The impact of teachers’ positive/negative attitudes on the performance of the students with special needs in Nigeria
Students living with disabilities in Nigeria have been under stress just like the reports presented in Bahamas over the same issue when it comes to acquiring class knowledge. It has been outlined that certain external and internal factors have been associated with the overall performance of challenged students. It is notable that a teacher’s attitude has remained a common factor influencing these particular students’ performances (Hunter-Johnson, Newton& Cambridge-Johnson, 2014). Therefore, the interest of the thesis is to obtain the understanding of the impacts of the teachers’ attitudes, be it positive or negative, on the overall performance of the students with the special needs.
Introduction
In most countries worldwide, the right to basic education is one of the fundamental rights entitled to a human being. It is always the obligation of any given government to make sure that quality teaching services are provided to the citizens according to the international standards required. The practice of imparting knowledge has been exhaustively discussed in different forums. This act has majorly brought some noticeable changes in the physical, mental and social appearances of human across all the six contents of the world. It is prior the determination of the efforts put in place to ensure that the necessary education system is delivered. A governmental organization, parastatals in conjunction with the ministries rather departments leaning towards education have established a well-detailed syllabus for the training of teachers which play the major role in educating learners (United Nations Organizations. 2006).
The teachers training process is one of the vital tasks that every nation must fully invest in and make sure that the quality of training provided meets the desired requirements of the students. Students are of different forms, and it requires the teacher to have the skills and experience of handling such learners towards making sure that they obtain the best understanding and necessary knowledge. Meanwhile, as the efforts of improving the education system have been given a boost with the integration of other ideologies such as the technology, the deliverables have become a concern.
The education quality provided by the private sector seems to be better than the related public institutions. However, at the same time, it is considered that private institutions are after ‘drilling’ students with the aim of passing the exam. Ideally, it is necessary to make sure that students obtain the required knowledge and skills that can get depicted from their performance both in class and outside of class. Researchers have been conducted on different topics regarding the education sector, and many recommendations have been provided. It is an apprehension over the teacher relationship with the learner (Tait&Purdie, 2000). Studying the effect of the teacher and learner relationship will provide a clear understanding of what influences the student’s performance apart from the availability of the classroom resources being an associated factor.
The topic basic concepts
The Nigerian government did introduce the inclusion education within its curriculum with the fact that it has the highest population in Africa region. It is the interest to understand some concepts that describe the topic in accordance thus, the description of the below related basic concepts;
Inclusion: The concept outlines the program of integrating students with special needs within the education curriculum at the classroom level to impart knowledge.
Attitude: The idea defines the level of taking aspects based on the individual understanding and experience. It is well related to perception concept which indicates the feeling of a person over a given aspect.
Implementation: The practice defines putting into action a program towards achieving the stated objective. It merely shows the mode of executing a given practice for the realization of the intended objectives.
Special needs: The development of human being is different, and the concept defines the deficit that an individual may develop that delimits the proper functioning of the person.
Performance: The concept outlines the level of understanding in accordance with the measuring scale.
Background
According to Thomazet (2009), inclusive education has been referred to as a unique theory that has a directive principle and objective of facilitating and enhancing equality within society as far as knowledge imparting is concerned. Regardless of the appearance of the individuals, the theory provides a way of segregating education to all forms of individuals irrespective of the difference in needs. The concept of equality is well described, and it is followed by the appreciation of the effect that inclusive education has played for the social development.
The implementation of inclusive education has shown the provision of equality within the education sector in particular with the execution of the program at the classroom level. This program has been welcomed differently by the various stakeholders in the education sector. As supported by Ross-Hill (2009), the inclusive education implementation can be achieved with the prospects that the concerned bodies will put in place. The likes of leadership and understanding the inclusive theory as whole provides a better understanding of what it takes to have a fruitful and influential inclusion curriculum within the Nigerian education system.
According to the United Nations, every human being is subjected to rights that must be provided by the respective concerned bodies. Education has remained a core principle of social development, and every individual has a role to play towards meeting such objective. The challenged persons have been denied the access to quality education, and this has negatively influenced the information obtained. The poor leadership and teacher perception, as well as attitude towards the challenged students, have created a weak environment that can be conducive for challenged students (World Health Organization, 2005). Therefore, it will be of good interest to have an understanding of the various effects that stakeholders have to the challenged persons as far as acquiring knowledge is concerned.
Conclusion
Society has embraced the changes in the education sector. It has remained descriptive that the community is benefiting much from the inclusive education whose curriculum has been taken differently. The fact that the teacher remains the core stakeholder in determining the execution and sustenance of inclusive education means their attitude and perception towards the students with special needs determine the overall performance of the learners. The research topic is essential because it will provide a way of understanding how to implement the inclusive education within the curriculum prior ensuring that the challenged students obtain the best knowledge.
It is my interest to review the teacher leadership which is influenced by the attitude and how the overall teacher perception impacts the integration of inclusion at the classroom level. Inclusion has been embraced different, but the world is demanding for equality as far as education is concerned.