CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The issue of undesirable behaviours among children today is a cause of concern among parents, teachers, governments and even children themselves. This is because in recent times there has been a general outcry about undesirable behaviours among children in the society at large and particularly in schools. Cruickshank, Jenkins and Metcalf (2003) comment that, a common persistent problem among teachers, and perhaps the greatest fear of new teachers, is student misbehavior. This problem has also been found to be responsible for many teachers leaving the teaching profession. There is the belief among experts that there is a link between behaviour and learning and as such behaviour should not be considered in isolation from teaching and learning (Grigg, 2010). Undesirable behaviours are believed to have the tendency to impede learning rather than promote learning. Other terms used to refer to undesirable behaviours include, abnormal behaviour, misbehavior, inappropriate behaviour, distruptive behaviour, among others. Efforts have therefore been made to develop strategies that can be used to control undesirable behaviours. To this end there is what experts call behaviour modification theories. These are used as guides to control/modify children’s behaviour. It is worthy of note that the causes of many undesirable behaviours in schools are beyond the scope of the school. Factors such as poverty, lack of social support and parenting patterns contribute a lot to pupils’ behaviours. It might therefore be difficult for teachers to influence such factors but they can seek for ways of controlling them, especially in the classroom. Undesirable behaviours can impact on the efficiency and productivity of the class in a situation where the classroom teacher is unable to maintain effective classroom control. Some common undesirable behaviours among pupils in the classroom include noise making, failing to do assignments, not paying attention, chewing or eating during lessons, missing classes, bullying and lying among others (Machumu, 2011). The notion of whether behaviour is good or bad is not static because it varies from place to place and from time to time. This is why Grigg (2010) comments that one of the difficulties in assessing the extent of undesirable behaviour in schools is that it is context-specific. Johnston, Halocha and Chapter (2007) also opine that good behaviour in children is not a fixed or definite thing, anymore than the good life is an agreed notion among adults. What we require of children will differ from one society or age to the other; therefore our present expectations must be seen as temporary rather than certain solutions. This is why there have been concerns about standards of pupils’ behaviour. This not withstanding, there are certain behaviours that are actually undesirable especially in the classroom irrespective of the place, the time and even the culture. Therefore concerns about undesirable behaviours in schools are being expressed all over the world today.
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Behaviour modification techniques are very powerful tools for bringing out positive change in human behaviour and facilitate good and conducive learning atmosphere in the school system. Undesirable behaviours abound among students, for example, we find students indulging in noisemaking, some students are sighing in class, some loiter, shuffling, students even answer calls in class, some students’ indulge in conversation during teaching and learning, some students come to class late, during examination some of them indulge in exam malpractice. All these undesirable behaviour cause problem in the classroom and if not handled properly will affect teaching and learning since these behaviour have negative effect on the school as a whole. It is necessary to identify solutions to these problems. Several theories have been advanced to explain why individuals, including student misbehave, yet the problem is still on. Many works have been done in research, several methods have been devised on how to put a stop to these undesirable behaviours yet students manifest undesirable behaviours with increasing frequency. This research work attempts to adopt negative reinforcement as behaviour modification technique. Since it is undisputed fact that undesirable behaviour has psychological and educational effect on student, it needs to be tackled.
The problem of this study posed in a question form is; To what extent does teachers make use of adequate behaviour modification technique in managing undesirable behaviour among secondary school students in Afikpo education zone of Ebonyi State?
1.3. AIMS OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study is to:
1. Identify the classroom undesirable behaviours exhibited by students.
2. Identify behaviour modification techniques teachers’ use in managing classroom undesirable behaviour.
3. Ascertain the effect of gender difference in students’ undesirable behaviour in classroom and.
4. Determine factors that contribute to students’ undesirable behaviours.
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the classroom undesirable behaviours exhibited by students?
2. What is the behaviour modification techniques teachers use in managing classroom undesirable behaviour?
3. To what extent does gender difference contribute to student’s undesirable behaviour in classroom?
4. What are the factors that contribute to students’ undesirable behaviour in the classroom?
1.5. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
H0: Undesirable classroom behavior does not have significant impact on academic performance of students in Nigeria.
H1: Undesirable classroom behavior has significant impact on academic performance of students in Nigeria.
1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study seeks to find out the best behaviour modification techniques used by teachers in managing classroom undesirable behaviour among students. This study will serve as a resource material to teachers, students, counselors, educationists, and the school administrators. By keeping abreast of the events, and developments in the field of behaviour modification technique, one will be able to ascertain which approaches are gaining currency and widely use, and those that are loosing recognition and patronage.
This will instigate enquires into the factor responsible for the popularity or otherwise of the behaviour modification technique. It will also help the teachers to know correct technique/strategy to use to modify undesirable behaviour in their classroom. The information obtained from this study will be of beneficial to both students and the teachers in their battle for improved the management of the classroom. Use of behaviour modification techniques for managing classroom undesirable behaviours by teachers in Afikpo Education Zone of Ebonyi State will help to improve teaching and learning. The result of this research is of great benefit to teachers, counselors, Educationists, school administrators, parents and indeed to all those who will prepare students for adjustment in the homes, churches in controlling the undesirable behaviour that exist amongst the students in secondary schools. The study will help the teachers to understand their own level of tolerance in managing classroom behaviours. The study will help the counselor to control the process of counseling and accepts responsibility for the outcome of their negative behaviours. It will enable them to identify the problems of student, causes and decides what kind of technique to use in eliminating the students problem. The counselor may decide to involve himself in the individuals environment outside the counseling office or involve in help of significant others in the students environment just to have desired result on the student negative behaviour. It will help the counselor to provide the student with the skills to mange his/her own life within and outside the classroom. Educationists will benefit from the research because it will help to emphasize on cultural integration in our schools to help our students to know the norm of our society, e.g. respect for elders, truthfulness and obedient right from home to the classroom. Today Education is universally accepted as a form of investment in human being, the educational planners will derive information on the cause of misbehaviour in the students from this research work and would therefore map out adequate comprehensive programme that would engage students and it will properly assess this on both academic and character dimensions. School administrators are those heads of the school which help them to make required assignment and evaluation on the need for behaviour intervention or modification plans for students whose undesirable behaviour impedes their learning or learning of their classmates.
1.7. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The geographical scope of the study involved all the government secondary schools located in the three Local Government Area, namely Afikpo South, Ivo and Onicha Local Government Education Areas. All located in Afikpo Education Zone of Ebonyi State. The content scope focused on four aspects that include: the classroom undesirable behaviours exhibited by students, the behaviour modification technique use in managing classroom undesirable behaviour, Extent gender difference contributed to students undesirable behaviour in classroom and the factors that contributed to students undesirable behaviour in the classroom.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
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