Project Materials

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The evolution of school supervision is visible throughout history as a result of learning philosophy and of social and political factors (Fine, 2017). According to Igwe (2016), supervision means guiding, supporting, controlling, overseeing, or ensuring that the anticipated principles are met. Thus, school supervision includes the process of ensuring that the values, rules, regulations and procedures prescribed for the purpose of implementing and achieving the goals of education are effectively enforced. As a consequence, supervision requires the use of expert expertise and experience to monitor and organize the process of enhancing teaching and learning programs in schools. In addition, supervision could be seen as an interaction involving some kind of defined relationship with and between individuals, so that people influence others. To some degree, this mode of interaction is profoundly challenged by a predetermined program of instruction. According to Netzer and Kerey (2018), the systematization of the interaction of those responsible for working within the administrative framework is called supervision. Thus in the course of its duty, the supervisor is required to initiate a variety of practices that will contribute to a fruitful convergence of these two contexts in order to achieve peace and satisfaction. Supervision is a multifaceted method that focuses on training teachers to provide knowledge to enhance their teaching efficiency (Beach & Reinhartz, 2017). The common feature of instruction and supervision is that these processes take place in a face-to-face environment. School monitoring is one of the few practices that can provide sufficient skills for effective teaching and learning in our schools. We all need to know more about the effects of school supervision in Nigeria especially in the Nadowli district. I assume that the emerging trend in school supervision problems today calls for the consequences of supervision to be examined at all levels of education. The purpose of school supervision is to help teachers improve their education (Zepeda, 2017). Education supervision is required by the Departments of Education and local school districts to support teachers in delivering high-quality education to public school students. The process of supervision of an instructional teacher also requires direct assistance to enhance the techniques of classroom practice through observation and assessment of teacher performance (Glickman et al., 2019). This technique is currently conducted in local school districts via checklists and narrative forms that assess teachers in a face-to-face environment. Efficient supervision is seen as one of the keys to the complex problem of enhancing the quality and performance of basic education, the quality of education management and the quality of education attainment. According to Shiundu and Omulando (2016), positive factors influencing the quality of teachers have a role to play in improving the quality of teaching and curriculum implementation by controlling unnecessary absenteeism, incompetence in the planning of lessons and laxity in book marking and feedback. They continue to argue that an efficient supervisor should be a little more knowledgeable about modern methods of administration and teaching. It is the supervisor who is responsible for quality (Beardwell & Claydon, 2016); thus if head teachers were to play their role, there would be no need for quality debate.

Furthermore, Grauwe (2017) described challenges faced by external supervision, especially in developing countries and Africa, to include, among other things, insufficient travel funds and vehicles, weak supervision strategies, too many schools per officer, and time constraints. There is also a conflict between their advisory and control positions, which yield little to school success and efficiency due to weak human relations. Wanzare (2019) concluded that school management is merely a matter of maintaining strict adherence to the rules and regulations and allegiance to the principals. Not this, but also there is hardly any follow-up, except by the internal supervisor on behalf of the inspectors, hence the need to reconsider internal supervision as a tool for quality education in Nigeria. The primary goal of any supervisor is to bring about improvement, not to preserve the status quo, in order to increase the standard of quality education. Many of the proposed changes came from mid-level or upper-level management, and then went down for implementation (Beardwell & Claydon, 2017). Some of these changes may impose new standards; they will require new skills, inconvenience, may change administrative structures and staff roles, or may put pressure on the status quo. As a link between management and staff, it is the responsibility of the principal or head of each secondary school to ensure that improvements are effectively made to the school (Samoei, 2019). Akyeampong and Asante (2016) observed that both absenteeism and lateness are symptomatic of education systems that have poor teacher management mechanisms and are unable to provide incentives to inspire teachers to change their attitudes towards work. Some sanctions and penalties for lateness and absenteeism have been prescribed by secondary school monitoring board, but head teachers seem reluctant to implement them because professional culture does not encourage the requisite compliance authority (Akyeampong & Asante, 2016). This problem of supervision complicates matters because it affects the dedication of teachers to work, the measurable pattern of attendance and the quality of the delivery of services in the classroom and in the school as a whole.

Motivation is hard to describe. The word “motivation” comes from the Latin word “move” which means “move;” therefore, motivation can mean the process of evoking movement in the person. It’s a very important aspect that decides how effective we are with what we do. It acts as a guiding force that gives us the will to achieve a mission and ultimately succeeds in achieving the ultimate objective. The level of motivation can vary from day to day depending on how we feel or how we perceive a certain experience. Motivation also pushes us to stick to the low selections of facts and recipes needed to keep our development going. Motivation is an important element in the teaching and learning process. Effective learning depends on the high or low motivation of students. It will push learners to the aim of learning. Motivation is also the key to success in improving the teaching process. It is in line with the above circumstances that the effects of school monitoring and its influence on student academic achievement need to be investigated. Supervision also has a long way to go in Nigeria’s education system. It is against this context that this study needs to be carried out in order to help understand the effects of school supervision and student motivation on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Nigeria.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Taylor (2016) questions the importance of quality control as a desirable term and approach to management in secondary education. School supervision is viewed as a critical tool for quality management and enhancing student engagement and thus academic success (Young, 2018) and has gained strong international support. School supervision systems operate in almost all Nigerian states; they have played a key role in the growth of the public secondary school education system, supporting the quality of schools and promoting their enhancement. However, in many secondary schools in Nigeria, these programs are increasingly criticized for failing to have a positive effect on the standard of teaching and learning in schools, which should inevitably have an impact on the motivation of students and therefore on their academic performances. This can be attributed to a lack of resources and a number of poor management and planning decisions especially in Nigeria’s government secondary schools. Indeed, it seems that supervisors/inspectors are helping to boost the level of results of senior secondary school students. Through systematically tracking teaching and learning processes in different secondary schools, by directing teachers to higher levels of education, and by ‘objectively assessing teaching-learning processes, school inspectors/supervisors are helping to preserve and enhance performance standards. Against this backdrop, many secondary schools have sought to change their monitoring and motivational framework for students. These reforms are also motivated by the need to enhance the standard of education and academic success of students in Nigeria. Indeed the ability of any secondary school to make use of its greater independence effectively and efficiently depends to a large extent on the support resources on which it can rely. School supervision may be required to direct secondary schools in their decision-making and to track their use of resources, the quality of teaching and learning and, ultimately, the academic performance of students, given the lack of adequate school supervision, which is bound to trigger further declines in secondary schools education system, especially government-funded secondary schools in Nigeria. It is against this backdrop that the researcher seeks to establish the impact of school supervision and encouragement of students on the academic performance of students in the Eti-Osa local government of the state of Lagos.

1.3       OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of this study is to investigate the effect of school supervision and students’ motivation on senior secondary students in Eti-Osa Local government Area of Lagos state and how this affects the academic performance of senior secondary students in the state. Specifically, the study will:

1. To analyse the impact of school supervision students’ academic performance
2. To examine the effect of students ‘motivation on students’ academic performance.
3. To analyse the relationship between school supervision, motivation and students’ academic performance.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the issues raised in the statement of problem, the researcher will seek to answer the following questions,

1. What is the impact of school supervision students’ academic performance?
2. What is the effect of students ‘motivation on students’ academic performance?
3. What is the relationship between school supervision, motivation and students’ academic performance?

1.5       HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

The following hypotheses will guide this study.

1. There is no significant effect of school supervision on students’ academic performance.
2. There is no significant effect of students’ motivation on students’ academic performance

H03:There is no significant relationship between school supervision, students’ motivation and academic performance

1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

In view of the important role played by education in human development, research in this field is very important. This study would support the following: the Ministry of Education, the Teachers, policy makers and the Post-Primary Education and Development Board.

First the Ministry of Education, the National Secondary Education Commission (NSEC) and the Zonal Education Board will find this work useful as it will provide them with information on successful supervision and encouragement for students. Consequently, as the Organization is responsible for overseeing educational standards, the information gained here serves as a guide to enhancing the productivity of teachers, which would inevitably improve the academic performance of students.

Stakeholders in the education sector, policy makers and teachers will also benefit from this research in the same way as they will understand how each of their actions or inaction affects the success of students in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos state.

In addition, the Nigerian Government at all levels will find this very significant as a solution to the continuing problems in the secondary education sector in Nigeria. As such, the right policy would be influenced by the information obtained from this research for the positive success of students.

Finally this study may act as a point of reference for future research. It will also add to the established knowledge body in this field.

1.7. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Area of interest in this research is effect of school supervision and students’ motivation on academic performance of senior secondary students in Eti-Osa Local government Area of Lagos state. Hence the study covered school supervision, students’ motivation, and students’ performance secondary schools in Eti-Osa Local government Area in Lagos State. This study also looked into the concept and some theories of supervision, students’ motivation, principles of motivation and ways through which secondary schools are effectively supervised. Educational implication of motivation is discussed in this work.

1.8. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

It is necessary to mention some of the limitations of this research work. The chief limitation is the difficulty in obtaining relevant information, some information required from respondents in questionnaires were not given by respondents but these missing values were not  statistical significant enough to be noticed.

Notwithstanding, in the highlighted limitation above, it is hoped that this research will be useful to Nigerians, organizations that may be interested in our research.

1.9. ASUMPTION OF THE STUDY

The study was based on the assumption that school supervision and students motivationinfluences academic performance which basically is to enable students to show certain skills and attitude.