KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING
MANAGEMENT (KALM):
PRINCIPLES, OPPORTUNITIES,
APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES
Edited by
A.O.Ayeni
. Uche G. Emetarom
Eunice O. Omoregie
J.A. Undie
J.E.Okon
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Facilitating Effective Management of Classroom Learning in Nigerian Schools
"Onukc, AO. & 2lsah, E.A
'Institute of Education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan .
. 2Department of Educational Management,
Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan.
+234033564064 Email: adamonuka@yahoo.com
+2348093755776 Email: emmanisah2005@yahoo.com
Abstract
Learning takes place with cooperation between teachers and learners using established
norms. Certain variables have been identified as contributory to effective teaching and
learning in Nigerian schools among which are; teaching materials that include knowledge
generation and its utilisation, pedagogical principles that include teacher preparation,
infrastructural provision and development involving school plant creation, classroom
creation, class size and general management of the classroom. Classroom management
has peculiar challenges in the present dispensation. The study gives an overview of
knowledge creation and its management, learning principles and general theories of
learning. It investigates challenges and causes of poor classroom learning to include;
inadequate teacher preparation, inadequate instructional materials for effective classroom
instruction in schools, uncooperative ethnic divergences on the perception of education,
poverty that induces absenteeism and. indiscipline ,in schools, unfriendly educational
policies orchestrated by forces of ethnicism, nepotism, poor leadership and corruption.
Other challenges include increasing dissatisfaction with the returns to education, Solutions
advocated include; sensitization of stakeholders on the need to educate citizens and see
education as a product that must be ;ointly funded by private and public sector, increase in
internal and external supervision of the school system, provision of instructional materials,
training and retraining of staff (Teachers) to meet present needs of the school system, class
size, pupil/teacher ratios, infrastructural provision etc. Perspectives of 21 sf century effective
classroom management are examined.
Introduction
Education has been variously described and defined, Among those who defined and
described education include scholars like Fafunwa (1974), and Osokoya (2003). A
common denominator among all definitions of education is that it nourishes, enlightens
and creates room for progress. In the several definitions and descriptionsvsorne facts
emerged for example; Education is either formal or informal. Formal education is that
obtained from formal school while informal education is that obtained through the homes
(family) and society. Informal education does not involve going to a formal school. A
common factor to both formal and informal ~ducation is that learning takes place in both
instances. Though learning takes place in both settings, methodology for inculcating
values in both instances varies. While in formal schools the teacher stands distinct and has
formal training in teaching, the informal school is not so blessed. Teachers may be well
informed in theinforrnol school, but lack the basic pedagogical techniques of inculcating
such facts. In essence, the classroom serves as an essential tool to learning in the formal
school system. Classrooms are created in the formal school system to accommodate
pupils or students having similar characteristics for example; a mean age, level of
education or schooling, The school plant is compartmentalized in that way to facilitate
teaching and learning.
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142 Onuka, A.O. & Isah, E.A
The functions of a classroom include that it;
1. Serves as a unit of instruction for students/pupils with similar educational goals
2. Allows for effective supervision and evaluation by both the head teacher or any
person so designated
3. Enables allocation of educational resources for example teaching personnel in the
school and equitable distribution of instructional materials etc
4. Enables systematic educational instruction in all subjects and prevents wastages
5. Gives the teacher and the school system the opportunity to identify talented students
for further development.
Learning on its part is unique. Kassin (2009), explained that several theories have been
adapted from Psychology by educators for education especially educational psychology to
facilitate teaching and learning and enable teachers acquire the right perspective to
inculcating knowledge. Prominent among theories identified by Kasin (2009) are those
associated with behaviour modification for example, operant conditioning by Pavlov,
Skinner etc. Others include those involved in looking at pupil traits - Individual differences,
genetic composition of pupils and students etc.
Foley (2009) ,explained that cognitive domain include but not limited to the
following;
... cognition refers to the process of knowing, and cognitive psychology is
the study of all mental activities related to acquiring, storing, and using
knowledge. The domain of cognitive psychology spans the entire spectrum
of conscious and unconscious mental activities: sensation and perception,
learning and memory, thinking and reasoning, attention and
consciousness, imagining and dreaming, decision making, and problem
solving. Other topics that fascinate cognitive psychologists include
creativity, intelligence, and how people learn, understand, and use
language ... Foley(2009: 1)Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008
Microsoft Corporation.
Further equipment given to teachers include; lesson preparation and delivery methods
taking cognizance of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains in education. A
well qualified teacher in Nigeria is one that is appropriately armed with the pedagogical
weapons to face his area of discipline and confront his level of operation but however,
most teachers, pupils, students and schools face challenges and constraints to classroom
learning management.
What then is classroom and learning management? McCreary (2009), described
classroom management as the various strategies adopted by school managers to ensure
that each learner gains maximally to enhance educational performance. Johnson and
Bany (1970), described classroom management as a pattern of actions in which a teacher
or instructional manager creates conditions favourable to the attainment of pre
determined classroom objectives that facilitate learning. Manzur (2009), saw learning as
the ability to acquire aptitudes that enhances the performances of new tasks. The process
of acquiring such skills involves an understanding by the teacher of teaching
methodologies. Manzur (2009), specifically explained that teachers should be equipped
with knowledge of child developmental and learning psychologies and their relationship to
education.
In explaining the roles of educational psychology and the domains in education,
Manzur (2009) referred to the works of classical conditioning by Pavlov, Operant
conditioning by Skinner and Thorndike, observational learning by Bandura. Manzur
(2009), further described the importance of a teacher being skilled in factors that
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Facilitating Effedive Management ... 143
determine learning which was pointed out to include age, motivation (reinforcement etc)
previous experiences and intelligence.
Facilitating learning involves the adoption of certain strategies and policies in
primary and secondary schools classroom management techniques. Among strategies that
could be adopted are; keeping the total number of students in sch~ols and classroom
within the teachers scope and competence in terms of number, age and ability. Further to
this, teacher availability and competence must be well considered especially training,
availability and adequate utilisation of teaching materials, adequate environmental
facilities, school climate and the adoption of sound school management principles
especially in the area of school supervision and instruction delivery system. Other factors
include; discipline and the environment (Arogundade, 2009). For tertiary education,
learning management is a function of several factors that include availability, adequacy
and effective utilisation of human resources (teachers), poor infrastructure especially in the
sciences and poor funding of the system. Generally learning is a function of teacher
knowledge of the student, mastery of his subject matter and ability to inculcate discipline.
It is necessary to explain here that the effects of improper classroom and learning
management are far reaching and most of them are here with us in Nigeria. Prominent
among them are;
1. Decline in student academic achievement and performance: Improper classroom
management breeds indiscipline and poor retention rate among 'students. The effect
of such is that learning will be boring and students will loose ability of independent
study. In recent years, there has been consistent decline in secondary school students
academic perforrncnce in external examinations.
2. Resort to clandestine methods of passing examinations: It is well known that absence
of quality teaching results in the cutting of edges to success commonly referred to as
examination malpractices the impact that has been with us over the years. Okpalla
(2011) decried the mass failure in the 2011 National Examination Council (NECO)
conducted secondary final examinations where less than 12% passed the examination
with credit in English Language and Mathematics that form basic requirement for
university admission. He explained that if students are well taught, there will be
improvement in their results. The result also showed a high level of examination
malpractices.
3. Decline in scholarship: A drop in classroom and learning management will translate
over time to decline in scholarship as independent study will be come a mirage
among pupils and students. III equipped teachers will produce ill. equipped students.
Where these are available and infrastructure is lacking, then students will become
dependent almost all their days.
Challenges and Constraints to Effective Classroom Learning and Management
Several challenges apply to the teaching learning situations in our educational system
today. Such challenges cut across all levels of education in Nigerio and sub Saharan
Africa and can be seen as explained below; .
1. Inadequate Teachers.
The problem of inadequate classroom teachers has been with Nigeria and is yet to be
solved. It is clear that no nation or people can grow beyond the capacity of her teachers
and despite every innovation thrqugh research and development from information
communication technology (ICT), no substitute has been developed to replace the teacher
(Omolewa, 2009).
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144 Onuka, AO. & Isoh, E.A
(FRN 2004) was very emphatic on the trcininq of teachers and the basic
qualifications of teachers. The problem of availability of teachers cuts across all levels of
Nigeria's education for example, it is muted that Nigeria requires additional thirty two
thousand PHD holders to get our current universities adequately staffed but at the some
time, the current levels of production by all universities is only three hundred graduates per
annum which in essence implies that it will take Nigeria, over one hundred years to meet
the lecturer requirement for university education at the current rate of production.
In a recent study, Babalola (2011 L revealed the shortage and excesses in Nigerian
Primary school teacher demand and supply as shown below;
Table 1: Trends in Teacher Demand and Supply in Nigerian Primary Schools from
1999-2005
Number of Primary School
Years Teachers Excesses and Shortfalls
Actual Expected Shortfall Excess
Supply Demand
1999 43,2096 447,683 15,587
2000 446A05 478J86 32,381
2001 488,164 476,031 12,133
2002 491J51 495,152 3A01
2003 591,041 642;620 51,379
2004 597,532 534,888 62,644
2005 599,172 552,886 46,286
Source: Babalola 20011, Teacher Professionalism in a Time of
global Changes Pp 4
With increasing demand for university education and quality regulation by the
Nigerian Universities commission (NUCL there is gross inadequacy of lecturers and
this was identified by Osokoya (2003) as the major challenge that has been and is
still facing the successful implementation of the 1981 National Policy on education
especially as it relates to the Junior Secondary School (JSS) aspect. Vocational
subjects introduced into the JSS have virtually become ineffective due to shortage of
teachers.
2. Inadequate infrastructure
Infrastructure has been identified as a rnojor challenge to all aspects of the Nigerian
educational system. Prominent among scholars who studied this include; Adeyemi
and Uko-Aviomoh (2004L Akpochafo and Felio (2006). Both scholars studied
different aspects of the infrastructural development of Nigeria and were able to
project into the future using data collected from technical and secondary schools and
those from technological institutions. There study exposed the infrastructural
deficiencies in Nigeria's education system. It is clear that there can be no efficient
management of the classroom without adequate infrastructure. The challenge of
inadequate infrastructure affects science and technology as no effective learning in
science and technology can take place without laboratories. While it can be argued
that the Humanities, Management sciences and Education can do without rigorous
infrastructure, the same cannot be said of science and technical education.
Babalola (2010L studying the dearth of infrastructure in Africa and by extension
Nigeria, dwelt extensively on a comparative scale of the damage from inadequate
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Facilitating Effedive Management ... 145
electricity to teaching and learning at the university level. His comparison exposed the
inadequacy of the Nigerian student to his American counterpart due to insufficient and ill
exposition to leT materials. Onuka and Emunemu (2009) in a study on managing the
challenges of schooling in Oyo State, Nigeria were able to expose the dangers which
Primary and secondary school students were exposed to especially in terms of poor
building infrastructure. The study was able to expose that most students and teachers felt
unhappy and did not feel like going to school each time they thought of the school
conditions.
3. Poor Policy Implementation
A challenge and constraint to classroom and learning management in the Education
system and in the schools is unwillingness by top management and political leaders to
conform to laid down rules and procedures. Examining our tertiary education system,
Okojie (201 1) explains that most policies are in place but due to quick and cheap
means to get political advantages those people throw such policies away. For
example, universities admitting students for courses for which they·are not accredited.
To ensure sanity in such circumstances, the regulator must go extra mile to ensure
conformity. Also, teacher pupil ratio and average class size policies are abused in
schools. Isah and Fabunmi (2011) explains that one of the reasons why quality
(performance) of graduates from our educational system is poor is not unconnected
with large number of students teachers are constrained to cope with when such
capacity is not provided for. It is practically impossible for a single teacher to manage
a classroom of over seventy five students. In some universities, a single teacher could
be made to handle well over three thousand students (Faculty courses) especially in
public state owned universities. Such practices do not enhance effective· classroom
management practices.
4. Poor Learning Environment
Poor learning environment simply imply environments that are not conducive for effective
classroom lesson delivery. Most school structures especially in rural areas are particularly
poor and cannot enhance discipline especially when there are noturol occurrences as
rain, winds and change in climatic conditions. Under such conditions, indiscipline breeds
in schools. Again inadequacy of poor facilities especially toilet facilities facilitates a
relaxed atmosphere where it becomes impossible for both school administrators and
classroom teachers to constrain students to adhere to school rules on movement. Another
contributory factor to poor school learning environment is poor teacher welfare and harsh
school environment. Other human/innate factors include; poor relationship between
teacher and pupils, teacher and teacher and teacher with the school management. There
are instances when moral laxity on the part of the teachers causes a breakdown in
classroom management. .
5. Insufficient Motivational Packages for Teachers In Education
Babalola (2011), described the teaching profession in sub Saharan African as most
unrnotivotinq in that in the context of modern global professional practices. In the study, it
was observed that modern teaching comprises of skill acquisition and dissemination,
jncrecsed digital applications, increased global recognition of productivity especially in the
area of knowledge transfer and dissemination, emphasis on lifelong education rather than
traditional educational skills, changes in the various areas of capital resulting in social
expectations from the teccher. However, modern teachers in Sub Saharan Africa and
Nigeria lack the basic skills to match their counterparts in many arts of the developing
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146 Onuko, A.O. & Isoh, f.A
world. Teachers in Nigeria are ill equipped, ill trained and poorly paid in the sense that it
is regarded as an unrewarding profession.
Social perception of teachers is poor .because their take home packages are not
adequate. Until recently, university teachers in Nigeria had the same problem but tcdcy
the university system in terms of motivation is gradually emerging. Indicators of this
emergence is discernible in the desire of most young persans to join the tertiary academic
community which was nat the same in the recent past, most graduates are interested in
remaining in the academic community as it has become motivating to attract good quality
personnel. Teachers perceived as light bearers in various communities especially in rural
settings are not well paid and hence most citizens do not wish their off springs take up the
job of teaching. In recent study on a survey of education students attitude towards
teaching as a career, Adewuyi (2003), discovered that out of 540 subjects, only 219
representing 41 % and an X of 2.37 and SD of 1.03 that tested insignificant agrred to take
to teaching out of love for the profession. The poor social perception of teachers in
Nigeria is evident in poor dressing style and in most times inability to meet personal needs
and exigencies.
In most situations in Nigeria, teacher sacrifices are unrewarded for example,
teachers fought a hard battle to implement teachers professional wages while most
science teachers are not paid any science allowances. Teachers in rural areas are not
paid any rural allowances. They are compelled to do what ordinarily should have been
done with happiness the result is 'lack of interest' in the job.
6. Poor and Inadequate Instructional Materials
The importance of instructional materials to students academic performance was well
captured in Oloyede (2003). In the study that investigated resources availability, utilization
and academic achievement of students in selected secondary schools in Ibadan observed
that academic performance of students declined due to lack of availability of learning
resources in the form of instructional materials. The study further explained that there is a
significant relationship beiween availability and utilization of instructional materials.
Efficient utilization of the resources will lead to high student academic performance. The
effect of the above finding is traceable to the assertions of the World Bank in (IBRD, 2006)
that indicated primary school completion rate in Nigeria to be 68%. Among reasons that
account for children dropping out of school include poor [earning facilities. Teachers and
teaching become boring when instructional materials are not available. In Nigeria, most
teachers spend their meager resources to purchase instructional materials when it is no
longer coming from the authorities. To improve school enrolment in rural areas and
encourage brilliant but poor students, teachers contribute their meager resources to
purchase uniforms' and in some cases buy books for students.
Strategies and Recommendations for Improving Classroom Teaching and Learning
Management
To meet the goals end objectives of educotion as enshrined in the Nigerian National
policy on Education, this study is of the opinion and recommends that the following
strategies be adopted by policy makers in the Nigerian educational system:
1. Increased Teacher/Lectu rer Production
This study is of the opinion that adequate supply of teacher to meet education demand
will reduce the pressure on existing schools and classrooms. Increased teacher production
will force the pupil/teacher ration to drop and will result in effective rncnoqernent of the
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Facilitating Effedive Management ... 147
classroom, inculcation and enforcement of classroom discipline, improvement in internal
supervision and monitoring and enhanced teacher responsibility.
2. Improved Motivation for Teachers Welfare
Abraham Maslows motivational hierarchy comes in handy here. Where teachers are
poorly motivated, they develop a poor perception of themselves and apply such
discouragement to their work. Poor motivation reduce high professional ethics due to
compromise to meet physiological (survival) needs. This breeds corruption and its
unwanted allies. This paper is of the opinion that apart from paying teachers professional
allowances, rural teachers allowance, science teachers allowance etc should form part of
teachers emoluments.
3. Improved Teacher Training Curriculum
Though much was provided for in the 1981 National Policy on teacher training, much still
needs to be done in .light of the revelations from Babalola (2010 & 201 1). Nigeria's
teacher training curriculum needs review, reforms and modification. Teacher education in
Nigeria and in Sub Saharan Africa require the inculcation of some basic aspects of
Information Communication Technology (lCT) to conform to emerging trends in
globalisation. Teacher training needs inclusion of studies in Environmental literacy and
climate change especially in aspects relating to mitigating the effects of global warming,
coping with emergency and disaster management. Good teacher training curriculum will
equip the teacher with the basic tenets of pedagogy, win pupil and society confidence.
4. Improving School Environment
An improvement of the school environment will make schooling and leorninq attractive to
the learner. This paper is of the opinion that policy executors should devote adequate
funds to making schools especially public schools what it should be. Classrooms should
be properly furnished, laboratories well equipped and libraries well stocked with books.
Also, schools should have basic protection from poachersetc by the provision of school
fence to avoid intrusion by unwanted elements. The school environment apart from being
inviting should cater 'for both the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains of
students, pupils and teachers. Classrooms should be provided with sufficient and
adequate instructional materials to empower teachers for effective lesson delivery.
5. Improved and Increased Inspection
A major transformational tool for effective clossrcorn and learning management is the
expectation by teachers of inspectors. Over the years, the levels and rate of inspection in
schools have been declining. Teachers will be motivated to put into use and operate their
classroom management skills when they are conscious of the fact that they are expecting
inspectors. Inspectors should not only come from external sources as the Ministry of
Education but internal inspection like those of the head teacher, the vice principal etc.
Summary and Conclusion .
This paper investigated classroom and learning management. It took a theoretical
overview of the concept of classroom management and learning citing copiously from the
literature. The paper examined the basic t'enets of classroom management and learning
pointing out areas of strength and weaknesses in the practice of classroom and learning
management in Nigeria. The paper revealed the consequences of poor classroom
management styles on the notions and the indivlduols. The paper finally provided
strategies for improving classroom management in Nigerian schools.
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148 Onuka, AO. & Isah, FA
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