Teachers’ perception on quality assurance in teacher education programmes in Nigerian Universitiies

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
The discipline of Education in Nigerian Universities is concerned primarily with the training of graduate teachers.This training has had a fairly long history dating back to the early 60s at the first generation universities namely: University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and the University of Lagos [1].Graduates of education are assigned teaching responsibilities mainly in junior andsenior secondary schools as prescribed in National Policy on Education [2].They teach subjects in the junior and senior secondary curriculum and for those with relevant specializations serve as guidance counsellors, school administrators, or teachers [1,3].Teacher education is  ISSN: 2089-9823 J. Edu.& Learn.Vol. 13, No. 2, May 2019 : 295 -300 296 the programme, policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community [4,5].
In the Benchmark, Minimum Academic Standards [6].Faculty of Education should be able to produce prospective teachers with proper leadership qualities, to produce teachers with the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will enable them to contribute to the growth and development of their communities in particular and their nation in general.The faculty is also expected to produce teachers who have sound mastery of their subject areas and the ability to impart such knowledge to their students and to produce highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our educational system [7].
To help teachers to fit into the social life of the community and society at large and enhance their commitment to national objectives and provide teachers with the intellectual and professional background are crucial objectives of the faculties of education.Adequacy for their alignment and makingteacher undergraduates adaptable to any changing situation, not only in the life of their country but in the wider world as well as encouraging the spirit of enquiry, creativity and entrepreneurship in teachers are also parts of objectives of the faculty of education.The faculty is mandated to enhance teachers' commitment to the teaching profession and to enhance the skills of teacher's in the use of new technologies [6].
The Faculty of Education in Nigerian universities are expected to carry out the following functions according to [8,9].− produce highly motivated conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our education systems; − encourage orfurther the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers; − help teachers to fit into the social life of the community and society at large and enhanced their commitment to national objectives; − provide teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment and to make them adaptable to any changing situation not only in the life of their country, but in the wider world; and − enhance teacher's commitment to the teaching profession.
University teachers are important actors in the implementation of quality assurance in Nigerian universities.The quality of education in a nation is determined by the quality of its teachers.It is very important that the lecturers have high levels of qualifications, experiences, skills, knowledge and expertise in their disciplines for effective content delivery.These will enable them to equip their products with adequate information, skills and experiences for them to contribute to their society positively and be ready to compete with other human resources in a globalized environment [10,11].Quality assurance is process of improving the educational institutions to meet the need of the use of manpower in relation to the quality of skills acquired by their products in the labour market [12].Quality assurance is designed to improve the quality of an institution's processes, methods, procedures, products and outcomes.The government expects the graduates of the Faculties of Education to be well equipped with subject matters of their respective areas of specialization, relevant skills and values as well as responsive to the needs of the society.This is not the case in the labour market.Studies have shown the poor quality of Nigerian university graduates as result of overpopulated schools, poor quality of resources, among others [1,[13][14][15].
Quality assurance plays important role in teacher education.Teacher education occupies a strategic position due to its being the foundational caretaker of macro educational system.It is assigned the task of producing the teachers for primary and secondary education and also capacity building of all curriculum implementers at all levels of any educational system [16,17].Due to its role and significance, the teacher education has experienced rapid growth over the years.Education of teachers is not only responsible for improvement of school education but also for preparing competent, committed and professionally well qualified teachers who can meet the demands of labour market and compete with other human resources in global environment.A teacher's content knowledge, skills, ethics of teaching, and enthusiasm for learning necessarily constituterequisite benchmark for being a high quality, competent and effective teacher [18].
The following research questions were raised to guide the study.

RESEARCH METHOD
Descriptive survey design was employed for this study and a questionnaire titled "Quality Assurance in Teacher Education in Nigerian Universities Questionnaire" (QATENUQ) was administered.The population of the study comprised university teachers in Nigeria.The sample of the study were 240 selected forty lecturers in the faculties of education from federal, state and private universities in Kwara State using purposive sampling.The questionnaire consisted 30 structure response items.Three research questions were raised and answered using mean and standard deviation.The section A of the questionnaire sought information on demographic characteristic of the respondents.Section B of the questionnaire contained thirty items with three sub-headings.The first sub-heading was on Quality Assurance in Teacher Education with a modified 4Likert scaling of High Priority (4), Moderate Priority (3), FairlyPriority (2), and LowPriority (1).Second sub-heading was on Challenges associated with Quality Assurance witha modified 4Likert scaling of Strongly Associated (4), Associated (3), Fairly Associated (2) and Not Associated (1) while the last subheading in section B was based on Way Forward with a modified 4Likert scaling of Very Important (4), Important (3), Fair Important (2) and Not Important (1).The instrument was face and content validated by experts judgement.The reliability of the instrument was determined through the test-retest method and a reliability index of 0.76 was obtained.The data collected were analysed using mean ranking and standard deviation.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Research Question 1: What is the university teachers' perception of quality assurance in teacher education in Nigeria?Results in Table 1 revealed that out of 10 items that addressed university teachers' perception of quality assurance in teacher education in this study, item 4 which states that "Provide teachers with the academic and professional formative experience adequate for practicing teaching" was ranked first with mean score of 3.362 and the standard deviation of 0.885.Item9 which stated that "Control the examination system with clear procedures coupled with absolute confidentiality and impartiality" was ranked 2 nd with mean score of 3.308 and the standard deviation of 0.865.Item 6 which states that "Enhance their commitment to national objectives" was ranked 3 rd with mean score of 3.116 and the standard deviation of 0.952.Item 2 which states that 'Provide teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their daily assignment' was ranked 4 th with mean score of 3.433 and standard deviation of 0.865.Item 1 which states that "Produce highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our education systems" was ranked 5 th with mean score of 3.300 and the standard deviation of 0.901.
However, all other itemsfollow with the least of them being "Maintain a high quality of service provision and adequate technical and administrative support to staff" ranked 10 th with the mean score of 1.483 and the standard deviation of 0.807.Results in Table 2 revealed that out of 10 items that addressed the teacher perceived challenges of maintenance of quality assurance in teacher educationin this study, item 3 which states that "Overcrowding that leads to poor lecture room management and control" was ranked first with mean score of 2.016 and the standard deviation of 0.905.Item9 which stated that "Instability of academic calendar and adoption of dead curriculum" was ranked 2 nd with mean score of 2.654 and the standard deviation of 0.341.Item 1 which states that "Inadequate exposure to practical teaching that ensure professionalism" was ranked 3 rd with mean score of 2.583 and the standard deviation of 1.214.Item 4 which states that 'Inability of teacher trainees to communicate effectively in using of English Language' was ranked 4 th with mean score of 2.470 and standard deviation of 1.247.Item 10 which states that "Absence of evaluation models and designs that lead to invalid, unreliable and unfair assessment" was ranked 5 th with mean score of 2.170 and the standard deviation of 1.050.However, all other itemsfollow with the least of them to be "Lack of self-reliant and entrepreneurial skills in some disciplines" was ranked 10 th with the mean score of 1.445 and the standard deviation of 0.688.

Research Question 2: What are teacher-perceived challenges of maintenance of quality assurance in teacher education in
Research Question 3: What are the way forward for improving quality assurance in Teacher Education Programmes in Nigerian universities?Results in Table 3 revealed that out of 10items that addressed way forward for sustaining quality assurance in teacher educationin this study, item 3 which states that "Broaden the curriculum of research methodology to improve the students' research project and writing skills" was ranked first with mean score of 3.425 and the standard deviation of 0.814.Item 8 which stated that "Emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge in the teaching subject pedagogy, entrepreneurial studies, and computer literacy for functional education" was ranked 2 nd with mean score of 3.416 and the standard deviation of 0.793.Item 4 which states that "Decrease in the course load of teacher trainers to ensure proper grounding of students on the subject matter" was ranked 3 rd with mean score of 9.933 and the standard deviation of 0.016.Item1 which states that 'Increase in duration of practical teaching for effective preparation of graduate teachers' was ranked 4 th with mean score of 2.725 and standard deviation of 1.062.Item10 which states that "Internal quality assurance mechanisms as a self-assessment that allow for thorough reflection on the status and progress of the institution" was ranked 5 th with mean score of 2.625 and the standard deviation of 1.143.However, all other itemsfollowwith the least of them to be "Internal quality assurance mechanisms as a self-assessment that ISSN: 2089-9823  Teachers' perception on quality assurance in teacher education programmes … (Okunloye Rotimi William) 299 allow for thorough reflection on the status and progress of the institution" ranked 10 th with the mean score of 1.787 and the standard deviation of 0.905.The findings of this study revealed that teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their daily assignment; control the examination system with clear procedures coupled with absolute confidentiality and impartiality;enhance their commitment to national objectives; encourage the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers education and encourage the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers education are the prominent qualities that teacher education in universities assured.This finding of the study supported that of [12,1] who found out that educational background, proper coordination of examination and the spirit of research and creativity are high priority in quality assurance inteacher education.
Furthermore, the result of this study showed that overcrowding that leads to poor lecture room management and control;instability of academic calendar and adoption of dead curriculum; inadequate exposure to practical teaching that ensure professionalism; inability of teacher trainees to communicate effectively in using English Language and absence of evaluation models and designs that lead to invalid, unreliable and unfair assessment are the major challenges of teacher education in the universities.This finding was in line with that of [19] who reported that overcrowding in the classroom,instability of academic calendar and adoption of dead curriculum affect practical teaching that ensure professionalism.
The study further revealed that broadening the curriculum of research methodology to improve the students' research project and writing skills; emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge in the teaching subject pedagogy, entrepreneurial studies, and computer literacy for functional education; decrease in the course load of teacher trainers to ensure proper grounding of students on the subject matter; increase in duration of practical teaching for effective preparation of graduate teachers and internal quality assurance mechanisms as a self-assessment that allow for thorough reflection on the status and progress of the institution are way out of the challenges of teacher education in Nigerian universities.This finding of the study concurs with finding of [20] who discovered that broaden the curriculum to includeentrepreneurial studies and computer literacy for functional education and improvement in the acquisition of knowledge in the teaching subject pedagogy are crucial way forward to assuring quality education in teacher education in Nigeria universities.

CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing discussions, it could be concluded thatprovision of teachers with adequate content and pedagogical formative experiences coupled with professional ethics are crucial qualities for quality assurance in Teacher Education Programmes in Faculties of Education in Nigeria.Overcrowding that leads to poor lecture room management and control; instability of academic calendar and adoption of dead curriculum and inadequate exposure to practical teaching that ensure professionalism are major challenges in the teacher education.As way out of the challenges, broadening the curriculum of research methodology to improve the students' research project and writing skills and emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge in the teaching subject pedagogy, entrepreneurial studies, and computer literacy in the implementation of teacher education curriculum.

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What is the university teachers' perception of quality assurance in teacher education in Nigeria?− What are the teacher perceived challenges of maintenance of quality assurance in teacher education in Nigerian universities?− What are the way forward for improvingquality assurance in Teacher Education Programmesin Nigerian universities?ISSN: 2089-9823  Teachers' perception on quality assurance in teacher education programmes … (Okunloye Rotimi William) 297

Table 1 .
University teachers' perception of quality assurance in teacher education in Nigeria

Table 3 .
Suggested ways of improvingquality assurance in teacher educationprogrammesin