MOTIVATION

Introduction

Motivation is a concept used as an explanation or rationale for the way person or an organism
behave. The same concept is used to refer to something that is innate within an individual. It
is an energiser or a driving force, a desire on an urge that causes an individual to engage in a
certain behaviour. Such inner force is referred to as drivers or attempts on the part of the
individual to satisfy his needs and to establish and maintain a state of equilibrium. Human
behaviour is purposeful in the sense that it has cause and effect. In short human behaviour is
motivated either externally or internally.
Motivation is also used to refer to external stimuli, either positive or aversive, used to make
an individual perform a certain behaviour. For example, motivation may be used to make a
learner complete an assignment, listen to direction or take part in a physical activity and
eventually perform the desired activity on his own.
The concern of teachers is to find ways and means of making learners attend and respond to
learning tasks so that learning itself becomes a source of motivation.

TRAIT OR TEMPORARY STATE

Motivation can be viewed in two different ways, namely as a trait and as a temporary state
(Davis 1983). As a trait motivation is not only stable, but also permanent in every person.
People have different interests, values achievements and stimulations which have an impact
on their education, careers, hobbies and entertainments.
Motivation can also be viewed as a situational and temporary state. This means that the extent
to which motivation is or is not stimulated depends on the nature of the environment-whether
it is exciting or dull. For example, whether a lesson is perceived as interesting or dull and
boring will depend on how the teacher presents it. This means that a teacher has considerable
influence in situations of temporary motivation. He can influence the motivation of pupils
through the material he uses for teaching and the methods he adopts in communicating his
information, as well as the topics he teaches. Motivation as a trait also has a role to play in
that a teacher can influence his pupil’s attitudes toward learning and other aspects of life,
raise their educational and occupational aspirations, build on their self-concepts, etc.

ENERGY VS DIRECTION
Motivation can also be viewed in terms of energy and direction. The degree to which a
motive exerts pressure on a person lies on a continuum ranging from low to medium to high.
For example, one may be moderately ambitious will influence the intensity with which he
pursues his objective. For example, if a student is moderately ambitious he will study just
enough to pass, but not to the extent that he has to forgo some of his leisure time activities
such as socialising and participating in sport, whereas a student who is very ambitious may
concentrate all his efforts and energy on his studies in order to achieve excellent results even
if this means that he has no time for any other activities.

INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

The behaviour of a person may be either extrinsically or intrinsically motivated. It may be
asked why are you studying educational psychology? If you are doing so simply because you
are interested in the subject and want to learn as much as you can, then you are intrinsically
motivated. However, if you are studying educational psychology only because you have to do
so to fulfil your diploma or degree requirements, or for some other external reason, then your
motivation is extrinsic. At school pupils are exposed to external motivation initially, in the
form of marks for their performance, smiles in recognition of desirable behaviour, and praise
for satisfactory academy performance. The ultimate objective, however, is desirable
behaviour purely because of the pleasure and satisfaction they derive therefrom. Intrinsic
motivation is superior and preferable to extrinsic motivation.

TRADITIONAL THEORIES
Learning theory
This theory argues that the formation of behaviour is greatly influenced by rewards and
punishments, as that the two ways of controlling behaviour serve as motivators. Rewarding
and punishing are associated with human drives, which may be drives, which may be
categorised as primary or secondary drives. Primary drives are biological in nature, and
secondary drives are acquired or learned. Some primary drives are the need for sex, hunger,
thirst and avoidance of pain; and some secondary drives are money, good marks certificates,
prizes and praise. Primary drives find satisfaction in primary reinforcements such as sexual
gratification, physical comfort, food and water, secondary reinforcements for academic
achievements include teachers praise, peer recognition and good marks.

PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
According to Freud, the motivation underlying human behaviour is a function of man’s state
of unconscious displayed by the id, which is the libido or sex urge reflected in aggressive
drives. However, both the sex urge and aggressive behaviour are controlled by the ego and
superego and for sublimated and manifested in a form considered to be socially acceptable,
for example creative activities or excelling in various school activities. Thus, according to
Freud’s concepts of motivation people are loaded with sexual energy and aggressive which
can be channelled into educationally productive activities instead of the instinctive behaviour
that is social unacceptable.

NEED THEORY
Murray (1938) advocates that our needs serve as the source of motivation. Behaviour
develops because of interaction between needs and the environment. The environment can
either facilitate or be barrier to the satisfaction of a need. For example, a teacher environment
may facilitate a pupil’s need to do well at school, and not facilitate bullying or stealing, which
he considers to be undesirable behaviour. Another example is pupil who has the need to
further his education but is unable to fulfil this because of a lack of funds, as is the case with
many African children across the continent. Some of the needs identified by this theory are
achievement, abasement, affiliation, acquisition, defensiveness, dominance, blame,
avoidance, aggression, exhibition, recognition, superiority, play, exposition, self-respect and
orderliness.

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES
Competence motivation
There is an inherent tendency among children and people in general to wish to perform
competently or gain mastery over their environment or a certain body of skills or knowledge.
Children wish to display competence in activities such as crawling, language development,
walking and manipulating objects. It can be argued that such behaviour cannot be explained
in terms of primary drivers. The child knows what it wants to do, and wants to it itself
regardless of mistakes, failures, or the fact that mommy or Miss Jones could do it ten times
faster (Davis 252). Teachers must provide students with opportunities to do things for
themselves in fulfilment of their inherent competence motivation. Parents and teachers tend
to assume that children are inexperienced and therefore rather helpless and feel that it is their
duty to do most things for them. There are many things’ children can do or learn to do on
their own, given the time and opportunity. Even if the child cannot perform a certain
behaviour, he should be given the opportunity to observe how it is done and where possible,
to perform it with someone who can do it. For example, if one of the author’s children cannot
open a bottle because the lid is too tight, he loosens the lid and then leaves the child to
complete the task of opening the bottle, thus providing the child with some sense of
achievement and contribution to the successful completion of the task. The same should
apply with regard to helping pupils with their assignment. Assistance should be provided
where needed, but pupils should be left to do most of the work on their own.

REWARDS
Rewards are powerful source of motivation for most people, irrespective of age or social
status. Some of the rewards given in school to promote learning are gold stars, sweets, prizes,
high marks and certificates. Whatever reinforcement (extrinsic) pupils are given should lead
them to, discover that the task in which they are engaged can become a source of
reinforcement (intrinsic) in itself, so that external or extrinsic reinforcement becomes less
important. Rewards for learning should be so engineered that after serving their introductory
roles, they lead pupils to independent learning activities (Strom &Bernard 1982:274).

MATURITY
Chronology and cognitive maturity must be taken into account when motivating learners
(Strom& Bernard 1982). Unless children attained the necessary cognitive maturity, it is likely
that social pressure or tangible rewards will enable them to learn how to read or to do simple
arithmetic. According to Maslow’s theory, young children are more pensive to physical and
safety reward, whereas older children are more responsive to peer pressure and the
expectations of parents and teacher. Reinforcement as a form of motivation has differential
effects on learning. For example, young children are known to improve their performance
when given tangible rewards, whereas older ones respond positively when given praise or
some other symbolic reward (Bowd etal1982. For learning to occur in response to motivation,
the following should be borne in mind:
• The reward given should be related to the learners age and cultural background
• Knowledge of results is vital if the task is relatively hard.
• Feedback enhances subsequent performance if the learner is told how he or she can
improve his or her performance

TEACHERS ATTITUDE AND PERSONALITY

A teacher’s attitude and personality play a role in motivation in the classroom. Teachers who
have a positive attitude toward their subjects and pupils are more motivating than those have
a less positive attitude and personality. Teacher personality characteristics which are
motivating and which a teacher should bear in mind as he interacts with pupils are democratic
attitudes, wide interest, pleasant personal appearance, pleasant manners, fairness impartiality,
sense of humour, flexibility, patience interest in pupils’ wellbeing, consistent behaviour,
efficiency kindness and use of recognition and praise. The teacher can also motivate his
pupils by showing interest and enthusiasm for the subject matter he is presenting (Klausmeier
1958). This will make the pupils sit up and pay attention. As far as possible, the subject
matter should be related to the pupils’ concerns, needs and life experience, and where
feasible, practical activities based on the lesson and involving as many pupils as possible
should be organised. Another way motivating pupils is by telling them why what they are
studying is important, even if it is because there will be a test on the material covered later
on! Other factors that a teacher can use to motivate pupils are curiosity, threats of failure, the
desire to know, change of voice mastery of subject matter good presentation jokes visual aids
and flied trips.

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Maslow advanced a theory of human needs referred to as a hierarchy of needs. In his theory
he pointed out that some needs, particularly physiological needs, are basic to others. It
follows that such needs must be satisfied before higher needs can be felt and fulfilled, hence
the use of the term ‘hierarchy’. According to Maslow’s view of motivation, physiological
needs are the strongest the most demanding of satisfaction. It is reasonable to expect
therefore, that drive reduction will be aimed primarily at these lowest of needs.

Fig 20.1 motivation based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Self-actualisation
Self-esteem
Belonging and love
Safety needs
Physiological needs: foods, water, sleep, sex, oxygen, etc

If the needs at the physiological level have been fulfilled, the person concerned will be faced
with the next level of needs-the safety needs such as the needs to avoid or escape danger and
the need to be secure and protected. This is followed by the need to love and be loved and to
belong; to have friends and family and to be part of a group. There is also what is called the
need for self-esteem-the need to have the respect, confidence and admiration of others and to
gain self-confidence and self-respect. Once all these needs have been fulfilled the person will
be motivated towards self-actualization-towards knowing and understanding, and towards
finding (deriving) satisfaction from being sensitive to the beauty of human beings, their
accomplishments, and the natural environment. The first four needs are called deficiency
needs, and their fulfilment is greatly dependent on other people. The rest are referred to as
being needs and their satisfaction is dependent on the individual himself. The second group
of needs echoes Rousseau’s (1962) theory. He said that man is naturally good and happy. In
view of this people ought to learn through their experience with nature, learn to depend on
things existing within their environment, and learn to depend on themselves and to be
independent of other people.

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS IN A SCHOOL SETTINGS

Physiological needs
Where there is reason to believe that pupils are not receiving adequate nutrition at home,
provision should be made for a meal at school. This should be done particularly where, due to
long distances, children cannot go home for lunch. If this not possible, pupils’ parents should
be encouraged to see that their children bring with them a snack for lunch. The temperature in
every classroom and the library should be correct there should be air circulation, and the
lighting should be adequate. Children with physical disabilities such as poor eyesight or
impaired hearing should be brought to the attention of medical personnel and parents.
Children should be encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather conditions, and if a
child needs to go to the toilet before recess, he should not be denied permission to so,
although he should be encouraged to go during recess.

PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS

Safety needs
The fulfilment of children’s safety needs is important to their sense of security. Generally
children are fearful of being bullied by their peers or by older students, being chastised
harshly by teachers, or being subjected to humiliation and severe discipline by teachers. The
school should see to it that children are protected against these security- threatening factors. It
is also necessary that teachers establish good pupil-teacher relationship.

Love and belonging

A teacher should make his pupils feel that they are members of his class and that he is proud
to have them in his class. He should learn their names and use them frequently, and if a pupil
is absent, he should let it be known that he or she is missed by telling friends and welcoming
him or her on his return. If the pupil is sick for a while the teacher should visit him or her or
send a get well soon note to his or her home. Teachers should also try to include as many
pupils as possible when asking question in class.

Esteem needs
Teachers should help their pupils to develop positive self-concept by treating them as persons
of worth with human dignity. They should assign pupils work that matches their intellectual
ability, because when they do it activities should be praised, and those fail should be given
assistance. Slow learners should be given individual assistance and helped to feel that they
can achieve something if they apply themselves.

Self-Actualisation
The objective of teachers is to enable their pupils to develop their potential fully and find
fulfilment in life. If a pupil is cut out to be a teacher, he should be encouraged to be best
teacher he can, irrespective of whether it is at primary school or university level, and if a
pupil wants to become an agriculturist, he should be encouraged to pursue his vocation. Long
before pupil finish school and start working, they should be encouraged to do best they can,
whether they are working on a school assignment or helping their parents at home. They
should be made aware that life can be meaningful, exciting and enjoyable, and that they have
a great contribution to make.

INTELLIGENCE

Introduction
Davis (1983:434) defines intelligence as ‘the ability to learn quickly, solve problems,
understand complex about abstract issues, and generally behave in a reasonable, rational and
purposeful manner’. Although this definition is better than others, it has its flaws. For
example, it says that intelligence involves ‘learning quickly’ and understanding ‘complex and
abstract issues. Does this imply that a person who is rather slow in solving problems has no
intelligence? Every human being has intelligence, but some have more than average, others
have less than is essential for social adjustment, and the majority have an average amount of
intelligence. This applies to any group of people, be they Africans, Europeans, or Asians. A
more adequate description of intelligence is that it is what enables a person to think, act and
behave in a manner this is normally acceptable to his society, thus facilitating his adjustment
socially, intellectually and physically. This chapter examines the history of intelligence,
theories of intelligence, the usefulness of intelligence tests, the stability of IQ scores, and the
role of heredity and environment in the development of intelligence.

Classification on the basis of IQ scores

IQ scores Description
130-145 Gifted
115-130 Superior
100-115 Above average
85-100 Average/normal
65-85 Below average /slow learners
50-65 Mild retardation
35-50 Moderate retardation
20-35 Severe retardation
0-20 Profound retardation

HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

The history of intelligence testing begins with Sir Francis Galton’s, a cousin of Charles
Darwin. He did a considerable amount of research into the topic and wrote on it a great deal
and therefore is referred to as the father of intelligence testing. Galton believed that
intelligence was related to sensory equipment such as vision, audition, and reaction time, and
therefore his tests of intelligence concentrated on reaction time, auditory acuity, tactile
sensitivity, etc. Partly influenced by his cousin’s publication. The origin of species, he
reasoned that a person’s intelligence was a function of natural selection
(Hereditary Genius 1869), which was based on his observation of outstanding people who
originated from a genealogy of distinguished men. However, Davis (1983:436) argues Galton
initially overlooked the fact that members of distinguished, aristocratic families also inherit a superior
environment, wealth, privilege and opportunity incidentals which make it much easier to become distinguished.
History has it that Galton was first to study twins in an attempt to determine the roles of
environment and heredity. It is also said that he was able to read at 2 ½ years, to sign his name
at the age of 3, and to write a fairy well by the age of 4. Terman (1916) points out that in
views of Galton’s performance on certain tasks at certain ages, he must have had an IQ of
200 which means he was a genius.

ALFRED BINET
Intelligence testing as we understand it today began with Alfred Binet in France. Binet was
appointed to develop a test to be used as tool for distinguishing children who were ready for
formal schooling from those who needed a remedial programme. The test was necessary
because same cases teachers were unable to draw the distinction. For example, teachers
recommended that some children be placed in special classes simply because they were too
quiet, too aggressive, or had problems with speech, hearing or vision. Other were accepted as
normal on the basis of social skills, social status or neatness. The early tests, which were
unable to draw a distinction between the two sets of children, consisted of measuring hand-
squeezing strength, hand- speed involving moving 50 cm, and the amount of pressure on the
head required to cause pain, distinguishing weights held in hand, naming colours and
measuring reaction to sounds. Instead of measuring these aspects of behaviour, Binet
measured ability to pay attention, memory, judgement, reasoning and comprehension. This
led to his being able to distinguish between intelligent and less intelligent children. Binet
come up with the concept of mental age, which may match or mismatch one’s intelligent, the
better one is likely to perform at school. Binet was assisted by Theophile Simon, and the test
was called the Simon-Binet test.

LEWIS TERMAN
Lewis Terman modified the Simon-Binet tests to suit the American population and produced
what is known as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale in 1916. It was revised in 1937 and
1960, and in 1972 new norms based on a sample of 2 100 White, Black and Spanish children
were established. However, very few changes were made to the format of the test. Generally,
the Stanford-Binet test measured a person’s IQ in terms of his intellectual ability, whereas
there are other tests which measure intelligence more comprehensively than the Stanford-
Binet. For example, Charles Spearman (1927) argues that there are two factors involved in
intelligence: a general intelligence (’g’) factors which involved in all types of tasks and a
specific intelligence factor (‘s’)

THURSTONE
LL Thurstone’s (1938) study of the correlation of ability tests led him to the conclusion that
there was more than one ability, and he developed a test known as the Primary Mental
Abilities (PMA) test. This test battery identified the following mental abilities:
• Verbal meaning This test consists of a picture vocabulary for young children and a verbal
vocabulary for older ones, and the purpose is to determine how well the subject understand
what is said.
• Number facility This test how quickly and accurately one works with numbers.
• Reasoning This tests how well one can find a solution to a logical problem.
• Perceptual speed The test examines how quickly and accurately one can detect differences
and similarities between a number of given objects, symbols etc.
• Spatial relations This is used to test whether one can visualise objects and figure as they
rotate in space.
A child might perform well on one or more of the listed mental abilities, yet poorly on others.
Thurstone’s mental abilities can be integrated with Spearman’s two factor theory so that the
set of five mental abilities are specified abilities.

GUILDFORD’S MODEL

According to Pau Guilford there are 120 intellectual abilities comprising four contents, five
operations and six products (4x5x6=120)

Content
Visual
Auditory
Semantic
Behavioural

Product
Units
Classes
Relations
Systems
Transformations
Implications

Operations
Evaluation
Convergent production
Divergent production
Memory
Cognition

Content: Visual, auditory, symbolic, semantic and behavioural

Operation: Evaluation, convergent production, divergent production memory and cognition
Products: Units, classes, relations, systems, transformation, implications. Operations refer to
the actual intellectual activity of a person in dealing with information. According to
Guildford, five cognitive operations, namely cognition (discovery recognition, awareness,
comprehension), memory, divergent and convergent production, and evaluation, can be
identified. Operations and performed on a set of information which can be identified as
content. Contents identified are figural (visual and spatial) symbolic (letter, numbers, words,
musical or mathematical notation), semantic (word and pictures meaning) and behavioural
(non-verbal human interactions).
Information may be produced in the form of units, classes, relation, systems,
transformations and implications (products). Products are hierarchically arranged so that
unit’s form classes, classes form relations, relations form system, etc.

CRYSTALLISED AND FLUID INTELLIGENCE

Horn and Gettel postulated, and that intelligence consists of two components, namely
crystallised intelligence and fluid intelligence. crystallised intelligence refers to the
knowledge and experience that a person accumulates during his life and which is assessed
primarily by tests of vocabulary and information. This kind of knowledge increase with age
but may decline during old age. Fluid intelligence, which is innate, includes a person’s ability
to reason, discriminate and engage in abstract thinking. This form of intelligence is assessed
by tests of reasoning and abstract thinking such as Raven’s Progressive Matrices.

COMPONENTIAL THEORY
This theory has been developed by Sternberg (1980) and is based on information
processing. It is argued that intelligence can be classified according to function and level.
Function refers to what the intelligence components does, whereas level refers to whether
the components have high level of planning and decision making or a lower level.
Sternberg has identified the following five components:
• Meta-components This refers to high-level planning and decision-making processes used to
define problems and select and utilise lower order components to arrive at a solution.

• Performance components Once the planning has been done using the meta-components,
the performance components are used to process the necessary data. This may involve the
combination indifferent elements to arrive at a solution.
 • Acquisition component This refer to the process involved in learning or acquiring new
behaviour.

• Retention components These are processes that bring to memory what has previously been
experienced.

• Transfer components These are used to relate newly acquired information to a new
situation.

THE WESCHLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN

The Weschler intelligence scale for children (WISC-R where R stands for revised in 1974) can
be administered individually to children between 6 and 16. The test standardisation was
based on a population of 2 200 whites, blacks, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, American
Indians and Orientals in proportion to the country’s total population. The test consists of 12
subtests divided into two parts, verbal tests and performance tests. The six verbal subtest
are test of information, comprehension, arithmetic, similarities, vocabulary and digit span.
The six performance subtests comprise picture completion, picture arrangement block
design, object assembly, coding and mazes. Digit span and mazes are used to test normal
children. Both are verbal and information components constitute a complete IQ scale, with
100 as the mean and a standard deviation of 15. The Weschler scale can be useful in
analysing behaviour such as reaction to stress, coping with failure, use of defence
mechanisms, persistence in approach to intellectual tasks etc.

THE REVISED STANFORD-BINET

The test is also administered individually and measures mental age for the ages 2 to 14
years. For ages 2 to 4, there are six subtest which increases in difficult for every six months
of development. Each subtest represents a month of development. Verbal items are
included when older children and adults are tested.
Example of asked of 6-year-olds are: A bird flies; a fish _An inch is short; a mile is_.
The following question is asked of 7-year-olds: ‘what would you do if you broke something
belonging to someone else?’ When deciding the mental age of a child, one must determine
the level on which the child passed all the test and proceed to the first level on which he
fails a test. The formula IQ=MA/CA X100
IQ=INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT
MA=MENTAL AGE
CHRONOLOGICAL AGE

GROUP TEST
Apart from individually administered test, there are tests which are administered in a group
setting, for example the Lorge- Thorndike Intelligence Test, the Differential Aptitude Test,
the California Test of Mental Maturity, the Otis- Lennon Mental Ability Test and the school
and College Ability Tests. Information on tests of all types can be found in the Buros Mental
Measurement Yearbook. The advantages of group testing are that it is cheaper and less
time-consuming. On the other hand, some individual tests such as the Stanford- Binet and
the WISC-R are more accurate in identifying people of high and low intelligence.
RACIAL (GROUP) DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE
Jensen (1969) argued that just as there are racial anatomical differences, there are also
differences in the brains of different races and thus intelligence is more a product of
heredity than of environment. His theory is known as Jansenism. Jense’s study led him to
the conclusion that the contribution of heredity and environment are in the ratio 80:20, a
position which received support from other psychologists such as Eysenck of the University
of London and Hernstein of Harvard University. Many research studies have shown that the
average IQ among black children in the USA is about 10 to 15 points below the average for
white Americans. Such a difference can be explained as follows:
• IQ tests were developed by middle class whites especially for children of the same class.

• Black children have not been exposed to a situation where they can acquire the skills
measured by such IQ tests.

• Black children do not have the motivation to do their best on such tests.

• Black children do not respond positively when tests are administered by whites.

• Black children often lack self-confidence and self-esteem.

• The English used by blacks does not facilitates their performance, especially on the verbal
components of the IQ tests.

• IQ tests do not measure black children’s talents and experience which is clearly
demonstrated in their way of learning, reasoning and solving problems in an environment
that is not only challenging, but more of ten than not quite threatening.

Psychologists who take a view different from that of Jensen have traced the history of black
people for the last 300 years and observed that 200 of those years were spent in slavery. For
the remaining 100 years their history has been characterised by widespread and systematic
discrimination in the economic, educational, social and political areas. It has also been
argued that only if children are exposed to similar environment can the argument for innate
racial difference have any validity. Research by military personnel during World War II
showed that black soldiers from some northern states of American had higher IQ scores
than the average white IQ scores, including deprived or different environment, economic
suppression, social values, pressure, poor educational opportunities, lack of motivation and
achievement needs etc.

USES OF IQ TESTS
intelligence tests have a variety of uses. Currently there is particular interest in providing for
the needs of special children such as the gifted who can be identified by means of IQ tests.
Second, school psychologists find IQ tests useful in diagnosing pupils with learning problem.
The symptoms of such problems include frustration, anxiety, underachievement, emotional
disturbance, disruptive behaviour and retardation. The results of IQ tests can be used as a
basis for assigning pupils to special programmes or institution. Third tests assist vocational
counsellors and educational counsellors. Fourth, test such as the Wechsler Preschool and
Primary Scale of intelligence and the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities are useful aids
for assessing maturational and development factors and thus for predicting success at
elementary school level.

HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT

Much has been said about the role of Environment and heredity in human development and
there is heated controversy regarding which of the two variable is the more crucial.
According to Hudgins et al (1983:29), the nature-nurture controversy is one of ‘the oldest’
most persistent and most frustrating issues in educational psychology’, and needles to say it
has a bearing on the work of teachers. The cardinal question is whether man is a product of
his heredity, fixed at conception, or a product of his environment which influences him
during his development over a long time.
John Watson an American psychology, believed that environment is all that counts, and to
this end he stated:
Give me a dozen health infants, well-formed and my own specified world to bring them up
in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of
specialist I might select- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant, chief and yes, even beggarman
and thief (Watson 1930:104).
This is the position of an environmentalist, who would argue the people who perform better
on IQ test do so only because the tests are based on the kind of environmental experience
they have had or are still having. For example, in the USA, white, non-southern, urban or
suburban middle-class communities and families provide better environment for developing
the abilities measured by intelligence tests. Such environments expose a child more to the
sights and sounds, words and ideas, problems and solutions that nourish the skills and
knowledge measured by intelligence test (Gage & Berliner 1984:90). Nevertheless, it is
difficult to identify the kinds of experience that give such a child an advantage over others in
IQ tests.
The hereditists, represented by Jensen (1981) and Eysenck, emphasise the role of heredity
in human intelligence as being of overriding importance, while environment makes a very
small contribution. For example, Jensen (1981:1969) says that it is not possible to increase a
person’s IQ using training. He says it is possible to raise IQ scores on certain IQ tests through
training but does not attach much importance to this since he believes that it does not really
raise the overall intelligence of a person.
In the past psychologists tended to side with one of these two positions. Today very few
psychologists would argue that only environment or only heredity plays a crucial role in
human development. Neither heredity nor environment is sufficient to account for
individual differences in intelligence, and this has resulted in the position of interactionism.
Interactionists argue that heredity and environment play equally important roles in
development and interact with each other. Heredity sets the potential, while environment
determines the extent to which it is fulfilled. This is viable position held by many educators
and psychologists (Davis 1983). Arguing whether heredity or environment is more important
to human development is like arguing whether the sperm or the ovum is more important
during conception- without a union of the two conceptions does not occur. Gage Berlines
(1984:90) summarise the controversy as follows: Without hereditary factors, no food, air,
education or other environment factors will produce growth. Without the proper
environment, the hereditary factors are impotent.
CONTRIBUTION OF HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT TO IQ
Identical twins have been used to determine the contribution of genetic and environment,
the assumption (or rather understanding) being that identical twins are genetically identical.
It is argued that if such twins are brought up in separate and different environments, and
yet achieve identical IQ scores, it can be concluded without doubt that their environment
had no bearing on their intelligence. In other words, their IQ scores are a function purely of
heredity. By the same token, if the twins scores show no correlation, then it can be
understood that heredity made no contribution to their IQ scores and that the difference
are the result of their separate environments.
A similar line of reasoning can be extended to the IQ scores of adopted children, their foster
parents, and their real biological parents, but no such correlation between the IQ scores of
adopted children and their foster parents, it can be concluded that environment is
redundant and only heredity determines IQ scores. Conversely, if the IQ scores of adopted
children do not correlate with the IQ scores of their real parents but do correlate with those
of their foster parents, it can be said that heredity does not determine IQ in the manner that
environment does.
Numerous research findings have revealed the following (Bouchard & McGue 1981):
The more closely related two persons are genetically, the higher their IQ correlation
coefficient.
Twins of the same sex are more alike than twins of the opposite sex.
The results of tests administered to individuals and groups are similar and not significantly
different.
The correlation between the IQ scores of a child and its mother is the same as the
correlation between the IQ scores of the child and its father.
The correlation between the IQ scores of a parent and a child not reared by its parent is
about 0.22, compared with 0.50 if the child is reared by its biological parents.
Fraternal twins are more alike than other siblings.
The IQ scores of adopted children do show correlation with those of their nonbiological
parents.
The correlation between unrelated children reared in separate environment is zero,
whereas if the same set of children are brough up in the same environment it rises to about
0.25.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERVENTION
The provision of either an enriched or an impoverished environment may be used to
determine the roles of heredity and environment in intelligence. If an organism placed in
either an impoverished or an enriched environment shows no change in intelligence, it can
be concluded that intelligence is determined by heredity and is unaffected by environment.
On the other hand, if either environment results in a change in intelligence, it can be
concluded that environment does contribute. Studies of this kind have been carried out
using animals and human beings. This discussion is restricted to studies involving human
beings. This discussion is restricted to studies involving human beings.
Skeels selected thirteen mentally retarded children from an orphanage, his aim being to
determine the role of environment in their intelligence. Most of these children were in the
orphanage, because it was difficult to find adoptive parents for them. The children were
divided into two and those of the control group from 81 to 103. The children in both groups
were less than three years old.
The children in the experimental group were taken from the orphanage and given to bright
mentally retarded women, while the children in the control group remained in the
orphanage. The experimental group children were received enthusiastically. They were
taught to walk and to talk, were taken to see movies and were talked to constantly. A
preschool was started for them, the curriculum consisting of dancing, singing, reading and
writing. Over the 21/2 years of the study, the children in the experimental group gained
average of 28,5 IQ points, while those in the control group lost an average of 26 IQ points.
Similarly, in a HeadStart programme in the USA intended to prepare children from low-
income families for formal education, it was reported that the 3 to 4 years old children who
attended the programme made a gain of up to 10 IQ points compared with those who did
not attend the programme. The children maintained this lead for several years during
formal education before the children who had not attended the programme caught up with
them.
Thus, it was argued that the disadvantaged children were admitted to intervention
programmes too late to benefit from the experience, and it was suggested that they should
join such programmes at a much earlier stage, possibly during infancy. Ramey and Haskins
(1981) carried out an experiment of this nature. The children in the experimental group
attended a daycare programme and were provided with a balanced diet, medical attention,
etc. Similarly, facilities were extended to the children in the control group, but they did not
participate in the daycare programme. Various standardised tests were used to assess the
infants’ IQ scores and the IQ scores of the parents. The programme curriculum was based
on Piaget’s theory of intellectual development and what parents expected children to know
at a certain age and other learning experiences. Children were admitted to the programme
when they were three months old and followed it for three years. The results were follows:
• The children in the experimental group maintained their intellectual growth, whereas the IQ
scores of the children in the control group declined.

• The IQ scores of the children in the control group started declining between 12 and 18
months of age, which did not occur among children in the experimental group.

• The difference continued at 48 months and 60 months when improvement was noted
among the control group as result of the subjects attending a preschool programme.

• If the children in the control group had also been exposed to intervention, they would also
have maintained normal intellectual growth.

• The correlation coefficient for mother-child IQ in the control group was like that frequently
predicted based on heredity, whereas in the experimental group the correlation was not
greater than zero. This is interpreted to mean that when the mother is responsible for half of
the child’s genes and most of its environment, there is a high mother-child correlation
coefficient. However, if the mother contributes less to the child’s environment, the
correlation may be less predictable. When mothers provide half the infants’ genes and a
substantial part of the infant’s environment, one can predict a significant provides half the
child’s genes, and a relatively moderate part of the young child’s environment, one cannot
necessarily predict a relation between the mother and child’s IQ (Ramey & Haskins 1981:16)
 • The study partly silenced the argument that low IQ of disadvantaged children is hereditary,
since the study showed that intervention can raise children’s IQ from sub normality to
average intelligence.

It is concluded that intervention does work, and it is matter of providing an appropriate

environment for productive results. This has further support from the Milwaukee
experiment, also in the USA, in which children were admitted to a special programme lasting
from infancy until school age. The gain in IQ was an average of 30 points and the
experimental group maintained a lead over the control group even after having been in
school for several years (Herber & Garber 1979).

STABILY OF GAIN IN IQ SCORES

Children who were in the control group in some intervention programmes such as Headstart
were able to catch up with the experimental group of children after several years of
schooling. This has led some people to question whether intervention programmes are
worth the trouble and cost involved. Ramsey and Haskins (1981:47) respond that the
experimental group’s failure to maintain a lead in IQ scores after several years at school
does not nullify the effect of quality preschool programmes but shows that the school
system has failure to provide disadvantages children with an appropriate, stimulating
environment. The IQ scores of many black children in the USA are known to decline because
the public schools do not adequately support continued intellectual growth among poor and
black children…Possibly …the public-school curriculum is particularly attuned to te needs of
middle-class students.
Quality preschool programmes that can facilitate intellectual development are those which
provide for small classes and individuals attention, and which follow a well-planned
curriculum.

TRANSFER OF LEARNING

INTRODUCTION

So far learning and retention have been discussed. The question to be addressed now is
what else will the student do with the material he has learned ad retained?
The goal of education goes beyond mere learning and retention-the learner is expected to
use his newly acquired knowledge outside the school environment, for example for personal
accomplishment, in professional skills, in social adjustment and to facilitate subsequent
learning. In this context, Reilly and Lewis (1983:180) sate: the hope that what is learned in
the classroom will transfer to life outside the classroom is basic in teaching, for if we could
not demonstrate transfer, we would be unable to justify school at all’. Transfer of learning
means that what is learned in one situation facilities learning in a similar, but different
situation. Whatever is learned in school ought to be applicable at school and/or outside
school, and teachers should strive to achieve this.
Two principles must be borne in mind with regard to transfer of learning, namely
generalisation and discrimination. A pupil should be able to generalise, in other words, to
relate what he has learned to other, similar, settings. Discrimination implies that a pupil
should be able to come to the conclusion that some settings are quite different, and that
therefore the same application cannot be set in motion and a different approach must be
found.

DOCTRINE OF FORMAL DISCIPLINE

Years ago, psychologists and educators’ supporters a theory known as ‘formal discipline’ or
‘mental discipline’ or faculty psychology’, which argued that the mind has distinct faculties,
namely memory reason, will and judgement. It stated that just as muscles are strengthened
by exercise, so these faculties are strengthened and the student’s intellect is sharpened by
being faced with difficult subjects such as Latin, Greek, mathematics and logic. For example
it was thought that mathematics was good for developing children’s logic and science
facilitated the ability to observe. Learning Latin and history or geography was considered
useful for facilitating one’s capacity to remember (memory)
The doctrine of formal discipline developed because of the observation that pupils taking
Latin, geometry and Greek performed better in other subjects than those not taking Latin,
geometry and Greek. In 1913 and 1932 Thorndike challenged the concept of formal
discipline by comparing the gains in IQ scores of those studying the difficult subjects with
those studying vocational orientated subjects such as bookkeeping. It was predicted that if
indeed the more difficult subjects improve one’s intellect, then those studying such subjects
should gain more in IQ than others. No difference was observed. What was obvious,
however, was that the more intelligent students took difficult subjects, which is different
from saying that they were intelligent because they took difficult subjects.

TRANSFER OF LEARNING
In view of this today we argue that we teach pupils for transfer of training or learning. In
other words, it is assumed that whatever is taught to pupils will have a bearing on their
subsequent learning, or some application in real life. Arithmetic is taught because it is
relevant to daily life. A similar argument could be made for the teaching of psychology or
education in general. Courses in education are taught because it is believed that they are
likely to facilitate students becoming good teachers. If this were not the case, then there
would be no need for trained teachers.

TYPE OF TRANSFER
There are different ways in which information learned in one situation can be used in
another situation. Some of the types of transfer are listed and described:
• Identical elements The greater the similarity between what has been learned and the
transfer situation, the more likely transfer is. If pupils have learned about letter writing and
are then given an assignment which involves writing letter or reading material related to
letter writing, it can be said that the elements are identical. As such, transfer is likely to
occur more easily.

• Positive transfer This means what has been learned in situation A can be transferred to what
is to be learned in situation B. For example, a knowledge of mathematics facilitates the
learning of physics. Positive transfer is closely related to what has been said about identical
elements. Positive transfer can also be illustrated on the basis of what may happen to a
teacher who has learnt about the importance of reinforcement in human behaviour. Does
such a teacher use reinforcement as an integral part of his teaching? If he does, then there is
 a positive transfer of what he has learnt. Another example of a positive transfer is a teacher
who has taught pupils about the use of tenses in English or some African language may give
pupils an assignment which will test the extent to which they can apply what they have
learnt. If they do well, it can be concluded that positive transfer has occurred.

• Negative transfer If what has been learned previously or in a certain setting hinders learning
in another situation, the transfer is said to be negative. An example of negative transfer is
what happens when regular verbs are used in the past tense. They all end with ---'ed’ and
therefore a person who has learnt the past tense of regular verbs will tend to apply the
same principle to irregular verbs such as ‘sleep’, eat ‘,sweep’,’ teach,’ etc. A pupil’s
knowledge of the past tense of regular verbs does not help him in his understanding of
irregular verbs. In fact, it hinders his understanding of such verbs because of his tendency to
treat them as regular past tense verbs. It could also be argued that the way many words are
pronounced in most African language results in negative transfer in African pupils learning to
pronounce English words since the sound of the languages are not same.

• Zero transfer What is learned in situation A does not affect what is learned in situation B. for
example, being good at history does not guarantee that one will be good at mathematics or
vice versa. Zero transfer could also be used in the sense that pupils do not transfer what
they have learnt to other situations, be they real life situations or involving school learning.
An example would be a pupil who has learnt the importance of boiling water drawn from a
well or river before drinking it and yet does not do so. For whatever reason, the pupil is not
relating what he has learnt to a real-life situation. For whatever reason, the pupil’s situation,
a pupil may be given a formula for finding out the area of a rectangle (length x width) and
yet does not apply this knowledge when he is given problems to solve. In both cases it can
be concluded that cause the two learning situations are unrelated, in the other two, the
pupil does not see a relation between two related learning situations or chooses not to
make use of such knowledge.

• Vertical transfer Having learned a certain body of skills or information facilitates one’s
understanding of complex and advanced skills in a related field. For example, knowing how
to add facilitates being able to multiply.

• Lateral transfer As a result of having learned certain information, one is able to solve a
problem of a similar nature in a different context.

FACILITATING TRANSFER IN THE CLASSROOM

As has been pointed out, one of the objectives of teachers is to ensure that what is taught in
the classroom has some relevance to subsequent learning or can be achieved are discuses
here.
As a teacher proceeds with his lesson, he should pause every now and then to point out
how what is being studied will transfer to other lessons or to life in general. For example,
primary school pupils who are learning to spell can be told that a mastery of spelling will
enhance their performance now and at the secondary level in reading and writing.
As far as possible, what is being taught should be related to a real-life situation. For
example, pupils can given mathematics problems based on real-life experience, and when
learning sentence structure and grammar, public should be taught that such knowledge will
be useful to them in public speaking and in writing letters and essays. Home economics
public can be made to prepare meals for special occasions organised by the school (e.g.
farewell or graduation parties) and thus put what they have learned to use.
When there is possibility of negative transfer occurring, the differences between the two
types of learning or learning situations should be made to practise what they learn. For
example, children who have just started school may have problems differentiating b from d.
their attention should be drawn to the perceptual difference between the letters, and they
should be made b before proceeding to the letter d, the effect of negative transfer will be
minimised.
Pupils should be given adequate opportunity to practice what they have learned, with as
many problems as justify the exercise. Instead of only one way of transferring what has
been learned, the pupils should be presented with several possible ways of using the same
information in different ways. For example, in the case of b and d, pupils can be asked to
print big ‘B’s and little ‘b’s black b’s and white’s b’s and be exposed to words beginning with
the letter b. Or, if pupils have been taught to find the area of a square, they should also be
given the appropriate formulae and asked to find the area of a triangle, rectangle and a
circle. Transfer can also be fostered by drawing the pupils’ attention to the relationship
between what is known and what unknown in terms of similarity and continuity. This makes
learning a little easier, since the pupils get to know how the two sets of learning are
interpreted imping on each other.
Projects and games which are fun for the children can be used to foster transfer. Other
instruments of transfer are homework, guest speakers and demonstrations.
Pupils should be encouraged to ask questions about and comment on the material covered.
This will give the teacher an idea as to how well the subject has been understood and can be
transferred to other situations and also provides him or her with an opportunity to explain
further where the material has not been grasped. The tests set by the teacher should aim
partly at finding out how well the pupils can transfer what they have learned. This will
encourage pupils to relate what they have studied to real life situation or other learning
experiences, which helps them engage in meaningful learning as opposed to rote learning.
Finally, the teacher must try to understand how the learner perceives the possibility of
transfer (empathy). Teachers teach what they know, have prepared, and organised. They
should try to see things from the pupil’s point of view, the teacher will capitalise on the
pupil’s background and thus offer more practical examples of transfer.

STUDYING EFFECTIVELY
Basic to transfer is the premise that what has been learned can be transferred, if it is well
learned. This section looks at some of the ways teachers and their pupils can learn
effectively, whatever they may be attempting to master and retain. Some of the effective
means of learning are distributed verses massed practice, recitation versus reading and
whole versus part learning.

DISTRIBUTED vs MASSED PRACTICE

When short practice periods, separated by rest intervals are used, this is known as
distributed practice. There are times, however, when an individual continues to work until
the material has been mastered. This is called ‘massed practice’. Research indicates that
distributed practice leads to better comprehension than massed practice.
Distributed learning practice is preferred for a number of reasons:
A prolonged work unit may be less effective due to fatigue setting in.
A short work unit usually produces higher motivation than a long one because the
reinforcement of reaching a goal occurs more often.
The pause allows for consolidation of information to take place. This leads to better
retention of what has been learned.
There is evidence to show that organisms resist early repetition of a long-practice act-known
as reactive inhibition. This may account for the ineffectiveness of massed learning. Rest
periods reduce such resistance. In summary, massed practice may not be useful because of:
➢ Fatigue

➢ Lower motivation

➢ Poorer recall of what has been learned

➢ Reactive inhibition

➢ Lack of consolidation

There are times, however, when massed practice may be necessary. For example, if skilled
workers are needed urgently, there may be little time available in which to complete the
syllabus required. Crash programmes for teachers may be used when many of them is
required. A similar situation is when students cram for examinations. ‘knowledge’ acquired
by means of cramming is easily forgotten unless revised. Massed practice may also improve
the performance of individual who take a long time to warm up before they start working
effectively.

RECITATION vs READING
In memory work, the value of recitation versus mere reading has been investigate.
Recitation as used here does not mean simply reading aloud but actively trying to recall the
material being learned. In one experiment, large groups of children from several grades
memorised nonsense syllables and historical information. One group of children spent 100%
of their time reading, while a comparable group spent 80% of their time reading and 20%
reciting what they had read. Another group spent 60% of their time reading and 40%
reciting. The fourth group spent 20% of the time reading and 80% reciting. The result was
that the larger the proportion of time spent on reciting, the greater the efficiency of
learning. The reasons for recitation being more effective may be as follows:
• Reading with the anticipation of reproducing what he is reading raises the learners’ level of
motivation.

• Every time the learner reproducing what he has read he is rewarded. If he is not able to do
so, the feeling of having failed is equivalent to punishment.

• Recitation gives the learner an idea as to how well he is doing.

• Recitation gives the learner a clearer picture of how he is doing than passive reading.

• A person who recites as he learns is practising the type of performance he aims to achieve.
WHOLE vs PART LEARNING
Is it the best to study something by breaking it up inro small piece, or by looking at is as a
whole? Studies of whole and part-learning indicate that the learner is often happier with
and better adjusted to the task if he parts together requires additional work. The solution
may be to start with the whole and then pay special attention to what may be more
difficult.

KNOWLEDGE OF ERESULT
If effective learning of both verbal and motor skills is to occur, there must be some feedback
on performance or knowledge of results. Comparisons of group that are given feedback and
group that receive no feedback indicate that the performance of the former is superior.
Performance associated with knowledge of result improves because of:
• Repetition of responses known to be successful

• Attempt to correct response known to be inadequate

• Enhanced motivation- subjects working with knowledge of their results find the task more
interesting and try harder to improve their performance. Feedback does not necessarily
have to come at the end of the task. Constant feedback may be necessary in the
development of complex motor skills.

INCIDENTAL vs INTENTIONAL LEARNING

It must be pointed out that unless there is an intention to learn, no learning will take place.
A teacher who reads a list of words that his pupils are supposed to learn does not
automatically learn the list merely because he has gone through it. It has been reported that
a person who read the same morning prayer in church over 5 000 times over a period of 25
years was not able to recite it without the book before him. Had he made a calculated effort
to master the prayer, it would have taken him far less than 5 000 times to do so. Sometimes
a pupil may be reading a book, but his mind is elsewhere. This means that he has been
reading without the intention of learning what he is reading.
Sometimes a person learns without having the intention to learn. For example, while
studying in Canada, the author knew the names of all the minister in the federal
government of Canada, and the names of the provinces, their capitals and their premiers,
although he had made no deliberate effort to acquire this information. In such a case, it
must be assumed that there is motivation to learn, although it may not be obvious.
Research has shown that intentional learning is more efficient than incidental learning. For
example, one group of students was asked to read a list of nonsense words to another
group of students who were required to learn them. The latter students were found to learn
the nonsense words more effectively than the former, it is possible for students to be in
class yet not learn what is being taught, because their minds are preoccupied with other
matters.

SQ3R
Another effective way of studying is the SQ3R stands for survey, question, read, recite, and
review.
Survey involves obtaining an overview of the chapter or topic before reading it. This may be
done by noting the topics and subtopics.
In the question phase the pupil survey the entire task once again, this time asking himself
questions suggested by the topic and subtopic headings. This step involves some of the
principles used in discovery learning. No notes should be taken in the reading stage. the
learner should simply read the material from beginning to end.
Recitation may be the most important step. The pupil recites the information he has
surveyed, questioned and read. This step is of special importance, because it is used in
classroom and examination situation. It is advisable to spend more time reciting than
reading. Recitation may be oral or written. In reviewing the pupil compares his performance
with the material he has read and notes his errors and omissions.

DISCLIPLINE AND CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

A school can be regarded as a social institution, and an important one for that matter. As an
institution, it must have certain basic regulations governing, controlling and directing the
behaviour of its members, the majority of whom are pupils. In such a setting discipline is
important since without it the purpose of the school cannot be achieved effectively.
Discipline implies control, without which there would be anarchy and chaos, and learning
would not take place effectively.
The problem of discipline is not new in African schools. Pupils defy the teachers ‘authority,
thus creating a state of tension and hostility. However, such problems can be resolved, and
a study of discipline helps to achieve this.
To begin with, it is appropriate that we identify the causes that necessitate discipline. There
are many causes and therefore only a few are discussed here. Misbehaviour in school and
the classroom may originate in the child himself, the school, the society, the curriculum, the
child’s parents or the teachers.

THE CHILD
Several child-related factors may be responsible for a pupil’s misbehaviour in class. First, he
may well have been raised to behave in ways which are not congruent with the behaviour
expected of him at school. It is also common for a child to misbehave to conform to peer
expectations and avoid rejection (Sian & Onwuegbuzie 1980). Other causes of misbehaviour
by a child are immaturity-he simply does not know any better-and developmental problems.
Frustration at home or at school may result in misbehaviour, as many the approval and
recognition pupil receive from his peers for challenging the teacher’s authority.
Misbehaviour such as cheating in tests may be motivated by the desire to avoid making
mistakes and being punished.

THE HOME
A child who does not receive love and good care from his parents is likely to have no respect
for them and may well extend this perception of adults to all the other figures of authority I
his life, including his teachers and school itself. Often parents are unable to control their
children, who transfer their way of relating at home to the school situation.
It also happens that a child becomes so preoccupied with problems at home, for example
the marital problems being experienced by his parents, he is unable to concentrate at
school to do piece work to help supplement their income.
Parents themselves may foster misbehaviour by their children. Often, they interfere in what
the teacher is doing and refuse to allow their children to be punished, irrespective of what
they have done. Some parents criticize the teacher in front of their children, telling him or
her what he or she may and may not do to them. Obviously, parents must have a say in the
way their children are taught and treated, but it would be in their best interest to trust that
most teachers know what they are doing, and to refrain from interfering in their work unless
they do something outrageous. There are parents who have little regard for education. Their
children are unlikely to see any reason to obey school rules.

SOCIETY
Society too must bear its share of the responsibility for the misbehaviour of children at
school-what happens at school is merely a reflection of what is going on in society (Gage &
Berliner 1984). Through the media, children are exposed to violence and see their peers nd
adults defying authority. They model such behaviour and apply it to their relationship with
other children at school and with the school itself.
The oppression and exploitation of and contemptuous attitudes to wards one ethnic group
on the part of others may lead to resentment and resistance in the oppressed group. This
may manifest not only in society, but also within its social institution, such as schools.

THE SCHOOL
For various reasons schools may also be source of a lack of discipline and misbehaviour
among children. The school rules and regulations may be not only rigid and strict, but also
punitive and unnecessary. If the classes are large and crowded, it is difficult for the teachers
to maintain control. Undesirable behaviour on the part of children in such classes may well
be the result of their being uncomfortable and therefore unable to concentrate.
Misbehaviour in this context may be a way of realising tension. Pupils may also experience
discomfort because of poor ventilation or extremes of temperature in classroom.
Inadequate supervision of the pupils during breaks may give the older, stronger pupils the
opportunity to bully the others.
Another factor affecting discipline in schools is the authority vested in the teacher. In some
schools, certain disciplinary measures may be administered by the principal only. The
principal is only one person with handedly with all the disciplinary problems in the school.

THE CURRICULUM
For many African children, obtaining an education is a prerequisite for securing a good job.
In recent year, more children have completed their primary and secondary education than
during pre-independence days and roughly the first ten years after independence. The
creation of employment has not kept up with the increases in the number of pupils
graduating from primary and secondary school, so that supply is greater than demand.
Therefore, many such pupils are unable to find work in either the public or the private
sector, which implies that the curriculum offered by schools is irrelevant to one of their
most important needs. This can be a source of misbehaviour at school.
In addition, pupils may perceive some subjects as having no bearing on their lives at all. The
author recalls that when he was pupil in Uganda, woodwork was one of the subjects offered
during the first two years of one mission high school. Woodwork was not one of the
subjects examined in the Cambridge School Certificate examinations sat by pupils on
completion of high school, and therefore was perceive by pupils as being less important
than the subjects examined in the final examination. Furthermore, the students saw
themselves as potential candidates for white collar jobs, for which woodwork would not be
required. Therefore, interest in and attendance at woodwork classes was very low. It could
also be that the curriculum offered is either not challenging enough or is too difficult foe
some of the students, which is likely to cause frustration and result in misbehaviour as a way
of passing time and venting frustration.

THE TEACHER
Teachers seldom acknowledge their culpability for disciplinary problems at school. The
blame is usually laid on the pupils and their parents, who did not bring them up properly’.
However, teacher can cause children to misbehave because of the way in which they
interact with them at school, particularly in the classroom.
Some teachers have very little regard for pupils, feelings and ridicule belittle and humiliate
them, which does not contribute the teacher and his pupils. A teacher cannot expect his
pupils to like and respect him if he does not show them that he likes and respects them.
Some teachers are punitive, rapid and know no other method of disciplining children except
through corporal punishment.
Furthermore, some teachers come to class unprepared, drunk, late or improperly dressed,
which is highly unlikely to engender respect for them among their pupils. Some teachers use
the classroom as a platform for destructive criticism of the pupils’ parents and culture,
believing themselves to have some sort of immunity regarding arousing the children’s
resentment.
Teachers can also contribute to disciplinary problems in the classroom by giving their pupils
assignment that are too difficult for them, being unable to answer their questions
satisfactorily, or setting unreasonable and inflexible deadlines for assignments, and having
groups of favoured and disliked pupils.

HOW TO MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE IN THE CLASSROOM

Having identified some of the origins of classroom discipline problems we will focus on how
discipline can be maintained in a classroom in the process of teacher-pupil interaction.
The teacher must make it clear what the objective of his lesson is, so that pupils can
approach it in a purposeful way, with the aim of achieving certain gaols. The work pupils are
given should be neither too easy nor too difficult for them. If the work is too easy, the pupils
will probably consider it a waste of time and an insult to their intelligence, but if it is too
difficult, they are likely to experience failure and frustration and, ultimately, to give. In
either case, inappropriate behaviour is likely to occur.
Moreover, the teacher’s preparation for his lesson can result in improvements in classroom
management. A teacher wo is well prepared exudes a sense of self-confidence, and his
pupils will perceive him or her as being well organised. It is imperative that new teachers or
teachers who are working with a new class overprepare rather than therefore that they
have no time to waste. They will also feel that their time is consider valuable and that the
teacher is in control.
Whatever is being taught, the lesson should be presented in such a manner that the pupils’
interests will be aroused and sustained for the duration of the period. It is also essential
that, with assignment, pupils are given clear instructions as to how they should proceed.
Their progress must be monitored, and individual questions should be attended to as they
work on the assignment. The teacher should consider this to be spar time for sitting in the
staff room or knitting or writing letters, as has often been observed in a number of our
African school.
A person’s name signifies his identity, and most pupils find it satisfying to know that a
person as important as a teacher knows them by name. therefore, a teacher should learn his
pupils’ names as quickly as he can. This is likely to make them feel positively about him and
that they are welcome in his class. Having learned their names, the teacher should-make a
point of using them as often as possible to ensure that he does not forget them, for example
when greeting them, talking to them, or asking them to do something.
The teacher and pupils should collaborate in drawing up a set of rules regarding what is
expected of the pupils in class. These rules should be kept to a minimum and should be
workable, reasonable and clear. Although they exist to be obeyed, transgressions should not
result in chaos and panic. The teacher should discuss any violation of the rules calmly with
the pupil concerned to find out what caused it. He should be prepared to listen to the pupils
and show an interest in their learning and success. He should intervene to help pupils as
soon as he can and praise them where such reinforcement is warranted. If criticism is
necessary, it should be aimed at the offence rather than the pupil as a person.
A teacher should be known for a strive for the following quantities: friendliness and
firmness, competence and positive self-concept. In dealing with pupils, he should show that
he is both reasonable and consistent and should give them the impression that he knows
what he is doing. This is especially important when a teacher starts working with a new
class. Finally, always the teacher must show that he is in charge, competent, confident and
prepared for the lesson, and act in a professional and businesslike yet pleasant and
supportive manner.

DEALING WITH MISBEHAVIOUR

Despite taking the preceding precautions, a teacher could still find him self dealing with a
situation where preventive measures have failed, and he must take some sort of action
concerning an undesirable behaviour on the pupil. There are as many ways as possible of
dealing with such a situation, but only a few are discussed here. Research has shown that
reprimanding and pupil privately is more effective than doing so publicly. Better still, the
teacher could discuss the misbehaviour with the pupil at an appropriate time. The pupil is
likely to take heed of this courteous warning. If a pupil does not do or complete assignment
and the teacher’s attempts to change this behaviour are unsuccessful, he should bring the
problem to the attention of the principal or the pupils’ parents or the school counsellor
(MOULY 1982)
Seifert (1983) suggests several ways of dealing with classroom problems. If a pupil
misbehaves during a learning activity, the teacher may take one of the following actions:
• Give the pupil a long, hard look to show that you are not pleased with what he is doing and
that the sooner he stops doing it the better.

• Simply draw the pupil’s attention to the undesirable behaviour.

• Command the pupil to pay attention to what is going on.

• Draw the attention of the misbehaving pupil to that of a pupil who is behaving
appropriately.

• Ignore the behaviour and praise positive behaviour

The teacher can also maintain discipline by moving in the direction of a misbehaviour pupil
without stopping what he is doing. Undesirable behaviour could also be brought under
control simply by asking the pupil concerned a relevant question. Troublesome students
may be made to sit in the front row where the teacher can keep an eye on them. Where the
teacher detects tension and a state of restlessness among the class, he should find out
whether the pupil need help with their work and give it where possible. Otherwise, he may
crack a joke to realise the tension (Hama check 1985). Various minor misbehaviours, such as
an occasional whisper or the passing od a note, should be ignored since they are not worth
worrying about.

PUNISHMENT
Punishment means being subjected to a painful stimulus or having a pleasant one removed
due to engaging in undesirable behaviour. Punishment may take the form of suspension,
corporal punishment, manual work, explosion, dismissal, isolation, detention after school,
scolding written lines, restitution, being sent to the headmaster and being deprived of
certain privileges. The types of misbehaviour for which punishment may justifiably be
administered are disrespect for teachers or authority, tardiness, fighting, vandalism, missing
classes, failing to do assignment making a noise in class, chewing gum in class, not paying
attention in class and cheek.
Punishment is used world-wide as a means of controlling undesirable behaviour, though in
some parts of the world it is used extensively and freely, partly because teachers do not
know any better due to the low level of education, and partly because there are no legal
measures in existence to restrain its use, particularly in the form of corporal punishment.
This description fits the African setting, where many of the teachers are either
professionally untrained or have such a low level of education that they have not received
sufficient exposure to the principles of classroom management. They tend to interact with
their pupil in much the same way as they themselves were dealt with as pupil many years
ago. This is a vicious circle, and a way of ending it should be treated as a top priority indeed,
the way in which some teachers interact with their pupils makes the classroom a war
ground. This type of ambience has survived because there is hardly any law prohibiting
teachers from ill-treating pupils. If there are laws of this nature, then they remain
unenforced. The author is aware of a few children in Africa who have been killed or
physically injured in the course of being discipline by teachers for misbehaviour. Common
sense and simple human dignity demand that African children be treated much better than
this.
The use of punishment is a controversial issue, with some psychologists focus of the
controversy is the use of corporal punishment and severe forms of punishment. For
example, Bowd et al (1982:206) suggest that ‘The best policy regarding corporal punishment
is to avoid it completely’. Those in favour say, ‘it is quick, easily available and apparently
effective’. (Rose 1984:427). They argue further that the use of punishment reduces or
eliminates an undesirable behaviour and serves as a lesson for other pupils not to engage in
similar behaviour.
On the other hand, those who are against the use of corporal punishment state that it is not
an effective means of controlling undesirable behaviour, and that its effects do not justify its
use. For example, because of being punished, a child may develop hatred for school,
teachers and learning in general. In some cases, it may lead to absenteeism or dropping out
of school altogether. Moreover, teachers who use spinking, slapping, whipping and beating
serve as models for the solving of problems by violence. It is probable that one reason for
corporal punishment being used so commonly in some African schools is modelling (Omari
1982; Cooksey 1986). Studies done in the USA have shown that parents during childhood.
If corporal punishment is felt to be necessary and justifiable, the following factors should be
taken into consideration when administering it:
• Punishment should be used rarely, sparingly and as a last resort.

• Before a pupil is punished, he should be told why he is being punished.

• Punishment should be administered as soon as an offence is committed so that a link is

made between the offence and the punishment.

• The punishment should be strong enough to bring the undesirable behaviour a under
control. However, care should be taken to ensure that the offender is not punished to the
point of being physically or psychologically injured.

• A teacher should not administer punishment when he is very angry or upset, since he is
likely to be too severe and inclined to appease his own anger instead of helping the pupil.

• If punishing a child is likely to make him a hero before his classmates, or lead to defiance,
then the punishment should be postponed and administer where it is not likely to have such
an effect.

• Once the offender has been punished, he should not be given the impression that he no
longer merits the teacher’s love and care.

• There the teacher should look for desirable behaviour for which the pupil can be reinforced.

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Definition of personality
The difficult of defining personality is reflected to some extent in the number of definitions
advanced by psychologist, some of which may seem rather contradictory due to
psychologist differing views of the nature of man. Lefrancois (1980:420) defines personality
as the stable characteristics of a person, including abilities, talents, habits, preference,
weakness, moral, attributes, and a number of other important qualities that vary from one
person to another’. Similarly, Gage and Berliner (1984:165) state that ‘Personality is the
integration of all of a person’s traits, abilities, and motives as well as his or her
temperament, attitudes, opinions, beliefs emotional response, cognitive styles, character
and morals’. Travers (1972) is of the opinion that there is no universal definition of
personality and that none of the numerous definitions can be dismissed as wrong. In his
view, personality means what a person essentially is, regardless of how he is understood by
others.
Personality involves the whole person and his major dimension such as the physical, social,
mental, and emotional assets and liabilities. (Mouly 1982). In other words, personality may
be said to be the sum of what a person is, why he is the way he is, the way he appears and
the way he is interpreted by others (Hurlock 1974).
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Some of the personality traits which feature in personality theories are honesty, generosity,
rudeness, cruelty, rigidity, emotionality, egocentrism, temperament, disposition, emotional
tendencies, and way of thinking, feeling and interacting with others (Hurlock 1974; Jersild,
Brook & Brook 1978). It is debatable whether these traits are genetically or environmentally
determined. Gage and Berliner (1984:194) state: We do not always know the origins of
traits, but we think the environment is responsible for shaping and maintaining the
behaviour we call traits. It is significant that Gage and Berliner (1984) attach great
importance to the role of environment, since this makes the teacher’s task of shaping his
pupil’s personality viable and relevant.
There are as many personality theories as there are schools of psychology. This can be
explained by a number of factors, one of which is that no single personality theory can
completely account for man’s dynamic and complex nature (Dushkin 1970). It is therefore
imperative to examine as many theories as possible, since this is likely to contribute to a
comprehensive grasp of human personality. The variety of personality theories can also be
accounted for by the fact that ‘each theory tends to look at different behaviour or to study
the same behaviour in difference ways (Pervin 1975:5).

RATIONALE FOE THE STUDY OF PERSONALITY

It is not enough merely to say that it is important that practising and prospective teachers
study personality. Therefore, a rationale will be given for the study of personality.
Psychologists believe that personality can play an important role in whether one
experiences success or failure in life, (Hurlock 1974). If personality in indeed important to a
successful life, then it is logical that people should get to know a little more about it. This is
particularly true for teachers, who due to the nature of their profession are constantly
interacting with pupils with the objectives of facilitating their success at school and in the
world at work after graduation. Travers (1972) points out that teachers should study
personality theory to enhance their understanding of themselves, as well as the pupils they
are likely to work with. The importance of self-understanding and understanding one’s
pupils cannot be overemphasised- a teacher cannot claim to understand his pupils if he does
not understand himself. Nor can a teacher be successful in his teaching if he does not have
an adequate knowledge of human behaviour as reflected in personality theory. A teacher
who has some knowledge of personality traits will be more likely to be able to predict a
pupil’s behaviour in a variety of situations and therefore to deal with the pupil in productive
and meaningful way. For example, knowledge of the social learning theory of personality
will alert teachers to the numerous opportunities available to pupils to learn through
modelling, and to the fact that pupils are likely to learn from their teachers not only the
subject matter that they teach, but also whatever else they demonstrate I their verbal and
non-verbal behaviour. Therefore, the behaviour of teachers must be exemplar in all
respects.

HOW PERSONALITY DEVELOPS

Given the importance of personality, it is important that both practicing and prospective
teachers are conversant with how it develops. Hurlock (1974) remarks that many people
believe that personality in inherited, and if a child engages in undesirable behaviour such as
stealing, they are likely to say he inherited such behaviour from his parents. The implication
of such a belief is that nothing can be done to change the behaviour, since it is genetically
determined. It is important for teachers to note that a person’s personality is a result of the
interaction between heredity and environment. Regarding heredity, it can be argued that
there is a limitation on a person's personality development. For example, a person with a
low level of intelligence is unlikely to adjust to his environment adequately nor to develop
the personality of a leader even if he has an that learning is crucial in the development of
personality, since personality traits are acquired through the process of learning.
Mouly (1982) states that noy only does a person’s personality effect his environment, but he
is affected by his environment, so the there is constant interaction between a person’s
personality and his environment as influencing personally development, including under
environment as influencing personality development, including under environmental factors
the home, the school and peers. He stressed the home as being the most influential of the
environment factors in establishing personality and state that the relationship between
mother and child during infancy and early childhood is extremely important. This
observation agrees with Hurlock’s (1974) statement that the relationship between a child
and the member of his are crucial in determining his personality development. ‘Since the
child’s early social experiences are mainly with his parents, it is they who play the dominant
role in moulding his personality pattern’(Hurlock 1974:352).
Hurlock (1974:322) goes on to observe that the school is the second most important social
agency of personality development.’ Next no parents, teachers have more influence on the
development of a child’s personality than any other group of people’. If the value system
taught home is like that upheld by the school, the two will complement. On the other hand,
if the system is different, they will cause conflict and uncertainty in the child regarding
which system he should identify with.
The most powerful argument that can be used in favour of studying personality is that
personality traits are required through learning (Gage& Berliner 1984). It is important that
teachers know this, since it means assist in this process by exposing pupils to appropriate
experience that are likely to influence their personality development. Further, it shows that
certain undesirable behaviour exhibited by pupils can be changed.

PSYCHOANALYTIC VIEW OF PERSONALITY

Introduction

Sigmund Freud, a medical doctor and psychiatrist from Vienna, Austria, founded the school
of psychology known as psychoanalysis. The primary function of psychoanalysis was to deal
with people who were emotionally disturbed and thus, unlike other schools of thought, the
psychoanalytic view of personality was based on evidence gathered from abnormal
psychology. However, this does not diminish the contribution made by psychoanalysis to
our understanding of personality development as reflected in human behaviour.
Freud started his study of human behaviour by using hypnosis, which he believed was
effective in getting an insight into a parson’s behavioural problems. Although hypnosis was
partially effective in extracting some of the causes of mental problems. Freud felt that there
was need for a better method that would enable patients/clients to understand the nature
of their problems better. He therefore introduced what he referred to as free association, in
which the patient was invited and encouraged to express everything in his mind,
irrespective of whether it was pleasant or unpleasant. Freud believed that such revelation
was useful in enabling both the therapist and client to arrive at the cause of the patient’s
disturbance and thus to deal with it so that the patient could resume a normal life.
The rationale for such an approach is that man’s unconscious wields considerable influence
over his behaviour. This is summarised by Brenner (1980:268), psychoanalyst, as follows:
Every psychoanalyst is, among other things a study of the life history of an individual. It is a search for chief
events of that life, of their psychological consequences. Its main concern is rather with those parts of his life
which every man keeps concealed not only from those about him but from himself as well. It is the story of
the hidden forces and events which underlie the visible circumstances of every man’s life, which determine
them, and which give them the shape and sequence that we recognize as human.
Of course, this challenges our fundamental belief that we can control our own minds. Freud
would argue that without being aware of it, we are controlled by external forces such as
wishes, fears, emotions and conflicts, and his theory aims at making the unconscious
processes known so that an individual can be in position to understand his behaviour and
make changes as the situation warrants (Baldwin 1980). Freud’s theory has many
dimensions, but this discussion will concentrate on four aspects, namely levels of
personality, structure of personality, psychosexual stages and defence mechanisms.

LEVELS OF PERSONALITY
According to Freud there are three levels of personality, namely the conscious, the
preconscious or sub conscious, and the unconscious, which lie on a continuum ranging from
consciousness through preconsciousness to unconsciousness. Being conscious means being
actively aware of what is going to here and now. Freud argued that the conscious state,
which changes from time to time, constitutes only a portion of our total psychological life
and is by no means the prime cause of behaviour.
The preconscious contains life experiences that can be brought to consciousness if sufficient
attention is directed to them. For example, now your attention is focussed on what you are
reading, which means that you are actively using your conscious levels of personality. You
are not actively aware that you have a bank account or parents, but if you were required to
retrieve such information, which is at the subconscious level, you could do so with ease. The
preconscious also has the function of blocking unconscious experiences from emerging at
the conscious level and therefore serves as buffer zone.
The unconscious stores ideas, events and experiences that have been repressed and
therefore are not readily available to the conscious, except in subtle ways through a
person’s behaviour or a slip of the tongue or dreams. The unconscious, although not
available to a person’s consciousness, is regarded as being responsible for most of man’s
behaviour (Smith & Vetter 1982).

STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY
Personality consist of three components- the id, the ego and the superego-which are a
construct as opposed to something that is real and verifiable by observation. The three
components of personality work together interactionally for the maintenance of proper
personality adjustment. As soon as they fail to do so, a person becomes maladjusted.
‘Personality disturbance are simply reflections of unresolved conflicts between superego
and id’ (LaFrance’s 1980:429).

ID
The id, the first level of personality structure, is characterised of a child during first years of
life and continues to be part of personality for the rest of man’s existence. The primary
objectives of the id is pleasure and the avoidance of painful experience, and it represents
the most unsocialised aspect of a child.
The function of the id is to maintain a balanced amount of energy or tension within an
individual. Therefore, if there is an increase in tension, the id seeks immediate ways of
either eliminating or reducing excessive tension (Gatchel & Mears 1982). The carrying out of
this function is controlled by the pleasure principle, and therefore logic or moral standards
are irrelevant and need not impend the operation of the id.
The id draws no distribution between right and wrong or between what is possible and what
is impossible; all that matters is the spontaneous expression of its emotion regardless of
time, place, or appropriateness of behaviour. It is characterised as irrational, demanding,
asocial, uninhibited, disorganised, amoral and illogical (Ewen 1984; LeFranc Ios 1980).
The above description of the id is typical of a newborn infant who is totally unsocialised
during its first year or so. Young children are guided but their emotions, so they cry easily
and throw temper tantrums when frustrated. When they want something, they want it
without the slightest delay (Baldwin 1980). Occasionally, some of these characteristics of
the id can be seen in adults, which shows that the id has influence over adult too.

EGO
As a result of the process of socialisation, the id grows into the ego, which is governed by
the reality principle. The ego has an abiding interest in pleasure, differencing from the id
only in that it is prepared to withhold pleasure until it can be gratified in a socially
acceptable and legitimate way. The ego engages in a realistic process of planning as it seeks
ways and means of responding to the pressing demands of the id.
Because of the careful nature of the ego, a person can avoid making errors, eating food
which may taste good (satisfy the pleasure principle) and yet endanger life because it is
poisonous, and parental punishment for pleasurable yet undesirable behaviour. The ego
also plays an integrative, mediating and reconciliatory function between the id and the
superego by resolving conflicts between the id and the superego, gratifying drives and being
in constant contact with reality as the basis of its operation and function.
It is important to note that the ego develops because of the interaction between a child and
its environment, which includes inputs from the home, the school, experience and other
social forces. To sum up: ‘Freud’s ego is logical, rational, tolerant of tension the executive of
personality (Pervin 1970:159).

SUPEREGO
The superego is the third and highest level of personality which develops as a result of the
influence of parents and society on a person. Within the ego, social ad moral values are
internalised to the point that they become part of the person and serve as the basic
philosophy of life which guides his behaviour towards himself and society.
To a degree the superego controls both the id and the ego by blocking sexual and aggressive
drives if satisfying them would be at variance with society’s norms. The same holds true
whenever the ego intends to indulge in realistic behaviours perceived to be morally
unacceptable- the superego intervenes on the side of justice.
The superego can be equated with a conscience which is responsible for laying down the
guidelines for behaviour and consequently rewards acceptable behaviour and punishes
behaviour it deems to be undesirable. The superego influences the way a person is likely to
behave in several situations. For example, ‘a person who refuses to cheat, steal or kill even
though no one else is watching, or strives to do the best possible job without being
supervised, is responding to the dictates of the superego’ (Ewen 1984:33). At several African
universities, the author asked students whether they would steal a million
pula/rands/dollar/kwacha/shillings if they were sure that no one would find out, or whether
they would engage in extra marital sex if they were sure their spouses would never find out.
Most of the students responded positively, indicating to some extent the strength of their
superego. Unless a person has a well-established superego, his behaviour will be motivated
principally by external factors. The ideal is for a person’s behaviour to be intrinsically
motivated by an internalised system of values.
The superego is a perfectionist, and as such it expects perfect obedience to established
moral codes. It can be tormenting, inflexible and demanding in punishing undesirable
behaviour with a sense of guilt, embarrassment and feelings of inferiority, and grafting in
rewarding good behaviour with a sense of pride, self-love and virtue.
The information and development of the superego is not only a matter of embodying
parental and societal norms of behaviour but also leads to a resolution of the
Oedipus/Electra complex.
In summary, through the superego the superego the values, beliefs, attitudes, and morality
a person learns from his parents and society in general become internalised and form part
of his philosophy of life. What he does is based on his internalised system of values rather
than on what he has been told by others. There are things he will not do simply because
they conflict with his established philosophy of life.

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT- THE PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES

According to Freud and other psychoanalysts, the first five years, that is infancy and early
childhood, are very important in the development of personality (Travers 1972; Corsini 1973
& Sarasin 1984). Some adult behaviour can be traced back to these first years.
Personality development consists of five stages psychoanalytically referred to as the
psychosexual stages. These stages are referred to as sexual because they are pleasure
oriented, which means that a person experience special pleasure, probably like the pleasure
derived from a sexual act, as he goes through them.
The word ‘sexual’ as used by Freud transcends the conventional meaning of sexuality, which
is restricted to the intimate relationship between a man and a woman and applies to many
other pleasurable experiences related to the human body. In Freud’s view, many parts of
the human body can generate pleasure equivalent to sexual pleasure. For example, the
mouth is one source of sexual pleasure partly because of the pleasure a person derives from
eating and drinking. Apart from this eating and drinking gratify the drives created by hunger
and thirst and thus reduce the tension built up because of these drives. The process bringing
a tension to a state of equilibrium is a sexual (pleasurable) experience.

The five psychosexual stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages, each of
which is examined separately below.

ORAL STAGE
At birth the child’s mouth is its principal region of pleasure. The mouth the tongue and the
lips are involved in generating this pleasure. Most of the child’s activities are geared to
satisfying its needs through its mouth and eating becomes a pleasurable activity. For
example, if a child is uncomfortable and crying, supplying it with food will make it quieten
down and placing a nipple in its mouth is likely to lull it to sleep. As a child is fed, some form
of stimulation occurs in its mouth, causing a pleasurable sensation and thus making it a
source of pleasure every time the child experiences restlessness (Baldwin 1980). This is also
demonstrated by a child’s tendency to place objects such as its fingers in its mouth, and to
engage in other oral activities which are not necessarily of nutritional value.
According to Freud (1940:11), the satisfaction experience by a baby after breastfeeding is
like the sexual pleasure and satisfaction it will experience in adulthood.
No one who has seen a baby sinking back satiated from the breast and falling asleep with
flushed cheeks and a blissful smile can escape the reflection that this picture persists as a
prototype of the expression of sexual satisfaction in later life. Seeing that a child’ s mother
serves as the principal gratifies of its physical and psychological needs, the child develops
feelings of dependency which remain part of its personality for the rest of life, albeit in a
modifies form (Sarasin & Sarasin 1984). Depending on the kind of relationship that exists
between mother and child, a sense of either trust or mistrust, optimisms or pessimism will
emerge (Hall & Lindzey 1970).

ANAL STAGE
The oral region is followed by the anal region as a source of pleasure. Evert time the infant
excretes waste matter; it experiences pleasure due to the relief felt as a result of expelling
faeces which were causing a state of tension. During toilet training, the anal region becomes
a source of frustration and reward. For example, children are rewarded for going to the
toilet at the right time and are punished for not doing so (Baldwin 1980). Pervin (1970)
states that during the anal stage a child experiences three conflicts: first, there is a conflict
between retention and elimination; second, there is a conflict between the instinctive
pleasure of realising and the control of the ego; and third, there is a conflict between the
instinctive pleasure of realising and society’s demand that it can be delayed. This conflict
reflects the kind of conflicts that arises between the id and the ego, as well as between an
individual and society. The child is challenged to deny the pleasure principle or face the
consequences of non-compliance. Such conflict is frequently observed in the classroom
when a pupil asks for permission to go to the toilet and is told to wait until break. Denying
the pupil permission to go out means that he/she must either learn to delay his gratification
or remain in a state of tension which is likely to affect his concertation adversely.

PHILLIC STAGE

Oedipus complex
During this stage, a boy learns that playing with his genital organs produces pleasure and
therefore frequently engages in such behaviour. In addition to this, he develops a special
interest in his mother and longs to possess her sexually.
He wishes to possess her physically in such ways as he has divined from his observation and intuitions
about sexual life, and he tries to seduce her by showing her the male organ which he is proud to own.
In a word, his awakened masculinity seeks to take his father’s place with her…...His father now
becomes a rival who stands in his way and whom he would like to get rid of (Freud 1940:46)
The boy realises that the way he feels about his mother may cause his father to withdraw
from him his love and protection, which is very important to him. He also contemplates sex
differences in genetical organs and concludes that there was a time when girls used to have
penises, but that they were taken from them as punishment. He fears that his continued
secret longing for his mother might lead to his genetical organs being cut off (castration
anxiety). Of course, he does not wish to see this happen to his most treasured little organ,
the organ that men throughout history have adored and associated with their manhood. In
response to castration anxiety, the boy gives up his Oedipus complex .

ELECTRA COMPLEX
Initially a girl has a special and warm relationship with her mother until she discovers that
she has no penis. This makes her feel both inferior and jealous and she develops what Freud
calls penis envy. She hates her mother, who possesses a similar genital organ, and develops
an intense interest in her father. She perceives her mother as rival and longs to overthrow
her so that she can have sexual relationship with her father. She also longs to have a baby
by her father as compensation for the missing penis. ‘Her happiness is great if later on this
wish for a baby finds fulfilment in reality, and quite especially so if the baby is a little boy
who brings the longed-for penis with him’ (Freud 1940:51). Later, a boy gives up his interest
in his mother because of fear of castration, maturity and the fact that his goal is
unattainable and instead identifies with his father and in this way enjoys a special
relationship with his mother vicariously. Similarly, a girl gives up her goal and identifies
herself with her mother, by the same token enjoying a special relationship with her father
vicariously.
The impact of this stage continues during adolescence and later, so that a person’s choice of
spouse is greatly influenced by the kind of relationship he or she has with his or her parent
of the opposite sex. The effects of the phallic stage are also likely to be extended to the way
a pupil relates to his or her teachers at school.

LATENCY STAGE
According to Freud, during the latency stage a child is sexually dormant in the sense that it
shows no special interest in sexual gratification or heterosexuality (Le Francois 1980). No
specific region of the body is identified as a source of pleasure. Instead of engaging in self-
stimulation, the child is interested in establishing non-sexual relationship with peers of the
same sex, which results in the strengthening of its superego. During this period, a child
continues to acquire cultural skills, values and roles appropriate to its sex. In the process of
developing its system of value, the child benefits from interactions with its parent, siblings,
teacher, club leaders and other members of society (Baldwin 1980)

GENETICAL STAGE
During earlier stages, a person can be said to be narcissistic in that he derives pleasure from
stimulating and manipulating his body for personal gain and pleasure. Others are
appreciated only in so far as they contribute to his pleasure, otherwise they are as good as
useless (Hall & Lindzey 1070). This situation changes during the genetical stage, which is the
peak of normal development and indicates maturity.
The adolescent becomes interested in others for reciprocal and altruistic reasons and
develops a special interest in people of the opposite sex. Among girls the vagina takes over
from the clitoris as the centre of pleasure. In a boy sexual interest shifts from his mother to
someone outside the family with whom he can experience an intimate relationship that is
socially legitimate and acceptable. The adolescent is also interested in planning his career
and raising a family. At this stage, he is far more socialised and has developed, as reflected
in the superego, a philosophy of life which guides his actions and choices.
FIXATION, REGRESSION AND NORMAL DEVELOPMENT
According to Freud, personality development can result in fixation, normal growth or
regression (Le francios 1980. Fixation means that the child develops no further than the
stage already attained. Normal development means that the child progresses from one
stage to another because at each stage of development his needs are adequately met.
Regression means that because of experiencing frustration or a problem at his current
stage, the child resorts to operating at an earlier stage at which his needs were satisfied.
Several factors give rise to fixation an adulthood (Sarasin & Sarasin1984; Baldwin1980; Le
Francios 1980). First, fixation may be the result of the trauma or shock of the sudden
termination of or transition from one stage to another, for example a child may be weaned
before it is ready or in a harsh manner, such as applying pepper to the breast or punishing
the child for wanting to be breastfed. Second, fixation may occur due to deprivation, which
means that at the stage the child’s needs were not adequately met. For example, a child
who did not receive sufficient care and love at one stage of development may continue to
operate at that stage as an adult to compensate for what he should have received, but
through no fault of his own did not. The third factor is overindulgence or excessive
gratification, which means that during childhood the adult was so well treated that he does
nor want to forgo the pleasurable and memorable experience. In addition, even is a child
passes through all the stage successfully, in adulthood he may still regress if confronted with
what he perceives to be insurmountable problems (Sarasin & Sarasin 1984). During
adulthood, because of either fixation, regression or normal development, various forms of
behaviour are likely to be observed. For example, the pleasure derived from eating and
chewing during the oral stage may be reflected in pride and satisfaction on acquiring
possessions or knowledge, gullibility, dependence on others and overindulgence while
sarcasm and argumentativeness may replace the biting and aggression characteristics of the
weaning period (Hall & Lindzey 1970). Oral fixation may also be shown in kissing, smoking,
nail-biting, thumb-sucking, chewing candies, suspiciousness, manipulativeness and frequent
use of ridicule.
The anal stage is associated with cleanliness, orderliness, stinginess, obstinacy,
overgenerosity, sloppiness, acquiescence and procrastination. If a mother is strict about
toilet training, her child is likely to retain faeces, which results in constipation. Such a child is
likely to be obstinate and stingy or may show his anger by expelling faeces at the wrong
time and place. In adult life, anal fixation will present in the form of cruelty, destructiveness,
temper tantrums and disorderliness. On the other hand, if the mother pleads with her child
and reinforces him for responding positively during bowel movements, he is likely to grow
into a creative and productive adult. The anal stage is associated with generosity and loving
possessively.
As a result of the emphasis on cleanliness during the anal stage, a person may consider it to
be of great importance and ensure that he is always physically and psychologically clean,
remaining restless until he has achieved this. This could be extended to tidiness or the
opposite in schoolwork. A person’s experience of the phallic stage is likely to influence his
choice of spouse. A man will look for a wife whose characteristics and qualities are like
those of his mother, and he will expect his wife to be his caretaker and comforter, just as his
mother used to be. The only difference is that his wife can provide him with an outlet for his
sexual drives and a type of relationship that his mother, for cultural reasons, could not. A
girl’s selection of a husband will be influenced by the Electra complex, and she will look for a
husband whose qualities resemble those of her father. What Freud says makes sense, for
example most people believe that their mothers are second to none, and if this is so there is
no reason why a person should not aspire to find a spouse with the same qualities. People
may not be aware that their choices are being influenced by the phallic stage. Freud would
argue that this is a so because part of our behaviour is controlled by the unconscious. During
the latency and genital stages there is no fixation as such. The genital stage is characterised
by sublimation, realistic enjoyment and mature sexuality.

DEFENCE MECHANISMS
These are special strategies used as safeguards against anything that poses a threat or
danger to personality. Their operation entails fleeing from a threatening situation or
explaining away such a situation. Freud held the view that abnormal behaviour stems from
the conflict between the id and the superego. He also argued that sexual and aggressive
feelings continue to influence the course of personality development long after the genital
period is assumed to have been socially tamed and particularly when its needs are partially
ungratified (Le Francois 1980). This leas to a state of tension which is unhealth and not
conducive to normal personality development. The ego uses a defence mechanism to bring
the situation to a semblance of normality.

REPRESSION
This defence mechanism enables a person to block certain unpleasant experience from
becoming part of consciousness. Instead, they are pushed into the unconscious. In this way,
some balance between the id and ego is maintained. However, the fact that an impulse or
idea is blocked does not mean that it has disappeared. Often it surfaces in different forms
such as slips of the tongue and dreams. Repression also occurs in the form of forgetting. For
example, if a pupil is anxious about a course or examination he may well forget when the
course meets or where he has put his notebook for that course. A salesperson may not
recall the minutes of a meeting at which his boss criticised him for incompetence, or a
person experiencing financial problems may forget where he put his cheque book.

RATIONALISATION OR INTELLECTUALISATION
This involves using excuse to justify what may be considered unacceptable behaviour. A
pupil who does not do well in an examination may rationalise that he failed because the
examination was too difficult or was not based on the syllabus, or the teacher was no good.
The pupil does this unconsciously and therefore may not be aware that he is using a defence
mechanism to avoid confronting the reality of the problem, which emanates from within
rather than from without.

SUBLIMATION
This involves replacing an undesirable behaviour with one which is considered acceptable.
For example, instead of engaging in premarital sexual intercourse, which in some cultures is
considered unacceptable, a person may dance or converse with members of the opposite
sex. Another example is watching football or boxing matches instead of expressing
aggressive behaviour such as fighting for which one is likely to be punished by society.

DISPLACEMENT
This involves focusing one’s desire or hostility on the wrong object. For example , a teacher
could be at loggerheads with wife at home and take it out on his pupils by punishing them
for unjustifiable reasons or trivial misdemeanours. Another example is the worker who is
very angry with his boos and would like to hit him but restrains himself because of the
consequences of such behaviour. On getting home he may vent this anger by beating up or
scolding the members of his family for no apparent reason.

COMPENSATION
This is like sublimation. A person who is unable to have children and hoped to have a large
family may resort to adoption or take a job working with children. A person who was unable
to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor may encourage his children to enter the medical
profession.

REGRESSION
Regression involves reverting to a previous stage of development because one is unable to
cope with a new situation. For example, a pupil who cannot cope with the standard he is in
May long to be demoted to his previous standard. Another example is the spouse who goes
to hi parents ‘home because he has quarrelled with his wife.

IDENTIFICATION
A person may associate himself with someone who is popular or powerful or successful or
handsome or beautiful and thus enjoy such characteristics vicariously. This defence
mechanism plays a significant role in behaviour formation.

REACTION FORMATION
This entails acting the opposite to the way one really feels. for example, person A hates
person B, but in his presence acts as if he really likes person B.

PROJECTION
This entails attributing one’s undesirable characteristics to others. For example, a teacher
who is incompetent may be critical of his incompetence colleagues, a pupil who cheats in
test may often accuse others of doing so. Sarasin and Sareson (1984) believes that defence
mechanism is universal and that everyone uses them at some time or another. The feeling
of anxiety alerts the ego to an existing or potential danger, and if the ego mechanism to
explain it away. Hence the rationale for the belief that defence mechanism is used
universally and that the use thereof is no cause for alarm unless it is excessive. Because
everyone experiences danger, the use of defence mechanism is clearly not a special
characteristic of maladaptive behaviour. They are used by all people either singly or in
combination at one time or another (Sarasin & Sarasin 1984:51)

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
The study of personality has educational implications not only for the pupils whose
behaviour teachers mould, but also for teachers themselves. Although the teaches
personalities are more developed, as dynamics entities they are subject to further
modification and consolidation. The principle of free association, closely related to the state
of unconscious, is an important one. Many African children tend to be shy and less open to
free dialogue than Western children because of their upbringing and the way their teachers
relate to such behaviour (Omari 1982). The teacher’s duty is to encourage them to express
their feelings, problems, concerns, etc as freely as is appropriate and thus to assist them in
resolving their problems. These problems may in fact be very simple yet sharing them
openly can be therapeutic and liberating. Pupils need to know that many of the feelings they
are experiencing are also being experienced by others, and that therefore they need not
consider themselves stranger or abnormal.
As has been observed, the unconscious has a significant role to play in our daily lives’
behaviour. One reason for studying psychoanalysis is to gain and understanding of our
behaviour. It is important to ask ourselves why we feel certain ways about certain things in
order to find out whether it is necessary to continue feeling that way, or there is need for
change. This will make us more rational in our behaviour, and therefore in control of our
behaviour and destiny. We must note that although Freud attaches such great importance
to the unconscious, most psychologist do not, emphasising instead the rationality of man.
The implication pf this is that the conscious is more critical in his behaviour.
The structure of personality as reflected in the id, ego and superego is relevant to the task
of teachers and to their own personality development. Children are not totally ignorant
when they start school, but due to their limited experience and facilities for socialisation,
there are many things they have yet to learn. They are at the id level, so to speak. Teachers
must help them to become socialised by showing them how to delay their gratification,
when to express their emotions and how to be masters of their environment and human
propensities.
As the reality-based part of personality, the ego has significant educational implications.
Reality can be arrived at in the face of facts, evidence and the acquire skills of decision-
making processes, to which the school can expose pupil during their education. Finally, the
superego calls for a well-developed philosophy of life. The importance of human values-
morals and justice- should be impressed upon pupils, for it is that we foster a value system
that will provide a good guide or pupil’s relation with themselves, other and society.
Education must liberate both the mind and the body of man. It must make him more of a
human being because he is aware of his potential as a human being, and is in positive life
enhancing relationship with himself, his neighbour, and his environment (Nyerere 1974:4)
Knowledge of the psychosexual stages makes it possible for teachers to understand some of
the behaviour exhibited by their pupils, and they should ensure that fixation of certain
behaviour is brought to the pupil’s attention. This will enable them to understand
themselves and to adjust as necessary.
Although defence mechanisms are useful in providing a state of equilibrium, excessive use
thereof indicates maladjustment. The validity of their use should be implemented. It should
nr borne in mind that the use of life should be to face reality as far as possible instead of
dwelling in a world of fantasy. As is so often said, honestly is the best policy.

Finally, the principal function of a school and its teacher is to prevent psychological
problems and encourage mental health. Teachers achieve this by interacting with their
students in an affectionate, warm caring and considerate manner. Such an attitude will go a
long way in facilitating personality development