Teachers’ utilization of instructional skills in the 21^st century classroom

Abstract

If education is the most powerful instrument for social and economic progress of any country, then teachers are the heart of any educational enterprises and the life of any school system. If teachers have the responsibility of translating educational policies into practice, then it is essential to assess the level to which teachers have the required skills to function effectively in the 21^st century classroom. In view of this, the study evaluated the instructional skills of teachers in Southwestern Nigeria. It also assesses if there is significant difference in the skills of teachers based on teaching experience. The study adopted a survey research design using the CIPP model of evaluation. One hundred and five (105) teachers, in seven (7) local government areas, in the Southwestern part of Nigeria constitute the sample. An adapted and validated instruments was used for data collection and this is named “Teachers’ Instructional Skills Assessment Format” (r = 0.85). Data were analyzed using percentages and t- test and at 0.05 level of significance. The studies found that higher percentage of the participants have high instructional skills by recording 50% and above. The study found no significant difference in analytical, design, development, implementation and evaluation skills of experienced and less - experienced teachers. Although, there was no significant difference but the mean scores show that experienced teachers possessed better instructional skills. The study recommends that education stakeholders in Nigeria should rise up to improve the quality of teacher education programmes so that the newly inducted teachers would be able to face the challenges of 21^st century classroom. Government should give priority to investment in human capital through teacher education and re-training of teacher educators. The study recommends that teachers’ skills development should be a continuous exercise so as to integrate pedagogical and technologies professionally in order to enhance learners’ performance.

Keywords: Evaluation, Pedagogy, Teacher Education, SAI, Educational Technology