Influence of Teachers' Classroom Management Technique on Students' Academic Performances in Njikoka

International Journal of Innovative Education Research 9(1):33-44, Jan.-Mar., 2021

Influence of Teachers’ Classroom Management Technique on Students’ Academic Performances In Njikoka LGA

Agu Jude Chukwuemeka

Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Educational Foundation, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Igbariam Campus Anambra State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT The study was carried out on the influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. Three (2) research questions were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was used. The area of study was Njikoka L.G.A. The population of the study was 250 teachers in Njikoka L.G.A.and there was no sample for the study. The questionnaire with ten (10) items was the instrument used for data collection and it was validated by 3 experts from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka-two from Educational Management and Policy and one from Measurement and Evaluation in Educational Foundations. The reliability of the instrument was determined using the test-retest technique. The score of the two tests were co-related and the reliability co-efficient was established to be 0.88, which was considered high enough for the study. The questionnaire with 10 items was distributed to the respondents by the researcher and his assistants who also collected the questionnaires when they were filled. The data obtained was analyzed through mean rating. The study found out among other things that Classroom discipline and effective teaching influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area. Based on the findings it was recommended among others that teachers should intensify classroom discipline and effective teaching along with other classroom management strategies to encourage high academic performance of students in their schools. Keyword: Classroom Discipline, Effective Teaching and Academic Performance

INTRODUCTION Effective education refers to the degree to which schools are successful in accomplishing their educational objectives. Education is concerned with the transmission of knowledge which is usually done through teaching, learning, research and dissemination of its findings for ultimate utilization (Eneasator and Azubuike, 2014). However for teaching to take place in any school, there must be a well-organized environment. Secondary education is the intermediary between primary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2014). The purpose of secondary school education is to improve teaching and learning with the emphasis on making the recipients useful to themselves and their society. The National Policy on Education, (Federal Republic of Nigeria 2013 emphasized this fact when it stated that “The broad aims of secondary education within her overall national objective should be; Preparation for useful living within the society and, Preparation for higher education. In order to achieve these broad aims, it is very necessary to put human, mental and physical energies to productive use through the training and recruitment of teachers. The task in the school setting is directed towards producing well-educated boys and girls through the efficient and effective leadership strategies of the principal who coordinates all school activities to ensure productivity and the achievement of tasks. The principal is expected to provide teachers with sound instructional leadership, supportive staff-

Agu.….. Int. J. Innovative Educ. Res 9(1):33-44, 2021 personnel services, thorough and supportive instructional supervision, ensure implementation of classroom management strategies in the classroom. Most formal organizations like secondary schools are aimed at effective and efficient management of the human and material resources available for the attainment of organizational goals. The classroom teacher is charged with lots of functions to perform in the teaching and learning process. One of the most challenging functions of the classroom teacher is classroom management. The teacher’s effectiveness in teaching is assessed by his ability to use varied classroom management techniques to control students towards effective and meaningful learning during instruction. Meaningful teaching and learning cannot be achieved in a classroom environment characterized by noise making and other distractions by students. According to Bassey (2012), the wider view of classroom management shows increased engagement, reduction in inappropriate and disruptive behaviours, promotion of student responsibility for academic work, and improved academic performance of students. Effiong (2007), suggests that teachers can deal with these disruptive behaviours in the classroom and reduce them to the minimum through effective classroom management so that effective learning can take place. Once teachers are able to effectively reduce or eliminate disruptive behaviours in the classroom, there would be increased academic attentiveness and engagement which would pave way for better academic performance by students.Technique for effective classroom management includes the use of classroom discipline. According to Good (2004), clear instruction on what should be done gives the students concrete direction to compliance. In this approach, teachers try to be consistent in enforcing the classroom rules and instructions so that it produces the desired results. In this case students that disobey the classroom codes and rules are disciplined and through this there is effective classroom management. Effective teaching is another technique of effective classroom management adopted by teachers in the classroom. Quite remarkably, regular poor academic performance by the majority of the students is fundamentally linked to application of ineffective teaching methods by teachers to impact knowledge to learners (Adunola, 2011). Substantial research on the effectiveness of teaching methods indicates that the quality of teaching is often reflected by the achievements of learners. According to Ayeni (2011), teaching is a process that involves bringing about desirable changes in learners so as to achieve specific outcomes. In order for the method used for teaching to be effective, Adunola (2011) maintains that teachers need to be conversant with numerous teaching strategies that take recognition of the magnitude of complexity of the concepts to be covered. Classroom management is a difficult aspect of teaching for many teachers. Problems in this area cause some teachers to lose control of the classroom where they are teaching because of disruptive behaviours of the students. A major reason for this has been negative student attitudes and indiscipline, peer influence and various other wrong behaviours exhibited by students in the classroom. Nwankwo (2014) stated that when classroom management strategies are executed effectively, teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning both individual pupils and groups of pupils, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning. However, various visits to some schools in Njikoka L.G.A. has shown that most teachers in the area lack adequate knowledge and understanding of their classroom management functions and strategies to control classroom behavioural problems and this has been resulting to poor performances of the students. The researcher therefore embarked on this study to investigate influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. with a view of helping the teachers to solve this problem.

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Statement of the Problem It seems Anambra State and Njikoka L.G.A. in particular has not been experiencing effective classroom management due to poor implementation of the strategies for classroom management in the public schools in the state. Attempts in the past at achieving this have been failing due to poor teaching resources, infrastructural facilities and poor knowledge of classroom management. A visit to some schools showed that there are issues of students fighting, bullying, sleeping, shouting, playing, loitering around the classroom and so on which was a good indication that the teachers may not be managing their classroom well. This was why the researcher decided to carry out this study so as to determine influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. Purpose of the Study The main purpose of this study is to determine into the influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. Specifically, this study is designed to determine: 1. Examine the ways classroom discipline influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area 2. Determine the ways effective teaching influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area

Significance of the Study It is expected that the result of this study will be beneficial to the following categories of people: teachers, student, school administrators, the entire society, educational policy makers and principals. Teachers will benefit from the study in that they will acquire relevant knowledge concerning the main cause of students’ classroom behavioural problems. The teacher would also have a strong background as in how strategize their teaching for better classroom management. It will also ensure good relationship between the teachers and the students. It will also ensure a conducive and democratic environment in the school. The students hopefully will benefit from the study as they will be made to understand that a good and conducive classroom is for their own benefit, therefore they comply with the teachers’ effort to see that their learning in school is successful. It would also help the students to develop required skills, knowledge, rudiments, etc and motivate them to improve in their academic achievement. The school administrators in casting some light on the effective management will enable the managers of the schools to learn or know how to maximize the human and material resource of the school by training their teachers on how best to control their classrooms for effective teaching and learning. The society at larger will benefit from this study because the student would graduate as responsible and well trained individual. The gain by the student would be applied to problems in real life; with this, a great achievement would be made in the society. The knowledge gotten from this study will help the educational policy makers in making policies that will help in managing classroom in the school. Finally the principals through this study will know resources and materials to be put in place to help teachers in managing classroom in their various schools. Scope of the Study This study is to cover all the Public Secondary Schools in Njikoka L.G.A. The study focuses also on the influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. Research Questions The following research questions have been drawn up to guide the study. 1. In what way does classroom discipline influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area? 2. In what way does effective teaching influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area?

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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Teachers Teachers are expected to render a very high job performance. The Ministry of Education is always curious regarding the job performance of its teachers and also demands a very high measure of loyalty, patriotism, dedication, hard work and commitment from its teachers (Ubom, 2008). The term teacher is used in this work to mean those, who work in schools providing education for pupils and students in educational institutions like Secondary Schools. Teachers are also referred to as all persons in school who are responsible for instruction of pupils or student in curriculum. It includes only the members of tutorial or academic staff. Teachers are placed in central focus because teachers, as professional workers and persons are lenses through which much of the organized endeavour called education is brought to focus upon the end-object of the endeavour. In professional usage, a teacher is a person trained or recognized and (in some case) employed to help learning in a classroom situation so that the set educational goals could be achieved (Nwankwo, 2014). Teachers occupy strategic positions so sensitive and indispensable that they assume a nature whose absence leaves a vacuum that cannot be filled by any other person. Teachers could be seen as an object, institution, prime mover, accelerator, facilitator, motivator who embodies, exhibits knowledge, make some impact that brings about changes and realizes meaningful enduring results in the learner. Classroom Management Technique Nwankwo (2014), pointed out that effective teaching and learning cannot take place in a poorly managed classroom. He said that if pupils are disorderly and disrespectful, and no apparent rules and procedures guide behaviour in the class, chaos becomes the norm and both the teacher and pupils suffer under such a situation. He stressed that a well-managed classroom does not just appear out of somewhere. It is a creation of an effective teacher. He said that effective teachers are made and not born. For the teachers to manage the classroom effectively Nwankwo highlighted some strategies that would help the teachers if fully employed. They include; holding class meeting with the teacher where the pupils can talk about things bothering them, including pupils in the classroom rules writing process, structuring the classroom arrangement(providing enough walkways between pupils desks so that the teacher can move freely), classroom collaboration, preventing attention-seeking attention, giving incentives and support for positive behaviors including the use of reinforcements whether positive or negative having classroom code of conduct, clear communication of goals and objectives,, use of non-verbal behaviour to communicate. Ejionueme in Ogbonnaya(2010) gave some of the strategies teachers could adopt if they would achieve effective classroom management and avoiding unwanted classroom disturbances. These are: Analysis of attitude of the teacher, Analysis of his teaching styles, being well informed about the pupils, Analysis of instructional method and so on. According to Evertion, Emmer, and Worsham (2003), the following strategies should be adopted: Using non-verbal cues such as establishing eye contact with the misbehaving pupil, the teacher shaking his head while looking at the pupils who are misbehaving and so on, ignoring the misbehavior, moving closer to the misbehaving pupils, keeping the activities in the classroom moving, redirecting pupil behavior. Student Academic Performance Student Academic Performance according toFakunle (2010) is frequently defined in terms of examination performance. It also refers to what the students have learned or what skills the pupils have learned and is usually measured through assessments (Sanrock, 2016). The descriptive assessment information will usually be translate through grading system such Grade Point Average (GPA) since it provide information of the students’ academic performance across time. Academic performance which is measured by the examination results, is one of the major goals of a school. Adesina (2007) argued that schools are establish with the aim of imparting knowledge and skills in those who go through them and behind all this is the idea of enhancing good academic performance. The academic deans and the quality assurance committee are concerned about those who do not perform well because of this poor performance goes unchecked, the institution may lose its reputation, which may result in loss of confidence (Kyoshaba, 2009). In the same vein, (Starveddes, 2008) postulates that an organized enterprise does not exist in a

Agu.….. Int. J. Innovative Educ. Res 9(1):33-44, 2021 vacuum but is dependent on its external environment thus the enterprise receives input, transforms them and exports the output to the environment. To the researcher academic performance is the product or outcome of evaluation of teaching and learning that took place between a student and his teacher. Secondary School Secondary school is an educational institution where the second stage of the three schooling periods, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age takes place. It follows elementary or primary education, and is sometimes followed by university education. Secondary education is the education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage (National Policy on Education, . Eze cha defines secondary education as education that normally takes place in secondary schools, taking place after primary education and may be followed by higher educational or vocational training. Campbell (2011) states that secondary education, often referred to as a high school, is a school which provides secondary education between the ages of 11 and 19 depending on location, after primary school and before higher education. Children usually go to secondary school between the ages of 11 and 16 years, and end between the ages of 16 and 18 years. The school as a learning environment comprises physical, academic, social and cultural environments. The physical environment is made up of school location, physical features and structures within and outside the school. Building, equipment and infrastructures available within a school and its surrounding also constitute its physical environment. In the content of this study, secondary school refers to the education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage.

Theoretical framework The theoretical study of this work will review the B.F Skinner’s classroom management theory operant conditioning) B.F Skinner’s classroom management theory (operant conditioning) Burhus Frederic Skinner (1904 – 1990) commonly known as B.F. Skinner is a renowned American psychologist. He is often regarded as the founder of “Operant conditioning’, which he introduced in 9 7. The theory of Operant conditioning states that learning takes place through rewarding a certain behaviour or withholding reward for undesirable behaviour. Thus, an association is made between this behaviour and its consequence. In his experiment, Skinner would place a rat in a special cage (called a “Skinner box” that has a bar or pedal on one wall that, when pressed, causes a little mechanism to release a food pellet into the cage. The rat is moving around the cage when it accidentally presses the bar, as a result of pressing the bar, a food pellet falls into the cage. The operant is the behaviour prior to the reinforcer, which is the food pellet. Partial reinforcement schedule may be fixed (ie it may be given in random, but averages to a specific amount). It has been found that variable partial reinforcement schedules are more effective in improving the frequency of an operant behaviour and in limiting its extinction when reinforcement is no longer delivered.

Theoretical studies Tips for effective classroom management: Classroom management is simply the techniques teachers use to maintain control in the classroom. Educators employ a variety of strategies and techniques to ensure that students are organized, on task, well-behaved, and productive during the school day. A lack of effective classroom management can cause chaos and stress, which can create an unsatisfactory learning environment for students and an unsatisfactory work environment for the teacher. However, these tips are use in classroom management and quality learning environment.

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Techniques for effective classroom management Preventive techniques: Preventive approaches to classroom management involve creating a positive classroom community with mutual respect between teacher and student. Teachers using the preventive approach offer warmth, acceptance, and support unconditionally not based on a student's behavior. Fair rules and consequences are established and students are given frequent and consistent feedback regarding their behavior. One way to establish this kind of classroom environment is through the development and use of a classroom contract. The contract should be created by both students and the teacher. In the contract, students and teachers decide and agree on how to treat one another in the classroom. The group also decides on and agrees to what the group will do if someone violates the contract. Rather than a consequence, the group should decide how to fix the problem through either class discussion, peer mediation, counseling, or by one on one conversations leading to a solution to the situation. Preventive techniques also involve the strategic use of praise and rewards to inform students about their behavior rather than as a means of controlling student behavior. To use rewards to inform students about their behavior, teachers must emphasize the value of the behavior that is rewarded and also explain to students the specific skills they demonstrated to earn the reward. Teachers should also encourage student collaboration in selecting rewards and defining appropriate behaviors that earn rewards. Strategies for Effective Management of classrooms Effective classroom management requires proactive and reactive teachers in order to define and communicate their social and academic expectations to their students. Such involvements can motivate the students to obey and accept the school rules and regulations. Classroom management strategies are crucial part of teacher’s success in creating a safe and effective learning environment for student’s quality secondary education. Therefore, teachers should know how to use and apply strategies that will allow and help students to learn. In order to have an effective classroom management, the following five skills are suggested namely: Developing a solid understanding of the students personal, psychological and learning aspirations, Establishing positive student-teacher and peer relationships that aid students psychological needs,Using instructional methods that facilitate optimal learning by responding to students learning needs, Using organizational and group management methods that maximize students on task behaviours and Using counseling and behavioural methods that involves students in examining and correcting their inappropriate behaviours. Consequently, teachers should choose from a variety of strategies to meet the individual needs of their students for effective learning, discipline and control that enhance quality secondary education. For a class to be properly managed and controlled, the following tips may be observed: 1) Ensure that you have clearly stated rules and procedures with established consequence that are expected and reviewed regularly. All students must know the rules, routines and expectations. 2) Never continue with instruction when the rules are violated, pause, delay and ensure that you have your students attention. 3) Catch your students using appropriate behaviour and praise them. 4) Use behaviour contracts when necessary and follow-up with appropriate incentives. 5) Be sure that your instructional periods are not too long; students need to be mobile throughout the day. 6) Provide individual personal cueing and prompts to certain students as needed. Sometimes, just touching a student’s shoulder will bring him back to task. 7) Post the important rule, keep it short and refer to it often. These should be posted after the class has brainstormed them. 8. Make sure you are reaching all the learning styles your students have. A student who is not been reached is more likely to be a problem. Effective classroom takes time and should be seriously implemented at the beginning of the year. With the students proper knowledge of the dos and don’ts, disciplinary problems will be minimized, punishment inclusive.

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Empirical Studies Ezinwa carried out a research on teacher’s strategies for managing classrooms in schools in ogidi education zone. The study sought to find out the strategies teachers use in managing their classrooms in the zone. Descriptive research design was used and 3 questions guided the research. The population of the study was 1448 and the sample 500 which was selected through random sampling. Questionnaire was instrument used which contained 40 items. The instrument was validated by 3 professionals from NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka. The reliability coefficient was 0.90 while the analysis was through mean rating. The findings among other things are that teachers in ogidi zone use punishments, class codes and reinforcements in managing their classrooms. This study is related to this present study in that both of them were carried out on managing of classroom. Again both of the studies utilized random sampling technique and 3 research questions. They however differed in population and sample sizes. Okafor (2013) carried out a study on strategies for effective classroom management in secondary schools in Umunnochi L.G.A. in Abia State. The study sought to identify the strategies for effective classroom management amongst secondary school teachers in Umunnochi L.G.A. of Abia State. Descriptive survey was used in carrying out the study. The population was 400 people while the sample was 200 respondents drawn through simple random sampling technique. The instrument was a questionnaire which was guided by four research questions. The validation was done by three experts from Educational Management and Policy Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and the reliability coefficient was 0.71 using the Pearson Product Moment of correlation. The data collected was analysed using mean rating. The findings among other things include that clear rules and procedures are not utilized in classroom management in Umunnochi L.G.A. it was recommended that policy makers should make classroom management a core course in teacher training colleges. This study is related to the present study because it focused on classroom management although it wasn’t done in Njikoka L.G.A. the similarity was that descriptive survey research method and questionnaieare was used in both of them. The studies also differed in the population size and sample size Attamah and Azuoru (2014) also carried out a study on factors militating against effective classroom management in secondary schools in Awka South Local Government Area of Enugu state. The study determined the factors militating against effective classroom management in secondary schools in Awka South Local Government of Enugu state. Descriptive survey research design was used and four research questions guided the study. The population of the study was 680 people and the sample was made up of 160 students 40 teachers making it 200 respondents. The instrument was a questionnaire of 17 items validated by two experts from Educational Management and Policy NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka. The analyses of data was done through arithimetic mean and the findings showed that overcrowded classrooms, lack of textbooks/seats poor teaching methods among others are factors militating against classroom management in secondary schools. The study and the present study are related in that both of them used questionnaire for collection of data and were centered on the study of classroom management. They however differed in the area of the study and population and sample sizes. Summary of Review of Related Literature The review of related literature covered the concepts of teacher, classroom management techniques, student academic performance and secondary school. Under the theoretical framework, B.F. skinner’s classroom management theory (operant conditioning) was reviewed. The review of the theoretical studies covered tips for effective classroom management, techniques for effective classroom management and strategies for effective management of classrooms. The empirical studies reviewed all the works of Ezinwa (2013), Okafor (2013) and Attamah and Azuoru (2014),who all made a study on classroom management in different locations. Though studies have been done on classroom management strategies in other areas but it was discovered that none of such studies has been carried out on influence of teachers’ classroom management technique on students’ academic performances in Njikoka L.G.A. as at the time of this study which has created a gap. It was this gap that has been created that the researcher wishes to fill in this study. Generally all the empirical studies in this study related to the present study as they are all made on classroom management apart from the fact that they all have different areas of study as compared to the present study.

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METHOD Research Design The research design used for the study is descriptive survey. Survey according to Nwogu, (2015) means a method of obtaining information from various groups or persons mainly through questionnaire or personal interview. With descriptive survey research design, the researcher was able to collect information through a questionnaire from a group of people which was analyzed and consequently generalized to cover the entire population. Area of study The research is carried out in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State. Njikoka is a Local Government Area in Anambra State, South-Central Nigeria. Towns that make up the Local Government include Abagana, Enugwu-Agidi, Enugwu-ukwu, Nawfia, Nimo, Abba town, and Umuriam-Nawfia. The headquarter of Njikoka LGA is in Abagana. The people of the area are educationists, civil servants, traders, industrialists, entrepreneurs and farmers and the area has been chosen for this study because of the efforts of their people over the years towards improvement of education in the area for both teachers and students and their overall interest in the education of their children. Population of the study The target population is all the 250 secondary school teachers in the 11 public secondary schools in Njikoka L.G.A of Anambra.(Source: Planning and Research Statistics Unit of Post Primary School Service Commission, Awka). Sample and Sampling Technique There was no sample for the study. This was because of the fact that the population size of 250 teachers in the Local government was not too big to be used for the study. Instrument for data collection The instrument used for this study was a twenty one (15) item self -structured questionnaire captioned, Influence of teacher’s classroom management techniques on students’ academic performances (ITCMTSAPQ). The questionnaire consisted of two sections, A and B. Section A elicited demographic information about the respondents while section B contains 16 items on a four point Likertlike rating scale of strongly agree (4 points), agree (3 points), strongly disagree (2 points) and disagree (1point) respectively to elicit information on relationship between teacher’s classroom management techniques and students learning styles in secondary schools in Njikoka Local Government Area. Validation of the Instrument The instrument was subjected to face and content validation using three experts, two from Education Management and Policy department and one from Education foundations. The final edition of the instrument was obtained after the researcher effected the necessary corrections required. Reliability of the Instrument The reliability of the instrument was determined using the test -retest reliability technique on 20 respondents outside the sample of the study. The data collected on the two tests were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient(r), a reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained showing that the instrument was reliable and consistent for the study.The researcher therefore considered the questionnaire to be reliable since the coefficient is high and is in line with Agu and Akuezuilo (2007) who posited that a correlation coefficient of 0.70 and above is high enough for a research instrument to be taken as reliable. Method of Data Collection Questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The researcher and two research assistants distributed the questionnaire to the respondents. The researcher also waited and collected the completed questionnaires from the respondents when they were through. However, the researcher returned back to collect those of the respondents who were not disposed to fill the questionnaire on the spot. A total of 130 questionnaires were retrieved from the respondents whereas 145 questionnaires were distributed.

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Method of Data Analysis Mean rating was used to analyze the questionnaire items. The decision rule for interpretation of the mean scores of the data is that 2.5 is the cut off mark for accepting an item at the agreed level and mean ratings below 2.5 is to be taken as an indication of mean scores within the disagreed level.

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA Research Question 1: In what way does classroom discipline influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area? Table 1: Mean rating of respondents on the ways classroom discipline influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area S/N ITEMS X DECISION 1 Ensuring that you have clearly stated rules and procedures 3.17 Agreed with established consequences enhance students’ academic performance 2 Catching your students using inappropriate behaviour and 3.22 Agreed punishing them improves academic performance of the students 3 Catching your students using appropriate behaviour and 3.84 Agreed praising themensures quality output 4 Using counseling methods that involves students in examining 3.16 Agreed and correcting their inappropriate behaviours enhances students’ academic performance 5 Involving students in selecting punishment for disobeying 2.23 Agreed classroom rules helps to improve their classroom performance Grand Mean 3.23 Agreed

From the result of the findings from the analysis of research question 1 it was discovered that all the 58 items1to 4falls above the agreed level with a mean above 2.50. However item 5 fall below the agreed level with a mean of 2.23.The grand mean was 3.23. This shows that respondents agreed that classroom discipline influences academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area. Research Question 2: In what way does effective teaching influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area? Table 2: Mean rating of respondents on the ways effective teaching influenceacademic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area S/N ITEMS X DECISION 6 Daily teaching routine enhances students’ academic 3.54 Agreed performance 7 A teacher that reward students for good behaviour in the 3.84 Agreed classroom enhances students’ performance. 8 Clapping hand for a student that performs well in the 3.50 Agreed classroom will motivate others to do better. 9 Keeping students engaged with regular assignments enhance 3.16 Agreed students’ performance 10 Praise and recognition of students for brilliant performance 3.50 Agreed encourages others for improved academic performance

Grand Mean 3.42 Agreed

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From the result of the analysis of the item in research question 2, it was discovered that items 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 all fall within the agreed level of above 2.50. This made the grand mean to be 3.42.This shows that respondents agreed that effective teaching influences academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area. Summary of the Major Findings From the analysis presented in this chapter, the major findings include among other things that: 1. Classroom discipline influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area 2. Effective teaching influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area.

DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS Classroom Discipline and Academic Performance of the Students The result revealed classroom discipline influences academic performance of the student. In other words, the academic performance of students depends on the influence of classroom discipline. According to Bassey (2012), the wider view of classroom management shows increased engagement, reduction in inappropriate and disruptive behaviours, promotion of student responsibility for academic work, and improved academic performance of students. Effiong (2007), suggests that teachers can deal with these disruptive behaviours in the classroom and reduce them to the minimum through effective classroom management so that effective learning can take place. Once teachers are able to effectively reduce or eliminate disruptive behaviours in the classroom, there would be increased academic attentiveness and engagement which would pave way for better academic performance by students. Techniques for effective classroom management includes corporal punishment which has been in use of old but has of recent been argued by some people not to be suitable for use on a student though some people still make use of it. There is need to establish good student- teacher relationship as well as making use of preventive techniques such as use of acceptance and support to ensure effective classroom management. The use of classroom discipline is one of the techniques for effective classroom management that can be adopted by teachers. According to Good (2004), clear instruction on what should be done gives the students concrete direction to compliance. In this approach, teachers try to be consistent in enforcing the classroom rules and instructions so that it produces the desired results. In this case students that disobey the classroom codes and rules are disciplined and through this there is effective classroom management. Effective Teaching and Academic Performance of the Students The result revealed that effective teaching influences academic performance of the students. In other words, students’ academic performance depends on effective teaching. Effective teaching is another technique of effective classroom management adopted by teachers in the classroom. Quite remarkably, regular poor academic performance by the majority students is fundamentally linked to application of ineffective teaching methods by teachers to impact knowledge to learners (Adunola, 2011). Substantial research on the effectiveness of teaching methods indicates that the quality of teaching is often reflected by the achievements of learners. According to Ayeni (2011), teaching is a process that involves bringing about desirable changes in learners so as to achieve specific outcomes. In order for the method used for teaching to be effective, Adunola (2011) maintains that teachers need to be conversant with numerous teaching strategies that take recognition of the magnitude of complexity of the concepts to be covered.

CONCLUSION This study has evidently illuminated the relationships between classroom management and students’ academic performance in Njikoka Local Government Areas in Anambra State. From the following can be concluded- 1. Classroom discipline influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area

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2 Effective teaching influence academic performance of the students in Njikoka Local Government Area Implication of the Study The respondents agreed that most of the suggested variables shows that classroom management influence students’ academic performance in Njikoka Local Government Area.This implies that the teachers have knowledge and understanding of these variables as measures to effect classroom management in the school. The problem may then lie on the implementation. Perhaps the teachers though they accept these measures, do not implement them in the classroom for carrying out classroom management that could enhance student’s academic performance.

RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings in this study, the following recommendations were made: Teachers should intensify classroom discipline to encourage high academic performance of students; Teachers should ensure a regular and prompt attendance to class lessons to encourage seriousness in students which can help to improved academic performance; Teachers should ensure that students participate actively in the activities of learning for a better academic performance; Adequate educational facilities and resources should be provided in all nooks and cranes of the communities in Nigeria without concentration in a particular geo political zone to enable a widespread and better academic performance of students; Parents should also ensure they play an active part at home to ensure that students do not abandon their studies at home. It will help them perform better. Limitations of the Study 1. To start with, the conduct of a study of this nature is not only risk taking but requires a lot of fund (money) and time to see it through. As the researcher is a student with a lot of needs, meeting up with this responsibility gulped a lot of resources although the constraint was surmounted. 2. Another limitation faced by the researcher was lack of foreign empirical studies in the area covered by the study. To address this constraint local empirical study was used to enrich the review.

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