Teachers' Instructional Effectiveness and Learners' Enjoyment of Secondary School Mathematics in Kira Municipality - Wakiso District

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing the relationship between ‘Teachers’ Instructional Effectiveness and learners’ enjoyment in the learning of secondary school mathematics in Kira Municipality - Wakiso District’. It was prompted by the observation that learners of mathematics rarely proudly talk about enjoying their learning experience in relationship to their mathematics teacher. Could it be about the teachers’ instructional effectiveness among other factors? The study objectives were: assessing the relationship between the teachers’ communication skills, the teachers’ classroom engagement and organization skills and the teachers’ pedagogical skills and the learners’ enjoyment of mathematics. A cross sectional design with both quantitative and qualitative research approaches was used. Data was obtained from a sample of 360 math learners and 10 teachers as key informants. It was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22 to generate frequencies, percentages and tables. Pearson correlation co-efficient was used to establish the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The findings of the study showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between teachers’ pedagogical skills, the teachers’ classroom engagement and organisation skills and the teachers’ communication skills and learners’ enjoyment of mathematics. Hence an improvement in these skills can lead to an increase in learners’ enjoyment of mathematics. Although all the three factors were significant, the regression analysis rated the relationship between the teachers’ classroom engagement and organisation skills and the learners’ enjoyment of mathematics highest. Hence they exert the greatest influence in developing the learners’ passion and value of mathematics. The study recommended that in teacher training colleges, among other things, the communication laboratories that simulate classroom situations should be revived so that trainee teachers are helped more to learn specialized teacher communication; teachers should be encouraged to do team-teaching in order to improve on their classroom engagement and organisation skills and to always be aware that classroom control is more than maintaining discipline but a real socialization setting in which relationships are developed; school administrators to organize and facilitate annual refresher courses for teachers as to keep the combination of sociology and pedagogy a reality and Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers, SESEMAT to do regular inspection of mathematics teachers in order to constantly monitor, evaluate and provide feedback and technical support to them amidst competing challenges such as large classroom sizes, inadequate resources and funding.