EFFECTS OF TEACHERS' ATTITUDE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN BAMOI LUMA, KAMBIA DISTRICT, SIERRA LEONE

This study examined the students’ academic performance in senior secondary schools in order to determine the effect of their teachers’ attitudes in the selected senior secondary schools in Bamoi Luma, Kambia District, Sierra Leone. It aims to investigate the differences in academic performance between the students taught by a teacher with a positive attitude and the students taught by a teacher with a negative attitude; and also to determine the difference in academic performance between the students taught by a male teacher and students taught by a female teacher. The target population was 676 students and 18 teachers. The Teachers' Attitude Inventory (TAI) was used as a data collection instrument. An independent sample t-test was used to analyse the data at a 0.05 level of significance. This study identified the most crucial factor influencing students’ performance according to existing literature, and it was difficult to know if attitude was an influential factor. But this study eliminated that difficult with structured research. This research will help the management of educational institutions by putting emphasis on teachers’ attitudes that help the students achieve a sound education, which is essential for sustainability. The findings revealed that there was a significant difference in academic performance between students taught by teachers with a positive attitude and students taught by teachers with a negative attitude. However, there was no significant difference in academic performance between students taught by male teachers and students taught by female teachers. It was concluded that teachers with positive attitude influenced their students’ performances. The study recommended that teachers' personalities, especially teachers’ attitudes, should be considered during recruitment of new staff by school management.