Management challenges as drawbacks to teacher development: the way forward for the Nigerian teacher in basic education

Abstract

Teaching as a profession is deeply rooted in historical antecedents. Granted that its journey from the status of a voluntary service in the hands of Christian missionaries with no legal instruments and reliable conditions of service to the present one of its integration into the public service has been a giant stride, its management challenges have, in many instances, constituted drawbacks to the optimal development of the teacher. Some of the management challenges touch on the inconsistencies with regard to admission requirements for teachers’ training, discrepancies in their recruitment and deployment, irregular career progression, inadequate provision of teaching and learning material, the non-inclusive nature of curriculum review, the reluctance of government to address teachers’ genuine grievances, inadequate teacher incentives and others. As a remedy, the school should be recognised as a learning organisation that, among other things, should fi nd expression in the Nigerian teacher being equipped to cope with the modern practices that are required of a new teacher.