The demographic profile and perceived in-service education and training needs of Biology teachers in the Limpopo Province

Manyelo, Tsalane Harry

The demographic profile and perceived in-service education and training needs of Biology teachers in the Limpopo Province

Thesis / Dissertation

2004

Abstract

The ovttall poor pen~ in the matric examinatioo in Biology in the Limpopo Province . . may among other factors be influenced by poorly qualified teachers. INSET programs can be one way of addressing the problem of inadequate teacher qualifications. However, the success of these programs depends on the information regarding demographic profiles aoo perceived INSET needs of teachers. The Limpopo Province Departmcot of Educatioo does not have up- ' to-date information on demographic profiles and has no inf<X'IDlltioo at all on perceived INSET needs of Biology teachtts in the province. This study intends to fill this gap. The aim of the study is to contnl,ute to crucial information on Biology teachers' demographic profile and perceived INSET needs. Such data are a pre-requisite for plamung efficient, effective and sustainable INSET activities, and the data will thus hopefully contribute to the ,. improvement of Biology education in the Limpopo Province. The study attempts to address the following objectives which have been formulated as key questions: 1) What is the demographic profile of Biology teachers in the Limpopo Province? 2) What are the perceived INSET needs of Biology teachers in the Limpopo Province? 3) What are possible associations between the demographic profile and the perceived INSET needs of these teachers in the Limpopo Province? A mixed-method research methodology (i.e., use of both questionnaire and interviews) was used to collect data on demographic profiles and perceived INSET needs of secondary school Biology teachers in the Limpopo Province. The imtrument used was developed from the Science Teacher Inventory of needs (STIN-3) of Baird et al. (1994). STIN-3 was adapted and modified for use in the Limpopo Province context. Information on the reliability of STIN-NP was obtained by determining the items' alpha coefficient and the instrument's Guttman splithalf reliability coefficie:m aft« the instrument was administered (i.e., the survey was conducted). Alpha coefficiem reliability for Biology teachers was 0.95 and the unadjusted Guttman split-half reliability was 0.85. The slD'Vey imtrumeot was validated by 18 important stakeholders in Biology education from various education sectors, and pilot-tested on a sample of 60 Biology teachers in the Limpopo. Province based on the type of school they were teaching at. The resulting Science Teacher Inventory of Needs in the Northern Province (STIN-NP) was administered to the relevant teachers in the Limpopo Province with the help of the District office officials. The collection of the completed instruments was also done through the District office officials, as were the ammgemeot for the focus group inteniews with teacha's. Seven interview sessions were held with 31 Biology teachers based on the type of schools teachers were teaching at. The purpose of the focus group interviews was to cross-validate responses from the completed questionnaires. The total number- of Biology teachers who responded to the survey instrument is 484 from at least 296 schools. The vast majority of the respondents were qualified teachers but underqualified to teach Biology at grade 12. The vast majority of the respondents were qualified to teach Biology (85%), were from rural schools (88%), and were male (63%). Seventy-one percent of these teachers were aged between 31 and 40, and 899/4 had exper-ience of teaching Biology of between 4 to 20 years. Sixty-five percent of the respondents had grade 12 as their highest academic level in Biology, 63% had completed a tbref>-year teaching diploma, and 25% had completed a degree. Most of the responding teachers' schools had an enrolment of between 201 and 800 learners and less than four Mathematics, Physical Science and Biology teachers. Eighty-nine per-cent reported to have more than 30 learners in their largest classrooms, and 87% perceived poor resources to be available at school. Almost two-thirds of the teachers who responded identified improving teaching skills and content knowledge in Biology as their greatest professional INSET needs. Eighty percent cited lack of information, the poor quality of workshops o:ff ered, and workshops not dealing with their needs as their greatest barrier to attend INSEf workshops currently being offered T~ indicated a statistically significant need for all 47 INSET need items listed in the SfIN-NP instrument. However, teachcn indicated greater interest for certain needs, such as, for example, organising a laboratory room for Biology, maintaining laboratory equipment, and carrying out laboratory sessions. Other needs such as those dealing with improving individualised teaching approaches, demonstrating process skills, and developing own teaching materials were of comparatively low inter-est.

Keywords

Education

Reference:

Collections

Masters

Full item page