Analysing the Level of Professionalism in the Teaching Practice Exercise for Pre-service Teachers in Nigeria

Abstract

The teaching profession in Nigeria has been relegated to the background such that most people feel ashamed of identifying with the profession. Worst still, educational institutions have compromised professionalism by employing graduates who did not undergo the Teacher-Education Programme (TEP). Most of such people merely took the teaching job just to make a living, thus endangering the scholarship for teaching and learning. The Teaching Practice Exercise (TPE) is one of the components of the TEP which all pre-service teachers are expected to undergo for a period of twelve weeks at two different times. The research thus set out to analyse the level of professionalism in teaching practice and the readiness of pre-service teachers for scholarship in teaching and learning. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 56 lecturers and 1000 students from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect data for analysis using descriptive statistics. The study found that the preparatory processes leading to the TPE by pre-service teachers were satisfactory. However, pre-service teachers were faced with the challenge of a lack of confidence in the classroom which hindered their performance. The lecturers who served as supervisors for the pre-service teachers in their various schools also had challenges with transportation costs as the University has no provision for them in this regard. The study recommended the need for supervisors to provide moral support for pre-service teachers to ensure professionalism. There is also the need for incentives to be provided for supervisors to assist them in performing efficiently. The study therefore emphasized the need for professionalism to be incorporated into the teacher education programme for the purpose of improving the quality of teaching and learning. Keywords: Teaching, Profession, Professionalism, Pre-Service Teachers, Scholarship, Learning.