EFFECT OF TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS ON PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of teacher characteristics on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics in Dagoretti District in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following research objectives: Teacher academic qualification and Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics, teacher attitude and Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics, teacher experience and Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics and teacher training and Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics. The study employed a survey research design consisting of all Pre-schools, teachers and school administrators in the District. A sample of fifteen Pre-schools was obtained where three pre-school teachers were purposively selected from each of the sampled pre-schools. Thus, a total of forty five preschool teachers and fifteen preschool administrators took part in the study. Data was collected through questionnaires for teachers and interview guides for pre-school administrators. Data was collected to answer questions in the four thematic areas; the effect of teacher academic qualification, teacher attitude, teacher experience, teacher professional training on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics. Data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and narrative techniques. From the analysis, the study revealed that teachers’ characteristics play a key role on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

According to UNESCO (2000), the terms pre-school education and Kindergarten emphasize education around the ages 3-6 years. Early Childhood Education (ECE) often focuses on child learning through play. However, many child care centres are now using more educational approaches. They are creating curricular and incorporating it into the early daily routines to foster greater educational learning.

Teachers play a fundamental role in learner’s academic achievement. They link together learners, other teachers, school administrators, families, and community members to foster the learning success and healthy development of their learners. The nature of these interactions among different stakeholders varies depending on the teachers’ intent and the needs of their learners. Learners, particularly those at risk of school failure, can benefit from certain “protective supports provided by teachers Wang, M.C, Haertel, G.D, & Walberg, H.J. (1994). The teacher's role in creating an environment and building relationships conducive to learning goes beyond the traditional academic duties to include the provision of additional support and care. By developing nurturing, positive relationships with their learners, teachers can buffer the impact of certain basic factors that may negatively impact on a student's academic achievement (Smylie, 1994).

The need to enhance the quality of education has intensified in Brazil since the end of the1990s (Rios-Neto & Guimaraes, 2010). Despite being a major economic power and having universalized access to primary education, Brazil still stagnates in cross-country comparisons of poor learners’ achievement, as shown by PISA results

(OECD, 2011). Consequently, there is an emerging government agenda aimed at improving the quality of education, notably in public schools (Sass, 2007). For these policymakers, quality means that learners are succeeding on standardized tests. In this context, teachers are assigned a central role in delivering a high-quality education by policymakers and international organizations (Hanushek, 2010). Therefore, increasing the quality of education requires understanding the means to increase teacher quality and how teachers can be effective in promoting learning.

Amongst education researchers, teacher quality is widely considered an important school factor – and maybe even the most important factor – of student learning (Ladd, 2008). In the large body of research that has addressed the importance of teacher quality and effectiveness in the learning process, the United States educational system appears most prominently and to a lesser extent studies includes other countries, such as South Africa and Botswana (Ladd 2008). In Brazil, research has mainly explored the influence of school factors on student achievement but there are only a few studies that have conducted a systematic analysis of teacher effect.

Mathematics is the study of measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). It provides a powerful means for understanding and analyzing the world, therefore, variety of instructional methods used in teaching it creates a subject with interest to learners. Instructional methods are primarily descriptions of the learning objectives, oriented activities and flow of information between teachers and learners (Mukachi, 2006). Hence, several factors determine instructional methods to be used for a particular mathematics lesson (Santrock, 2004). These include: age, learners’ developmental level, their entry behaviour, subject matter or content, lesson objectives, availability of resources, teacher characteristics and classroom dynamics.

Knowledge of foundational mathematical concepts begins during infancy, and important changes in mathematical skills have been documented during the first five years (Geary, 1994; Sarama & Clements, 2009). Also, Fuson (1992) describes how mathematics skills progress through the sixth grade, moving from counting objects, reading and writing symbols. Study by Kipkorir and Njenga (1997), noted that preschool Mathematics which provide mainly for stimulation emphasize the use of learning and play materials and real life experiences as a way of providing effective learning to children.

As children manipulate materials, explore and experiment, they develop language and reasoning skills and acquire concepts of the world around them. According to Worthington and Caruthers (2003) cited in (Tucker, 2010) classrooms which support children’s own mathematical graphics are the ones in which children are given dedicated time and space to pursue a chosen activity. They also reported that when planning the learning environment, considerations must be given to: appropriate resources to inspire and motivate children; space to enable interaction with peers and a natural flow from one activity to another; and time dedicated to exploring the opportunities they present. Ginsburg, (2008) recommended an examination of conditions that stimulate children’s mathematical performance and suggested the classroom environment involving structural and process elements play an important role.

The classroom structural elements include physical space, routines and materials while the process elements refer to children’s direct experiences with people and objects. In addition, Varol and Faran (2006) cited in (Asiago, 2010), reported that it is not just enough to attend a high quality pre-school, but children need to be provided with challenging and accessible mathematics education because experiences during the early years influence later performance in school. For instance, the concept of number value is very important because it is the foundation of such operations in mathematics as addition, subtraction, division and multiplication (KIE, 2008) currently KICD.

In Dagoretti District, it can be noted that unsatisfactory performance in mathematics among pre-school children is not a unique problem. Gakiria (2012) ascertains that poor performance in mathematics is attributed to poor background the learners have had in lower levels of learning starting from pre-schools. Poor teaching methods have also contributed to the dismal performance in mathematics, which are said to be examination-oriented that alienates the key objectives of making the subject part of real life. The journal notes that teachers’ level, the blame to poor preparedness in the presiding levels and children’s attitude towards the subject, which is predominant in the society Based on available data, there is evidence that mathematics is generally not performed well compared to other subjects offered at primary level in KCPE in Dagoretti District.

Mathematics is poorly performed yet it is regarded by most people as essential, clearly useful and more precisely useful than other subjects in the school curriculum, (Mutunga and Breakell, 1992). The study used KCPE Performance because preschool children are not subjected to National examinations when transiting to primary school as is the case with other levels of education. Also early mathematics skills are the strongest predictors of later mathematics achievement in school (Jordan, et al. 2006). In addition, mathematics process skills do not change no matter the level of learning (Esler & Esler, 2001).

Table 1: Trend of performance in KCPE

Source: Dagoretti District Education Office Data

From Table 1. It is evident that mathematics has constantly held the last position in the four years as compared to other subjects; therefore it is worth noting that children’s preparedness in pre-school is likely able to affect their performance in higher levels. This is consistent with the study done by Esler and Esler (2001) that the primary process skills taught in preschool and primary levels are taught as integrated process skills in other levels of education. This justified the need for this study to establish whether teachers’ characteristics affect Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics with reference to Dagoretti District in Nairobi County, Kenya.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The topic of pre-school children performance in mathematics has become a topic of concern. Despite the fact that Children have very positive attitude towards mathematics during the preschool years, and opportunities to use mathematics and logical thinking to solve problems help children develop dispositions such as curiosity, imagination, flexibility, inventiveness, and persistence, these children still are not performing well in mathematics in the whole District. This has led to a number of questions concerning whether teachers’ characteristics can be attributed towards their poor performance.

Education is the compilation and product of many and varied resources. Among these, teachers stand out as a key to realizing the high standards that are increasingly emphasized in schools and school systems across the country. Despite general agreement about the importance of high-quality teachers, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and the public have been unable to reach a consensus about what specific qualities and characteristics make a good teacher. Even more concerning is the array of policy statements regarding teacher preparation that have been set forth in the face of volumes of inconclusive and inconsistent evidence about what teacher attributes really contribute to desired educational outcomes (Hanushek, 2010).

Review of literature indicates that there is a strong relationship between teacher qualification and learners performance. Most studies have been done on the influence of training and certification on teacher performance and its effect on learner’s performance in different subjects and fields that compare teachers with and without preparation have typically found higher rating and greater student learning gains for teachers who have more formal preparation for teaching. However these studies have never looked into the effect of teachers’ relationship on learners’ performance. Moreover, most of the studies were conducted in different environment and employed different methodologies. Thus there is need for the current study to examine the effect of teacher characteristics on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics in Dagoretti District in Nairobi County, Kenya.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of teacher characteristics on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics in Dagoretti District in Nairobi County, Kenya.

1.4 Research Objectives

This study was guided by the following research objectives:

1. To find the effect of teacher academic qualification on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics.
2. To determine the influence of teacher attitude on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics.
3. To find out the effect of teacher experience on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics.
4. To find out the effect of teacher teaching method on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics.

1.5 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What are the effects of teacher academic qualification on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics?
2. What is the influence of teacher attitude on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics?
3. What are the effects of teacher experience on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics?
4. What are the effects of teacher teaching method on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics?

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study is hoped to be of significant to various stakeholders. These include the school administrators, teachers, policy makers, government and the general knowledge. The schools administrators will benefit from the study in that they will be able to understand the effect of teachers’ characteristics on Pre-school children’s performance in Mathematics hence come up with strategies to ensure that teachers work effectively in the provision of necessary resources to learners. They will be able to understand the staff needs and ensure that they plan the school programme in the right way bearing in mind the school objectives and the resources required for the objectives to be met.

The teachers will be the most beneficiaries of the study. They will learn various ways to be used in imparting knowledge and skills to learners being the resource persons. It is the teacher who has to establish a warm relationship with the learners and share some confidence with them for their effective learning. The teacher will know how to organize class for conducive learning atmosphere.

The policy makers will be well served by recognizing the complexity of the issue and adopting multiple measures such as providing government employment to all ECDE centers attached to public primary schools which will make them to have better remuneration and hence be better motivated in the delivery of their work. The policy makers will be more informed as they try to strengthen the ECDE education sub-sector in basic education.

The government on the other hand will be able to learn from the study and come up with policies to ensure that teachers have good teacher characteristics in achieving better performance among not only pre-school children but also the entire learning institutions. The government will also get informed on guiding policies regarding whom to hire, whom to reward, and how best to distribute teachers across schools and classrooms.

The study will be of significance to learners who are taking the course in education. The parent-teacher association will benefit as they try to help teachers to be more knowledgeable about their pupils and their home environment. It will also be a relevant source for scholars who will be conducting a study over the same field.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

Limitations are referred to as conditions that are beyond the researcher’s ability to carry out a given research which may affect the results of the study. This study may be faced with some limitations. The respondents might fail to provide full information concerning their institution in that they may fear to expose their weakness hence eading to skewed results. However, the researcher will personally inform the respondents on the purpose of the study and assure them of confidentiality. Sometimes the return of questionnaires is poor and therefore the researcher will go personally collecting back all the questionnaires and ensuring that they are well completed.

1.8 Delimitation of the Study

This study was conducted in Dagoretti District in Nairobi County, Kenya. It looked at the relationship between teacher characteristics and pupils’ performance in Mathematics. In terms of methodology, the study targeted all public pre-schools, pre-school children, pre-school teachers and administrators.

1.9 Assumptions of the Study

The study was based on the following assumptions:

1. Academic performance in mathematics among pre-school children in Dagoretti District is linearly related to teacher’s characteristics.
2. The Teachers were assumed to be trained and have characteristics and skills to teach mathematics
3. The respondents were assumed to provide reliable information on the effect of teacher characteristics on pre-school children’s performance in mathematics.

1.10 Definition of Operational Terms

Attitude: The way the teachers act to show the inward thoughts and feelings.

Effectiveness:  The production of the desired results through the achievement of the learners.

Experience: Number of years the teacher has been teaching.

Teaching: Imparting of knowledge and skills from a teacher to a learner.

Performance: Achievement after the learning process.

Pre-school: Formal school for children from three years old to six years old.

1.11 Organization of the Study

The study comprise of five chapters: The first chapter focus on the introduction. This highlight the background to the problem, statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, research objectives, research questions, significance of the study, limitation of the study, delimitation of the study, basic assumptions, definition of operational terms and organization of the study.

The second chapter concerns with reviewing the related literature within the area of concern (problem). This focus on what both secondary and primary researchers have said about performance in mathematics. The theoretical and conceptual framework is outlined here. This chapter ends with the conceptual framework.

Chapter three outline the research methodology which is used in the study. The research design, research population, sample size and sample techniques, research instruments, validity and reliability, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures. The fourth chapter present the analysis and interpretation of the study findings. Chapter five gives the summary, conclusion and the recommendations of that which emerge from the study.