Teachers' Socio-Economic Status and Classroom Management in Public Secondary Schools in Ikom Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined teachers' socio-economic status and classroom management in public secondary schools in Ikom Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study was based on two specific objectives. Two research questions and null hypotheses guided the study. A survey research design was adopted. The population of the study was 1, 674 teachers in public secondary schools in the Ikom Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 335 teachers representing 20 percent of the study population. An instrument titled" Teachers Socio-economic Status and Classroom Management Questionnaire (TSESCMQ) was used to collect data. The instrument was validated by two experts in Educational Management and Measurement and Evaluation. Cronbach's Alpha was used to determine the reliability coefficient of the instrument. The data generated was analyzed with Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation and an independent t-test. Results revealed that there is a significant relationship between teachers' socio-economic status and classroom management effectiveness, and that there is a significant difference in the mean score between high and low socio-economic status teachers in classroom management. Thus, it was recommended that teachers' income level should be improved by the government to boost their socio-economic status for effective classroom management. Secondly, teachers should see the need to improve their education level for effective classroom management.