TEACHER VARIABLES AND CREATIVE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AMONGST PUPILS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN PORT HARCOURT LOCAL AREA, RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study was on teacher variables and creative skills development amongst pupils in public primary schools in Portharcourt local area, Rivers state. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the effect of teachers’ educational qualifications on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt, to ascertain the effect on teachers’ teaching experience on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt and to ascertain the effect of teachers’ attitude creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt. The total population for the study is 75 selected primary schools in Portharcourt. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1Background of the study

Teachers have been identified as the heart of the educational process and the main determinant of quality and effectiveness of its results. According to Awake (2011), the main bottleneck to the improvement of students’ academic performance is the recruitment of experienced and qualified teachers. He noted that teachers’ behavior is not only influenced by their belief, but also by their attitude towards teaching. And that attitude is defined as internal believes that influence personal action and learning directly through one’s experiences and exposure. Teacher variable toward teaching includes work value, teaching method, teacher’s qualification and teacher’s commitment among others. Dada (2007) Submitted that teachers are more likely to exhibit more enthusiasm in preparation and presentation of the lesson when they are affectionate towards learners than when they are apathetic or indifferent towards students (learners). It is crystal clear that the presence of financial and material resources alone cannot get things done effectively except human beings are available with the necessary participation to make use of money and machine. In the school setting, goals and objectives are achieved through the efforts of the people. Knowledge could be imparted if human resources are not available or adequate. It is also pertinent to say that teachers are indispensable human resources in the educational system. This is so because teachers interpret the aims and objective of education to ensure that the children are educated in accordance with them since quality outputs depend on quality inputs, the success and quality of education depend on effective teachers (Obadara, 2009).

The development of creativity is today considered essential in order to achieve quality education and effective learning. Creativity is understood as a higher-order thinking skill based on complex and postformal thought that is concerned with the creation of new and valuable ideas (Larraz, 2015). Higher-order thinking skills are those involved in proficient and strategic thought, and these skills comprise critical, creative and metacognitive thinking, also known as deep learning by other authors (Valenzuela, 2008).

Creativity is one of the most appreciated learning skills current the XXI century. Creativity is conceived as a higher-order thinking skill based on complex and postformal thought concerned with the creation of new and valuable ideas. Higher-order thinking skills are those involved in proficient and strategic thought, and these skills comprise critical, creative and metacognitive thinking, also known as deep learning. In addition, the development of creativity is today considered essential in order to achieve an effective and a high-level learning (Cameron & Lively, 2013).

Despite the observed need for the development of creativity in the curriculum, there is a general tendency to reproduce teaching and learning models and a constraint on teacher’s search for procedures to teach creativity, which involves little creativity development in pupil, with a predominance of reproductive learning Clipa&Boghean (2015)

Creativity is inherent in human development and his personality. It begins to be developed from the first years of school and continues into higher education and increases through the number of experiences that the individual has, and to the extent that the activity of teachers could promote it

In the context of a continuously transforming reality, this stresses the individual in its personality complexity, creativity is a basic quality which allows the exploration of a problem matter by a divergent thinking, envisioning multiple approaching perspectives in order to identify the right solution. From this perspective it is necessary that the pupils are well prepared, achieve competences and abilities to help them be creative, active, competitive, therefore performing within educational activities and then, in the society (Cameron & Lively, 2013). These competences though innate- can be developed throughout life, fact that determined me to make a point by this study, about the impact that, the creativity stimulation methods, techniques and procedures presented here, have on the divergent thinking, imagination and the pupils’ creative attitudes. It has to be stated however, that the formative-educative effects of the presented strategies are directly related to the level of engagement and both individual and collective participation in the learning and development process (Starco, 2010; Clipa&Iorga, 2013; Clipa&Boghean (2015),). Encouraging the child’s creativity since school becomes necessary given the fact that this individual ability can be identified by the teacher by specific tests, techniques and methods and can be developed taking into account each child’s skill, on different fields (Torrance, 1984; Stern & Dearborn, 1998).

Based on this background the researcher wants to investigate teacher variables and creative skills development amongst pupils in public primary schools in Portharcourt local government of Rivers State

Statement of the problem

The persistent problem of poor performance of pupils in creative skills development at the primary schools level remains very worrisome to stakeholders in the state and Nigeria in general. Scholars have attributed the problem to poor handling of the subject by inexperienced teachers who are not well versed in the subject as well as in classroom dynamics. It has been suggested that the demand of the syllabus is so high that only experienced teachers who can teach the subject effectively by employing various strategies and tactics to carry the learners along should be made to handle it at this level of education for better result.

From the above, it is observed that previous studies have centred attention mainly on investigating the differences or relationship between individual (single) teachers’ variables and pupils’ creative skills development. Apparently further studies are required to investigate the combined contribution of teachers’ qualification (TQ), teachers’ attitude (TA), teachers’ workload (TW), teachers experience (TE) and pupils’ attitude (SA) towards their performance in primary school. This study therefore, sought to investigate how well creative skills development level could be explained by the combined influence of teachers’ qualification, teachers’ workload, teachers’ experience, teachers’ attitude, students’ attitude and teachers’ instrument.

Objective of the study

The objectives of the study are;

1. To ascertain the effect of teachers’ educational qualifications on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt.
2. To ascertain the effect on teachers’ teaching experience on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt.
3. To ascertain the effect of teachers’ attitude creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt.

Research question

The following research questions were formulated;

1. What is the effect of teachers’ educational qualifications on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt?
2. What is the effect on teachers’ teaching experience on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt?
3. What is the effect of teachers’ attitude creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt?

Research hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated;

H0: there is no effect of teachers’ educational qualifications on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt.

H1: there is effect of teachers’ educational qualifications on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt

H0: there is no effect on teachers’ teaching experience on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt

H2: there is effect on teachers’ teaching experience on creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt

H0: there is no effect of teachers’ attitude creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt

H3: there is effect of teachers’ attitude creative skills development of pupils in primary school in Portharcourt

Significance of the study

The teachers’ related variables have been identified as factors that are linked to pupils creative skills development in all subjects especially at the primary school level (Darling Hammond 2000, & Wenglinky 2002). This study adds to the literature of researches on the relationship between teachers’ variables and pupils achievement in creative skills development.

First of all, this study is timely in the light of recent concern about teachers’ quality and its influence on pupils’ academic achievement in Nigerian primary school. Many of these concerns  draw attention to such issues as the professional training teachers receive and the qualification of teachers who teach a specified subject (creative skills development), since teachers certification, pedagogical content knowledge and subject  knowledge  have been  identified  as important  element of teachers effectiveness  and students  achievement.

Thus the research findings will be relevant to the Ministry of Education as they reveal the underlying factors toward spoor performance in creative skills development Secondly, the result of the research will help the teacher to identify their strengths and weaknesses and a desire to improve upon their weaknesses.

Thirdly, this study will help policy makers and researchers in the sense that this study will expose teachers’ characteristics that influence students’ performance and serve to encourage policymakers to arrest the problem through seminars and workshops, while offering researchers opportunity to find lasting solution to the problem through further research.

Scope of the study

The scope of the study covers teacher variables and creative skills development amongst pupils. The study will be limited to primary schools in Portharcourt

Limitation of the study

Limitations/constraints are inevitable in carrying out a research work of this nature. However, in the course of this research, the following constraints were encountered thus:

1. Non-availability of enough resources (finance): A work of this nature is very tasking financially, money had to be spent at various stages of the research such resources which may aid proper carrying out of the study were not adequately available.

Time factor: The time used in carrying out the research work is relatively not enough to bring the best information out of it. However, I hope that the little that is contained in this study will go a long way in solving many greater problems

Definition of terms

Teacher variable: Teachers’ Variables: This refers to as the qualities that can be measured with tests or derived from the academic records or there are elements that are liable to vary such as teachers’ attitudes qualification, teaching skills, years of experiences and enthusiasm, etc.

Creative skill development: the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability.

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