CHAPTER ONE

                                     INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background to the Study

Teachers are considered to be our nation builders. The strength of every profession in our country grows out of the knowledge and skills that teachers help to impart in our children. Educators frequently share that teaching is the most difficult job that anyone can have and the most rewarding. Students spend most of their day with teachers, and schools spend most of their money on teachers. Education is a teacher-driven business. Teachers play an important role in educating the future members of society through their work in schools. The quality of education system and the profession of educators within the system depend mainly on teacher who are responsible for guiding and carrying most of the important tasks and activities in educational institution. Teachers play a significant role in supporting and promoting learning in the class. They are instrumental in transferring learning material to children at their understandable level. Teachers are always under pressure as their accountable to their performance and student performance.

Many studies have shown that quality of teachers, their motivation and attitude influence the performance of the students and their academic achievement. This however, requires a lot of commitment and from the teacher. Commitment means being loyal to ones profession. It requires acquisition of the special knowledge that characterizes a particular profession and application of that knowledge to achieve certain ends. This makes a provision for better job security, satisfaction, increases self-esteem and thereby contributes to improve the teachers’ commitment. Teacher should have commitment to the teaching profession and should justify public trust and confidence by providing quality education to all students. Maintain membership in some professional organizations relevant to his subject and area of specialty. Teacher should be committed to students and maintain professional relations with students. Share responsibilities and prove themselves as successful facilitators of learning for the learners placed under their guidance and supervision. The teacher who is committed to the profession has more efficacy, job satisfaction and high competences. The committed teacher strives more for better performance and keeps abreast with latest technologies which can be useful in class room instruction for teaching learning material. It is on this foundation that this study aims to examine secondary school teachers’ commitment in teaching profession.

1.2      Statement of the Problem

The Teachers Code of Conduct is considered an important ground for school success, since it reflects all school trust of teachers, which in turn is reflected positively on the society. The commitment of teachers to the Code of Conduct and Ethics of Profession will improve their Profession performance and develop them. Such act will be reflected positively on the school in specific and education in general. The Code Conduct is a strong ground for the teaching profession due to its positive impact on the whole teaching process. Due to the focus and activation of the Code of Conduct and Ethics of profession, and through researcher observations and notes, teachers differ among themselves in the degree of commitment which may affect negatively the whole teaching process. Therefore, the researcher pinned the need for conducting this study to answer the main question of the level commitment of secondary school teachers towards their teaching profession in Nigeria.

1.3   Research Objectives

The study has both general objective and specific objectives. The general objective or main objective of this study is to examine secondary school teachers’ commitment in teaching profession. The specific objectives are:

i)             To understand the level commitment of secondary school teachers towards their teaching profession in Nigeria.

ii)           To establish the importance of teachers’ commitment towards their teaching profession.

iii)         To study the effects of teachers’ commitment on their teaching profession.

1.4   Research Questions

The following are some of the questions which this study intends to answer:

i)             What is the level commitment of secondary school teachers towards their teaching profession in Nigeria?

ii)           What is the importance of teachers’ commitment towards their teaching profession?

iii)         What are the effects of teachers’ commitment on their teaching profession?

1.5   Significance of the Study      

It will show if teachers in schools a feedback on their commitment level, which in turn will urge them to enhance their positive behaviour and modify any discrepancy from the Code of Conduct besides change the strategies to achieve the best. The results will let Educational planning teams use it in the training programs for teachers before work and during the Profession which will be reflected positively on the educational process in a whole and the performance of the school, therefore improving the services provided to all related parties. It will serve as a foundation for further research in this area.

1.6   Scope of the Study

        The study is limited to the public school teachers and educational supervisors in some selected secondary schools. The study is restricted by the confidence and reliability of the tool of study developed for study purposes, the population, the sample and similar populations.

1.7   Limitation of the Study

The Major Limitations of the study are:

Cost Limitation: There was a cost limitation. This means that we could not offer any gift or monetary incentives for the respondents to answer the questionnaire. This might have resulted in certain prospective respondents choosing not to respond to the questionnaire. This might not have created a motivation among respondents not to take a chance to give opinions. Time Limitation: There are two types of time limitation faced during the study. The study was done for a period of four weeks. Hence the results would reflect the impact of the time constraint. The insights of the employees were observed during the period of study. A more extensive study conducted over a larger time period or during a special period of time like when there were higher numbers of issues, can include insights from employees over a broader time period and can bring in further depth into the research.

1.8   Definition of Terms

The following terms were used in the course of this study:

Level of commitment: It includes the ethical controls that should be taken into account by the teacher. These controls harmonize his/her relationship with all parties, students, parents, administration and profession. These controls are classified items that teachers should apply and commit to.

Code of Conduct: It is a detailed reference in an integrated framework and includes many behavioural criteria and public post ethics that are approved legally and constitutionally.