PAEDAGOGICAL-CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE TEACHERS FOR EFFECTIVE LESSON DELIVERY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODCUTION

1.1         Background to the Study

Education, skills development and life-long learning are central pillars for job performance of educated and trained individuals who teach school subjects including agricultural science who become professional teachers. A profession is connected with any prestige holding occupation that needs special occupational training. Teaching as a profession requires the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitude through a long period of education and training that leads to the award of certificate recognized by the members of the profession, with the aim of providing services in the teaching profession.

A teacher of agricultural science is an individual who is trained in paedagogical and technical areas of agricultural science and is charged with the responsibilities of imparting knowledge, skills and attitude to students. A teacher of agricultural science is a person who performs the specialized function of educating others in formal schools or institutions to bring about learning in the field of agriculture. A teacher of agricultural science performs certain professional responsibilities which include planning the school instruction; organizing instructional resources; implementing instruction; evaluating instruction, managing practicals in agriculture, maintaining student-teacher relationship, maintaining teacher-community relationship and guiding students’ career or occupational choice through well coordinated instruction.

According to Ahmed (2000), instruction refers to systematic imparting of knowledge, skills, attitudes and modes of conduct by oral speech and written language of the content to be presented. Ogwo and Oranu (2006) opined that instruction is an interaction between the teacher

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and the learner (within the interaction, the teacher teaches and the learner learns) to bring about effective lesson delivery. Effective lesson delivery in the view of Nancy and Shirley (2006), is the systematic use of selected techniques, methods and strategies to create a dynamic interface between the curriculum and learners. On the other hand, Stenberg (1998), sees effective Lesson delivery as the use of various techniques and methods of presenting the subject matter or content in an organized manner, focusing presentation on teaching goals and creating possibilities in order to meet the learners’ needs and interests and goals of secondary school education in Nigeria.

PAEDAGOGICAL-CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE TEACHERS FOR EFFECTIVE LESSON DELIVERY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA