Abstract
This study is on evaluating the effectiveness of teaching styles in early childhood education. The total population for the study is 200 staff of some selected nursery and primary schools in Lagos mainland. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up headmistresses, head teachers, class teachers and teachers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
Education is a systematic process whereby an individual is exposed to and provided with the opportunity of acquiring knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which develop cumulatively with a view to preparing him well to enable him to satisfactorily integrate effectively in the society, pursue a career and sharpen his quest for continuous learning. Education involves teaching, and teaching has been generally defined by Encyclopedia Americana (1995) as to educate, instruct, discipline or an act of imparting knowledge to a learner. According to Ekueme and Igwe (2001) it is the art and practice of imparting to the learner skills, values and norms that can be useful to the total development of the individual (Anyanwu, 2003). There is no gain saying the fact hat the method(s) adopted by a teacher, affects the learning outcomes of the students or children. For instance, professional and well experienced teachers know the appropriate teaching methods to use at any given time of their teaching – learning process. Experienced and properly trained teachers know what to and how to teach at the various levels of our educational system (the pre-primary; the primary; the secondary, and the tertiary) levels. At the pre-primary level, care must be taken by professional teachers to adopt the down-to-earth method(s) of teaching the child because of immaturity at that level (Enoch, 2002). According to Anyankanshi (2000), at the early childhood stage, teachers ought to apply the methods in their teaching that will assist the child to learn the necessary things he/she ought to learn, rather than being confused and failing to learn what he/she ought to learn. Anyakanshi recommended four types of teaching styles – the play-way; the gaming and stimulation; the role playing method and the demonstrator methods of teaching. He is of the opinion that, the play-way method affords the child the ample opportunity to express himself freely in a play-way environment as children love to play naturally. Concerning the gaming method, Anyakanshi opined that the gaming and stimulation method, like the play-away method, is an excellent method of teaching children at the early stage, as it makes the child to be stimulated about the things he/she is learning. The role playing method teaching also allows the child to practicalize what is going on in the classroom. This is because, the role a child plays in the classroom during teaching, ever remains indelible in the brain of the child, while the group activity method of teaching the child, enables him/her to learn from his/her peers. This method is very good as it enables the children to trade ideas and learn from one another in group (Uzoma, 2004).
Recent research on teacher effectiveness has produced a number of findings that should be of interest to those who work with young children, particularly in the primary grades. Although results of these studies are by no means conclusive, and possibly cannot be, they do provide a fairly accurate description of how effective teachers operate in their classrooms. This description suggests that effective teachers (i.e.) teachers whose classes consistently show gains in achievement rely on traditional methods of instruction, at least in the basic skills. This is not to say that open education or child-centered teaching methods are not useful in early childhood education. These methods are sometimes essential to reach certain curriculum goals. But current findings suggest the wisdom of a return to the basics in teaching methods, as well as in curriculum, for early childhood education (Blaney, 2006). The research findings that support traditional methods for teaching basic skills come from major studies conducted in the U.S.A. and in Great Britain. The term “traditional” should perhaps be defined. Here it does not mean rigidly structured lessons for the entire class. As the word is used here it means teacher-directed instruction of small groups. Findings from a number of studies suggest that it might be wise to modify traditional methods if they are to be effective in helping young children learn, though nothing radically new or unique is suggested by the current findings. Surely, it is interesting and confronting to know the many commonly used teaching methods are effective (Adamson, 2000). The various teaching style that one uses in a classroom can have a profound impact on students’ comprehension. In early childhood education, there are various teaching styles examples of which includes the play-way method, self discovery, group activity method, demonstrator style, gaming and stimulation style, role playing, bulletin board styles etc. Teaching styles could be seen as all embracing concept referring to the teacher’s way of getting students to learn through structured methodology in order to bring about positive learning outcome (Arnolds, 2002). According to Glender and Gillian (2004), teaching style is the way of introducing the students to give attention to what is to be learnt. The teacher directs their attention to what is to be learnt, he observes the students and diagnoses their feelings and interests and follow as best as he can, the progress of their understanding. Research into teacher’s choice of teaching methods suggest that many teachers have a fairly narrow and conservative repertoire of teacher’s behaviours which often mimic those teaching methods they experience in their own schooling. According to Adegbiji (1997) teaching younger children is challenging and rewarding and whatever approach or strategies a teacher adopts to teach these young ones goes a long way to bring effectiveness to their learning, hence the need to evaluate the styles.
Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programmes, policies, personnel products, methods and organizations to improve their effectiveness. Rossi and Fireman (1993) define evaluation as the systematic application of social research procedure for assessing the conceptualization, design, implementation and utility of programmes. In addition, evaluation in education can identify effectiveness of the method used in carrying out instruction and the impact of the child’s knowledge and attitudes.
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