CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

          There is no doubt that education is an instrument for national development. It has become an instrument which every country across the globe has adopted for their development. Education tries to groom students in different fields of which science subject (biology inclusive) are part of. Biology as a natural science offers excellent background for various professional studies and competence in effectively relating what is learnt in school to real life outside school (Eryilmaz, 2010).

          It has been acknowledged as a pre-requisite for the study of several courses in the universities. For examples medicine and other applied science courses need biology. Biology education is generally aimed at equipping the individual learner with such knowledge, skills and attitude that will enable them live a meaningful development of the social economic and cultural benefits (NERDC, 2006).

          Science as “a body of knowledge is acquired through systematic and procedural processes bared on tentative observation and experiment”. In the sight of the above, science may be viewed as a way of thinking in the pursuit of understanding nature, a way of investigating and a body of established knowledge.

          Biology as a branch of science is derived from two Greek words; ‘Bio’ which means life and “logo” means study. biology therefore means the study of life or living things. It is the branch of science which investigates the origin, structure, function and distribution of life in all its forms. (Jordan and Verma, 2009).

          Abugu (2007) stated that biology is a natural science in which we study living organisms-plants and animals. Furthermore Iloeje (2011) viewed Biology as the science in which we study living things. Based on the above statement, man lives in a novel world, there are animals, plants, rivers, oceans, deserts, mountains, and so on, round him. Being a curious being, man takes delight in exploring his world, seeks to have a world view of the universe strives to investigate all matter around their origin, nature, characteristics and other features, the inquiry, he asks a lot of questions and in his search for answers to such questions, he needs to be systematic and unbiased.

          Receiving a quality education is an important corner stone in the lives of every individual. It is important that students have the tools they need to be successful tools that include motivation and engagement. For some students, motivation is not always intrinsic. It therefore falls to others to guide student along the path to their own education. As  teachers spend an incredible amount of time with their students over the course of the Year. It is a teacher’s responsibility to foster an inclination for learning. Research has indicates that the relationship between teachers and students is an important predictor of academic engagement and achievement. Infact the most powerful weapon teachers have, when trying to foster a favorable learning climate, is positive relationship with their students.

          A sizeable literature and some other scholarly article suggest that if teachers take the time to build relationships they can motivate their students to learn. Further research also suggests that teachers need to have a strong belief that building relationships are important to the motivation process. There is need to capitalize on there belief for the students benefits. It is important that educators recognize the impact the have on their students and consider strongly their students perceptions of them (Eschanmann, 2009). Teachers have to ensure that they are meeting student’s needs, both academically and emotionally.

          One of the most pure and deeply inspirational relationships is that of a devoted teacher and willing students. Almost everyone has a favorite and those we liked less; it totally depends on how the student teacher relationships were developed, natured and given space to evolve. (Kim Lee, 2016). Aligned with the attachment theory, positive teacher students enable the students to feel secure and safe in their learning environment and provide scaffolding for local and academic skills. However, inability of the teacher to develop and from positive relationship with his/her students serves as one of the factors that influences and hinders the students from performing very well in their academics. For instance, in the area of biology, it is been regarded as the subject for females, just few male have the courage to study this course (biology, it there is no experienced and qualified teacher that can handle and interact with this student they will find it difficult to learn and even concentrate during the course of the study since they have natural hatred for the subject (biology). According to Hughes (2011), teachers may find it challenging to establish positive relationships with students who display on overly confident demeanor. Teachers tend to view students as deliberately non-compliant and are apt to react harshly.

          According to Whitaker (2013), the main variable in the classroom is not the student, but the teacher great teachers have high expectations for their students, but even higher expectations of themselves. These teachers recognize the importance of connecting with their students that if they are unable to connect with them emotionally then influencing their minds may be impossible. “Good teachers put snags in the river of children passing by and over time, the redirect hundreds of lives…There is an innocence that conspires to hold humanity together”. (Bolman AND BIRCH 2007, P. 124). Whitaker (2013) suggests that teachers are the first and perhaps most important point in a student’s life. Lavioies  (2010) book”. The motivation breakthrough: 6 secrets to turning on the turned out child” he told the story of an inflexible teacher arguing the need for passive instruction and in passive learning. The teacher contended that his job was to provide his students with information. He continued his passiveness by arguing those who did not want to learn could sit at the back and sleep. The teacher’s final comment “…that is not my problem…I am a teacher not his cheer leader” suggest that there are teachers who still have a misunderstanding of their roles in the classroom (Whitaker, 2013). A good teacher that has a great ambition for his/her students does not only teach, but ensures that the students concentrate and understands what he/she thought them.

          According to Olumba (2013), the educational aims cannot be actualized if there is a poor relationships between the teacher and their students. Bringing the aims of education to reality depends on the orientation of teachers and the students in the educational system because good education required trained and committed teachers who will carry the students along with them to achieve the educational goals.

Statement of the Problem

          The school system generally in Ebonyi Local Government Area has been associated with poor academic performance, formation of perpetual hatred to teachers, bad gangs by students and neglect of some subjects which gave rise to serious problems for the realization of educational objectives. In the sigh of the above problems, the researcher therefore intend to carry out this study in order to find out the extent to which poor teacher students relationship has influenced the academic achievement of senior secondary school biology student in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Purpose of the Study                     

          The main purpose of this study was to find the influence of poor teacher-students relationships on academic achievement of senior secondary school biology students in Ebonyi Local government Area of Ebonyi State. The study intends to find out:

1. The extent to which teachers punish and react towards students in the class whenever their attention is needed by them.
2. The extent to which teacher  students relationship can be encourage in   the classroom.
3. The extent to which teachers reinforce the students in their classroom.
4. The extent to which teachers allow student freedom in the class.
5. The extent to which teachers use leisure time to engage the student in a friendly chat.

Significant of the Study

The finding of this study will be of benefit and also will go a long way in helping all stakeholders of education which includes teachers, students, parents, educational planners, private organizations schools and entire system of education.

          Teachers will benefit when there is an improvement in the relationship between the teachers and the students because it will serve as a sense of direction to them by helping them to understand and know the reason why students perform below standards academically. Also if the students perform very well the teachers will as well be rewarded.

          Students will benefit when there is a cordial relationship between them and their teacher. More knowledge will be acquired because when there is cordial relationship the students can always go to their teacher and relate their problems to them and more emphasis will be laid on it. Also there are students  that  learns better when things are explained to them more outside the school or classroom. So when there is cordial relationship student will learn better and achieve better academically.

          Parents will benefit because their wards been the students will learn better and achieve better or very well academically because parents always have great joy whenever their wards perform very well or do very well academically and also in school activities.

          Educational planners will benefit when there is improvement in the relationship between students and their teacher because the educational goal that the educational planners set out will be achieved since their intention is for the schools to achieve the aims, goals and objectives, once there is positive relationship between the teachers and students, the educational goals will not only be achieved the society will have fruitful and intelligent graduates.

          Private organization will benefit from improved relationship between the teacher and students because the school produces qualified and intelligent students that will be fruitful to the society as they have  related  very well with their teachers and perform very well in their academics. The private organizations will enjoy them (students) that graduate from schools because they will be focused, committed and  dedicated  in their work  when they are employed.     

Scope of the Study     

          For an efficient and successful work to be carried out, the researcher limits this study to a defined geographical zone that is concerned secondary schools in Ebonyi local government area of Ebonyi state.

Research Questions

          The following questions were formulated to guide the study;

1. In what ways do teachers punish and react towards students in the class whenever their attention is needed by them?
2. To what extent can we encourage students-teachers relationships in the classroom?
3. To what extent do teachers reinforce the students in their class?
4. To what extent do teachers allow students freedom in their class?
5. To what extent do teachers use leisure time to engage the students in a friendly chat?