Influence of Preschool Teachers’ Characteristics on Children’s Socio-Emotional Developmental Skill in Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60072/ijeissah.2023.v1i02.004Abstract
In the provision of quality preschool education, teachers occupy a serious and elusive place. They are the strength of the entire educational arrangement as rightly stated in the National Policy on Education that no education can rise above the quality of its teachers (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2013). Therefore, the study investigated the influence of the teachers’ characteristics on children’s socio-emotional developmental skills in the Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area. The study employed a descriptive research design of the observation type. The sample size comprised 25 preschool entrées from both private and public schools, 50 teachers and 250 preschool children who were selected through a simple random sampling technique. The Children’s Socio-Emotional Developmental Skill Rating Scale (CSEDSRS) with a reliability index of 0.77 was used for data collection. Hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance. The result indicated a significant influence of teachers’ area of specialization, working experience, and qualification on the socio-emotional developmental skills of children. The study concluded that teachers are critical to supporting children’s socio-emotional developmental skills in preschool education centres. It was recommended that teachers with a specialization in Early Childhood Education (ECE), high qualifications and good years of working experience be employed to work in ECE centres. This would help to improve the children’s socio-emotional skills in preschool education centres.
Keywords:
Teachers’ Characteristics, Preschoolers, Socio-Emotional Developmental Skill, Early Childhood EducationReferences
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