Teachers’ conceptions about sources of knowledge and pupils’ academic performance: a case of government aided primary schools in Kumi district

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the Teachers‘ Conceptions about Sources of Knowledge and Pupils‘ Academic Performance in Government aided primary schools: a case of Kumi District with a view of recommending on how to improve pupils‘ academic performance. The study was guided by three objectives; to establish teachers‘ conceptions about the sources of knowledge in government aided primary schools, to analyze how pupils are aided during the teaching-learning process in government aided primary schools and to determine whether there is a relationship between teachers‘ conceptions about sources of knowledge and the pupils‘ academic performance in government aided primary schools. The study was conducted because in the past five years (2015-2019), pupils‘ academic performance has been deteriorating. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. Quantitative and qualitative (mixed) approaches of data collection were employed. A total of 454 respondents constituted the sample size of the study. These included 35 Head teachers, 35 Director of studies, 104 classroom teachers and 280 Primary Seven pupils; from the 35 Government aided primary schools. The researcher used three types of research instruments: Questionnaires, Interview guide and Classroom observation. The results revealed that there was a significant statistical relationship (r=1.00, p=0.000) between teachers‘ conceptions about the sources of knowledge and the pupils‘ academic performance. The study concludes that; Professional teachers appreciate the role played by each source of knowledge including Rationalism, Empiricism and Authoritarianism so as to enable them to make reliable and informed conclusions that have enabled them to boost pupils‘ academic performance. The researcher recommends that Primary Teachers‘ Colleges (PTCs) programme should incorporate and encourage learning of topics concerning conceptions about sources of knowledge and their role to enable pupils perform well academically.