PRESENTATIONS OFChild Help In Legal Defence of Rights to Education in Nigeria (C.H.I.L.D.R.E.N.) Proje

TEACHERS’ ENLIGHTENMENT AND CONSCIENTIZATION HOUR (TEACH)

THEME: TEACHERS RESPONSIBILITIES TO PUPILS

TOPIC: INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOANALYTIC TEACHING

LECTURE BY: DEBO ADENIRAN

ORGANISED BY:CHILD HELP IN LEGAL DEFENCE OF RIGHTS TO EDUCATION IN NIGERIA (CHILDREN) PROJECT

IN CONSULTATION WITH: FIRST FACULTY VENTURES

AND COLLABORATION WITH: LAGOS INSTITUTE FOR TEACHING.

OFFICE ADDRESS:

CHILDREN CENTRE:

610, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway

Ijaye Bus Stop, Ijaye-Ojokoro, Lagos

Tel: 01-4736534, 0803-719-4969

E-mail: childreneducationnow@yahoo.com

INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOANALYTIC TEACHING BY DEBO ADENIRAN

INTRODUCTION

We are here, as teachers all, to discuss our profession. Our noble profession that everybody thinks he belongs but only a few practices and even fewer takes pride in. Ours is a profession that is inevitable in everybody’s life, but maltreated as an unnecessary engagement. It is on this score that we are going to interact. This is based on the belief that all of us here have a firmly clear idea of what one is trying to talk about, and could as well have be on the one in the space I am occupying at this moment.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lecture participants should be able to:

Discuss the nature and structure of personality as a determinant of individuality in man

Distinguish between “Teacher” as a general concept and ‘School Teacher’ as peculiar term

Discuss the characteristics of pupils in each age-group level in school.

Enumerate some factors responsible for failure in performance of pupils.

State at least ten different teaching methods that could be used in teaching in their schools.

Enumerate and discuss learning process and recognize its different stages in the course of their teaching.

Use appropriate teaching method or combination of methods to teach their pupils to succeed.

This Course is geared towards changing the scheme and scope of the child’s world outlook and desire forever. This is because of the fact most of the happenings in our world today could have still happened if we did not meet anybody here when we were born. This is to say that human mind is a natural tunnel of knowledge, which can be explored with or without light and make or mar the resources that are locked up therein. Education only serves as light with which we can make a choice of the type of knowledge we require with ease from the vast deposit - whether good or bad. But as teachers, we a special brand of professionals created to suffer the effect of darkness to serve as the necessary source of light on the path of the child. It is because of this that the discussion will focus on following aspects of everyday life of human beings.

Knowledge - good, bad and choices

How to decide what knowledge is desirable

Education as a tool for desirable knowledge

Human growth and development

Human development and indulgences

Adolescence and sexual experimentation

Path to human success

KNOWING KNOWLEDGE

Learning is evident in pupils only when they know. That is, certain behavioural changes become observable in their activities. These changes are supposed to be permanent in pupils as regards their academic achievement. However before a teacher can be sure that a permanent behavioural change has occurred in his pupils, their responses to assessment questions must have been seen to satisfy the three popular dormains of learning, these are:

1.Cognitive- dealing with straightforward knowledge and other intellectual skills;

2.Affective- dealing with attitudes and values; and

3.Psycho-motive- dealing with physical skills and practical application of knowledge.

Cognitive Dormain

1.Knowledge - Recall of information

2.Comprehension - Lowest level of understanding and the ability to make use of information.3.Application - Use of abstracts or principles to solve problems.

4.Analysis - Distinguishing and comprehending inter- relationships.

5.Synthesis - Combining components to form a new whole.

6.Evaluation - Judgment.

Affective Dormain

1.Receiving - Freely attending to stimuli.

2.Responding - Voluntarily reacting to stimuli.

3.Valuing - Forming and attitude towards stimuli.

4.Characterization - Behaving consistently with an internally developed stable valuation system.

Psychomotor Dormain

1.Imitation - Carry out basic skills with directions under supervision.

2..Manipulation - Perform a skill independently

3.Precision - Perform a skill accurately.

Every creature in its own unique way is eager to know and knows something. What it does not knowis what the other knows. A creature knows what its counterpart knows only when the counterpart displays its skill, aptitude, attitude or adaptability on certain conditions, situations or experiences that can be seen by another. Most creatures (especially human beings) are eager to exhibit what they know. Whoever is slow in displaying his knowledge under favourable necessary conditions is either shy or recluse and therefore subnormal.

Knowledge therefore means the change in behaviour of an individual creature (organism) as a demonstration of the facts, skills and understanding it has gained through learning, experience or both.

A few deductions can be made from the above:

Every creature is unique in many respects and manifests in its outward behaviour

Every creature (organism) whether plant or animal knows and learns

Everybody is eager to learn new things and display them

Knowledge can occur whether one is taught or not.

Knowledge can only show when one uses it.

One can show that he knows by what he says, does or both.

Knowledge does not mean good; it can be bad as well.

What is Desirable Knowledge?

From the definition above, it is clear that anything can be taught or learnt and any change in behaviour can be developed on one’s own volition. When someone assists another to acquire an experience without formal preparation on scheme, content, time etc, it is direct training or what is commonly referred to as non-formal education. When the experience acquired from that training would help the receiver live a full sociable life as well as benefit others, it is a positive training for desirable knowledge. The training is negative when it will only help the receiver to harm himself or others, even if such experience will bring him material gains afterwards, it is an undesirable knowledge.

Most desirable training and knowledge occur in plants, as most of their activities are beneficial to themselves, other plants and most importantly animals, especially human beings. The only undesirable traits in plants are displayed by the parasites. Their association with the host plants only benefits them while it is harmful to the host.

Conversely, all negative experiences occur in the animal kingdom. They combine the only negative thing in the plant kingdom, parasitism, with many others of their own, which can be seen in the following:

Pecking in birds

Territory carving in some reptiles and mammals e.g. lions

Cannibalism and general wickedness in lower animals

Lying, corruption, cheating, stealing, rape, prostitution, assassination, and armed robbery in man.

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

(a)The Nature Of Personality

The Theory of Rational Emotive Therapy was proposed by an American psychotherapist, Albert Ellis, who through his private practice as a psychoanalyst and knowledge in learning theories propounded that, “human being is both rational and irrational. When he thinks irrationally he becomes ineffective, unhappy and creates problems for himself”.

It is because of this fact that the premise that the human individual sees his world in his own subjective way was laid. This is called Rational Emotive Viewpoint. Thus every person has his own way of perceiving his world (and that of others).

Hamlet once said, “there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so”.

Hence, to support his contention Ellis quoted from Epictetus that “Men are disturbed not by events, but by views which they take of them”.

It then follows that human emotional disturbance such as sadness, depression, hatred, anxiety, fear, anger, or positive emotions such as joy, happiness, love passion, empathy are not caused directly by a stimulus or activating experience or event. They are rather caused by the way we perceive interpret or think about the situation. By extension they affect our attendance to issues at a particular time just like they do of our audience. A person could then be brave or cowardly.

(b) The Structure of Personality: Sigmund Fred formulated the psychoanalytic theory between 1890 and 1939. The theory view human beings as victims of unconscious determinants, which motivate them to seek immediate fulfillment of basic needs. As such human beings were seen in a negative light as often tending to act irrationally and impulsively to satisfy selfish interest. This personal self- interest is influenced by the three main components of the human personality. These, according Fred are the Id, Ego and Super Ego. These are the elements in man that either makes him wise or stupid.

The Id – This is the biological source of personality which gives rise to all other outwardly behavioral manifestations in any human being. The forces coming from Id are non-rational, amoral, illogical and animalistic from the standpoint of society and culture. Id contains all the internal natural forces that push human beings to seek after pleasure as a matter of course. Id is otherwise known as unconscious pleasure principle.

The Ego – This element of personality arises from the Id. The Ego is the seat of realistic thinking and planning in man. It is with Ego that the individual acquires the “reality principle”. The individual thus learns to assess situations at hand through perception, thinking and acting. Ego problems develop when one becomes over- ambitious and overrates own personality.

It thus leaves the personality in the control of Id, which makes the quality of human behaviour infantile, and mere pleasure seeking and so stupid.

The Super Ego -This is roughly equivalent to conscience (inner voice) or the moral arm of the personality or ethical sensitivity. It contains all of the teaching of the person’s family and culture regarding ethics, morals and values- how one should behave. It inhibits the impulses of the Id especially those of sexual or aggressive nature. It also persuades the Ego to focus more on moralistic rather than realistic ones, thus making the person wise.

We can determine whether knowledge is desirable or not if it is true or not,beneficial to all it affects, including the learner itself or not bring about future development or destruction encouraging or discouraging others from doing what is good.The question to ask oneself before taking an action is, ‘what will I gain from this?’

EDUCATION

Education is not training. It is not teaching. It is not just learning. It is a process by which a mind develops through deliberate acquisition of desirable knowledge in an organized manner, in an organized setting, within a pre-planned time frame.This Definition shows us that Education on is:a process not a once-for-all endeavour acquired through mind not body a deliberate act not an accidental one meant for desirable knowledge only possible only in an environment and with materials specifically designed for it.

What these deductions show is that every learner who desires education must be one who has made up his mind to undergo the process. This must be when he is chronologically matured, physically suited and psychologically ready for it. And it must take place at a place that is specifically made for it. Education is not what one can acquire at his own will and in a haphazard or ad-hoc manner.

For education to be desirable it must be usable i.e. for higher studies or work, reliable i.e. help the learner to develop himself and others,functional i.e. what is learnt from one situation can help in finding solution to problems in another situation,holistic i.e. affecting the entire way of life of the learner and worthwhile i.e. not giving room for regret by the continual usefulness of it etc. It is now incumbent on every learner to determine whether what he is undergoing is education or not.

HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Growth is the quantitative increase while development is the qualitative increase experienced by an organism. An organism grows when there is increase in size, weight, height, and girth and in every part of its body. This exercise is due to the feeding and respiratory characteristics of the organism. On the other hand, development takes place in an organism when he changes his functions due to the influence of the knowledge and experience it acquires or maturity of his body parts. Growth is a limited process while development is a lifelong exercise.

For example in normal humans, the size of the fattest, tallest or smallest man can be determined in proportion to his nature (whether he a giant or dwarf) and age (whether is a baby, child, adolescent or adult) but his level of development cannot be predicted. A person may be an adult (which is measured by size, look and age) but may not be able to read or write. While his look is a product of growth his inability to read or write is a function of his level of development i.e. his mind has not been developed to perform the function of reading and writing.

What the scenario painted above shows is that a person could only be as developed as much as he makes himself physically and psychologically available for it. The development of an organism is not dependent on its growth although growth may depend on the development of mind and certain organs of the body. In human beings there are some factors that affect growth and development. Some of them are:

Birth - circumstances that led to his conception, the condition of his parents’ sex cells, his gestation and the type, nature, and conditions of his delivery

Nutrition - feeding habit of the mother and child before and after birth e.g. a baby is expected to be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life

Age of mother - is she too young or too old (below 20 or above 35 years of age) when she conceived him.

Drugs - drugs intake may affect the unborn child if the time, quantity, pregnancy and type are not controlled.

Health - When mother falls sick during pregnancy or the baby is afflicted by diseases e.g. polio, measles, cough etc. could lead to disabilities.

Socialization - home, school, community, peers influence, his attitudes, beliefs, values, roles etc.

Genetic Factors - some traits are inherited from parents e.g. gigantism, dwarfism, albinism, shape of face, complexion etc.

The above shows that education cannot take place normally in a person with retarded growth or development. Therefore for a human being to have full benefit of education, it is necessary that the following be considered

learners should be matured and ready for learning

teachers should study and understand the level of the learners’ physical and intellectual development and use appropriate method and aids to teach them.

no two individuals are the same in all respects hence they do everything differently

intellectual development takes place in stages, so is the level of learning achievement. It is important that learners learn the right thing at the right time to avoid learning backlash i.e. learning what is meant for young stage at older

acquisition of negative, unnecessary, and undesirable knowledge disturbs regular educational engagement.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

As aforesaid, human development relates to systematic changes in the quality of a person’s ability to do things. And different persons at similar developmental stage do similar things at similar stages but differently. The difference on how normal individuals perform their function is directly proportional to their Intelligent Quotient (I.Q). This is because as a child transits to adulthood a number of physical factors influence and affect the path of his growth and development. It should however be noted that some changes occur more rapidly than others, and some stop while others continue. Where a child’s intellect develops faster than his regular peers’, he is said to be of high IQ or a genius. The converse brings about the undesirable i.e. imbecile, moron or idiot.

Against this backdrop we would want to argue that no stage of human development is inert. Equally, at no stage of human development is he idle. It therefore follows that every human being takes part in the making of what he becomes whether consciously or otherwise, whether on his own volition or with others’ intervention. To this end we argue that no child is a clean slate as some educationists had thought. As a matter of fact a child is born bestial, cruel and selfish it is the society - using teachers - that tames him. We shall proof this later.

Stages of human Development

Parents start the life of an individual. This is why we argue that the nature of a man (and his wife) determines the kind of child he produces. Parents also mold their children’s life. This is why socioeconomic and moral success of a child depends largely on the kind of life his parents live. A goat’s offspring cannot succeed competing with an antelope’s in the bush neither can the latter at home. However the following are the principal stages of Human Development that can be studied:

Pre-gamete period (pre-pregnancy period): This period can be called the germ period. This is when copulation has not taken place. At this stage the condition of the sperms or ova (which depends on the physiological conditions of the man or woman carrying them) determines whether the child will .be physically or physiologically normal or defective.

Gamete period (onset of pregnancy): This is a period when sex cells meet in a woman’s wombs to form a zygote, which develops through series of division to blastocyst, then trophoblast and then the embryos (2-3wks).

The embryo period (3-8wks): This is the stage when the amniotic sac, the placenta and umbilical cord develop and the embryo begins to utilize digested food and gas from the mother, baby organs begin to form

The foetal period (8 weeks and above): The organs continue to develop and become functional. The foetus begins to move and mother’s reproductive systems begin to coordinate its activities toward delivery.

The pre-natal period: By the seventh month the foetus begins to use its organs and starts to get ready for independent life. It turns head downwards.

Neo-natal period (end of pregnancy): Period of movement from the womb to outside. During this period the foetus develops adaptation to the new environment - breathing, active blood circulation, suckling, digesting and excretion

Babyhood Stage (0-1 year): This is the period during which the baby ossifies (forms bones) learns to move, recognize objects, craw, walk, babble etc. He derives pleasure with mouth and anus.

Childhood Period (1-5years): The baby organizes and coordinates its motor senses. He recognizes variation in colour, shapes and sizes. He segregates and assembles objects accordingly. He is active at in- and out-door crèche and nursery school activities

Pre-Adolescent Period (6-11 years): This is also called latency stage of development. This is the primary school period. There is steady growth in height and weight but at a slow pace. Boys tend to be stronger and engage in rough plays. They shed their milk teeth and replace them with permanent ones. Girls grow faster than boys hence they appear maturer - some grow breasts, hips and start to menstruate. This is the best stage for acquisition of skills such as sports and other psychomotor engagements. They think less of sexuality. They also develop genuine interest in schooling. If this period goes away, it will take longer time for the person to recover skills lost.

The Adolescent Period (12-17 years): This is the period of physical, endocrinal and emotional changes in an individual. It is also called the period of growth spurt when there is sudden increase in height and girth. This also increases their rate of emotional, social, intellectual and economic maturity. Girls develop full secondary sexual characteristics earlier than boys and reach their maturity more quickly.

WHO IS A SCHOOLTEACHER?

A teacher has variously defined, sometimes over-defined in complex, esoteric and even scary languages. All the efforts were and are made in good faith. They are all attempts to put together in the shortest possible sentence all what a teacher is. This however, is impossible. A teacher is many persons in one; hence no one sentence can define him enough. But, it is an indisputable fact that a teacher is simply ‘someone who teaches’.

Not withstanding that the above statement is absolute, it does not say enough about this course title. This is because not every teacher is or can be a schoolteacher. Therefore, the main aim of this discourse is to draw a distinction between all other ‘teachers’ and a schoolteacher and why he is one.

We are schoolteachers because we are trained to know what a school means and to teach there. This presupposes that a school teacher is expected to possess enough knowledge that could enables him recognize the different levels to which learning materials have been graded, recognize the various stages involved before the desired permanent learning takes place in pupil, and teach according to his pupils’ individual ability to go through the process. A schoolteacher is therefore one who has attained an educational qualification that would enables him read and understands the purposes of education and transforms it into own materials. He should be able to use the language pupils understand at their level to pass instruction to them. In our case simplest English Language.

Theoretically though, the government school regulatory Guideline stipulates that no teacher below Grade-11 Teacher’s Certificate holder should be employed. In practice, and in the circumstances of the stage of most schools in our focus, it is simply not possible for all of them to engage the services of only trained teachers. Besides, not all trained teachers can effectively apply their theoretical training on the field. These are more reasons why it is necessary to help school owners train their auxiliary teachers to appreciate their functions as a teacher as regards acquiring minimum knowledge on principles and practice of teaching, which makes him a better teacher. Also refresher courses usually aim at reminding and refreshing trained teachers of what they ought to have learnt in school to make them more effective in their calling and school owners to supervise them more effectively.

A schoolteacher therefore is one who is capable of helping the child to tap his affective and psychomotive potentialities when the need arises. He is not just a cognitive dormain, rote-teacher. Such teachers only teach “Memory verses.” A Nursery teacher in particular is not a moody type as he needs cheerfulness to use the mostly- recommended play-way method to teach his pupils. He must be tolerant, painstaking, patient, understanding and thoughtful. He must be child loving and persevering. A schoolteacher is one who is moderate in disposition –in dressing, speech and play. He is a role model and alter ego to the pupils. He is a baby- sitter, a psychoanalyst, a counselor and any other thing a respectable person should be a complete lady or gentleman who is not irritated by child manners.

What this means is that he has to be able to use appropriate methods to teach different subjects and improves situations and materials that will interest the different kinds of pupils in his class at all times. He should be ready to work all through the school hours without break. In addition, he has to be able to work with minimum or no supervision-resourceful, creative and psychologically and emotionally stable. This is why he has to be adequately remunerated and given enough free hands to use his initiative in carrying out his duties. He must be relatively independent i.e. being at liberty to use any method he so chooses as long as desired result is achieved.

What Then Is Teaching?

Teaching is simply the process by which a person with higher experiences helps person(s) with lower or nil experiences to acquire more of or learn the new experiences. This is better done through observation, experimentation or by a practice that is carefully guided by the person with the higher experiences.

In this case, the person with the higher experience is the teacher and the other, the pupils. Hence, teaching is the interaction between and his pupils where the teacher helps the pupils to learn a given learning material that was taught. If learning does not take place in a classroom situation, it means that effective teaching has not taken place. All good teachers should bear it in mind that every normal pupil should be able to learn whatever he teaches. A child therefore should be taught and re-taught until he learns.

How Do We Teach?

Teaching is done by exposing learners to a particular learning experience under suitable social and environmental conditions. These conditions include suitably adequate facilities, equipment and materials including simple, understandable language and teaching-aids either inside or outside the classroom. By outside the classroom we mean that plays, games etc are also supposed to be organized monitored and taught as we do in classroom lessons with teaching-aids and materials. Since teaching is done to help pupils learn and we must be sure that they actually learn, then, evaluation of the work done with a view of getting satisfactory responses from the pupils becomes imperative. Evaluation is better done by raising relevant questions within the purview of the initially expressed objectives and taking responses from a cross-section of the pupils. This could be done orally or in writing.

SCHOOL PUPILS: WHO ARE THEY?

If a teacher does not know his pupils, he cannot teach successfully. School pupils come from different homes. These homes are constitute with different personalities–of blood and none blood relations e.g. a family home may also include external bloods like house-help i.e. maids, drivers, gardeners etc. Children are easily influenced by these categories of people with whom they sleep, wake, play and meet on daily basis. Even parents of these pupils may constitute the ruin of their own children by their carefree attitudes and anti-social habits.

The influences these groups of people on the pupils constitute what makes up the individualities in them. Hence we talk of individual differences in the pupil of the same age- group and class. These differences may not be in terms of attitudes, values, outlook, fitness, morality, academic and intellectual performances or creativity. But generally speaking, all normal children exhibit the following natural characteristics, which are also referred to as innate character traits:

Class, Average Age, Innate Character T Traits

Day Care 3/4 years old

They cry often suck fingers or thumb to sooth their gums. They need food, sleep, care, attention, cuddling, etc in abundance. They need toys and dolls etc to play with; wide range of wall pictures or paintings to watch; soft mattress, mat or carpet to play, trot or crawl on. They also try anything they hold.

Play-group 1 year old

They are playful especially with colourful toys,They often discard old plaything for new ones. They watch any passing object; tear or squeeze paper or similar materials; touch available objects; They recognize their parents and nurses, hardly play with strangers easily irritated and excited hence they often cry, care and affection.

Reception 2 years old

They are possessive, inquisitive and often heady. Talk much and play with movable object available. Like strangers but prefer to stay with parents. They don’t eat much but like sweet and snacks.

Nursery 1 3years old

They often make disjointed statements They are playful, restless and talkative. Learn easily but lack concentration. They ask so many questions on things they see and hear.

Nursery 11 4 years old

They are responsive, imitative, and compulsive. They easily memorize and learn fast too similar or related situations. They learn at their own chosen rate that cannot b influenced.

Nursery 111 5 years old (Kindergarten)

They recognize self and are egocentric. Do thing the way the feel rather than how instructed. Exhibit role-playing and eadership qualities. Organize, arrange and sort effectively. Make regulated speech and acting skills.

Primaries 1-6 6- 11 years

They form opinions on person’s situations. Experiment rather than ask question. Imitate and emulate older people’s ways of doing things. They exhibit egoism and self-conceit. They show sympathy and disdain. They express open satisfaction for task accomplished

The Secondary Schools Ages 12-17 years old

This is the period of physical, endocrinal and emotional changes in an individual. It is also called the period of growth spurt when there is sudden increase in height and girth. This also increases their rate of emotional, social, intellectual and economic maturity. Girls develop full secondary sexual characteristics earlier than boys and reach their maturity more quickly.

Adolescent is the puberty period. Boys’ testes, scrotum and penis enlarge. Girls’ breasts become bigger and their nipples become more prominent, their hips and buttocks also become bigger. Both boys and girls grow thicker pubic and underarm hair. Boys grow facial and chest hairs, their chests expand and voice breaks.

Adolescent period is the most feared period of child development by an average parent. It is at this developmental turbulent stage that boys and girls become conscious and show interest in the opposite sex. They begin to socialize in clubs and within other peer groupings. Boys begin to experience wet dreams while girls engage in masturbation. Although they are shy to disclose their sexual desires to opposite sex, they discuss sexual matters amongst themselves than their studies. Adolescent sexual activity is dictated by their physical, physiological and psychological maturity

Period of maturation varies, there are early and late maturers. These also have their effects on the attitudes of those involved. Early maturers are usually bolder and are easily acceptable as leaders. This gives them better chances with opposite sex. Late maturers are shy, withdrawn or aggressive. They are therefore less attractive to the opposite sex. However both early and late maturers are susceptible to maladjustment and incorrigible behaviours. They search for shortcut to success with opposite gender. While early maturers may get carried away by their attractiveness and pay less attention to their studies, late matur4 take solace in studies and usually console themselves with good grades, but nonetheless worried about their inability to have lovers.

To make up for their areas of deficiency both begin to indulge in negative social activities to acquire money and bravado needed to attract, cajole or deceive the other sex to develop sense of security with them and make them sexual partners. Such activities as smoking, cultism, class cutting, assault on teachers, truancy, drug abuse, rape, prostitution, sex bribe, armed attack on teachers and even armed robbery thus become prevalent among adolescents.

EXTRANEOUS CHARACTER TRAITS

Having discussed innate traits of pupils that no one can prevent, although can be controlled and nap in the bud, we now enumerate some preventable character traits pupils acquire from others or their environment. They are the traits that constitute factors that are responsible for failure in schools. They include the following:

(i) Incorrigible bad habits: lie-telling, prank-playing, stubbornness, pilfering, fighting and quarrelling, abusive and insulting etc. These traits are observable mostly amongst primary school pupils, although 3 to 5 – year olds exhibit some of them to escape punishment for their actions.

Causes: They are usually acquired from parents, older ones and neighbors.

Prevention: These habits could be prevented if parents watch the language they use and what they do. And show them lots of love and concern even when they think their children are too young to learn. They should also watch those their children associate with. Teacher and school supervisors should also make sure such habits are not tolerated in their schools. They should make sure all pupils see such habit as abomination within their school premises.

Cure: Some mild strokes of cane have proven helpful at initial stage of the habits. Forced exercises minimize re-occurrences. Deprivation, counseling, show of disdain and neglect usually help in chronic cases- malignant cases are only curable by specialist counselor and psychologist or psychiatrist.

(i) Psychopathy: - Emotional derangement, weariness, and nervousness. Restlessness, lassitude, display of temper, hard-heartedness, destructive, withdrawal symptoms, retardation in class etc.

Causes: - These traits may be caused by unnecessary deprivation by parents, broken homes, disproportionate punishment for minor offences, lack of concern and love by parents and siblings, child neglect, child abuse through excessive forced-labour, inadequate rest and sleep, too much high- concentration work at school etc. Misuse of drugs and maltreatment of diseases.

Prevention: -Adequate attention, care, concern and love should be provided the child by parents, siblings and teacher. Basic necessities, food, clothes, shelter, health-care and Education should be provided for him. Engage them in imaginative and constructive activities.

Cure: - Show of love, affection, care and concern will boost child normal. He needs to be assured that he is not inferior. He need to be provided what he does not have but needs. Proper and constant counseling by experts have helped in chronic and malignant cases.

(iii) Juvenile Exuberance- Insatiable for food, lasciviousness, crying spells, truancy and absenteeism at school, playfulness, destructiveness, untidiness, disinterest in class work etc.

Cause: - Excessive pampering by parents and teachers, lack of socio-moral and habit training, inadequate disciplinary measures for wrongdoing or prevention of them parents or school rule etc.

Prevention: - These traits are better prevented by not allowing children get used to the habits. They should to train to observe modesty and moderation in all they do, demand, acquire, can do or possess. Modest but strict disciplinary machinery should be maintained and implemented for all wrongdoing.

Cure: - Gradual withdrawal of excess material, opportunity or reward for task done. Phased introduction of stricter disciplinary measures for all wrongdoing. Taking affected children away from home e.g. to boarding schools etc. and controlled provision of their needs help.

(iv) True sickness – Malnutrition, physical, weakness, and speech defects, hard-hearing etc.

Causes: - Unbalanced dieting, inadequate and undernurishing feeding, viral, fungal or bacterial infection, exposure to excessive light or sound sources, parental carelessness, accidents, inadequate health care misuse of drugs including abuse of it etc. However some are hereditary and thus not preventable

Prevention: - Taking of adequate, balanced and nourishing foods, prompt treatment of diseases by qualified medical practitioners, good health and living habits, prevention of home and outdoor accidents, keeping all drugs out of children’s reach. Giving adequate health Education and habits in the school, counseling and avoidance of self-medication help.

Cure: - Special activities they can do and give them sense of accomplishment should be planned for them and they should be praised for doing them. True sickness where curable are only cured on examination and advice of qualified health personnel like doctors, surgeons etc. Children with such ailments should be referred to specialist, general or teaching hospitals. Other pupils should be encouraged to accept and treat them as normal children and not to laugh at their deformity.

The occurrence of above traits spread among all ages and classes of pupils in Nursery and Primary schools. Almost every child has one or more of these innate and acquired traits. This means that almost every child is difficult to teach because of his susceptibility to factors responsible for failure in school. But the teacher must teach them to pass their examinations. How? The answer is entrenched in the next area of discussion

HOW TO TEACH A CHILD TO LEARN

To teach a child and make sure he learns, the following steps have to be taken by the teacher.

Control factors of socio-environment and psychological set-back influence

Choose and use the most suitable teaching method or combination of method for the child as related to the subject, level and his psycho-sociological make-up.

Watch the child, study how phases learning process take place in him by his responses and performances in the class and re-teach or correct him where he defects.

Reinforce your success with more teaching, vies-a-vies the child’s success with moral rewards before assessment.

Influence of Socio–Environmental and Psychological Setback on Children:

This is a task that has to do with the home, the peer, group, the environment and the school including the teachers and other school workers. The parents must be invited and advised on the proper way of bringing up their children. They should take interest in their children’s work at home and school. They should take care of those who nurse them, i.e. the house helps so that they will not deprive them of their normal food, medications, freedom and other needs while they are away.

The parents should make sure that adequate provisions are made for the children’s needs. They should avoid over-pampering then, but them avoid excessive punishment, especially corporal punishment. They should also avoid making bad examples for the children e.g. constant quarrelling that elicit uses of abusive words, cursing, physical fighting and bulling.

Peer-groups both at home and school should be strictly controlled and disallowed to be with the children when there is no responsible adult to supervise them. When they must be seen to be engaged in responsible work or play at all times. Tricks, prank-play, obscene acts, gambling, excessive eating and drinking (even water or soft drinks) and any form of wrongdoing or disobedience should be discouraged and condemned in strong terms. All erring children and pupils should not be spared of disciplinary action.

The environment of the child should be kept clean, tidy and hygienic at all times. All insects should be prevented from gaining access to his sleeping and study rooms. His sleeping room should be over-crowed. All food items should be health giving, not damaging like much sweet and chocolate. Neighbors and their children with unbecoming characters should be prevented from visiting them. Transport and adult guide should be provided him to and from school or other places e.g. amusement parks etc. They should watch the book their children read and films they watch at home or elsewhere.

The school should adequately train the teacher for the class of pupils he is teaching. Refresher courses should be provided the teacher so as to update him with modern teaching methods. This is because the use of inappropriate method of teaching may lead to pupils’ truancy or absenteeism. Also, excessive use of corporal punishment could make pupils nervous and hate the teacher and by extension, the school. Pupils from other school should be tested before placement into classes is made as placement of pupils in higher or lower classes than their mental capacity is often counter productive. Adequate teaching-learning facilities, equipment, and material should be provided. These include teaching aids, health and recreational facilities.

Teaching-Learning Methods include: - Play-way, discussion, grouping, explanation, experimentation, demonstration, inductive, deductive, drama, assignment, individualized, class, observation, examination, memorization, hypothetical, autocratic, instruction, excursion, field trip, tutelage, lecture, media, audio-visual and sign methods.

Other Methods These include pictorial used in Nursery, Physical exercises used in teaching some aspect of Health Education, note-taking and text-book method used in upper primary classes, creative methods used in teaching Fine and Applied Arts, practice method used in teaching motor-related subjects like typing, Shorthand, computer operation, sports and games etc. Other useful methods applicable especially in adult classes are Laboratory method, Discovery method (Guided inquiry or unguided inquiry), Cooperative method, Competitive method, Concept method, Case study method, Constructivist approach, and Holistic approach. The list is inexhaustible.

A resourceful teacher is therefore the one who have as many of these methods as possible in his kitty and uses them when occasion or a particular pupil’s situation calls for any or a combination of the methods. A resourceful teacher varies his methods as often as necessary. Sometimes a teacher may have to use as many methods as their exists variation amongst his pupils.

Studying Learning Process of pupils is the only way by which appropriate teaching and learning methods could be chosen. Educational psychologists have found out that learning occurs in sequential phases. A summary of their finding is as follows.

Motivation phases: At this stage the learner is expecting what to be presented. He waits for the stimulus

Apprehending phases: Attention is focused and selective perception occurs.

Acquisition phases: Identification and coding of facts ready for storage.

Retention phases: Coded facts are stored away into the memory.

Recall phases: Facts or information are retrieved from the memory.

Generalisation phases: Retrieved information or facts are transferred into new situation.

Performance phases: Response from the learner. This is the actual external action taken by the learner on your lesson.

Feedback phases: Learners’ performances are reinforced with punishment or reward.

All said and done, effective teaching can only be achieved if the teacher does the following.

Good planning

Mastery of the subject matter.

Using appropriate teaching method and teaching aids.

Using appropriate language to deliver the lesson.

Arranging learning activities in a way that allows the active participation of pupils.

Sincere evaluation of the pupils and

Constant modification of strategies when the need arise.

CONCLUSION

Teaching is a conscientious and largely humanitarian endeavour. It can never be adequately rewarded in material terms. Teachers therefore should focus more on their moral commitment towards the child’s achievement and fulfillment of the purposes for which he is in school rather than on extraneous things like wages, recognition, fame or influence.

Everybody thinks. Whatever opportunity one has should be used to acquire knowledge, preferable through education. And each person should think and think well about whether he wants to succeed in life or becomes an object of pity

In teaching, the teacher should bear it in mind that every child can learn. They learn only they are taught or exposed to learning environment where they learn through experience and trial-and-error experimentation. I t should also be borne in mind that pupils differ in excites them. Their home background has a lot of influence on them and therefore need plenty of love, patience, tolerance, care, thoughtfulness, understanding and morale-boosting situations.

And every teacher should take the following as a companion:

No problem is insolvable

We only need courage to carry us on

Whatever problem we think we have

Has a solution lurking somewhere

A little more effort could fish it out

Happy teaching

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

All children are equally created but grow differently, comment.

Critically examine how innate and extraneous character traits afflict learning ability in Nursery / Primary school pupils.

Briefly discuss twenty different teaching method that are useable in your school.

As a school teacher:

i)Who are you?

ii)Who are your pupils?

iii)Why are you one?

iv)What do you do?

How does a teacher measure the effectiveness of his trade?

In what ways are schoolteachers different from any other educated people?

REFERENCES

Adeniran, prof. Segun, (Ed) Introduction to Educational planning,

University of Ife press Ltd. (1981)

Adeniran, Debo, Comparative Education, A Lecture Note 1987

(Unpublished).

Adeniran, Debo, Improvisation of Apparata and Other Three-Dimensional

Teaching Aids, (1995) unpublished workshop paper.

Duze, M., First Steps in Modular Instruction, (1991) Evans Brothers

(Nigeria Publishers) Ltd.

Ejogu, Alloy M., landmarks in Educational Development in Nigeria

(1991) Joja Educational Research and publishers Ltd Lagos.

Fafunwa, Babs A. History of Education in Nigeria, (1974) London:

George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

Human Rights Now: Amnesty International, London, (1988).

Lagos State Policy on Education, Lagos state ministry of Education (1989)

National Policy on Education, Federal ministry of Education Lagos (1981).

Curriculum Guidelines for Nigeria Pre-Primary Schools, NERC,

Lagos (1987).