The way teachers behave and handle themselves in the presence of learners can either enhance or sabotage their learners’ academic performance. The reason for this is that teachers are arguably one of the key role models in the lives of learners.
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The role of personality traits of teachers is even more critical at secondary school level where the generality of the learners are adolescents who are seriously searching for their own identities as postulated by psychological theorists such as Erikson, Rogers and Allport. For the purpose of the current study, the personality theories advanced by Hans Eysenck and Albert Bandura are discussed in an effort to understand how the personality of teachers can influence the academic achievement of secondary school learners in Mathematics. The three factor personality model postulated by Eysenck was opted for because numerous studies have been undertaken to explore the relationship between academic performance and the five variables outlined in the big five personality model (Blau & Fuller, 2006:87; Gilles & Bailleux, 2001:3; Sava, 2009:135). Focusing on Eysenck’s three factor model is a variation to such studies. The social learning theory was deemed suitable for the current study because the focus of the current study is adolescent secondary school learners who are likely to imitate the behaviour of teachers as role models, as postulated by Bandura (Santrock, 2004:227).
2.3.3.4.1 Description of the concept of personality
According to Parkinson (2000:6) and Mwamwenda (2004:282), personality can be defined as the characteristic way in which someone responds to situations or their preferred way of behaving towards other people and particular circumstances. Personality is the pattern of relatively stable characteristics that generate individuality and consistency in a given person (Feldman, 2009:446). Personality can be viewed as the totality of all the distinctive thoughts, feelings and behaviours that characterise a person thereby making each person different from others (Lahey, 2009:405; Santrock, 2004:126). Hence the essence of personality is individuality in a relatively consistent way.
2.3.3.4.2 Eysenck’s three factor theory of personality
According to Kosslyn and Rosenberg (2006:493), Hans Eysenck used factor analysis to develop the three factor personality model. The three personality dimensions of the model, which can also be called super traits, are extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. Only extraversion and neuroticism are considered in the current study since they are part of the Big Five personality model (Kosslyn & Rosenberg, 2006:493). While the extraversion dimension relates to the extent of sociability, the neurotic dimension encompasses emotional stability (Feldman,
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2009:458). Emotional stability is expressed in a continuum stretching from a neurotic personality at one extreme end to a stable personality at the other extreme end. The sociability continuum stretches from introversion to extraversion. The two continua can be combined to produce four personality types; namely, unstable introvert (introverted-neurotic); stable introvert (introverted-stable); unstable extrovert (extroverted-neurotic) and stable extrovert (extraverted-stable). Figure 2.16 outlines some of the unique attributes of people with different personalities relative to neuroticism and extraversion.
Figure 2.16: Eysenck’s three factor theory of personality (Adapted from Houston, 2005:301)
The unique attributes of each teacher determine the nature of the teacher-learner interaction in the classroom which can have a bearing on the learners’ ultimate scholastic achievement. For instance, moody, touchy and hostile teachers are not likely to be effective especially when they teach adolescents whose behaviour is also erratic and volatile. Extremely reserved teachers may have difficulty in sufficiently motivating learners and harnessing their curiosity and attention. On the other hand, cheerful, sociable and friendly teachers may easily gain the attention and appreciation of adolescent learners. Moreover, such teachers are likely to use
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cooperative learning in a tension-free atmosphere. Such a phenomenon can arguably translate to significantly high scholastic achievement in Mathematics and even in other academic disciplines.
2.3.3.4.3 Bandura’s social learning theory
Albert Bandura is a neo-behavioural psychologist who added a cognitive dimension to the principles of mainstream behaviourism. Basing his results on his experiments with Bobo dolls, Bandura established that learning can take place through observational learning with or without reinforcement (Bee & Boyd, 2004:20; Swartz et al, 2011:133). Modelling or observational learning is defined by Santrock (2004:227) as learning that happens when someone observes and subsequently imitates the other person’s behaviour. Some studies have obtained evidence to suggest that human beings are genetically pre-programmed to imitate other people (Feldman, 2009:201). Mwamwenda (2004:187) and Berns (2010:235) concurred that prestigious and competent people with the capacity to reward or punish are potential role models whose behaviour is likely to be imitated. Teachers, as already suggested above, are likely to be significant role models at secondary school level (Berns, 2010:235). Observational learning is a long process in which every action of the teacher manifested in the presence of the learners has a probability of being imitated (Mwamwenda, 2004:185).
On the basis of the above principles, Mathematics teachers whose personalities encompass attributes such as diligence, perseverance, determination, confidence, patience and thoroughness are likely to be emulated by learners who will ultimately exhibit the same characteristics. This is likely to result in good academic achievement in Mathematics. On the other hand, teachers who are lazy, unfocused, impatient and unfriendly are likely to be poor role models for their learners. Research has shown that learners tend to internalise their teacher's interest in and enthusiasm for teaching Mathematics (Smith, 2004:11). Since attitudes can also be imitated, it implies that to some extent, teachers who exhibit positive attitudes towards Mathematics are likely to transmit such attitudes to their learners while negative attitudes can also be equally transmitted.
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Apart from observational learning, Bandura also referred to the role of self-efficacy in learning (Bandura, 2002). Self-efficacy is the belief by the individual that he or she can undertake a given task and produce the desirable results (McLean, 2003:31; Swartz et al, 2011:133). People with a high level of self-efficacy normally exert much effort to ensure that their initial belief in their own abilities is fulfilled (Santrock, 2004:226). Self-efficacy is not only important to learners. Teacher self-efficacy is implicated by some scholars as a determinant of learners’ own concepts of self- efficacy. According to Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001:800), the self-efficacy beliefs of teachers relate to the teachers’ judgements of their capabilities to produce learner engagement and meaningful learning among unmotivated learners. A teacher with a high level of self-efficacy is open-minded, creative and has good organisational skills (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001:800). The extent to which teachers exude and encourage self-efficacy can determine the learners’ levels of self-efficacy through modelling. It was maintained by Snowman et al (2009:273) that learners with the same mathematical skills can perform differently in Mathematics owing to differences in their self-efficacy levels. On the basis of such explanations, it can be claimed that there is a strong positive correlation between one’s self-efficacy and one’s academic achievement in Mathematics.
2.3.3.4.4 Research on personality of teachers and achievement in Mathematics
In an endeavour to determine whether a relationship exists between the personality of teachers and academic achievement, Garcia et al (2011:3) carried out a study using a sample of secondary school learners in the tenth and eleventh grades. The study focused on the impact of teacher personality styles on secondary learners in the areas of Mathematics, science, English language, arts and social studies for two academic school years (Garcia et al, 2011:3). Large samples of teachers and learners in these subjects were used. The study was based on the Big Five personality model which focuses on five personality dimensions; namely, openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The study revealed a significant difference among the academic excellence of secondary school learners in the already stated subjects relative to the personality types of the teachers.
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Due to overwhelming evidence of reduced female participation and performance in Mathematics and computer science, Wiest and Johnson (2005:12) embarked on a study to explore ways of boosting the participation and performance of females in the two subjects. As a suggestion, Wiest and Johnson (2005:12) intimated that teachers can help to dispel such myths by introducing learners to historic and contemporary female role models in Mathematics and computer science. It was also recommended that exposing boys to female role models in the fields of Mathematics and computer science could help to foster a classroom climate which is conducive to encouraging both male and female learners. Encouraging both male and female learners to believe that virtually all career opportunities are open to anyone independent of gender was mentioned as a way of boosting female participation and performance in Mathematics through modelling.
Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001:783) conducted a study aimed at reviewing many of the ways in which teacher self-efficacy has been measured by various authorities. In developing a new instrument for measuring teacher self-efficacy, a sample of 10 respondents who were attending a seminar on self-efficacy and learning was used. The sample was composed of eight graduate students and two researchers. The method generated for measuring teacher self-efficacy addressed teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001:800). Although the above study did not directly focus on Mathematics achievement, the conclusion can be made that the way teachers present themselves in the presence of students can ultimately influence the students’ self-efficacy beliefs in virtually all subjects including Mathematics.
In the same vein, Gilles and Bailleux (2001:3) carried out a study to investigate the effects of personality traits and cognitive abilities on academic achievement, numerical ability, g factor and spatial ability. The research participants were adolescent learners with a mean age of 12 years. Three cognitive tests on the areas cited above were administered as well as a personality questionnaire based on the Big Five personality model. The study established that neuroticism had a more significant effect on Mathematics than on other disciplines. Personality was also found to be a critical variable in predicting learners’ academic performance.
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Teacher expectations, classroom management and teachers’ personality attributes can determine the quality of the relationship between teachers and learners. It is possible for a relationship to exist between teacher-learners relationships and irrational beliefs. The way learners interpret their teachers’ expectations can make them vulnerable to irrational beliefs pertaining to the demand for approval, perfectionism and low frustration tolerance. The existence of such a relationship is verified in the subsequent chapters of the current study