Job Concept as a Psychological Predictor of Teachers’ Effectiveness in Senior Secondary Schools in Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria

Apeh H.A., Idris M.A

The study investigated job-concept as a psychological predictor of teachers' effectiveness in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive survey design. Three research questions and one null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A total of one hundred and sixty-eight participants which consists of twenty-four principals and one hundred and forty-four senior secondary school teachers were drawn from the sampled schools. Two self-designed instruments consisting of Teachers' Job-Concept Scale (TJCS) and Principals' Assessment of Teachers Instrument (PATEI) duly vetted by experts in the field of education were used to obtain information from the participants. The reliability of the instruments was determined by the use of the test-retest method and the reliability indices were 0.71 and 0.84 for the TJCS and PATEI respectively. Data collected were analyzed using frequency count and mean answering the research questions and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient for hypotheses on relationships, t-Test and Analysis of Variance for the significance of difference among the variables. The study revealed that teacher's job-concept and teacher's effectiveness were poor, found that increased job concepts correlates with improvement in teacher effectiveness and that there is no significant difference in the job concept and teaching effectiveness of teachers in FCT secondary schools on the basis of gender. The study recommends that every stakeholder in education to redouble their efforts towards teachers' effectiveness. Teachers particularly are encouraged to show more commitment by updating their knowledge regularly and equip themselves with the modern teaching skills, methods and styles in addition to appropriate use of teaching aids and resources. Teachers should be also exposed to psychological intervention programmes such as emotional intelligence and self-efficacy training that would help enhance their concept.