The Nation Newspaper

Tag: teaching

  • NTI boosts teaching in Lagos, Nasarawa others

    Teachers in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Nasarawa states have started receiving training that will horn their skill so as to technically equip their students .

    Director General of the National Teachers Institute (NTI) Ladan Sharehu, whose organisation is motivating the project, expressed satisfaction with the progress so far.

    The new system involves a rigorous monitoring and constant evaluation of students’ teaching practice programme.

    Sharehu said monitoring of the ongoing teaching practice is open to input to correct errors in the programme.

    “We have been to so many states to monitor teaching practice of NTI students. We are satisfied,” he said, adding: “A few errors were noticed and we corrected them. We expect that other visitors, monitors and quality assurance experts that will go will also point out areas of error “for correction.”

    The ongoing programme under monitoring is the second teaching practice students of NTI will undergo ahead of graduating and qualifying to teach in primary schools at least.

  • Students complete teaching practice

    Final year students of the Faculty of Education, University of Calabar (UNICAL), have rounded off their 12-week teaching practice exercise in various secondary and primary schools in Cross River State.

    The exercise took the students a semester as against the six-week period being used for the exercise in the past.

    One of the students, Jacob Uwen, who was posted to Emilis Secondary School, said the exercise got him acquainted with the teaching profession.

    While receiving the student-teachers at the faculty complex, the Dean, Prof Florence Obi, congratulated them for successfully completing the exercise. He urged them to be good ambassadors of the institution.

    In his remark, Teaching Practice Coordinator in the faculty, Dr C. A. Agbor, warned that students who failed to report to their station would repeat the exercise.

     

  • Catching fun while teaching

    Catching fun while teaching

    It was celebrations all the way at the Faculty of Education of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State last week as 300-Level and 400-Level students rounded off their six-week teaching practice. The students returned to a warm reception by their junior colleagues.

    The exercise, which started in February, was part of the requirements for students to get the Bachelor’s degree in education. Perceived as a platform for breeding future teachers, Education students must participate in teaching practice twice before completing their programme.

    The teaching practice started with an orientation seminar before the participants were sent to some secondary schools in Osun State. At the orientation, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof P.O. Jegede and members of the Teaching Practice Committee dwelt on the ethics of teaching. After the programme, the students were posted to secondary schools in Osogbo, Ilesa, Ipetumodu, Origbo and Modakeke, among others.

    Those posted to remote villages saw their postings as punishment. The lucky ones thanked providence for being posted to schools within Ile-Ife environs. Ten participants each were sent to government-owned schools in the state.

    The students elected a leader to serve as an intermediary between them and the schools to which they were posted.

    Three weeks into the exercise, things took a dramatic turn when the management asked students to vacate their halls of residence on break.

    Most of those affected by development, were Education students in remote villages. The students were demoralised, with many saying the authorities did not care about their wellbeing.

    Despite that, the trainees waited to finish the teaching practice. Supervisors from various departments in the Education Faculty were dispatched to schools where students were doing the exercise.

    Some trainees had bitter experiences with their supervisors, who penalised them for not embracing the dress code of the teaching profession. Others were sanctioned for conduct against the ethics of the profession.

    During the last week of the exercise, the trainees held debate and quiz contests for pupils. Also, they played novelty football matches to mark their departure from their schools.

    A trainee, Damilola Tunji-Ajayi, 300-Level Social Studies Education, said: “Although, it is the first time I participated in teaching practice, it was all fun throughout. Seeing pupils everyday for six weeks and getting to stand before them to teach them were fun. I look forward to the next teaching practice.”

  • ‘Adopt mother-tongue in teaching’

    ‘Adopt mother-tongue in teaching’

    The President of Nigeria Academy of Letters, Prof Munzali Jibril, has called on Nigerian linguists to actively campaign for the use of the mother-tongue or its equivalent as a medium of instruction for at least the nine years of basic education.

    He suggested that English should be introduced as a subject from the fourth year of primary school.

    He said this while delivering the 50th Convocation lecture of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), entitled: Nigeria higher education: Agenda for reform at the university’s main auditorium.

    Jibril said if this policy is adopted, it would necessitate the development of many languages including the compilation of dictionaries and grammars and the development of appropriate technical vocabulary and literature and assist to prepare eligible candidates for admission into the university.

    Jibril cited of a study by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the UNESCO Institute for Education entitled “Stocktaking Research on Mother-Tongue and Bilingual Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, which confirmed that learning is better in the mother tongue or its equivalent.

    He also spoke of the Ife Six-Year Yoruba medium Primary Education Project conducted by the late Prof Babs Fafunwa which not only showed that children learn better when taught in their mother tongue or a language with which they are familiar at home but established that when taught by specialist teachers, such children also learn the second language better than other children who are either taught in English from the first year of primary schooling or transmit to an English-medium education after the first few years.

    He said linguistic deficiency, occasioned by a the use of non-native language as medium of instruction is at the heart of the problem of academic underachievement in the Nigerian education system as, according to him, pupils and students do not understand what is taught to them in a language that they have not mastered.

    “Indeed the major complaint against the quality and employability of the Nigerian graduate is that they lack communicative, technical and conceptual skills. This is to show that the language problem is partly responsible for low achievement at all levels of education in Nigeria,” he said.

    Other problems Jibril listed as facing higher institutions include: academic corruption, militant unionism, lack of funds to carryout research, brain-drain and lack of qualified teachers and lecturers because people see teaching as a low esteem profession.

     

     

     

  • Law’s new method of teaching

    Law’s new method of teaching

    Moved by what they consider as the discouraging performance in argumentative law courses, some universities have adopted an interactive teaching method, which seeks to practically engage students. But students express divergent views on this method, writes HABEEB WHYTE (500-Level Law, University of Ilorin).

    Among students, law is described as the most-sought degree in the university. Law students believe that it is the most difficult discipline in the world. Some say it is demanding. However, the knowledge of the discipline must be passed from lecturers to student.

    There are some courses in law, which are taught from one level of study to the other. Some of the courses are theoretical; others are practical, depending on the scope of learning adopted by the school or the lecturers.

    But in Nigeria, lecturers come to the class to teach students by giving notes, broad explanation and question and answer session. Lecturers always do the bulk of the work. Things are, however, changing in the teaching of law. The new learning method is that, after students are given course outlines, they will do their cum research on them and come to class to teach themselves, including the lecturers.

    The lecturer will only make corrections based on what the students have presented. This method is called the interactive method of teaching. It is used in various law faculties and law schools. As good as the method appear to be, students of Law have divided opinions of it.

    Titilope Yusuf, 500-Level Law, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), said the adoption of the interactive method among students was a good innovation. “It helps every student to participate in the topic of discussion and apart from that, it helps a student who on a normal day will not like to talk in class to do away with fear and participate,” she noted.

    “As interesting and time-saving as the new process maybe, it does not give room for a good exploration of the topic of discussion in most courses of study. Fine, it encourages the student to make further researches but some students still prefer to be given notes to read and know the mind of the lecturers, especially for exam purposes. As far as Nigeria is concerned, the student that writes the mind of his lecturer is the one that will pass. The mind of the lecturer is best known when they give notes.” These were the words of Sheriff Tijani, a 500-Level Law student.

    The interactive method of teaching is the best method to help students showcase their argumentative skills in law, said Abdulwahab Cook, 500-Level Law, UNILORIN. He said: “The method aids the speed of work and make the students to be practically efficient and effective in addressing issues. It encourages sound research and helps to inculcate good reading habit because you would only read what you make a research on in the exam.”

    Olaleye Olalekan, 200-Level Law, believes the method is not the best. He said the method would not assist the teaching system in that it would create room for laziness on the part of the lecturers, because, according to him, some will not prepare adequately for classes anymore and students would be left at the end of each lecture with various opinions on the subject matter.

    Dayo Zulqurnain, also in 200-Levl Law, believed the method is good but its only shortcoming remained that it leaves students to puzzle on various positions of law and principles.

    Bukola Alomaja, 400-Level Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG), said the interactive method will be beneficial to students than the lecturer. “Though some students might argue that giving of notes is good and makes them to know the mind of the lecturer, but the law we study is changing; we must learn to adapt to it.

    The new method is called Clinical Legal Education at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka. According Uche Anichebe, 500-Level Law, UNIZIK, the method makes students to study before any topic is taught in the class. “It challenges indolent students to read whether they like it or not. It also makes us to understand the topic better since it affords students to present in the class what they have researched on,” she said.

     

     

  • Headteachers not exempted from teaching, says Ogun

    The Ogun State Government yesterday said headteachers of public primary schools are not exempted from teaching and writing lesson notes. It warned headteachers against shying away from such responsibilities.

    The government said this would check a situation where some teachers slip into redundancy.

    It said teachers’ promotion letters for 2009 and 2010 have been released and the running cost for the 2011/2012 session paid.

    The Chairman of the Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Chief Mufutau Ajibola, spoke while addressing public primary school teachers in Abeokuta North, Ijebu North and Yewa North local government areas.

    Ajibola urged the teachers to be more dedicated to their job and dress decently.

    He said the government was rehabilitating 1,234 classrooms in 376 schools and 278 schools are being built across the state.