Abstract:
The study focused on the influence of teacher characteristics on interest and performance of junior secondary school students in social studies in Nsukka education zone of Enugu state. Eight research questions and eight hypotheses guided the study. Literature was reviewed under conceptual framework, theoretical framework, review of empirical studies and summary of literature review. The study adopted ex-post-facto research design. The population of the study was 208 social studies teachers and 5643 students in all the fifty-nine (59) public secondary schools in Nsukka education zone. The sample size of the study was 798 which was made up of 208 teachers and 590 students. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw the sample size of the students. A structured questionnaire developed by the researcher and validated by three research experts was used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean while ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study were that teachers’ qualification influences students’ interest in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of teachers’ qualification on students’ interest in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ qualification influences students’ performance in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of teachers’ qualification on students’ performance in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ experience influences students’ interest in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of teachers’ experience on students’ interest in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ experience influences students’ performance in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of teachers’ experience on students’ performance in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ attitude influences students’ interest in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of teachers’ attitude on students’ interest in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ attitude influences students’ performance in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of teachers’ attitude on students’ performance in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ gender does not influence students’ interest in social studies and that there is no significant difference in the influence of teachers’ gender on students’ interest in junior secondary school social studies and that teachers’ gender does not influence students’ performance in social studies and that there is no significant difference in the influence of teachers’ gender on students’ performance in junior secondary school social studies. Based on the findings of the study, conclusions were drawn and relevant recommendations were made.
