Pupil Perception of Teacher Effectiveness and Affective Disposition in Primary School Classrooms in Botswana

Abstract

Teacher effectiveness, in the eyes of learners, in the classroom
is to a large extent determined by the atmosphere created by teachers‘
classroom behavior especially the degree to which a teacher 'carries the
class along‘ during lesson. Children are leading the way in demanding
accountability from teachers and one important expectation is a
classroom which is psychologically conducive for learning. Such
classroom tends to induce from the learners desirable affective
behaviors that are conducive for teaching and learning. This study aims
at finding the relationship among pupil- perceived teacher effectiveness
and their own level of exhibition of desirable related behavior in their
classrooms. Survey data was collected from 472 learners taken from 29
primary schools drawn through stratified random sampling method
from urban private schools and rural remote areas in Botswana. The
relationship between pupil's perceived teacher effectiveness factors and
their own affective disposition in the classrooms were found using
Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that generally pupil‘s
perceived level of their teachers effectiveness in terms of classroom
assessment behavior, teaching strategy, provision of feedback and their
overall effectiveness in teaching English language have significant
influence on their interest in the following key areas; subject of study
(e.g., English Language) , classroom environment, perceived level
difficulty of learning English, preference for group work in the class and
general attitude towards the going-ons in the class. The findings were
discussed and related recommendations made.