MUFULIRA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

SECONDARY TEACHERS’ DIPLOMA BY DISTANCE LEARNING

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION

MODULE 2

• PLANNING FOR TEACHING

• LEARNING THEORIES
• ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
• CLASS MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

Writers
Mbewe R. A.
Ngoma C.
Mayenge J.B.

©2019

All rights reserved. No part of this module may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or otherwise without permission from Mufulira College of Education.
 Mufulira College of Education

DIPLOMA
FOR DISTANCE
EDUCATION
PRACTITIONERS

Mufulira College of Education

Module Code – EDU: 410

COPPERBELT – ZAMBIA November 2018

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A Word from your Course Writers

We hope that the contents of this module will help you broaden your understanding on the importance of
curriculum as it is the way society tries to solve its educational needs. It is also expected that the module
will help you to gain enough knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and professionalism with regard to
curriculum issues.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE

DIPLOMA COURSE FOR DISTANCE
EDUCATION PRACTITIONERS

Who is the Target Audience?

The course is intended primarily for adults or young adults who have some experience in adult
and/or distance education who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in the field of distance
education. If you are not involved in distance education in some way, for example as a
correspondence course writer or a tutor in a learning centre or a night school, or as a coordinator
or administrator in a learning centre etc, then you should ensure that you have access to a
distance education programme or a learning centre which supports distance learners. This will
be very important because the activities and assignments will require you to apply your
knowledge and skills t aspects of distance education.

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Use of the course by Individuals and Groups

The course has been designed in such a way that it can be used by individual learners or any
small groups of two or more enrolled learners. This is why the instructions for activities will
usually say: IF you are working on your own or if you are working in a group… This will enable
you to do what suits your situation.

The Programme is most beneficial when there is some opportunity for sharing of ideas,
discussion and debate. Course writers share their ideas with you, throughout the text and
through providing comments after you have completed activities. However we would also
encourage you to talk to others about issues and questions that arise in the course, particularly
if you are studying on your own. We believe that you can learn more through discussion.

Outcome-Based

This course is outcomes-based. The term outcome-based’ means that there are clear indications
of what you can expect to know and do when you have successfully completed each and every
unit. One of the expected outcomes of the course as a whole is that you will begin to apply the
knowledge, skill and attitudes you have developed.

How is Each Topic Structured?

Topic Content list: This is a list of content to be discussed in the logical arrangement ranging
from the common to the most abstract.

Description of Sections of Each Topic and an Introduction to the Icons

What follows here is a description of each section of a topic and an introduction to the icons
that will be used. This may help to underline what we have said above. The icons are used to

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introduce some elements. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the icons as an easy
reference, which can be quickly consulted while you are busy with the different units.

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Comment on the
activities:

Research/Reflection The purpose of the activity is to help you to apply and deepen
Activity: what you have learned. This could be through looking at your own
programme in the light of the particular topic or it might involve
you in talking to learners to find out from them what their
experience in a particular area has been. You might also be asked
to reflect on your own experience or that of others and note what
you have learned as a result of such reflections

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whom should the assessments or teacher-marked assessments? When will the
assignments be assessments take place? How long will the assessments be? How
submitted? What is long will learners be allowed to complete the assessment(s)? How
the schedule for long will it take a teacher to mark the assessment(s)? The tutors
submitting will communicate to you.
assignments? The
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you accordingly.
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Why are the activities important?

In this course, we are trying to model good study practice. One of the important principles of
distance education, as well of good education in general, is interactive learning. Here is one
example: in face -to-face teaching and learning, learners and educators ask each other questions
and give responses; there is sharing of knowledge, experience and opinions. How does this
happen in distance education? Well, this happens mainly through the learning materials, such
as the topics of this course. In the written text, and at the end of each unit, questions are asked
of you, the learner, and an opportunity is provided for you to answer. These opportunities are
called activities. Can you guess why these activities are important?

These activities that you do, whether on your own or in a group, are very important for the
following reasons:

• Activities help you to understand better what you are learning, as you are learning. That is, you
learn by doing.
• Activities help to stimulate you to develop your own ideas and opinions about issues. This can
provide a deeper understanding of the subject.
• Another reason is that activities help you to assess how well you understand the content of a
unit. If you do not do very well in one of the activities, this means that you need to go over the
materials and the audiocassette again. This is particularly true for the Research/Reflection
activity, which is intended to consolidate what you have learned on the topic for example, by
putting into practice what you have learned or gathering information to reflect on.

In this course, there are often no exact answers, such as you will find in Mathematics or Science.
The questions are meant to get you thinking and to challenge you to make applications to your
own situation. Therefore it is very important that you ALWAYS complete the activity before
you read the courses writer’s comments, otherwise you have nothing of your own to compare
with the comments and your learning will be poorer because of this.

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Use of Services at Distance Education Institutional Local - Library

The study materials of this course have been developed in such a way that they provide
maximum support, but students still need to make use of the library. Each unit will have its own
references. Where you need to visit the Library, please refer to the rules and regulations of the
local Library in your area. For further reading or research on this course, use the internet as
well.

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CONTENTS PAGE

UNIT 1

PLANNING FOR TEACHING 1

• Planning for Teaching 1

• Curriculum 2

. Lesson Planning 4

• The syllabus/scheme of work/Record of Work 4

• Writing of outcomes 6

. Classification of objectives (Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor

Domains) 7

. Methods and Approaches to teaching 9

. Demonstration Method 10

. Question and Answer Method 12

UNIT 2

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING 17

• Learning as a process 17

• Stages of learning 21

• Learning and the role of a teacher 22

• Approaches to learning 23

. Types of learning theories 25

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UNIT 3

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION 28

• Purpose of assessment 30

• Sources/ features of a good assessment 31

• Types of assessment 32

• Evaluation 33
• Types of Tests 34

UNIT 4

CLASS MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL 38

• Classroom as a physical learning environment 39

• Discipline in schools 41
• Sources of misbehavior 44
• Punishment 47
• Theories of punishment 51
• Challenges faced by School administrators with respect to discipline 52

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Curriculum Theory and Practice as a course in teacher education. Curriculum is

an area of vital importance to the professional teacher. It is the very substance of schooling
and a tool for teachers in schools. Teachers need to be knowledgeable about curriculum and
understand the processes by which curricula may be developed.

When teachers consider curriculum issues, for example, they tackle the substantive matter of
schooling which may be expressed in terms of the fundamental questions of curriculum
namely:

What to teach?

How to teach?

When to teach?

What is the impact of teaching?

• Teachers to develop an understanding of the aims and development of different curricula

and their relevance to education process

• Develop relevant knowledge in curricula construction

• Appreciate the importance of curricula in education

Here is an outline of units in this module.

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UNIT 1

1.0 PLANNING FOR TEACHING

Upon completion of this unit, you will be able to:

• discuss the elements of curriculum

• prepare schemes of work and lesson plans

• write lesson outcomes in relation to the topic at hand

• explain the importance of Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy cognitive domain in teaching and
learning.

1.1 Introduction

In the previous module a number of issues were discussed such as what education is and what it does to
individuals. We also looked at the development of education in Zambia and the problems that were and
are still faced by Zambia in the provision of education. This is not all; we also saw what a school is and
what kind of person a good teacher should be. As a student pursuing a diploma by distance learning, you
should endeavor to supplement what you have learnt by more research.

We should move a step more ahead in our quest to understand more the roles and responsibilities of a
teacher in the classroom. One such responsibility is that of preparation. This is a role that was cited as one
of those that the teacher should always do. Planning for teaching involves a number of things such as the
curriculum, the syllabus, the scheme of work, and the lesson plan. Let us now look at each of the above
one at a time.

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1.2 The Curriculum

a. Definition

There are a lot of definitions of the curriculum. But as always, there is no one obvious or definite one that
we can say is the best. Curriculum may be regarded as a group of school subjects meant to be taught to
the learners in the school. Some people consider the curriculum as being made of one subject. That is,
each subject is a curriculum in itself. The curriculum is the way in which society tries to meet its
educational goals. It consists not only of the subjects which appear on the time table, but also of those
other things from which the child learns subconsciously. Look at this definition by Duminy et al: “a
systematic group of courses studied or subjects planned deliberately for learners, usually with a view to
their certification of graduation in a specific field of study.” Is this different from what was said at first? I
do not think so.

It is important to remember that the word curriculum is derived from the Latin word which means ‘to
cover a course’ or ‘to run’. That means in teaching we can say that a curriculum is some specific learning
material or content that has to be mastered by learners.

Another interesting definition is that by Dennis Child. He defines the curriculum as “all of the planned
experiences provided by the school to assist the learners in attaining the designated learning outcomes to
the best of their abilities” (443). The planned experiences are the subjects and anything that is taught to
the learners. This is what Jacobs and Chalufu say when they define the curriculum as one that includes
“planned learning experiences as well as those experiences that are not consciously planned or
intentionally taught but which influence learners to a large extent to affect their development” (2002:93).

Tyler R. (1949) defined curriculum as ‘All activities planned and directed by the school to attain
educational goals.’ This simply means that it is a plan of the activities that the school intends to give or
teach their learners in the school. These activities are directed and guided by the school itself. Wheeler
D.K. (1967) says ‘planned experiences offered to the learner under the guidance of the school.’ The two
definitions emphasize on the fact that the activities (content) are planned and then the school should guide
and direct in the way the activities should be implemented.

b. Elements of the curriculum:

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The curriculum consists of four (4) aspects or elements.

i. Aims and objectives

An aim is a long-tern goal that may take many years to achieve; for instance the development of the love
for mathematics or science. It can take even a term of two years to be realized. Aims refer to the end
product (the goal). An objective is a short-term goal that can be achieved in a short period of time say 40
minutes (a lesson) or a day. For example, ‘At the end of a lesson, learners should draw the human heart .
Objectives relate to the route and the goal.

ii. Content: this is the learning material or subject matter that is to be taught. There are three
types of content: knowledge, skill and values. Knowledge-oriented content focuses primarily
on helping learners gain new information. Skill-oriented content helps learners to develop a
new ability or aptitude to do something; e.g. how to make a chair, how to give a speech or how
to write an essay. Value-oriented content aims at helping learners to understand and acquire
good values; e.g. when they learn to be honest, loyal, or hard working.
iii. Methods: these are the ways of presenting a topic to a class. It is important that the teacher
always chooses a method that will help or enable him/her present his/her work most effectively
to the learners.
iv. Evaluation: this is when teachers assess how effective their teaching has been and how much
the learners have learned. They also assess the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson or unit.
Teachers determine whether or not the objectives of the lessons are being achieved or not.
Evaluation can be viewed as a tool to assist in refining learning processes as well as measuring
the acquisition of knowledge. It should help locate the factors that influence performance; e.g.
conditions and procedures in the classroom.
• Objectives are about ‘why do we teach?’
• Content is about ‘what should we teach?’
• Methods are about ‘how are we going to teach?’
• Evaluation is about ‘how successful was our teaching?’

1.2.1. The Syllabus

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In the prescribed curriculum the various subjects to be taught to a particular group are indicated. For each
of these a syllabus is provided that consists of content to be covered in a specified period of time, usually
a year. The syllabus is drawn from the curriculum. When drawing it, the readiness, intellectual
development and emotional maturity of the learners are considered. There are also suggestions of methods
to be used in teaching. Time is allocated and suggested objectives to be achieved are given.

1.3 The Scheme of Work

From the syllabus teachers can draw the scheme of work. This is work to be covered in one year, one term
or even one week. It is important to consider the following when drawing the scheme of work: how many
periods there are per week for that particular subject, the ability and previous experience of the learners,
resources available and so on. It is the teacher’s plan and as such it is not without faults. The teacher can
therefore change it at any time to suit the prevailing circumstances.

1.4 The lesson plan

This is the preparation for teaching. It is important that the teacher prepares his/her work every day. The
lesson prepared must be in logical sequence-they must be progressive so that one lesson prepares ground
for the other or the next one to come. The content and methods of teaching largely depend on the previous
lesson. As such the teacher must always prepare. When preparing the lesson, the teacher must also be
conscious of the objectives and evaluation techniques. This can be successfully done if the teacher is aware
of ‘what he/she is going to teach’, ‘who he/she is going to teach’ and ‘how the lesson is going to taught.’

Importance of planning:

• It helps the teacher to determine the sequence in which he/she will teach
• Helps to decide the topic and concepts to teach in that particular lesson
• Helps the teacher to select the methods he/she will use and the activities and apparatus
required.
• It helps the teacher to select the appropriate Teaching/Learning materials
• Also allows the teacher to have enough time to make decisions.
• Helps the teacher to determine correct length of time for the lesson

Lesson plan layout

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There are several formats for lesson plans depending of the type of subject. This is just a skeleton-it
contains only the necessary aspects that are required or found in any given lesson plan. The lesson plan
has three main stages as follows:

a. Introduction

This serves the purpose of directing pupils’ thoughts towards the presentation that it to follow, it also
serves the following:

• Provides an overview of the lesson. Pupils are given an opportunity to see the whole lesson
as a whole before they actually begin attention.
• It also links the old to the new work. The introduction helps the teacher to move the learners
smoothly from what they already know to something that they do not know.
• It helps the teacher capture the minds of the learners. The pupils’ minds have to be brought
into the classroom and made to pay attention.
• The introduction also helps the teacher to arouse or motivate the learners’ interest in the
lesson. The pupils need to develop interested in lesson. It is the teacher’s duty to help pupils
to gain this interest so that they become ready and eager to learn.
b. The Development
i. This is the main body of the lesson. It is where the teacher will actually teach the content. During
this period, the learners’ interest must be kept alive. They must not be allowed to lose interest
otherwise they will learn nothing. There are a number of things that a teacher must consider when
planning a lesson at development stage:
• The content- It must be in logical order for easy following
• Methods that will be used. It must be those that will give maximum advantage to the
learners.
• Guided practice: where the teacher will assess his/her learners and devise ways of teaching
them according to their ability.
• The teacher should also check the understanding of the learners through question-and-
answer, exercise, etc.
• Teacher can also be guided by the demands of the moment.
c. Conclusion

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The lesson must come to a logical conclusion. The teacher should give a brief and clear summary of the
lesson by mentioning main points. The purpose of the conclusion is to allow the teacher to bring his/her
lesson to such a conclusion. The teacher can do this by way of giving an exercise to assess if the learners
have understood or not or to find out how much they have grasped from the lesson. It can also be brought
to an end by giving the learners homework. The learners must be given a chance at this point to apply the
knowledge they have gained.

1.5 Writing Objectives and Out Comes

There are three types of objectives.

i. There are those concerned with the learner, called learner objectives. These emphasize what
the learner should do as a result of learning.
ii. The other type is the objective that emphasizes what the teacher will do to let the learners learn.
iii. The third type of objectives is the behavioral objective. This emphasizes what the learner will
do differently as a result of having learnt a new behavior.

Objectives have three parts. These are as follows:

i. The learner performance: this is the heart of any objective. It indicates the observable
behavior that any leaner (not the teacher) will do to demonstrate that the lesson has been learnt.
In this part of the lesson plan, a verb that is measurable (observable) must be used. Verbs such
as ‘list’, ‘draw’, ‘define’, ‘explain’ and so on. Verbs such as ‘understand’ and ‘know’ should
not be used because they are not observable nor measurable.
ii. The condition
This is the second part of an objective. It is what the learn will use in order to learn or to be
able to demonstrate the performance. If a pencil is required in order for the learner to be able
to demonstrate drawing the human heart, then the condition will be ‘Given a pencil and a piece
of paper, the learner…,” or given a pair of compass and…the learner should be able to…” So
without a condition, it is difficult for the learner to demonstrate skill.

iii. The Criterion:

The third part of an objective: The teacher lists the minimum level of acceptable accuracy for
the performance. It represents the minimum percentage of knowledge that needs to be

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demonstrated in order to pass the test. It may contain such restrictions as time frame, maximum
errors etc. for example, ‘to a 75% level of accuracy’ or ‘in 30 minutes’ or ‘with not more than
three misspellings’ if it is a short composition in English.

1.6 Classification of objectives

Benjamin Bloom’s classified objectives in three domains (Bloom’ Taxonomy). The complete taxonomy
is made up of three parts.

i. The cognitive Domain. This is concerned with acquisition and the manipulation of factual
information, development of intellectual abilities and skills.
ii. The affective Domain. Concerned with things like emotions, feelings, attitudes, values and
moral judgment.
iii. The psychomotor Domain: concerned with the physiological or psychomotor skills. Running,
writing, typing, using tools, sewing and drawing are psychomotor skills.
Now, let us look at the levels of each domain
i. The cognitive Domain:
The cognitive domain is classified into six (6) levels; beginning with the lowest, which is that
of knowledge, followed by comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and lastly
evaluation as the highest level.
• Knowledge: here learners are expected to recall information learned before. It requires simple
remembering; e.g. how many degrees make a right angle? Or what is the chemical formula for
water? Learners are expected to simply remember or recall the facts.
• Comprehension: learners are not only expected to recall information but also be familiar with
the meaning of that knowledge which they have recalled. They must show by demonstrating that
they understand that knowledge. For example: Explain the importance of hygien
• Application: where learners apply some abstraction to a new or other concrete example without
being urged to do it. Demonstration of the application shows that the learner has understood the
‘application’ correctly; e.g. a man is riding a bicycle in 20KM/h. How long will it take him to
complete a distance of 100Km? Learner uses the learnt knowledge to solve a problem.
• Analysis: the breaking of an idea into consistent elements or parts in order to understand them
better. The learner must be able to see the similarities and differences between concepts.

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• Synthesis: building up something from various parts or elements that were learnt previously. The
learner puts together to create something new and unique, at least to himself or herself.
• Evaluation: this is the last and the highest level. It is concerned with the formation of a
judgment based on some specific criteria. The learner should have reasons why he/she chose that
specific solution as opposed to the other; e.g. why do you think the German lost Second World
War? Or what could be the solution to Global warning?
The levels are cumulative. They become more complex as they get higher.
ii. The Affective Domain
These are objectives that describe changes in learners such as interest, attitudes, values and
the development of appreciation of adequate adjustments in the learner as a result of having
gone through the learning process.
• The first step is when the learner is merely aware of the phenomenon that he is able to perceive.
For example, when the teacher enters class, the learner must realize that a new teacher has come.
• The second level is when the learner is willing to attend to the phenomenon (response). The
learner should develop willingness for the teacher and the subject.
• The third level is when the learner is able to find value in the subject such that he is in a position
to accept it and gives a preference for it.
• At the fourth level the learner is able to organize these values in a system and establish those that
are dominant and those that are pervasive (noticeable).
• Lastly is when the learner’s behavior is controlled by the phenomena that have formed in him.
Objectives in this domain are difficult to state. This is because it is difficult to state them in
behavioral or observable terms. Such learner changes are: appreciation, love, attitude
changes, and so on. These are internalized and cannot be measured.
iii. Psychomotor Domain:
Where the learner is expected to show skill or to manipulate phenomena. They are a precise
and specific statement, and in school, of education intention. Farrant (1980) says they are
intended outcomes of the process of education, sometimes expressed in terms of what
individuals will be able to do as a result of learning. They try to spell out in detail exactly
what is intended. They help to tell us whether the learner has changed or not in terms of
knowledge or skill acquisition. The emphasis in this domain is on skill development.
Learners are expected to demonstrate understanding through physical works/products.

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In your respective groups critically analyze why it is important for teachers to

consider Bloom’s taxonomy when setting behavioural objectives.

Conclusively, Curriculum is a means of achieving educational goals. The content to be taught

to pupils in schools is derived from curriculum. Planning for teaching is very important if
teachers are to achieve successful teaching and learning. The content extracted from the
curriculum must be logically arranged in order for teachers to teacher without challenges.

1.7 Methods/ Strategies/Techniques and Approaches to Teaching

A method, approach or a strategy is a way of how a teacher will deliver the lesson in order to
achieve successful teaching and learning (how best to teach and how best learners will learn).
A method describes how we can teach, how best the learners can learn and why teachers should
use a particular technique.

A method may also be defined as ‘what a teacher uses to help learners gain knowledge which
they need so that they achieve the desired outcomes.

1.3.1 There are several methods that teachers can use to achieve successful teaching and
learning. Below are some of the methods:

i) Lecture Method
ii) Discussion Method
iii) Project Method
iv) Field/Study trip Method
v) Demonstration/Practical Method
vi) Question and Answer Method(Heuristic/Socratic method)

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In groups of five (5), discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method

We will only describe two from the above listed methods:

1.8 Demonstration/Practical Method: This is an audio- visual explanation. It combines telling, showing
and doing for the benefit of the audience who are the pupils in this case. There is emphasis on
observing and this is followed by giving an opportunity to the learners to do/perform what has been
observed. Examples of demonstration method are: Showing learners how to conduct a particular
experiment eg, test for starch in science, how to draw parallel lines in Design and Technology, how to
bake a cake in home economics etc.
Demonstration as a method of teaching can be used:
1. When teaching a skill
2. Sometimes when materials and equipment are not enough
3. When experimenting with dangerous chemicals or solutions in Chemistry and
Physics
4. To guide learners on how to do a particular physical activity

Advantages

➢ It saves both money and time

➢ It is very effective as an introduction to skill learning
➢ It generates interest in learners since they are fully involved
➢ Learners are trained to be careful observers
➢ It helps to bring about a relationship between theory and practice
➢ It shortens time for learning and lengthens memory of facts and principles

Disadvantages
➢ There is a problem with visibility and audibility especially with large classes
➢ Learners are observers and this reduces their participation
➢ The learners have less opportunity to discover or solve problems on their own
➢ Learners’ understanding during demonstration is difficult to evaluate

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➢ It may result in a lot of mistakes during learner application if explanation was

not clear and not very visible

How to conduct a demonstration

The method can be segmented into three stages in order to achieve successful
teaching and learning.

Before Demonstration:

➢ Plan the demonstration of the correct length

➢ Have materials, tools and other requirements at hand and properly arranged
➢ Explain the objectives of the demonstration in order to develop interest
➢ Tell the learners the important points to look for in the demonstration
➢ Test the experiment in advance to see its workability

During Demonstration

➢ Explain the new terms and parts

➢ Supplement demonstration with visual aids whenever possible
➢ Make sure that all the learners are able to see and hear you clearly
➢ Face and talk to the learners as you demonstrate and explain
➢ Form connections with previous and future lessons if possible
➢ Perform the demonstration at correct pace for clear understanding
➢ Perform all operations skillfully and in proper sequence
➢ Avoid holding up the progress of the whole group for a few pupils who may
not understand
➢ Ask questions during demonstration to test understanding
➢ Encourage learners to ask questions as you demonstrate
➢ Stress safety rules and precautions
➢ You can select learners to help with demonstration when feasible

After the Demonstration

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➢ Summarize the key points of the demonstration

➢ Ask is any learners need clarity
➢ Provide for learner application immediately after the demonstration
whenever possible
➢ Check the performance of each learner by going round to see if they are
doing the right things, in some cases ask them questions as they work
➢ Encourage and praise the works of the learners

1.9 Question and Answer Method (Heuristic/Socratic/Developmental Method)

Questioning is an important means of teaching, it is used as a teaching technique to;

i. Measure and test what has been learnt and some interrogatives are used: ‘what’,
‘who’, ‘when’ ‘where’, why, how etc.
ii. Stimulate thought and lead to a deeper understanding. Two interrogatives are
used. ‘How’ and ‘why’.

Questions are important in every kind of lesson. They are a method of teaching when
they are arranged in a logical sequence and around a definite core. The lesson develops
by a series of questions. The teacher must remember that this method can only succeed
if:

• Questions are not haphazard but arranged in a logical sequence and around a definite
core (topic).
• The new results provides new insights for the learners.
• The questions must be within the range of learners’ existing experience and concept
structure.
• The whole class is able to participate.

Guidelines for questioning procedures

i. The teacher should present the questions to the whole class before asking for an answer. This
will make the whole class to pay attention and think about the answer.

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ii. The younger the learners, the more direct the questions must be. More general questions may
be asked in the senior classes.
iii. Allow for a ‘thinking interval’. Do not demand an answer too quickly, but again do not wait
too long that the class becomes restless.
iv. Let learners who think they know the answer make it known to the teacher by some sign or
other- raising their hands
v. Questions must be distributed evenly in class, but allow for exception like when there is no
one else who knows the answer.
vi. Avoid repeating a question. Learners must know that there is a rule that once a question has
been asked, it will not be repeated.
vii. Learners who do not pay attention should be questioned regularly.
viii. A question that calls for a prolonged thought must be written on the board.
ix. Learning aids can be used to help the learners after a question has been posed.
x. All questions once asked must be answered either by the learners or by the teacher.
xi. Do not accept chorus answers

Classifications of questions

There are several ways in which questions have been classified.

1. Farrant J.S. (1980) classified questions in three Categories:

There are different ways of framing questions, depending on their purpose:
a) Closed questions: These are questions that seek answers that are either right or wrong. They
check what the learners already know. (Knowledge questions)
b) Open questions: These are questions that seek answers that show understanding of the learners
over a subject. (Comprehension questions)
2. Another classification of questions by Farrant is that of questions as being either cognitive or
affective.

Cognitive: Those that can either be open of closed but deal with knowledge.

Affective: These can also be open or closed but deal with feelings, expressions, views or attitudes.

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3. The third type are those which look at questions as being based on the level at which they are
framed. They are divided as follows;
a) Lower Order: These call upon memory. They are sometimes known as recall or memory
questions. The key words used are; define, describe, identify, list, name, recall and so on.
b) Middle Order questions: These assess;
• Comprehension: compare, contrast, predict, summarize and so on.
• Application: apply; make use of, transfer and so on.
c) High Order questions: These are more complex and are of three types:
• Analysis: Words used are analyze, identify, perceive, relate and so on.
• Synthesis: Words used are combine, create, design, produce, propose, integrate and so
forth.
• Evaluation: Words used are assess, defend, judge, evaluate and so on. These require the
learner to make value of something.
Benjamin Bloom’s Classification Of Questions
Benjamin Bloom divided the questions as follows:
1. Knowledge questions: This is when a learner is required to recall specific facts, names, places,
formulas, trends previously learnt, concepts or theories and generalizations; e.g list down the
main causes of failure in secondary schools. Or what is the formula for finding the area of a
triangle? Key words used are identify, state, describe, distinguish, and show and so on.
2. Comprehension questions: The learner is required to understand the meaning of an oral or
written communication and to make some use of it. This is further divided into:
i. Translation: the learner is expected to express an idea in similar or equivalent terms.
ii. Extrapolation: where the learner is expected to predict or estimate an event from a
known pattern or trend, e.g 1,5,9,…,…..
iii. Interpretation: the learner is required to relate things to one another or to put into some
arrangement or sequence in order to establish relationships by comparing and
contrasting. Words used are rephrase, predict, contrast, and differentiate and so on.
3. Application questions: questions designed to allow a learner demonstrate that he or she can
make use of some previously learnt relationship or idea. Words used are apply, contrast,
develop and demonstrate to mention but a few.

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4. Analysis: where the learner is expected to breakdown an idea into constituent components and
to distinguish these parts with conscious knowledge of their relationship to one another.
5. Synthesis questions: the learner is expected to respond by combining or integrating a number
of facts or ideas into some arrangement that is new to them. The questions take the form of a
plan or proposal, key words are create, make up, put together, propose and so on.
6. Evaluation: the learner has to make judgment about the value of something.

The Value of questions in Teaching and learning

Questions play a very important role in the classroom. Some of them are as follows:

• They stimulate thinking (intellectual development).

• Diagnose and determine progress.
• Motivate learners.
• Help to evaluate one self.
• Help to clarify and expand concepts.
• Direct thinking.
• Relate cause to effect. Enables learners to organize and interpret materials.
• Help teachers to revise, confirm and prepare for the next lesson.
• Encourage appreciation and attitudes. Learners are made to think rationally. Their
imagination is built.

The objectives of questions at the following levels of lesson delivery

1. At Introduction:
• To find out what learners know about the subject to be presented, especially when
presenting new content. The teacher will be able to decide how to approach the topic.
Questions help to link the subject of the lesson to what has been done in the previous
lessons.
• Questions arouse interest and a spirit of inquiry on which all spontaneous learning is based.
They should be thought-out clearly before the lesson so that they arouse the learner’s
interest and curiosity.

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• Questions help to concentrate attention on what is to follow. Teachers should ask the
learners what they already know; draw out what knowledge the learner has about the
subject.
2. During the Presentation: At presentation, questions help to;
• Advance the topic under discussion.
• Find out if the learners are following the direction of the lesson.
• Find out if learners have any mistaken ideas about the subject.
3. During Application: during this period which is the final stage of questions;
• Provide a logical way to end a lesson or to conclude the learning activities.
• They accentuate (emphasize) the main points presented during the lesson.
• The answers enable the teacher to assess whether there are flaws and gaps, or mistaken
ideas still exist or not.

Characteristics of Good Questions

Any good question must have the following characteristics;

• Clarity: a good question must be clear. It must be immediately understood by the learners. The
rule is that a question must be short and the language simple.
• Must be definite and usually have one answer only.
• Should make the learners think constructively. They should think, evaluate and make use of their
knowledge and suggest their own solutions.
• They should not allow for vague or unspecific answers.

UNIT 2

2.0 PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

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Introduction

This topic is meant to assist you with knowledge of how children learn. This knowledge is important
because it helps the teachers know how to handle a class so that there is maximum learning. Children
sometimes perform poorly not because dull or slow but because they are mishandled by teachers.
Therefore it is important that teachers understand how children learn.

After a successful study of this topic, SSBAT.

• Discuss the different theories of learning

• Identify factors that lead to efficient learning
• Explain what teachers should do to improve learning
• Identify merits and demerits of different types of learning
• Select methods of different learning tasks.

Let us now talk about learning- the insatiable curiosity that drives the adolescent boy to absorb
everything he can see, hear or read about a computer. Learning is both a product and a process. As a
product, learning can be defined as a change in behavior. In other words, learning is approached as an
outcome, the end product of some process. It can be recognized or seen. The crucial aspect here is
change. However, note that, not all changes in behavior resulting from experience involve learning.
Soljo has divided learning into the following categories:

1. Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge. Learning is acquiring information or knowing

a lot.
2. Learning as memorization. Learning is storing information that can be reproduced.
3. Learning as acquiring facts, skills and methods that can be retained and used when necessary.
4. Learning as making sense or abstract meaning. Learning involves relating parts of the subject
matter to each other and to the world.
5. Learning as interpreting and understanding reality in a different way. Learning involves being
able to comprehend the world by reinterpreting knowledge.

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2.1 Learning as a process

Learning can be thought as ‘a process by which behavior changes as a result of experience’. The
question one can ask is whether people are aware that they are engaged in learning.

May be it is good at this point to look at one or two definitions of ‘learning’ that are at our disposal:

1. J.S Farrant (1980) defines learning as “the process by which attitudes, knowledge,
understanding, skills and capabilities are acquire and retained depending on both inherited and
environmental factors.”
2. Hilgard and Bower say learning is “the process by which an activity originates or is changed
through reacting to an encountered situation.”
3. Kundu and Tutoo have theirs and they say learning is “a change in performance as a function of
practice. In most cases, if not in all, this changes the direction which satisfies the current
motivating condition of the individual.”

Remember that the capacity to learn is related to innate psychological factors. The rate of learning
depends on both inherited and environmental factors.

In psychology looked at or will look at learning as a topic as well. The question one would probably ask
is why should we repeat this topic? The difference between the two subjects is that in Theory and
Practice of Education as a subject the focus is on what the teacher should do in order to help the learners
learn efficiently and effectively. So what is it that is required to enable a child learn effictively?

Pre-requisites for efficient learning

As said earlier, learning is about change in behavior. This means that after learning, the child must be
able to perform or do something which he/she could not do before or previously. Note, however, that all
performance is not as a result of learning but of growth and maturation. This answers our earlier
question whether all learning was as result of learning or not. For the child to learn successfully and
effectively, he or she needs to meet the following condition:

i. Readiness to learn: The child must be given formal instruction only when he or she is ready.
Doing so before the child is ready brings about certain blockages in the brain which hinder

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proper understanding. Readiness may be determined by mental maturation. The child must
be mature mentally before he/she starts to learn. Not only that, the child must also be willing
to learn and must be open to get involved in the learning process.
ii. Motivation: It is also important that the child must want to learn. He or she must want to
come to an understanding of his or her world. These, the child can only do if he or she has
motivation. Motivation is, therefore, a force that determines how much effort an individual
puts into his or her learning. It is what people do to want to do something even though it is
difficult, or boring or tiring. It is a drive that arouses and sustains actions towards the
achievement of goals.
iii. Involvement: it is vital that the learner participates in the learning process wholeheartedly
and must be involved if he or she is to learn successfully. There is a direct link between
involvement and the intellect. Involvement is an activity. As such, it is important that
learners are involved because this will arouse enthusiasm and concentration.

We have thus seen that for learning to take place, there must be:

• Clear objectives of what is to be taught/learnt

• Readiness to learn-intellectual, physical, emotional and social interaction.
• Careful guidance-the teacher should guide the learner through the learning experience.
• Preliminary recall-the child should be able to remember previously learnt knowledge that is
relevant to the new material
• Application of full attention to what is being learnt and the maintenance of concentration
• Strong motivation to learn
• Feedback to show the learner how successful the learning process is going/ has been.
• Application of what has been learned.
iv. Situatedness: this is the child’s situation in terms of his body in class. It means the child’s:
• Environment
• Other pupils in class
• Personal characteristics
• Learning content
• The child wants to learn

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The child finds himself or herself in a ‘situation’ he or she does not know. He or she is confronted with
so many problems with and challenges and is confronted by what he or she comes to know. Through
learning the child comes to know reality.

In order for the child to develop in his or her learning, he or she needs to learn the following
aspects/types en route his/her journey to adulthood.

a. Cognitive learning: cognitive, as you are already aware from the previous topic on Benjamin
Bloom’s Taxonomy has to do with thinking or reasoning. It has something to do with someone’s
intellect. The child needs to learn to conceptualize, use imagination, know, have insight, reason,
remember and recall. It is the entire world of knowing, understanding, and problem-solving and
so on.
b. Affective learning: this has to do with the child’s feelings and values. It is the development of
such aspects of the child’s learning. These influence attitude and personality. It is the learning
that is related to emotions, attitudes and feelings or acceptance and rejection.
c. Psychomotor: this has to do with skills which require efficient co-ordination between the brain
and the muscles or limbs. Examples of such are writing, reading, or physical skills such as
kicking the ball, skipping or hopping on one leg.

As teachers or teachers to be, it is essential that we remember that the above are experienced as an
integrated whole, not as parts. We should also note that:

• A child is educable. His means it is possible to ‘shape’ the child into a specific person.
• A child takes an active part in his or her own development and learning.
• Although a child will develop naturally, he or she needs adults in order to become that person
adults envisage.
• A child achieves adulthood in a particular society. This means that although they all become
adults, they are not the some because responsibilities differ from society to society.

Learning is relatively permanent change in potential for behavior that results from experience but is not
due to fatigue, maturation, drugs, injury or disease. It is what happens to a child as a result of
experience.

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a. Deduction: this is a kind of learning where the learner is supplied with a hypothesis (i.e. a
general principle or idea) and discovers whether it is true or not. He/she must make an intelligent
conclusion after a number of tasks. It is where the learner moves from the general to the
particular or specific application of these principles.
b. Induction: related matter is examined by the learner. He/she tries to see if he/she can make any
general conclusion. Moves from the particular to the general. The learner ends up with a
hypothesis.

1. How do you define ‘Learning?’

2. Why is it important that a teacher in the classroom has knowledge of how children learn?

2.2 Stages of learning

This topic is also discussed in Educational psychology. However, the purpose of us looking at it in
Theory and Practice is to see how learners can be assisted. It is to see how the teacher in the classroom
can help the child learn successfully bearing in mind the stages he/she (child) passes through and what
he/she is capable of doing at a given stage.

1. Piaget: has categorized learning into four (4) stages are as follows:
a. The sensory motor stage (from birth to 2years): at this stage the child begins to build
concept about objects as a result of his experience with them. At this stage the child also
realizes that objects have different qualities and that they have a continuing existence even
when they cannot be seen.
b. The intuitive stages (2-7 year): at this stage the child realizes that he and his environment
are related, but different. He wants to understand it and such asks a lot of questions. He is full
of the ‘Ah-------‘And ‘how’ questions.
c. The concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years): at this time the symbolic activity emerges in
his mind and the child transforms objects into something to play with. He transforms such
objects as bricks, stones and cardboard boxes and sees them in his play as cars, houses, size
and quality. He can solve problems involving physical objects and events.

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d. The formal operational stages (11-15 years): the child begins to extract from the events
logical rules and objects which he uses and to develop an ability to apply logical to abstract
thought. He learns, therefore, to generalize and solve problems by testing hypothesis.
2. B.F. Skinner: He advocated for behaviorism. Behaviorists believe learning is a series of
experiences, each of which influence behavior in the same way that conditioning does. Each
learning experience is a stimulus that produces a behavioral response. He emphasizes
conditioning of the learner’s operant behavior. The strength of the learner’s response is
determined by the amount of reinforcement it receives. Reinforcement is the process of
increasing the frequency behavior. There are two types of reinforcement; positive and negative
reinforcement. Positive reinforcement increases the probability of occurrence of a response.
Negative reinforcement occurs with the termination of some unpleasant (aversive) stimulus.
Reinforcement strengthens behavior. Negative reinforcement has consequence:
• The pupils may find another behavior to avoid the aversive one
• Repeated negative reinforcement may create anxiety which in turn results in unacceptably low-
levels of student’s performance.

Negative reinforcement suppresses while positive elicits desirable response

2.3 Learning and the role of the teacher

Now that we know what a child needs in order for him or her to learn effectively and succeed, it is also
important that teachers understand that at secondary school a child will enter at about 13 years and leave
around 18. This period is crucial because it is the beginning of puberty and the attainment of adulthood-
the adolescent period. At this stage the child is maturing physically and intellectually and is so advanced
that they think they can make their own decisions. But the children at this stage lack the life experience
of adults. All the same, they are expected to behave like adults and yet are restricted in terms of freedom
and are denied adult status. This means that the adolescent is torn by conflict as a result of internal
forces within them that effect their development and that of external influences which affect their needs
to be somebody-their image of self and their world.

The teacher’s influence in learning is far-reaching. They play the following roles:

i. Educator: the teacher must be very familiar with the subject content. He/she must transfer
the knowledge, facts and skills and also interpret reality for the learners. The way he/she has

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mastered the content will determine his/her authority to the learners. He/she therefore exerts
an influence on the child’s perception of reality. It is the teacher who prepares the child for
adult life.
ii. Teacher as motivator, initiator and facilitator: for any learning to succeed, there must be
the following:
• Clear objectives: the teacher must set very clear objectives for each lesson. He/she should also
ensure that learning is not being so difficult it discourages the majority of the learners. However,
it must also not be so easy that is success is achieved with little effort.
• Psychological safe and secure: the classroom atmosphere should be conductive to learning and
good enough to build a positive self-concept. The child must be accepted as an individual.
He/she must be accepted as he/she is and treated with respect. This will make him feel free and
will take part in the learning situation. A teaching situation marked by order, control and
authority, and boundaries set will enhance the self-respect and a willingness to learn follows. The
teacher is the principal motivator in the learning process. Motivation:
• To arouse interest
• To stimulate a drive to learn which leads to effort and
• To direct these interests and effort towards the accomplishment of suitable purpose and toward
the attainment of definite goals.

2.4 Approaches to learning

There are many different opinions as how we learn. A lot of psychologists have written on the different
ways in which we learn-approaches. But let us look at two that seem to stand out prominently. These are
behaviorism and cognitivism.

a. Behaviorist approach: this approach assumes that humans being can only be a material system,
where observation is on externally observable inputs without bothering about the mind or ability.
The behaviorist is more concerned with internal structure and processes which affect behavior.
b. Cognitivists: these are more concerned with the approaches based on the brain such as
perception, memory, personality, motivation. This is more concerned with internal structure and
processes which affect behavior.

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The processes of learning

The child goes through a process in order for him to learn. It is important to note that for the child to
learn he/she should be able to:

a. Pay attention: this is what takes places between the point of presenting marital and the learner’s
response. It is noted by change expressed in motor and intellectual efficiency. The teacher should
present his or her material well. He/she should select material well from which the child will
learn. The classroom should be a place rich in challenging and worthwhile experiences. The
teacher should make the classroom educational so that pupils pay attention. Teacher must train
pupils to observe and listen pay attention.
b. Gain interest in what is to be learnt: pupils can be made to become interested in what is to be
thought by motivating them. Important here is the intrinsic motivation. The teacher should turn
learning into games or completions. External motivation comes when there is another type of
motivation; it comes through rewards and punishment. Punishment need not necessarily be in
physical. It can be no physical such as rebukes, extra duties in and around the school,
withholding privileges, or repairing the damage coursed.
c. Develop skills and understanding: it is important that learners develop skills. These are
physical and mental abilities that require a high degree of coordination between the body and the
brain. Proper coordination is necessary so that the conscious process of thinking and
understanding. Teachers should also bear in mind that skills are important because they allow
one to work with very little efforts. The intellect is left free to tackle the more important tasks at
hand. That means the more learners establish skills and habits, the more there minds will be free
for the real intellectual and creative activities of life. This means therefore that such learning can
only be achieved through activity. Learners must be made to participate in activates. We learn
by doing and so the teacher should provide fully for activates that aid learning. Activity
stimulates more quickly and new learning is better understood.
d. Experiment with what is learned: when we acquire new skill or knowledge, we develop a
desire to experience more and this continues until it is fully integrated with previous experience.
When children play, they are actually experimenting and we thus call it play. Play can be useful
if teachers guide children’s range of play to useful activities which strength the new knowledge
and skills.

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e. Apply learning: teachers need to apply effective learning to real life situations and events.
Pupils should be made to see relevance of their lessons. They should teach in such a way that
they find their lessons enjoyable. This helps to retain what learn.

TASK

1. Why is it important that the teacher should ensure that the child
A. Pays attention?
B. Gains interest in what is to be learned?
C. Develops skills and understanding?

2.5 Types of learning (learning theories)

Several psychologists have suggested different ways of how children learn. What is important to you as
a teacher is how each can best be exploited to the best of benefit of the learners in the classroom. Some
of the learning theories are as follows:

1. Trial and Error: this was advocated for by Thorndike>he regarded learning as a mechanical
and blind process devoid of intelligence or determination. It is a kind of learning which results of
experience. He believed learning was as a result of making mistakes and correcting them. This
results in experience and thus learning. In this kind of learning, the child will eliminate
unsuccessful attempts and consolidate the successful ones. The outcomes of his are discovery.
This disadvantage with this type is that it more time is wasted before one comes up with the best
action. It does not show any insight.
What teachers should remember is that learners make mistakes. These mistakes are part of
learning and the teacher’s should therefore tolerate them. The teacher should exercise patience
with the learners and allow them to make several mistakes before they can finally manage to
solve or discover the correct way or doing things. The teacher should also remember to give
activities that will allow the learners to learners to have a chance to practice what they have
learned.
2. Conditioning: (learning by Association): developed parlor, this type of learning is good for
learning attitude and habits. It is a process by which certain behavior is caused to occur. It means

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learning or modification y behaviour. It is learning that occurs because one has associated a certain
behavior with someone or something for some time so that when it eventually becomes a habit. It
is important because it enhances the learners’ relationship with their teachers and assist in
developing a positive attitude towards the curriculum. This is turn improves their chances of
performing successfully. A good example is the teacher’s encounter with his/her learners
characterized on his part by smiles, greetings and identifying the learners by name. Conditioning
helps to facilitate transfer of learning.
The importance of learning theory to the teachers is that they should ensure that there learners
should be able to transfer what they learn to similar situations within the classroom or in real life
the learners should also be able to differentiate stimulus in this case concepts; for example negative
numbers from positive. Teachers should also remember that unless learners are enforced, they are
likely to forget what they learn. They can be helped not to forget by revising with them of by
relating what has been studied to what has been learned.
3. Insight theory (Gestalt theory) of learning. A new theory of learning, it is a kind of learning in
which some goal has to be reached, but the way it not yet clear. It results from neither trail nor
error nor from a conditioned response to unnatural or conditioned stimuli. It too, results in
discovery. It occurs by insight into the whole situation to be learned. It says that learning does not
occur step by step or trail by trail but by an insight into the learning situation as a whole. It is a
prompt and instantaneous process. It results when a light is shed on the problem and one steps
back and looks at his/her learning and says ‘Ah! Now I understand. Now I know what all is about.’
It is the moment when the different parts of a problem suddenly fall into a patter. The discovered
way can easily be repeated during a similar event in the future.
Teachers should give learners opportunities in which they will discover things on their own. They
should create situations that will require the learner to think and find way to solve a problem.
4. Training: this is used to develop altitudes, habits, skills and understand procedures, just like
conditioning does. Like conditioning, training depends on rewards and punishments. It must be
repeated several times to become effective. It is based on the idea that when a sequence of activities
is repeated, it eventually becomes a habit, which is an automatic response pattern elicited by a
particular stimulus. There are habits of common courtesies, cleanliness, number and letter
recognition. We also develop habits of thinking and characteristics of talking problems. An ability
to learn to solve problems of a given kind can be developed with sufficient practice on task of

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similar nature. This is known as learning to learn or learning set. Formation of learning sets
happens when children in their own routines form in the solution of certain task readily adapt for
use in the solution of other similar tasks. As earlier said, teachers should help learners develop
good habits such as those of number and reading. They should enable learners to repeat these tasks
repeatedly so that they become spontaneous automatic. In so doing they will learn successively.
5. Memorization: remembering what has been learnt is very important if teaching is to be successful.
Learners must remember what they have learned and be able to carry out tasks in a way which
show they understand what they are doing. Memorization is one way in which to help the learners
remember. It is a special kind of remembering. It is also called ‘committing to memory’ or
remembering by heart’. Memorization must be accompanied with understanding. To achieve this,
teachers should present information item by item, or as a group or chunk. This will help the learners
store information properly. Information is stored either in the short-term memory or long-term
memory. Information in the short-term memory (STM) is easily forgotten but that stored in the
long-term memory can be retained for a long time. The loss of ability to retrieve stored information
from either the STM or the LTM is known as forgetting. Forgetting does not necessarily mean
‘going forever.’ We may retrieve an item later. Therefore teachers must help their learners in
memorization by making it easier through the following devices:
a. Rehearsals: repeating or reciting the skill or information as many times as may be necessary so
that it is stored in the LTM.
b. Pattern learning or organization: the teacher must organize work well so that the learners are
able to remember it easily. This can be done by breaking it into smaller units and linking it as it is
related. Information must be organized in some pattern or sub headings.
c. Learning whole: not all information can be remembered if learnt in units. Some can be
remembered well if learnt whole.
d. Mnemonic: these are artificial devices that are used to help people remember details in a quick
and orderly manner. They are useful when new information has no bearing on what the learner
already knows. Mnemonics are special symbols or sometimes phases used to group information or
put information in some order.

As can be seen, learning is said to have taken place when an organism (learner) has changed in behavior
as a result of some experience. It is possible for every child to learn. The teacher has the task of facilitating
learning. He/she must provide a conducive environment for all and also resources for efficient learning.

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UNIT THREE

3.0 ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

Introduction:

Learning can and does often take place without the benefit of teaching but there can be no teaching
without learning. Teaching without learning is just talking. Too often, pupils do not learning as much
as what is expected. Usually there are gaps between what pupils learns and what teachers think
they have taught. Teachers only come to notice these gaps in the pupils; knowledge or
understanding when it is too late to remedy [Link] order to avoid such lapses teachers and
pupils need a continuous flow of accurate information on pupils learning. Assessment helps
individual teachers obtain useful feedback on what, how much and how well their pupils are
learning. It helps to check the teachers’ efficiency and effectiveness.

After a careful study of this this unit, you are expected to:

. Define key terms such as assessment and evaluation

. State the importance of assessment and evaluation.

. State the functions of tests

. Describe the different types of tests

. State the features of a good assessment

. Distinguish the difference between subjective and objective testing

Definitions:

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1. Assessment in teaching may be defined as a way of finding out how effective the
teachers’ teaching has have learnt.

2. Erwin (1991) defines assessment as systematic basis for making conclusions about the
learning and development of students. It is the process of defining; selecting, designing,
collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and using information to increase students, learning
and development.

3. Paloma and Banta (1991) define assessment as the systematic collection, review, and use of
information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student
learning and development

4. Evaluation is concerned about judgments of the collective thing. It is a broader term than
assessment. It looks at assessment that leads to making judgments and decisions about
the total performance of the program me or an individual. It helps in making judgment on
how far the objectives of a program me of education have been achieved.

In this unit we shall concentrate more on assessment.

Before a teacher assesses pupils there is need to ask oneself the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of assessing the learners?

2. Who should be assessed?

3. When should they be assessed?

4. How should they be assessed?

5. What should they be assessed on?

6. What should be the scope of the assessment?

3.2 Purpose of assessment

Assessment brings out whether the behavioural change of the learners is desirable or not. It determines
whether the teacher’s methodologies and strategies used in the lesson were effective or not.
Some of the purposes of assessment are as follows;

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a. Selection and social regulation.

b. Certification and qualification

c. Motivation for both teachers and learners.

d. Monitor progress and information feedback

e. Diagnosis and remediation

f. Curriculum evaluation and control

g. Enhancing /maintaining standards

h. Evidence of accountability and resource provision

3.3 Features of a good assessment

A good assessment should possess the following specter

a. Honest and critical

b. Objective (bias free)

c. Should be based on ideas and not character

d. Should be clear and to the point

e. Should have quality and not quantity

f. Should provide a way forward

3.4 Sources of assessment

Evidence of assessment could be obtained from the following sources:

ORAL WRITTEN GRAPHICS PRODUCTS

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Questioning Questionnaires Diagrams Models

Listening Diaries Sketches Artifacts

Discussing Reports Diagrams Games

Presentations Essays Graphs Photos

Interviews Notes Maps Web page

Debates Stories Overlays

Audio Recording Newspaper Articles

Video recording Bullet point lists

Role play Poems

3.5 Types of Assessment

Assessment has two levels – formative assessment and summative assessment both of which involve
monitoring and careful administration.

Formative assessment

This type is continuously done throughout the course of study of the learner. It is sometimes
referred to as continuous assessment because it should be continuously done in order to perfect the
learners ability and improve the teachers approaches and strategies. It is given in form of tests,
mock exams, projects, discussions etc. the learner is gradually guided v towards a desired goal. It is
guidance oriented in nature.

It aims at the pupil acquiring and developing knowledge and [Link] is also used to identify pupils
need in order to guide them towards the desired [Link] pupils need are identified, appropriate
remedial measures are taken to solve such problems . it is meant to find out whether after learning
experience pupils are able to do what they were unable to do previously.

Formative assessments two categories:

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• Short term-to help pupils pass end of year promotion examination

• Long term-to help pupils pass a school certificate examination

Whatever they do, the aim of formative assessment is to help pupils perform well at the end of the
program. This means to help or ensure that summative evaluation comes out positive.

Summative assessment

This type of assessment is primarily concerned with the purpose, progress and outcomes of the teaching
and learning process. It tries to determine to what extent the broad objectives of the program have been
reached. It is judgmental in nature i.e. determines the pass or fail of a learner. For example, Grade 9
exams, Grade 12 exams, etc.

Pupils’ performance in these exams to a large extent determines their job career prospects or further
education. Summative evaluation carries a threat with it and the pupil may have no knowledge of the
examiner.

Importance of Assessment

• It is a mean of diagnosing learners problems

• Helps parents, teachers to make judgment about their pupils academic performance

• Helps, encourages and motivated pupils

• Monitors the effectiveness of the teachers’ methodologies

• Allows the teacher assess the learning programs

• Helps in maintaining standards

• Helps MOE to make decisions about the education system

• Helps to show if pupils are attaining acceptable levels of performance throughout the curriculum.

3.6 EVALUATION

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Evaluation is related to the value, importance or quality of something. It can be defined as a process
used to obtain information through testing, direct observations of behavior from essays and other
devices to assess the learner’s overall performance or progress towards some pre-determined goals or
objectives. It includes both qualitative and quantitative description and involves value judgment of
overall learner performance.

The teacher puts value on the learner’s work, talents, attitudes and other characteristics of behavior. It is
the estimation of worth of a thing a process in order to reach meaningful decisions about that thing. It
involves making judgments about the decisions made in terms of set goals.

Importance of Evaluation

It is a means of informing parents (parents have the right to know how their children are performing) at
school. Teachers need to evaluate all aspects of pupils’ performance while they are at school. Evaluation
reports from schools help pupils to gain access to higher levels or institutions such as universities and
colleges. Issues of quality, relevance and importance are cardinal in the teaching profession. Teachers
should consider the relevance of the content, strategies and approaches given at each level. Normally,
evaluation is done at the end of the program to determine the value, effectiveness and quality assurance.

3.7 TESTS

What is a test?

A test is a set of questions intended to elicit a particular type of behavior when presented under
standardized conditions and should yield scores that have desirable properties. It may also be defined as
a systematic procedure used to gather information about pupils’ abilities.

Before a teacher can set a test, he/she must ask the following questions:

• What is the objective of the test? What will the test bring out of the pupils?

• Does the test cover the content learnt adequately?

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• Is the content of the test relevant to what has been learnt?

• What acceptable standard or criteria guide is the teacher going to use in identifying, selecting and
weighting of the items?

• Is the test reliable and valid?

Purpose of a test

i. To provide children, parents, school administrators and other professionals with information to
assist them in making decisions that will enhance the learners’ education development
i. For screening, placement, program planning, evaluation and assessment of individual
progress.

Reliability of a test

Test reliability deals with the suitability or accuracy of the data collected from a given test. This means
that if repeated two or more times under similar conditions, a reliable test should produce identical
results.

Validity of a test

Validity of a test shows the relationship between the data obtained and the purpose for which it is
collected. It shows whether the test accomplishes what it is supposed to measure or not. In order to
obtain a valid test, we must have a reliable test. The terms of a test are closely related each other. A test
of 0.00 reliability cannot have validity. Similarly, a test with 1.00 reliability should have perfect
reliability.

3.5 Types of tests

There are many types of tests. But in the classroom situation, there are mainly two types that are used,
these are; Essay type (subjective) and objective tests.

Subjective Tests-Essays

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Subjective tests are used to determine pupils overall understanding of the subject in question. The pupil
writes answer in a page or more. He expresses his answer in his own words and organizes his material as
he sees fit.

Advantages

1. Enables PPs to organize their work/facts in their own way and express ideas in own words.

2. Easy to prepare by the teacher.

3. Helps pupils to think and solve problems and solve problems in their creative manner

4. Pupils are able to use their higher level of thinking and reasoning.

5. Tests not only understanding but also the pupils’ insight.

6. Minimizes guess work as this is easily detected and receives no credit.

7. Allows pupils to draw their own point of conclusions, judgment, expression of own point of view

Disadvantages

1. The consuming in terms of writing and marking.

2. Marking is subjective and not objective.

3. Covers less of what has been dealt with in the course of your year.

4. Too much time is spent with research.

Objective tests

These are the most commonly used types of test. Learners are expected to supply one answer e.g. a
phrase, a word, etc. there is no room for expression of own ideas by the learners. Examples are;

1. Multiple choice questions

2. Completion type

3. Matching type

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4. Structured match

5. True or false

6. Filling in the blanks

7. One word Answer etc.

Advantages

1. Easy to mark and score by the teacher

2. Captures a wide range of subject content

3. Allowing for the testing of factual information

4. It can be used to measure different types of educational objectives

5. Provides room for the guess work by the learners, hence, giving a chance of passing to the
learner by accident, i.e., though not sure, the pupil has 50% chance to pass.

Disadvantages

1. Difficult to prepare and time consuming

2. Encourages guess work-promotes laziness

3. Little opportunity for pupils to plan and organize his/her work

4. Does not help the pupils to demonstrate divergent and critical thinking and express his responses.

1. Multiple choices: This is where a statement is given and three or more solutions are provided
from which the pupils is expected to choose from. There is only one correct answer while the rest
are called distracters. When setting multiple choice questions, teachers should make sure that
distracters are very strong so as leave the answer outstanding.

2. Completion type and simple recall: In this test pupils are requested to fill in the blanks the key
words which have been left out. Teachers are advised to set question which area clear and not
ambiguous.

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3. Matching type: this type of a test comprises two columns where a list of elements is written.
Pupils are expected to match what appears in column A to a related element in B it is advised
more elements in one column in order to avoid guessing by the pupils if the number of elements
is equals.

4. True or false: this is where a statement is made and the pupil expected to respond by either true
or false.

5. Achievement test: This type of test is designed to measure what a person has achieved.

6. Proficiency test: defines the pupil’s level of achievement in reference to specific type of
instruction. The examiner wishes to ascertain if the pupil has specific and content deemed pre-
requisite for a particular course of study, for example a placement test.

7. Diagnostic test: this type of test is designed to diagnose specific educational and learning
difficulties of the pupil. It measures how much a pupil has learnt and how well he/she has learnt
it. It is also meant to determine how much the pupil has to learn, in addition, it tries to identify
specific weaknesses and deficiencies in a pupil.

8. Personality test: these are aimed at finding out the dominant traits of a pupil so as to classify
him/her personality and provide the kind of learning patterns suited for him/ her.

9. Intelligence test: measure various mental skills considered relative to intelligence in order to
find the IQ of a child.

10. Aptitude test: these measure specific abilities considered important for a particular role or task
so as to build up a profile of the individual in term of these abilities.

11. Short answer: These tests include simple definitions, identification of unfinished statements
e.t.c. they may also involve reading and interpretation of maps, pictures, sketches and diagrams,
according by short answer questions.

12. Restriction type: pupils are given instruction on the nature, length and organization of
responses. Phrases used are: describe, define, clarify, outline, illustrate, explain etc.

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13. Criterion – referenced tests: this is a type of test where achievement is measured against levels
of performance which are defined by statements of acceptable attainment; I.e. performance is
assessed against a criterion independent of the performance of others. This specific what needs to
be done in order to qualify and the pupil who meet the requirement will pass independent of
whether others do so. For example, in a swimming certificate- if a pupil swims 20 meters, a
certificate will be given to him/ her regardless of who also gets it.

14. Norm- referenced tests: these are a kind of tests that are designed to compare the performance of
individual pupils with that of other pupils. They measure the pupils performance against the
score achieved by other, e.g. cut of point in relation to mark.

1. In groups of 5, set 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions from your field of study
2. Individually, set 2 subjective questions
3. Provide answers to both of the above tasks.
4. How can a teacher help learners not to forget what they have learned?

UNIT FOUR:

4.0 CLASS MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

By the end of this unit you will be able to:

• Discuss what constitutes a conducive learning environment

• Explain the importance of good discipline in schools
• Discuss how teachers can maintain discipline in class
• Explain the effects of punishment to both the teacher and the learner
• Discuss how teachers can use the four types of theories of punishment

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Introduction

In a secondary school the teacher learning process has a professional character. Its aim is to influence
the child’s entire life such that the child achieves adulthood. All who learn must become responsible
adult. There are classroom activities that are direct towards the achievement of goals for particulars
years. The secondary school is post primary and pre-tertiary. This makes it unique in the sense that.

• Most learner are adolescents (fully developed, adults) and therefore some difficult to
handle.

• The teachers are trained subject specialists.

• There is a wider socio-economic background. This is because learns found in secondary

school come from far and near places (throughout the country) and thus have very
difference cultures, beliefs, tradition, and values wealth and so on.

• This period is prior career formative.

• There are more extracurricular activities.

4.1 The classroom as a physical learning environment

As a physical learning environment, the classroom must be conducive enough to allow learners and the
teachers perform their duties effectively. The following should therefore be found in any classroom:

• Specialized rooms

• Adequate storage cabinets-shelves, and filling cabinets for teaching materials and books.

• Chalk board should be at eye-level. Should be pleasant and inviting

• Should have enough space for use of maps, charts, pictures, specimens and so on.

• Should be workshops or learning laboratories.

How to organize the classroom

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The classroom must be organized in such a way that learning is facilitated. This means

• It must be comfortable for both the learner and the teacher.

• It must be clean and airly.

• It must be decorated with learners/work or even flowers.

• There should be a friendly and relaxed atmosphere through the teacher’s avoidance of too
much external control on pupils.

• Learners must be given freedom to contribute to discussions and activities.

• The classroom must be arranged in such a way that the learners are able to move around
between the teacher and their desks.

• Pupils must seat according to their personal needs.

• Teacher should try to understand each child and try to assist each of them

The chalkboard

This is a tool that enables the teacher to make instruction concrete and understandable. It is a means of
motivation. It is economical in because it can be erased and used repeatedly. It is used to present facts,
principles, processes, procedures and so on.

Its functions are:

• To display the other tools such as charts

• For recording results

• For labeling maps and diagrams.

• Writing summarizes as teacher discusses a topic

• For naming objects

• For exemplifications

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• For reading exercises.

When writing on the board it is very important that every teacher remembers to:

• Keep the head at the height at which he or she is writing.

• Write straight

• Make uniform in size and style all the writing. The style used should be that which the
learners also use. The teacher’s should be a good example.

• Check for the size of the letters. They should be bold and legible. Should be read even
from the back of the classroom. Write sparingly. Only points that learners need to know
and remember should be written.

• Divide the board into sections.

• Do not give your back to the class for too long as you write on the board.

4.2 Discipline in the schools

Teaching and learning is an activity that is multi-faceted. For the teacher to teach the learners, he or she
should go beyond instruction. This is because as a teacher one has the important role of helping to
develop desirable behavior patterns in the learner and to realize the entire learner’s potential in order to
prepare him adequately for life. It is for this reason that the teacher must manage and maintain
discipline. He or she must also organize his or her classroom in a manner that will facilitate teaching and
learning. The teacher therefore participates and contributes to the overall management of the school.

Meaning of Discipline

This is the most vital aspect of the secondary school administration. It comes from the Latin word
‘Discipulus’ which means ‘to learn’. Kochhar S.K.(2015) defines discipline as “the submission of one’s
impulses and powers to a regulation which imposes from upon chaos and brings efficiency and economy
and where there would otherwise be ineffectiveness and waste’’ This definition can, simplified, mean
that discipline:

• Is a process of education?

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• Is control of behavior to attain a goal and purpose, the subjugation of emotion and action under
the direction of leader in fulfillment of the aim?

• Implies a good understanding of right conduct, the formation of good habits and attitudes.

• Implies the subordination of individual interest to group interest to bring efficiency and
economy.

• Implies the willing acceptance of the controls. That means the individual must do either what he
is required to do or must not do what he or she is forbidden from doing.

In the past discipline was considered as being mainly for the rod. The head teacher was the absolute rule
of the school that used the rod to maintain discipline and order. All the learners were expected to submit
to his or her authority and his or her word was final. The duty of the learners was to obey and behave.

That was what discipline was looked at in the past. Today the scenario is different. Discipline denoted
something else as a result of the teachings of some philosopher such as floebel, Montessori and John
Dewey. These advocated that the teacher is not the hard task master but a friend guide. Pupils are
allowed to choose subjects; they can contribute to disciplinary matters. The teacher has to from right and
desirable attitude in the learners so that they are able to make their own decision and assume
responsibility for their own actions without always requiring a vigilant watch over them. They therefore
become self-propelled, self-controlled and self-guiding. There has been a change in the way discipline
issues have been handled over the years. In the past, school rules pupils were strictly followed and
adhered to by pupils. In a traditional set up, values, respect and morals were highly valued in schools.
However, due to changes in society dynamics rules have been diluted. The advocacy of human rights
has totally degraded the rules in schools and teachers’ power and authority have been compromised.
Today, teachers face a serious challenge in trying to control the behavior of pupils in schools. This has
had a negative effect on the academic performance of pupils.

The Typology of Old and New Discipline

DISCIPLINE

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OLD DISCIPLINE NEW DISCIPLINE

Conservative Liberal/Progressive

Children submissive Children Liberated

Traditional values, respect, obedience, Modern values, free to interact and even
giving way to elders, strict adherence to challenge elders, right to speech (human
rules etc. rights)

Punishment Punishment

Zero tolerance to discipline More civilized positive ways of dealing

with discipline
• Corporal punishment
• Manual labour • Removal of privileges
• Suspensions • Counseling
• Permanent expulsion • Detention

Described as repressive, inhuman, and Described as liberating, positive and

physically violating pupils’ human rights laissez faire

Results Results

➢ Teacher had total Authority and ➢ Teachers loss of grip, power and
Power over the pupils authority
➢ Pupils fully subjected ➢ Pupils know that teachers cannot
➢ Controlled discipline ‘touch’ them
➢ Moral order ➢ Unruly behavior of pupils

The importance of discipline in the school

In a school discipline is very important if we are going to effectively teach the learners. It is important
because:

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• Orderliness is a pre-requisite for successful implementation of school programs. Without it,

certain school programmers would not be complete

• Enable the school to attain society’s aim and aspiration.

• Gives the child a feeling of security, a sense of confidence and knowledge of boundaries of his
freedom. In other words, discipline enables the child to know what is expected of him or her.

• Helps the child go grow as an individual personality.

• It is necessary before the teacher begins to teach.

4.3 Sources of misbehavior

a. The child: the child can be a source of misbehavior if he or she is brought up in circumstances
that are not congruent to the behavior expected of him or her at school. He may also misbehave
in order to conform to peer expectations and avoid rejection. Immaturity and is another cause of
misbehavior. The child may misbehave simply because he or she does not know how to behave
correctly. And developmental problems. Frustration at home or at school may also result in
misbehavior. Also the approval and recognition a pupil received from his peers for challenging
the teachers’ authority. Others are as a result of trying to avoid making mistakes and being
punished.

b. The home: a child who does not receive love and good care from his parents is likely to have no
respect for them and may well extend this perception of adults to all other figures of authority,
including his teachers and school itself.

The other reasons are that:

- The child becomes pre-occupied with problems at home such as quarrels both parents that he
is unable to concentrate and as a result transgresses school regulations.

- He may be affected by his parents’ economic status. May miss school to do some work to
help supplement their income.

- Parents may interfere with what the teacher is doing when they refuse to allow their child to
be punished.

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- Some parents have no regard for education and their children also see no reason to obey
school rules.

c. The society

What happens at school is a reflection of what is going on in society. Children see violence and
their peers and adults defying authority. They model such behavior and apply it to their
relationships with other children as school and with school itself.

d. The school

The school may also be a source of indiscipline. This happens when the school rules are not rigid
and strict but also when they are punitive and unnecessary.

Securing a job is a pre-requisite for many African children who attend school. But nowadays
there are far less jobs than the number of school leavers. This means that the curriculum offered
by schools is irrelevant to one of their most important needs. This can then be a source of
misbehavior at school.

Attendance and interest for certain subjects perceived as having no bearing on their lives may be
another source of misbehavior in school especially if they are not tested at the final examination.

When the curriculum offered is too difficult or not challenging enough, it is likely to cause
frustration and results in misbehavior as a way of passing time and venting frustration.

e. The teacher

Teachers can cause pupils to misbehave as a result of the way they interact with them at school,
particularly in the classroom. This happens when some teachers have very little regard for
pupils’ feelings and ridicule, belittle and humiliate them. This does not contribute to the
establishment of a positive relationship between the teacher and his/her pupils.

A teacher cannot expect his/her pupils to like and respect him if he/she does not show them that
he likes and respects them.

Some teachers are punitive, rigid and only punish children through corporal punishment.

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Others come to school unprepared, drunk, late or improperly dressed. This does not bring respect
upon them.

Too difficult assignment, and being unable to answer questions satisfactorily or setting
unreasonable and inflexible deadliness for assignments, and having group of favored and
disliked pupils can also course misbehavior in the classroom.

How to maintain Discipline in the Classroom

A school is a social intuition and as such it has to have certain basic regulations governing controlling
and directing the behavior of its members, the majority of whom are the learners. All teachers need
discipline in the classroom. They should all be able to obtain it without any assistance from outside.
Without it the purpose of the school cannot be achieved effectively. Without it there can be anarchy and
chaos and learning would ground to a halt. When learners defy the teacher’s authority, they create a state
of tension and hostility, but such situation must be resolve. In the classroom the teacher can help to
maintain discipline in several ways:

a. The teacher must make it clear that the objective of his lesson is so that pupils approach if in
a purposeful way, the aim of achieving certain goals. Their work should not be too easy or
too difficult for them. If too easy, they will consider it a waste of time and an insult to their
intelligence; if too difficult, they are likely to experience failure and frustration and, in the
end, give up. This would result in appropriate behavior springing up.
b. The teacher should prepare his/her work such a teacher is perceived as well organized
person. New teachers should over prepare rather than under prepare. The pupils will realize
that there is plenty to be done and will also feel that the time is valuable and that the teacher
is in control.

c. The teacher should present his/her lessons in such a manner that the pupils’ interest will be
aroused and sustained for the duration of the period. All activities given to the pupils must be
well explained and the teacher must answer individual questions anytime.

d. It is important also for the teacher to know all his/her pupils by name. He/she should learn
his/her pupil’s names as quickly as he or she can. This is because a person’s name signifies

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his identity and pupils find it satisfying to know the person as important at the teacher knows
them by name.

e. The teacher and the pupils should work together in drawing up a set of rules regarding what
is expected of the pupils in class. They should be kept to a minimum. The teacher should
discuss any violation of the rules calmly with the pupil concerned in order to find out what
caused it.

f. A teacher should be known for, or strive for the following qualities:

Friendliness and firmness, competence and a positive self-concept. He should show that he is
both reasonable and fairly consistent and should give then the impression that he knows what he
is doing. He should also show that the is in charge, competent, confident and prepared for the
less and act in a professional and business like yet pleasant and supportive manner.

4.4 PUNISHMENT

Punishment means being subjected to a painful stimulus or having a pleasant one removed due to
engaging in undesirable behavior (Mwamwenda). When a teacher punishes a pupil, he/she deliberately
inflicts discomfort or pain in the hope of suppressing some undesirable behavior. When punishment
works, it is because the unpleasant experience (or fear of it becomes associated with the misbehavior).
The only problem with punishment is that, it is associated with the giver than with the response or
wrong act which should be eliminated. It does not exactly tell the pupil what the right response or
expected behavior is.

The following are some of the common punishments applicable in class-room or school situations:

- Isolation or exclusion from classes

- Detention after school hours

- Withdrew of access to desirable facilities

- Reprimands

- Referral to the Head teacher

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- Suspension

- Expulsion/dismissal

Physical punishment

- Manual work e.g. digging a pit, uprooting trees, weeding and sweeping etc.

- Corporal punishment, which is the infliction of pain on the child. Corporal punishment is not
allowed unless under the provisions of the law.

Extinction

The principle of extinction states that the behavior that goes unrewarded becomes less and less frequent
and may eventually die away. The teacher may suppress the child’s undesirable behavior by withholding
anything that may reinforce such undesirable behavior.

If the teacher gives attention to a pupil when his behavior interferes with classroom works then the
teacher is actually strengthening the probability of such behavior recurring in future. The teacher may
ignore the behavior until it dies out. The nature of the case matters in this case it shouldn’t be of serious
nature.

Some principles to consider when administering punishment:

i. Punishment should be meted out only when all other forms of control of pupil’s misbehavior
have failed. It should be used as a last resort but with hope that the child will change for the
better.
iii. It should be designed to correct the erring child or to make good the damage done.

iv. Before a pupil is punished he/she must be told why he/she is being punished. The teacher
may explain the alternatives to the behavior being suppressed.

v. Teachers should know that the effectiveness of punishment decreases in direct proportion to
its delay. It should therefore be administered as soon as the offence is committed so that the
child is able to make a link between the offence and the punishment.

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vi. The effective rule of enforcing punishment is consistency by the enforcing agent who is the
teacher. If a pupil interacts with some teachers who do not enforce the same basic set of
rules, the efforts of other teachers will be less effective because of the inconsistency of a few
teachers.

vii. In class, teachers should use moderate punishment so that it does not inhibit the learning of
innocent classmates.

viii. Punishments should be changed occasionally because they lose their effectiveness over time.
New punishments are better than old ones.

ix. Teachers should not administer punishment when they are angry or upset.

x. Punishment can be postponed if the teacher realizes it can make the offender a hero or the
offender may resist to be punished.

xi. The teacher should continue showing love to the offender once he has been punished.

xii. Punishment should be administered within the school rules.

xiii. There must be effective communication between teachers and pupils and also among
teachers.

Effects of Punishment

- It stimulates to work for a short period.

- It tends to stop bad behavior for a moment not permanently.

- It may create angry feelings against the teacher unless the pupils know that the teacher is on
their side.

- It may disturb the class by breaking into the rhythm of learning

- It brings fear in the learners

- It may cause some pupils to miss classes

- It may encourage absenteism

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Incentives

Rewards and incentives are very important to support the school rules and teachers’ efforts in trying to
minimize pupil misbehavior.

The following principles should be adhered to when applying rewards in the reinforcement of desirable
behavior:

- Incentives or rewards should be appropriate

- A reward should act as such for a given pupil. A rewarding situation for one child for
example may not be rewarding for the other child. A child who is over praised before the
peers may find it embarrassing

- A situation is said to be rewarding if it results in behavior being maintained.

- The reward should be closely related to the desired behavior and should follow it closely in
time.

- The pupil should be praised as an adult can be praised

- The reason for praise should be given.

- Social rewards are the most powerful forms of incentives because they are natural and easy
to apply e.g. praise, approval, delegation of responsibilities, public acknowledgement etc.

4.5 THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT

Some Philosophical Propositions that explain how discipline is maintained:

Discipline is a condition that is precedent to instruction. This means that discipline comes before
instruction. It also means that learning takes place where there is discipline. The teacher should maintain
order. Only the can he or she start to teacher. For the teacher to do this he or she must expect every
learner to conform to the rules of the school. Remember that a child has an obligation to obey the
teacher. The teacher must be obeyed because he or she is a parent; he or she occupies the place of the
parent in school.

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Discipline is coincident to interesting instruction: the means that discipline comes as a result of
enjoyment. Learners want to learn in environments that are conducive to learning and that are pleasant.
This will enable them enjoy their lessons. The teacher should therefore find or create conditions that will
interest or rouse interest in the learners.

Rule by one gives way to rule by many: it is the duty of the teacher to maintain discipline in the
classroom (rule by one). When a few learners try to disrupt a lesson, the interested majority will not
allow it. That is to say, instead of the teacher giving discipline to the few, the other members of the class
will do it-thus rule by one has given way to rule by many. The children take over the responsibility of
maintaining discipline.

For the above to succeed, some form a teaching strategy.

This is punishment given to one so that others can learn from him and then avoid committing such an
offence. The punishment is given so as to educate the offender. The child must be educated before
punishment is melted on him. He must know why he is being punished.

Theories of punishment

1. Retributive Theory of Retaliation

The purpose of punishment is to avenge the wrong done by the individual by breaking a rule. It
is based on the saying of ‘an eye for any eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ A child had offended by
disrupting a lesson, therefore he/she must be punished. It is believed any offence committed
willing fully must be punished for because it is deliberate therefore he must be punished.

2. Exemplary Theory

Punishment is given to act as a deterrent. Punishment given to one or that others can learn from
him and then avoid committing such an offence. It is given to as to educate the offender. Child
must be educated for being punished. Must know he is being punished.

3. Reformatory Theory

Punishment aims at reforming the pupil. It has a reformatory value. Aims at making the offender
realize that he has committed something wrong and should not have done it. The child/pupil is

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convinced of the wrong he has committed and feels he should reform himself. It will deter him
from repeating the offence and other offences similar. Finally, it makes the child conform to
acceptable behavior.

4. Preventive Theory

This theory aims at preventing the situation which may recess: fate corrective measures in form
of punishment. There is need to remove the causes of misbehavior, and put in place desirable
environment for the child to grow. These measures include a good curriculum, well trained
teacher, teachers that are competent, enough teaching materials, good infrastructure, etc.

4.6 Challenges faced by School Administrators and Teachers in Maintaining Discipline in

Schools

Discipline has become a major challenge in Secondary Schools today. This is evidenced by the
uncontrollable behavior of the pupils in schools. Teachers have lost power and authority
resulting in poor academic performance and teacher input.

Modern causes of Indiscipline in schools

i) Social Media
ii) Human Rights
iii) The dynamic Society

Social Media: In today’s technology of computer age, information is available to everyone

through the use of phones, TV, and computers. Leaners are able to research, tune watch and
listen to any piece of data they need. It is because of this technology that learners tend to abuse
the platform. They watch inappropriate pictures; watch whatever bad things are happening in
other institutions both inside and outside Zambia. Then they try to copy and imitate those
activities at the expense of their academic work.

Human Rights: The authority and power of teachers has been undermined by human rights.
This has been consolidated by the ban of corporal punishment in schools where teachers are not
allowed to beat pupils or inflict any physical punishment to pupils in order to enforce discipline.
Hence, pupils take advantage and misbehave in the way they want because they know that

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teachers can be prosecuted if found administering corporal punishment. Human rights sometimes
are in conflict with school rules.

The dynamic Society: Society has changed. The modern society has a mixture of cultures where
school children are coming from. Cultural ethics, values, morals and respect have been heavily
diluted and decayed by the dynamic society. Hence, learners find it normal to misbehave as that
is taken as a way of life. When teachers try to enforce school rules on pupils, they are seen as
strange and that the rules do not make sense and have no impact on the future of the learners

1. “The problem with punishment is in its effects which tend to be less predictable than those of
rewards.” (Dennis child). Discuss the truth of this statement in the light of the roles of each (i.e.
punishment and rewards) play in extinguishing undesirable behavior in the classroom.

2. Behavior is affected by its consequences. If the consequences are reinforcing or rewarding,

behavior will continue or increase; if the consequences are punishing, the behavior will die away
or be extinguished.’ Explain how these principles can be applied in the promotion of desirable
behavior and the elimination of the undesirable ones in our secondary schools.

3. Discuss critically some of the ways the teacher can use in order to exercise class control in an
effective manner.

i) Discuss the importance of discipline in schools

ii) In your view, is it necessary to guide the learners to behave well in schools?
iii) Analyze how effective have the theories of punishment have been in schools.

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REFERENCES
Borich, G.D (2007). Effective Teaching Methods, Research Based Practice. New Jerseypearson
Merrill prentice Hall.

Brubacher, J. S (1989). Modern Philosophies of Education. New York, McGraw Hill.

Farrant, J.S. (1980). Principles and practice of Education. London, Longman Group UK Ltd.

Hendrikz, E. (1986). Introduction of Educational Psychology. Oxford: MacMillan Publishers Limited.

Jacobs, E (1999). Cooperate learning in context: an education innovation in everyday classrooms.

Albany, New York press.

Kundu and Tatoo. Educational Psychology: New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited

Musaazi, J.S (1989). The Theory and Practice of Education Administration, London, MacMillan.

Mwamwenda, T.S (2000). Educational Psychology: an African Perspective. Cape Town: Longman.

Sidhu, S.K (2008). School Organization and Administration. New Delhi, Sterling publishers private
limited

Skinner, (2004). Educational psychology. London. Longman

WytedLongwe (1999). Practical Hints for the Teacher. Lusaka, ZCP publications.

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