EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF THEIR PUBLIC IMAGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

It would not be an exaggeration to argue that disrespectful behavior of educators or a lack of regard for those who work in education has been around since the beginning of time itself. Teaching is a lowly and laborious profession in this region of the world, according to Frazer’s observations and experiences (Frazer 2021). It is only appropriate for those individuals who are forced to take on the role of school Master or Mistress. It is not necessary to examine teaching in great detail in order to deduce that students' lack of respect for their instructors is one of the factors contributing to the students' subpar academic performance. This has been the primary driver of the problem, and the pattern will not reverse itself until such time as this significant population is given the place in society that is justly theirs.

Although it is obvious that the quality of the instructors has an effect on the performance of the students, reliable data to support this assertion is extremely rare. It is difficult to determine the direction of causation in the relationship between teachers' perception and students' outcomes in physics because of the ingenuity of teachers, which also makes it difficult to differentiate teachers' perception from unobserved individual characteristics that might affect both subject selection and academic performance. One important reason for this is that the ingenuity of teachers makes it difficult to sort out the direction of causation in the relationship between teachers' perception and students' outcomes in physics. According to Sukura (2020), a random evaluation of instructors in different schools would be the most effective technique to determine the impact that teachers have on the performance of their students. The instructors, in addition to the parents, are without a doubt going to be the group of individuals who are most essential in turning this goal into a reality.

This outlook is shared by the Nigerian federal government (FGN, 2013), as well. It is consequently a really shocking development that these educators are viewed in contempt in the manner in which it now exists. Why, therefore, does the society place such a low value on the profession of teaching, if it sets such a high value on education? Could it be that the society is at least somewhat to blame as well as the individual teachers? It is necessary to provide responses to these and any other relevant questions. Are we all in agreement that teaching is not an easy profession to pursue? On the other hand, we vehemently disagree with the widespread sentiment that it is appalling. To the cretins and individuals with a limited comprehension, being a school teacher does not equate to being a clown. Teaching may seem like a menial job, but the fact is that it is the most honorable profession there is.

Because of the nature of physics education, the vast majority of physics professors are of the opinion that it should be taught both practically and conceptually for students to have the best chance of effectively absorbing the information. "good learning involves regular variety in the deliberate intellectual activities of the learner and a wide range of educational stratifies," according to the findings of Mitchell and Dejong and Thornton (2018). According to them, a large number of educators do not have access to didactic materials and contemporary educational tools (laboratory, printer, video, multimedia, software, etc.), which might have made training more focused on the learner. Studies on the educational environments of a variety of nations, including the United States of America, Australia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, and others, have been carried out. These sorts of studies include the research that was published by Ukaegbu (2018), who conducted an investigation on the physics performance of students attending schools of varying quality (excellent, average, and below), as well as schools that followed a variety of educational pathways. Since science without physics is insufficient, and technological progress cannot occur in the absence of physics, it is of the utmost importance to investigate how secondary school teachers perceive their students' physics performance and how this perception influences their students' overall performance in the subject. This study comes at a crucial and opportune time for the nation, which is in need of more authentic professors to help pupils improve their performance in physics.

1.2STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Despite the importance of the teacher as the motor that propels the educational system to the realm of knowledge, there is still a social stigma attached to teachers. Teachers, according to Kamoru (2020), are occasionally aware of their social standing, and their sentiments may influence how they interact with their pupils. It becomes vital to continuously monitoring what the teacher feels about his or her profession and his or her students in light of conflicting messages from society concerning the teacher's public image. On the other hand, Mkpanang (2015) believes that physics has a poor public image, although there has been little systematic investigation into this. As a result, the study's findings provide systematic and empirical data on public perceptions and misconceptions of physics. examining the many images, attitudes, beliefs, and myths about physics that public adults have has the ability to question, encourage, or discourage such images, attitudes, beliefs. The information gathered will help to improve methods and measurements for increasing public understanding of physics. However, little focus has been placed on the effect of instructors' perspective and its influence on students' physics success.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of teachers’ perceptions of their public image on students’ in senior secondary school physics, and the objective of this study is stated below

1.        To find out physics teachers perception of their public image.

2.        To find out the factors that determines teachers public image in physics

3.     To ascertain whether how teachers perceive their public image  impact their duty performance in relation to their students' academic accomplishment in physics

4.   To determine the strategies for improving teachers’ public image and its influence on the student achievement in physics.

1.4 RESEARCH  HYPOTHESIS

In this study, the following null hypothesis shall be stated.

HO1: There will be no significant relationship between the teachers’ perception of their public image and its influence on the achievement of student in physics.

HO2: How teachers perceive their public image does not  impact their duty performance in relation to their students' academic accomplishment in physics

1.5SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This project is of immense importance to Students, Teachers and  Scholars. The influence of cultural differences on the image of physics professors indicated may help to support or contradict the assumption that physics is universal, value-free, or culture-free. The findings may aid in our understanding of whether differences in culture and value systems might lead to differences in physics imagery, and hence differences in physics accomplishment.

Students of education who will like to take a look at or study the image of teachers in the Nigerian society. It is beneficial and will draw their attention more to the great and important position of the teachers in the society.  Also to the teacher it serves as a mirror to them as they will use it to see themselves from the perspectives of the society or public. It also goes a long way to correct the poor societal conception of the teachers.  Consequently, the teachers will help the physics students achieve their goals of academic excellence as well as the school to encourage preparation for future challenges and thereby contributing their quotas regarding development in the achievement of good standard in physics.Empirically, the study will contribute to the general body of knowledge and serve as a reference to scholars and study who wishes to conduct further studies in related field.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study looks into the public image of the teachers and their influence on the achievement of the students in physics as perceived by the teachers alone. The influence of these teachers perception of their public image which this study also takes care of, is narrowed down to the science student especially in the areas of physics. There are number of problems we find in different aspect of our educational system, but we have delimited ourselves to the public image of teachers and its influence on the achievement of the students in physics.The study is however delimited to selected secondary schools in Ohaji Egbema local Government in Imo State.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only selected secondary schools in  Ohaji Egbema local Government in Imo State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for secondary schools  in other  States within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research,  all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

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