By Ejieh, Michael U C
The objectives of this study were to find out what motivated the students in a college of primary teacher education in Nigeria to seek admission into the college, and to identify their career plans. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire administered on 117 final year students of the college towards the end of their programme of studies. It was found that the most important reason for their entering the programme was to have an opportunity to go for further education. Over half of the students had no plans to take up teaching immediately after completing their programme of study. Most of them (59.62 per cent) planned to enter a university or an equivalent institution for further studies in both education and other professional and non-professional courses.
Key words Motivation for teaching, Entry into teaching, Student teachers and career plans, Nigerian primary teacher education, Nigerian student teachers, Student teachers.
Many studies have been carried out in both developed and developing countries of the world to find out what motivates students in teacher education institutions or programmes to choose teaching as a career. In general, the studies have shown that such students choose teaching as a career for various intrinsic, extrinsic and altruistic motives (Bastick, 2000; Bergma and Chu, 1981; Goh and Atputhasany, 2001; Kyriacou et al., 1995; Olasehinde, 1972; Philips and Hatch, 1999).
The assumptions in most of these studies seem to be that students in teacher education institutions or those following teacher education programmes in relevant educational institutions will enter the teaching profession after completing their courses of study. Evidence from some studies, however, shows that not all such students intend to teach after graduation. Wang and Fwu (2002), in their study of pre-service graduate students’ views of choosing teaching as a career in Taiwan, found that even though a majority of them liked teaching as a career, there was a small group among them that were not decided if they really wanted to teach. The authors referred to this group as career explorers. They were trying to find out if they were fit for teaching or if they could make a difference through education. There was yet another small group of the graduates that they referred to as the ‘uncommitted’-those who decided not to take teaching as a job immediately after they graduate and who regard teaching as irrelevant to their future goals. Although the students in this study followed a two-year teacher education programme after graduating from university, there is no reason to believe that a similar group of students cannot be found among teacher trainees that do not hold university degrees. In some education systems this uncommitted group may be quite large. Moreover, studies elsewhere have shown that many of those who join the profession after graduation leave early (Halford, 1998; Heath, 2001); such people who leave the profession early probably had a career plan other than teaching.
Primary teacher education in Nigeria
Until fairly recently the training of teachers for the nation’s primary schools was the responsibility of Grade Two teacher training colleges. In the federal government’s efforts to improve the standard of instruction in primary schools, it has made the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE), which is higher than Teachers’ Grade Two Certificate, the minimum qualification for teaching in primary schools. The NCE is awarded to graduates of colleges of education, which are different from teacher training colleges, after successfully following a three-year programme of studies, including the teaching practicum. Holders of the certificate were supposed to teach in junior classes of secondary schools and Grade Two teachers’ colleges. With the making of NCE the minimum qualification for teaching in primary schools, most holders of the certificate previously teaching in secondary schools and teachers’ colleges now teach in primary schools. Primary school teachers can move on to teach in secondary schools only after obtaining relevant university degrees. Also with this raising of the qualification for primary school teaching Grade Two teachers’ colleges have been gradually phased out, and most colleges of education have incorporated primary education studies (PES) programmes in their curricula.
Although many serving primary school teachers have availed themselves of the opportunities offered by the PES programme to upgrade their qualifications, the programme is not usually an attractive option to school leavers who seek admission to colleges of education. This is mainly because while products of other programmes in colleges of education can still find employment in secondary schools, those of the PES programme can be employed only in primary schools, with limited employment outlets in the public sector. A recent innovation in primary teacher education in the country is the establishment, by a state government in Nigeria, of a college of primary education-an NCE-awarding institution with all its departments and programmes devoted to producing teachers for primary schools only. Compared with other colleges of education in the country, the number of candidates seeking admission into it through the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board every year has been too low. At present the college gets its full complement of students through its preliminary studies programme designed for students that lack the requisite qualifications for entry into its three-year programmes.
The problem
It has been pointed out that not all students in teacher education institutions intend to teach after graduation and that many of them who join the profession after graduation leave early. The implication is that many students who enter teacher education programmes do so for reasons other than joining the profession. In the Nigerian context, teaching, especially in primary schools, is still a low-status job and does not attract many school leavers, despite federal and state governments’ efforts to improve the lot of teachers in recent times. This notwithstanding, even a relatively novel college of education attracts a good number of applicants. A question that comes to mind is: why do students choose to enter a college of education whose products have prospects of teaching only in primary schools?
This study was therefore designed to find out what motivated students in a college of primary teacher education in Nigeria to seek admission into the college and not, as in most studies of this type, why they chose to enter teaching profession, and also to identify their career plans. This type of study is necessary for planning the supply of teachers.
Research method
The subjects
The subjects were final-year students of the college of primary education mentioned above. The college has five schools-namely Education, Arts and Social Studies, Sciences, Vocational Studies, and Languages-each with a number of departments which offer three- year programmes for the award of the Nigerian Certificate of Education in primary education. To be eligible for admission, students in this programme are supposed to have obtained the West African Examination Council or General Certificate examination certificates with a prescribed number of credits in relevant subjects. The study was carried out in the second semester shortly before their final examinations in the programmes. The rationale was that by that time almost all of them would have made up their minds about what to do in the future.
Instrument
The instrument used in the study was a questionnaire developed by the investigator. The questionnaire items were based on informal discussions with the students during his one-year stay in the college as a visiting lecturer. An item in the questionnaire was a list of possible reasons why students usually seek admission to teachers’ colleges and the subjects were asked to tick those reasons which were applicable to them. One item required them to indicate the most important reason why they sought admission to the college. Another item consisted of a list of possible options available to students who graduate from colleges of education in the country and they were asked to indicate what they intended to do after completing their studies in the college by putting a check at the appropriate option. Space was provided for them to state what they intended to do if such was not available in the list. The subjects who indicated that they would go for further studies in a university were asked to state the courses they hoped to study if offered admission.
The face validity and content validity of the questionnaire were determined by a panel of two principal lecturers and one senior lecturer in the college involved in the study to whom the purpose of the study and the research questions were provided and who were requested to review the questionnaire items in terms of coverage, clarity and appropriateness of language and instructions to the respondents. The necessary modifications were made in line with their suggestions. Thereafter, the reliability of the instrument was ascertained by pilot-testing it on a sample of twenty Part Thr\ee students of a college of education following a primary education studies programme in the same state. The result of the pilot test showed that the questionnaire items were clear enough to the respondents.
Procedure
Copies of the questionnaire were given to all the 117 students present during a lecture in a core course in education, involving all Part Three students in the different schools in the college. After explaining the contents to them, they were asked to complete and return it to the investigator there and then. Care was taken to ensure that the students did not discuss the content with each other while completing the questionnaire, in order to minimise response bias. Out of the 117 copies of the questionnaire collected, 106 were correctly and completely filled in and were analysed for the purposes of this study.
Findings and discussion
Reasons for seeking admission
The reasons given by the students for seeking admission to the primary teacher education programme and the numbers and percentages of students to which they are applicable are presented in Table 1. The table shows that over 50 per cent of the students sought admission to the college for two main reasons, namely the possibility of proceeding to university, and the encouragement of parents. The ease of getting a teaching job on completion, the student’s interest in the aims and objects of the teacher education programme and the ease of gaining admission to the programme motivated over 40 per cent of the students to seek admission to it.
Table 1 Reasons given by students for seeking admission to primary teacher education programme and the number and percentage of students giving them (n = 106)
Among the ‘other reasons’ not included in the list only two were given by not less than five of the students: ‘Nothing else to do at home to avoid staying idle’ (eleven students, or 10.4 per cent); ‘To prepare for Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examinations’ (seven students, or 6.6 per cent).
The most important reason
The numbers and percentages of the students who indicated that each of the reasons was the most important to him/her for seeking admission into the programme are indicated in Table 2. As can be deduced from the table, the student’s desire to gain admission into a university is the most important reason to the highest number of the students. Being encouraged by parents to apply, and their desire to learn how to teach in primary school, occupy distant second and third places, going by the numbers and percentages of students who rated them as their most important reasons for seeking admission to the college. It may be significant to note that being influenced by their former teachers was not indicated by any of them.
Table 2 Reasons for seeking admission and the numbers and percentages of students regarding each as the most important (n = 106)
Students’ career plans
The students were asked to indicate what they intended to do on completing their studies in the college. Only 104 of the students responded to this item. Their responses to the item are presented in Table 3. Table 3 shows that most of the students (almost 60 per cent of them) planned to enter a university or its equivalent for further studies. Only thirteen, or 12.5 per cent of them, intended to teach in public primary schools. The numbers and percentages of the students who planned to pursue other options after completing their studies were insignificant compared with the numbers and percentages of those who planned to go for further studies.
Table 3 Students’ plans after completing their studies (n = 104)
An item in the questionnaire requested those students who planned to go for further studies to state the courses they would like to read in a university or equivalent institution. Data analysis revealed that, out of sixty-two of them who planned to go for further studies, twenty-eight (or about 45.2 per cent) stated that they would study education or education-related courses. Other courses that they planned to read in the university by three or more students included law (five students), computer science (four), mass communication (four), business administration (three) and agricultural economics (three students). Apart from two of the students, one of whom stated that he/she wanted to study accounting and the other banking and finance, the other students planned to read non-professional courses such as sociology, political science and the Yoruba language. One student, however stated, ‘Course yet unknown but not education.’
Discussion
Table 1 shows that the greatest number of the students sought admission to the college in order to have an opportunity to have university education. Table 2 also shows that this is also the most important reason to about one-third of the students. This is not surprising, as acquiring a university degree is the ultimate aspiration of most students in the Nigerian educational system. A good Nigerian Certificate in Education, which is awarded to the students on successful completion of the programme, enables one to gain direct entry to a Nigerian university. It is apparent from this finding that a majority of the students entered the teacher education programme, not for any intrinsic, extrinsic or altruistic motives connected with the teaching profession, but to enhance their chances of gaining admission to a university. This aspiration to enter higher institutions of learning is also reflected in one of the Other reasons’ given by students, i.e. ‘to prepare for the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board examinations’.
Hoping to gain admission to a university by obtaining the NCE qualification in a college of education, as revealed in their career plans (see Table 3), is not peculiar to the subjects of this study. Most student teachers in other colleges of education in the country also nurse the same ambition. It has been estimated that about 70 per cent of the graduates of these colleges in Nigeria enter the universities within two years after graduation rather than going into the classroom to teach (Aghenta, 1992, p. 193).
These two tables also show that parental encouragement or bidding comes next, both in terms of the number of students influenced by it and also in terms of the number that considered it as the most important reason. This finding may also not be surprising, as many secondary school leavers can no longer find jobs in our labour market and most parents would not like them to stay idle at home or elsewhere. Those of their children and wards who are academically weak and cannot gain admission to universities are often advised or encouraged by them to enter any post-secondary institution that offers them admission. This is most commonly poor and working-class parents in the country. ‘Having nothing else to do/Avoiding staying idle at home’, as stated by some of them as the motive for seeking admission to college, is also indicative of similar reaction by some of the students themselves to the situation.
Table 1 shows that one of the reasons given by about 43 per cent of the students was that it was easy to gain admission to the college of education. Another was that they did not gain admission to higher institutions of learning. It is common knowledge that competition for places in colleges of education and polytechnics in the country is in no way to be compared with that of places in the nation’s universities, as the number of applicants to the former types of institution far outweigh the number that seek admission to universities. The academically strong ones, under normal circumstances, gain admission to the universities, leaving the weaker ones to find their way into colleges of education.
The results of this study lend credence to the observations made by some Nigerian educationists and educational researchers about the quality of our teacher education candidates, namely that it is mainly those students who are academically weak and who cannot aspire to more prestigious professions that enter teacher education programmes (Nwosu, 1976; Fadipe, 1992). This trend seems not to have changed over the years, and unless it is reversed the chances of meeting the nation’s objective of producing ‘highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our educational system’ (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1977, revised 1998: 33) will continue to be remote and the quality of instruction in our schools will continue to be low.
It may be of interest to note that many of the reasons given by a good number of the students (e.g. Nos 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Table 1) are not suggestive of genuine interest in teaching or in taking up teaching as a career. It is among the students giving such reasons for seeking admission to teacher education programmes that most of Wang and Fwu’s (2002) career explorers and the uncommitted are likely to be found. Such people, when they graduate, are likely not to take up teaching as a career or, at best, to leave it early. Some of them may also be found among those who hoped to continue their education in the university after graduating from college to probably read courses that will lead to other professions.
It can be deduced from Table 3 that only about 20 per cent of the students had plans to teach immediately after completing their courses of study. It is worthy of note, however, that five of them who planned to take up teaching hoped to teach in secondary schools, even after undergoing training as specialist primary school teachers. This probably has to do with the poor image of the primary school teacher in society.
The table also shows that almost 60 per cent of the students had no immediate plans to engage in any job. They planned to go for further studies in a university or an equivalent institution. This figure, although smaller than Aghenta’s (1992) estimate, confirms his observation that most of the graduates of colleges of educ\ation find themselves in universities instead of teaching in the classroom. Out of the sixty-two of them, twenty-eight (or a little less than half of them) planned to do courses in education or those courses which involve a combination of education and some teaching subjects. These twenty-eight may eventually take up teaching as a career after graduating from university. Adding this number of students to the number that planned to teach in primary schools (public and private) and nursery schools gives a total number of forty-nine (less than 50 per cent of the subjects) who may ultimately seek employment as teachers. Although of not much significance for the purposes of this study, it is good to note that those who may likely join the teaching profession after obtaining university or equivalent degrees are not likely to seek employment in primary schools, as teaching in primary schools is less attractive than teaching in higher institutions.
One surprising finding of this study is that a good number of those students who planned to go for further studies, after hopefully being certified as professional teachers on successful completion of their courses in the college, hoped to read other professional courses. As it is not the practice for holders of the NCE to be given direct entry to Nigerian universities or equivalent institutions to read professional courses other than teaching, the implication is that such candidates will have to sit the university matriculation examination for admission to Nigerian universities. If they are successful at that examination, they will start their programmes of study in the university from Part One (or the first year) while their counterparts holding the same qualification and wishing to continue to read courses in education do not sit for university matriculation examinations and start their programme of studies from Part Two. Thus reading another professional course or any course apart from education at the university by a holder of the NCE is tantamount to losing the three or more years spent in the college of education, with all the attendant financial, material and other losses. It would seem that many of the students in this study were prepared to make such a sacrifice in order to avoid teaching. The educational system itself also incurs huge losses when the products of teacher education programmes do not join the teaching profession. Such losses include the education resources invested in the student teachers and the student teacher places wasted by them while in college.
It should, however, be noted that the number of subjects involved in this study is small and does not include students following the primary education studies programme in other colleges of education in the country. The limitations of this study are, therefore, admitted.
Conclusion and policy implications
The findings of this study suggest that the most important reasons given by the students for seeking admission to the teacher education programme are not suggestive of commitment to or genuine interest in teaching as a career. It seems then that knowing students’ reasons or motives for seeking admission to a teacher education programme rather than knowing their reasons for choosing teaching as a career may serve more useful ends to educational administrators and teacher educators in recruiting them into such a programme. It is also apparent that about half the students who were being prepared for the teaching job had no plans to take up teaching as a career after completing their programme. Thus, while some students enrolled in the programme in order to become teachers, a greater number did so either as an alternative way of gaining admission to a university or equivalent institution or in order to receive more education before taking up jobs other than teaching. The picture that emerges is that the programme is fulfilling its objective of producing teachers for primary schools to only a limited extent but it is also serving a useful purpose: providing a bridge to university entrance for relatively weak candidates, thereby widening access to university education, which is another educational policy objective of the federal government.
It can be inferred from the findings of this study that a majority of the students following the programme in the college under study had no interest in teaching in primary schools for which they were being prepared as specialist teachers. Unless candidates with a genuine interest in teaching are recruited into the primary teacher education and efforts are made to retain them after graduation, much of the efforts and resources devoted to producing teachers for the nation’s primary schools will continue to be wasted.
This situation, added to the generally widely held belief in the country that teaching is mainly for the academically weak people, calls for policies aimed at improving the image of teaching as a profession. Otherwise some bright school leavers with a genuine interest in teaching may be loath to enter teacher education institutions. This calls for, among other measures, the raising (no matter how slightly) of the general entry qualifications for teacher education institutions and strictly adhering to the prescribed minimum qualifications by the authorities of various teacher education institutions and abolishing all preparatory programmes that necessitate the lowering of standards or qualifications for entry to such programmes. It may also call for free tuition for students in teacher education institutions, as was the case before the launching of universal primary education in 1976. The beneficiaries of such programmes should be bonded to teach for a specific minimum number of years before leaving the profession if they so desire. Such a measure would go a long way in discouraging the type of students referred to as uncommitted by Wang and Fwu (2002) from entering a teacher education programme and in extending the period of service of those who leave the profession early (Halford, 1998; Heath, 2001). It may also discourage career explorers from entering the teaching profession.
With the raising of entry qualifications into the primary and other teacher education programmes, free tuition and other incentives for students in primary teacher education programmes, and other incentives and rewards (which should not necessarily be monetary, e.g. opportunities for part-time university education) planned for primary school teachers, the reasons why many candidates will seek admission into primary teacher education programmes in the country and subsequently enter the teaching profession for only intrinsic, altruistic and extrinsic motives.
References
Aghenta, J. A. (1992), Objectives, achievements and shortcomings in the implementation of policies on teacher education in Nigeria’ in A. Ndu (ed.), Educational Policy and Implementation in Nigeria, Awka: National Association for Educational Administration and Planning.
Bastick, T. (2000), ‘Why teacher trainees choose the teaching programme: comparing trainees in metropolitan and developing countries’, International Review of Education 46 (3-4), 343-49.
Bergma, H. M., and Chu, L. (1981), ‘What motivates Introductory and Senior Education Students to become Teachers?’ Paper presented at the annual general meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Los Angeles.
Fadipe, J. O. (1992), ‘The achievements and shortcomings of teacher education programme in Nigeria: an administrator’s view’, in A. Ndu (ed.), Educational Policy and Implementation in Nigeria, Awka: National Association for Educational Administration and Planning.
Federal Republic of Nigeria (1977), National Policy on Education (revised 1982 and 1998), Lagos: NERDC Press.
Goh, K. C., and Atputhasamy, L. (2001), Teacher Education in Singapore: What motivates Students to choose a Teaching Career?’ Paper presented at the International Educational Research Conference, Fremantle, December.
Halford, J. M. (1998), ‘Easing the way for new teachers’, Educational Leadership 55 (5).
Heath, G. (2001), ‘Teacher Education and the new Knowledge Environment’. Paper presented to the Australian Association for Educational Research conference, Fremantle, December.
Kyriacou, C., Hultgren, A., and Stephens, P. (1999), ‘Student teachers’ motivation to become a secondary school teacher in England and Norway’, Teacher Development 3 (3), 373-81.
Olasehinde, M. O. (1972), ‘An analytical study of the motives of primary school teachers for choosing teaching as a career’, Journal of Teacher Education 23 (2).
Nwosu, S. N. (1976), ‘Recruitment and training of teachers for the universal primary education’, in N. A. Nwagwu (ed.) UPE; Issues, Prospects and Problems, Benin City: Ethiope Publishing.
Philips, M. B., and Hatch, J. A. (1999), ‘Why teach? Prospective Teachers’ Reasons for entering the Teaching Profession’. Paper presented at the Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education conference, Columbus OH.
Wang, H., and Fwu, B. (2002), ‘A backup choice or not? Pre- service graduate students’ views of choosing teaching as a career in Taiwan’, International Education Journal 3 (1).
Michael U. C. Ejieh Obafemi Awolowo University
Address for correspondence
Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, Nigeria. E-mail [email protected]
Copyright Manchester University Press Nov 2005
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