Compliance Level with Professional Knowledge and Skills Requirements by High School Physics Teachers in Akwa Ibom State: Implications for the Education of Science Teachers (Published)
The study examined the compliance level with professional knowledge and skills requirements in the professional standards for Nigerian teachers (PSNT) by secondary school physics teachers in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of this study comprised all physics teachers in all public secondary schools in the three senatorial districts of the State. The sample for the study comprised one hundred and twenty physics teachers that satisfied the purposive sampling technique criteria as spelt out. The researchers made use of an adapted checklist tagged “Physics Teachers Knowledge and Skills Checklist” (PTKSC) to ascertain the professional standing of the selected teachers in two subthemes (professional knowledge and professional skills) out of the four themes in the Professional Standards for Nigerian Teachers (PSNT). The validated and reliable checklist was used to collect the needed data. The results showed that male graduate/NCE, and experience physics teachers exhibit high level of compliance with the professional knowledge and skills contained in the PSNT. Based on the findings of the study, several implications for the education of science (physics) teachers were advanced. Recommendations were made to include that the TRCN in conjunction with teacher education supervising agencies should explore ways of raising the quality and relevance of teacher education curricula in line with the professional standard demands.
Keywords: Education, Physics Teachers, Professional Knowledge, Professional Skills, science teachers