education and basic business  education to enable individual students acquire the  entrepreneurial  skills which will enhance  self-employment   opportunity.     Specifically   the   module  of  the  entrepreneurship education curriculum incorporates the following goals.

    The development of learners awareness of professional and entrepreneurial opportunities

    The development of pupils’ awareness of socially-responsible entrepreneurial behaviour.

    Concept of business and business organization

    Entrepreneurial thought and action

    Creativity and idea generation

    Design thinking opportunity

    Evaluation and business planning

    Entrepreneurial marketing, public policy and economic development

    New venture creation

    Human relation management

    Technology entrepreneurship

    Entrepreneurial finance

The above goals are to be attained with the teaching of entrepreneurship education in the school.  This will enable the products of the school to acquire necessary skills to be successful entrepreneurs of their business outfits.

Entrepreneurship   education   generates   innovative   opportunities   for  students   to   be successful to themselves and of great value to their communities (Peter, 2007).  The attainment of  this  objective  is critical  and  requires  teachers  that  are  knowledgeable  and  competent  to

implement  the entrepreneurship  education curriculum  in secondary schools.   This is  realized through the acquisition of certain levels of skills by the teacher.

Skills  as  used  here  refer  to  the  competencies   required  of  the  teachers  for   the implementation process of the entrepreneurship education in the classroom situation.  The skills may  be  managerial,  accounting  and  financial  skills,  marketing  and  sale  skills  and  general business  competencies.   The managerial skills deal with communicative  skills  of the teacher which may be oral or written.   The financial skill requires knowledge  of accounts in business outfits.  The marketing and general business skill competencies comprise the skill in the sale of goods and the running of different types of business which one is exposed to.  The teachers are expected  to be armed  with the above  competencies  in  an effort  to impart  the skills on the students so as to be functional members of the society.

According  to  UNESCO  (2010)  entrepreneurship  education  emerged  as a response  to international call and the need to curb the high rate of unemployment globally and to reduce the reliance on government  paid jobs which has manifested  greatly in developing  countries  like Nigeria.  Hicks (2007) asserts that a combination of lack of labour market opportunities and lack of skills result in many young people being unable to secure a job in the formal economy.  Most of the schools in Nigeria do not promote any entrepreneurship education that youth would need to either start a business,  join and increase the  productivity of an existing business, or more generally develop a more proactive and entrepreneurial attitude in their professional career.

Entrepreneurship  education has a spiral effect of ensuring sustainable development and growth  in a country  like  Nigeria.    Similarly,  entrepreneurship  education  enables  secondary schools  students  to  acquire  life  long  entrepreneurship   skills.     Through   entrepreneurship education, students including those with disabilities, learn organizational  skills including time management,  leadership  development  and  entrepreneurial  skills,   all   of  which  are  highly transferable  skills sought by employers  (Derio,  2008).    Specially,  the curriculum  content  of

entrepreneurship  education  meant  for  secondary  schools  comprise  concept  of  business  and business organizations, management of business organizations, human and capital formation and organization,  job location opportunities,  vocational training procedures.   Other aspects of the curriculum include human relations management, international trade, business capital and profit maximization  and  business  cycle.    The  basic  objective  articulated  from  the  content  of  the entrepreneurship education is the organization of the skills to enhance the business potentials of the person concern.

All these objectives of studying entrepreneurship  education in secondary schools hinge on  the  potentialities  of  the  teacher  to  impact  the  desired  knowledge  to  the  learners.    The potentialities of the teacher otherwise known as the competences of the teacher are an essential variable to consider in assessing the implementation of entrepreneurship  education in Nigeria. The centre of all the implementation processes is the teacher who is in very close contact with the students or learners in the classroom settings.  On a general note, the disposition of teacher is very essential in the implementation of any curriculum.  Ogbonnaya (2003) asserted that:

The need  to involve  teachers  in all phases of curriculum  planning  can hardly be over emphasized.   To begin with, that a curriculum  has been designed to guarantee that corresponding  educational  experiences which may result  in the end will depend  on teachers.    It  is on the efforts of teachers that a curriculum which has been designed by planners in society depends, to a large extent for its success in terms of ending to appropriate ends of education in the society.  Teachers are key factors in the operation and for the success of curriculum, they are indispensable in the educative process (P.40).

Behind every successful implementation of any curriculum project or policy are highly trained, motivated  and efficient classroom teachers (Ibrahim, 2007).   The National  Policy on Education, (FRN, 2004) state that no educational system or policy can rise above the quality of its  teachers  (2004).     The  role  of  teachers  in  achieving  sustainable   improvement  in  the implementation of entrepreneurship education in secondary schools is a cardinal one.  Mgbodile (2004) had noted that the importance of the teacher in determining the tempo of curricular and

methodology cannot be underestimated.   He noted that plans and policies can be well laid  on paper, the implementation strategies well outlined, and the organizational structure well set, but it is the teacher factor that stands as the deciding factor in terms of whether or not the desired goals and objectives which have informed all the efforts can be achieved.

Many researchers  have reiterated  the fact that teachers disposition and  characteristics, what teachers think, believe and do, their experience, qualifications, sex and location of teaching ultimately determine their level of performance and the quality of education (Friedman, 2005; Kpolow, 2004).  It has also been revealed that teachers tend to perceive distinct needs according to their personal factors such as qualification, teaching experience, and knowledge of the subject matter, gender, school location and their area of specialization Ola (2006). Studies have revealed that qualification of teachers affect school achievement to the extent that academically qualified teachers tend to succeed more than their non-qualified counterparts.  Okeke (2008) affirmed that adequately qualified teachers have the confidence and courage to use their initiative to impact experiences positively on the student for improved performance.

The teacher is seen by Idris (2008) as a significant component of the classroom, positing that  male  and  female  teachers  differ  significantly  in  several  ways.    Such  differences  they observed have relative effects on the classroom environment such that students perceived classes taught by male and female teachers differently.   The instructional behaviour of teachers during classroom interactions appears to exert the most pervading influence on gender issues.  Gender inequality  in  achievement  attitude  and  interest  in  many  fields  of  studies  has  remained  a contentions issue (Hobson, 2009). Gender is a range of characteristic used to distinguish between male and female, particularly in the cases of men and women, masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Gender is a social construct, it is not biologically determined but a concept equivalent to race or class (Offorma, 2004). This definition suggests that gender is socially or culturally constructed characteristics and role, which are associated with males and females in

society. It is different from sex which is a biological distinction in appearance (morphology) and function (physiology) as well as reproductive contributions of men and women.   According to Lee  (2001)  gender  is  ascribed  attribute  that  differentiates  feminine  from  masculine.  The difference  in  competence  of  male  and  female  teachers  in  implementing  secondary  school curriculum has been reported by researchers. Udeinya (2008) and Okafor (2006) reported that male teachers are more competent than their female counterparts in implementing geography and mathematics curriculum in secondary while  Omoogun (2009) reveals that gender significantly affects teachers competency needs of  environmental education concepts. Therefore, this study will investigated gender differences in the teacher competence possess for the implementation of entrepreneurship education in secondary school.

Similarly, there is age long controversy on whether the school location has an impact on student’s achievement. Location of school connotes an area where a school is suited. It could be urban, rural or semi-urban. As schools play an important role in the intellectual development of children,  adequate programme  of learning  facilities  or lack of item may  facilitate  or hinder learning.   The location of schools comes into play here because it may determine some vital learning ingredients such as learning facilities infrastructure,  number of teachers and the class size. However researcher reports on the achievement and competencies of students and teachers have been associated with location. Omoogun (2009) reported that location significantly affect teachers competency needs of environmental education concept. This present study will examine whether  location  will  influence  the  methodology  competence  of  teachers  in  implementing entrepreneurship education in secondary school.

Competency needs involve the identification of relevant knowledge and skills required in order to carry out a particular operation.   According to Hobson (2008),  competency involves having a sound knowledge of the subject matter and of the methods of effectively imparting the facts and skills relating to the subject.   Adeniran (2007) observed  that in relation to classroom

instruction a competent teacher is one who carries out effective teaching.   He emphasized  that competency  involves  knowledge,  skills,  attitudes  and  judgment  which  are  required  for  the successful performance of a task rather than all the components comprising the tasks.   As Peter (209) affirmed that the objective of teaching would still not be achieved if the teacher does not understand the subject matter he or she is teaching.  In recognition of the importance attached to competency skills in teaching. Ogbonaya (2003) affirms that the  steps to identify competency needs of teachers are the capacity to:

    Identify all tasks/job to be learnt;

      Determine  what  one would  need  to know  and  do  in order to perform  the  identified jobs/tasks,

    Arrangement of tasks and jobs into appropriate courses,

    Organize knowledge and skill for each task

    Determine what one needs to know for mastery of each knowledge and skills.

Basically,  entrepreneurship  education  has  been  developed  by NERDC  and  the  council  has appropriately identified the content area to include small enterprises, methods, and materials for teaching entrepreneurship education, evaluation of entrepreneurship education programs, design and content of entrepreneurship  development programs, entrepreneurship  education for adults, small  enterprises  development  and  seminar  in  entrepreneurship  development.    Each  course contained classroom instruction as well as practical activities that are related to entrepreneurship development  and  implementation  in secondary  schools.    Teachers  are therefore  expected  to posses  the  ability  to  articulate  the  contents  of  entrepreneurship  education  to  enable  them implement it.

It  is  based  on  this  premise  that  the  present  study  is  designed  to  assess  teachers’ competencies  in the  teaching  of  entrepreneurship  education  in  secondary  schools  in Enugu education zone.

Statement of the Problem

Entrepreneurship  education  curricula  had  been  developed  in  Nigeria  by the  Nigeria Education  Research  Development  Council  (NERDC,  2004)  for  the secondary  schools.    The reason is to ensure the realization of the self-reliant  bid of the Federal  government.   This is articulated in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) as the programme was designed to enhance job creation by the graduates with less realized as the unemployment rate remains high. In this regard, the parents’ teachers, the government and the general public are worried over this trend.  The teachers are expected to reverse this worrying ugly situation.   Teachers play a key role in the realization of self-reliance aspiration of the government through teaching and learning of  entrepreneurship  education  curriculum.    The  problem  may  therefore,  lie  in  the  level  of teacher’s   competencies   in   the  implementation   of  the  programme   in  secondary  schools. Therefore, the problem of the study posed as a question is; what are the competencies of teachers in the teaching of entrepreneurship education in secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone. Purpose of the study

The specific purpose of this study is based on the assessment of teacher’s competencies in the teaching of entrepreneurship  education in secondary schools in Enugu  Education Zone. Specifically, the study seeks to:

1.   Determine  the  entrepreneurial  skills  possessed  by  teachers  in  the  teaching  of  the entrepreneurship education in secondary school.

2.   Find  out  the  teaching  methods  used  by  the  teachers  in  teaching  the  content   of entrepreneurship education in secondary school.

3.   Determine the teacher’s qualification in the teaching of the entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.

4.   Ascertain  the influence  of teacher  gender  on the skills  possessed  by teachers  in  the teaching of entrepreneurship education in secondary school

5.   Find out the influence of location on the method used by the teachers in teaching  the content of entrepreneurship education in secondary school

6.   Determine the problems encountered in the teaching of the entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.

Significance of the study

The findings of this study would be beneficial to the curriculum planners, Ministry of Education and supervisors, teachers and the students.   The findings of the study identified the competency needs which the teachers possessed and the ones needed for the implementation of the entrepreneurship education curriculum in secondary schools.

The findings of this study would benefit the curriculum planners as it will draw  their attention to the need to actualize the implementation of entrepreneurship  education to curb the high unemployment rate in Nigeria.   this awareness will enhance the designing of pre-service and  in-service  programme  that  will  include  appropriate  knowledge  and  skills  needed  for implementation  of  entrepreneurship   education.     Furthermore,  the  findings  would  provide information  that will stimulate  the organization  of workshops,  conferences  and seminars  for entrepreneurship educators in curriculum planning and implementation as well as the review of curriculum at the various subject levels of reflects some key areas of entrepreneurship education especially as it relates to the competency needs of teachers.

The findings of the study would be of immense benefit to the Ministry of Education and supervisors  as  they  appreciate  the  importance  of  promoting  entrepreneurship  education  in schools with the necessary competency needed for implementation.

Teachers  would also benefit  from the results of this study.   Teachers would  become aware  of the  competencies  needed  for their  effective  participation  in the  implementation  of entrepreneurship education curriculum.  It would also enable the teachers to apply the identified

competencies  in the improvement of individual classroom instruction to ensure the  permanent change  in the behaviour  of learners.   The teachers  would  also  benefit  through  seminar  and conferences  organized  for them by the principals  of the schools on  the need to develop  the competence  through  in-service  training  such  as  sandwich  programme  and  similar  related programmes, in other tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Students would also benefit  from the findings  of this study.   Improved  competency needs would enhance teacher’s effectiveness in the teaching of entrepreneurship education that will  provide  a  forum  for  the  students  to  become  self-reliant  through  the  acquired  skills. Generally,  as  teachers  become  more  committed  to  the  issues  concerning  entrepreneurship education  curriculum,   the  schools  will   produce   students   who   are  well  informed   about entrepreneurship education and the skills required for its acquisition to be self-reliant citizens of Nigeria.

Textbook  authors  would  find  the  results  of  the  study  relevant  in  the  selection  of curriculum contents and materials that will enhance the implementation (teaching and learning) of entrepreneurship education curriculum in secondary schools.

Finally, the results of the study would be a significant addition to the literature base in teacher competency in implementing entrepreneurship  education in schools and the role played by qualification, experience and gender in the implementation of entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.   This would form the basis for further research.   This study has theoretical significance as it is anchored on competency based approach,  Marsharllian  and Max Webers theories on entrepreneurship.   These theories best explains  the teachers’ characteristics which influence  learning  such  as  qualification,  personal  characteristics  and  the  general  pedagogy involved in teaching and learning processes.

Scope of the Study

The geographical scope of this study will involve all the secondary schools in  Enugu State  which comprises  secondary  schools in the  six zones  namely,  Enugu,  Nsukka,  Obollo, Awgu, Udi and Agbani areas of the state.  The content scope will focus in the assessment of the competency of teachers’ in the teaching of entrepreneurship  education in secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone.

Research Questions

The following research question guided the study;

1.   What   are   the   entrepreneurial   skills   teachers’   posses   in   the   teaching   of   the entrepreneurship education secondary schools?

2.   What  are  the  teaching  methods  used  by  the  teachers  in  teaching  the  content   of entrepreneurship education in schools.

3.   What is the qualification of teachers’ teaching entrepreneurship education in schools?

4.   To  what  extent  do  teaches  gender  influence  the  skills  possessed  by teachers  in  the teaching of entrepreneurship education in secondary schools?

5.   To what extent do location influence the teaching methods used by teachers in teaching the content of entrepreneurship education in secondary schools?

6.   What are the problems encountered by teachers in teaching entrepreneurship education in secondary schools in Enugu state.

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses was formulated for this study and tested at 0.05 level of significance.

1.   There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female teachers on the skills possessed for the teaching of entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.

2.   There is no significant  difference  in the mean ratings of urban and rural teachers  on teaching methods adopted in teaching entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.

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