ECD CHALLENGES IN UGANDA
2.2 Relationship between availability of ECD teaching resources and academic performance of children.
Majoko, (2019), Instructional materials including, books, audio-visual, software and hardware of educational technology are essential towards enhancing quality teaching of ECD teaching and learning. On the same note Mbidde, & Oguniyi, (2019) indicates that Availability, adequacy and relevance of instructional materials in classrooms can influence quality teaching, which can have positive effect on pupils’ learning and academic performance. The insight linking instructional resources to students’ academic performance serve critical in the provision of quality education which enhance leaners better academic performance.
Access to quality and adequate instructional materials are critical towards the academic success of any pupil in ECD, instructional resources are teachers’ strategic factor in organizing and providing education. This is so because they help to elaborate a concept that the teacher could not, without an instructional material. This allows ECD learners to learn more comfortably therefore influencing positively their academic performance (Agutu, Gichohi, & Wamalwa, 2019).
Inadequacy of quality instructional materials in ECD level is not confined to African countries alone, as this is a worldwide phenomenon. Even in developed countries for example, United States of America especially in schools whose majority of population are the poor and minority students are less funded and lack essential quality instructional materials. In addition, policies associated with school funding, resource allocations, and tracking leave minority students with fewer and lower-quality books, curriculum materials, laboratories, and computers. Due to lack of instructional materials in some schools the academic performance of leaners tends to be poor because there is general lack of teaching materials for teachers (Post and Darling, 2000).
Writing on the role of instructional materials in teaching and learning, Wolf, Aber, Behrman, & Tsinigo, (2019) commented that ECD education programmes cannot be taught effectively without the existence of equipment for teaching. This is because instructional materials help those who learn to develop problem-solving skills and better academic attitudes. Elaborating further on the same point, Matsa, Ababu, & Opiyo, (2019) emphasize that when instructional materials are provided to meet relative needs of teaching process, ECD learners will have access to the reference materials mentioned by the teacher, and also each ECD learner will be able to learn at his or her own pace, therefore in a nutshell the ECD learners will perform much better.
Instructional materials are considered important in teaching and learning in all levels of education because textbooks and other resource materials are basic tools. Absence or inadequacy makes teachers handle subjects in an abstract manner, portraying it as dry and non-exciting (Wulandari, & Mustadi, (2019). For example, textbooks, charts, maps, audiovisual and electronic instructional materials such as radio, tape recorder, television and video tape recorder contribute much in making learning more interesting (Atkinson, 2000). The importance of instructional materials is also evident in the performance of ECD learners (Adeogun, 2001).
Instructional materials such as the size of classroom, sitting position and arrangement, availability of tables, chairs, chalkboards, shelves on which instruments for practical’s, are important in the teaching transaction (Adams-Ojugbele & Moletsane, 2019). According to these scholars, availability of instructional materials can work best if other conditions are met such as the quality of classroom.
Human mind develop through interaction with materials in the learning process where people learn from each other and use their experiences to successfully make sense of the materials they interact with. These experiences are crystallized in ‘cultural tools’, and the learners have to master such tools in order to develop specific knowledge and skills in solving specific problems and, in the process, become competent in specific profession. In the classroom, these tools can be a picture, a model, or pattern of solving a problem. Most often however, such tools are combinations of elements of different orders, and human language is the multi-level tool par excellence, combining culturally evolved arrangements of meanings, sounds, melody, rules of communication, and so forth (Shimahara, & Sakai, 2018).
Learning by using such tools is not something that simply helps the mind of the leaners to develop. Rather, this kind of learning leads to new, more elaborated forms of mental functioning. For example, when children master such a complex cultural tool as human language, this results not only in their ability to talk but leads to completely new levels of thinking, self-regulation and mentality in general. It is the specific organization of this tool that calls into being and in effect shapes and forms new facets of the child’s mind. Importantly, cultural tools are not merely static ‘things’ but embodiments of certain ways of acting in human communities (Agutu, Gichohi, & Wamalwa, 2019).
2.3 Effects of ECD teachers’ extrinsic motivation on the academic performance of children
Extrinsic Motivation drives and influences individuals’ efforts towards performing a task in this Agebure, (2013), indicates that when teachers expect to be presented with gifts for good performance, they are able to work hard and sacrifice more time for the leaners to understand enable them to enhance their academic performance.
Ayeni, (2011) indicates that extrinsic motivation enhances the academic performance of children since the teachers work hard expecting to be rewarded, In line to this Bandura (1997), indicates that school programs need to be relevant, practical and comprehensive taking into account the teacher who is the most valuable human resource and above all ensuring that reward that the teach gets is commensurate with the effort that the teach invests in their job.
In Early childhood education setting teachers need to be motivated to enhance their positive attitude towards their work. In the same view Burns (2011), alluded that all educators need to be concerned about the impact of extrinsic motivation on academic performance. Learners need motivation to learn, parents need it to track the educational progress of their sons and daughters, teachers need it to become better teachers and school administrators need it to ensure that every facet of the schools they manage continues to improve. According to Chiku (2009) the absence of extrinsic motivation has a negative influence on the standard of education in a school as learners are being deprived of the need of knowledge because the teachers are less motivated and have little expectation from the hard work that they invest in their work.
According to Fafunwa, (2018) extrinsically motivating the teachers like by specifically increasing their salary is imperative as this makes the teachers to view their profession as worthy and also increasing their motivation to work hard and encourage the leaners better academic performance. On the same view Wangila, (2017) indicates that Teachers have a number of times voiced their predicament to government through different organizations and associations. The low salaries given to teachers by various stake holders worldwide including the government has affected teacher’s extrinsic motivation.
According to Benabou and Tirole (2013), extrinsic motivation promotes effort and performance with rewards serving as positive reinforces for the desired behavior. Extrinsic motivation typically produces immediate results and requires less effort in comparison to intrinsic motivation while (Fourie, 2018) indicates that Teacher extrinsic motivation plays an important role in the promotion of teaching and learning excellence. Generally, extrinsically motivated teachers are more likely to motivate learners to learn in the classroom, to ensure the implementation of educational reforms and feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment. While teacher extrinsic motivation is fundamental to the teaching and learning process, several teachers are not extrinsically motivated, more to that in ECD setting most countries donot value ECD learning level as they invest much resources on the upper levels ignoring teachers at ECD level this has thus left most of these teachers to earn meagers salaries which cannot even enable them earn the basic needs of life.
Chesire, (2018) indicates that teachers who report low levels of extrinsic motivation tend to perceive their learner’s performance levels as low. Certain actions which include changing class levels that teachers normally do, bringing down the levels of hierarchy and relegating many teachers in the motivation process are significant enough to damage the levels of trust and commitment necessary for teachers to perform above work requirements. Extrinsically Motivated teachers are willing to devote time to a certain level of commitment for a particular objective in the school.
Due to the current development which has to some extend led to the increase in cost of living in the world most of the teachers’ needs are first also changing and more to that teacher also face high cost in acquisition of basic needs this therefore requires the teachers needs to be provided by their employers decent salary that can enable them acquire the basic needs of life to extrinsically motivate them so as the teachers to feel the need to work as indicated by Duflo, Hanna, & Ryan, (2012) who further states that since employee needs are changing as younger generations of teachers have different expectations for their work than older ones, it is imperative for the different schools to discover such needs and provide them to the teachers so as to enhance better academic performance.
According to Ingvarson, (2018) extrinsic motivation techniques like Remuneration of employees is typically utilized to energize, direct or control employee behavior. The individuals in an organization have their own needs. The system that an institution uses to reward employee can play an important role in enhancing an institution ability to perform well. Griffin (2008) indicates that the use of extrinsic motivation in school is to inspire teachers to work both individually and in groups to produce the best possible results for education in most efficient and effective manner.
According to Ekperi, Onwuka, & Nyejirime, (2019) when the teachers are extrinsically motivated, they willingly engage in taking extra-lessons to enable the learners have better understanding of the lessons they teach this enhances better understanding of what the teachers are trying to teach by the learners. Ajani, O. A. (2018), notes that High performers tend to gain a larger share of compensation resources and thus teachers are extrinsically motivated to stay with the organization, this in turn enhance better academic performance of the learners.
One of the most important factors that move every human being to achieve his or her goal is extrinsic motivation, Indeed extrinsic motivation is that guiding principle that enables teachers to stay focused on the path of success regardless of the challenges that may be encountered. This includes personal as well as professional goals and targets (Baumeister & Voh, 2014). Motivation guides people ‘s actions and behaviors of individuals toward achievement of any goals (Analoui, 2010).
Riggs & Gholar, (2009) indicates that due to extrinsic motivation teachers are able to teach well because they value the incentives they receive as such in some parts of Nigeria especially in the urban areas of lagos leaners perform better academically than their rural counterparts and it is also evident that these urban ECD schools pay better salaries to their teachers than their rural counterparts.
