ABSTRACT
The study investigated locus of control and self-esteem as correlates of teachers’ responsiveness to students’ academic needs in public secondary schools in Benin City, Edo State. It further investigated the moderating effect of sex and age on locus of control and self-esteem as correlates of teachers’ responsiveness to students’ academic needs in public secondary schools. To guide this study, seven research questions were raised and seven corresponding hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. This study was hinged on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA or ToRA) developed by Fishbein and Ajzen, (1975).
This study adopted the descriptive survey research that employed the correlational design. The target population for this study included 952 teachers (307 males and 645 females) from 39 public secondary schools Benin City, Edo State. The Multistage sampling procedure employed for the selection of 361 (113 males and 248 females). The research instrument for this study is titled “Locus of Control, Self-Esteem and Teachers Responsiveness Scale (LoCSETRS)” among public secondary school teachers adapted from Locus of Control Scale as developed by Ghonsooly and Elahi (2010), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Teachers’ Job Performance Scale developed by Ali and Haider (2017). The reliability of the instrument was established using the Cronbach Alpha statistics and an Alpha (α) index of .734 for locus of control, .821 for self-esteem and .810 for teachers’ responsiveness were obtained. Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics was used to test hypotheses one and two, regression statistics was used to test hypothesis three, while Fisher’s Z statistics was used to test hypothesis five to seven (5-7), at 0.05 level of significance.
From the analysis of data, results revealed that there was significant relationship between the combine effects of locus of control, self-esteem and teacher’s responsiveness to students’ academic needs. But there was no significant relationship between self-esteem and teacher’s responsiveness to students’ academic needs. There was no significant difference in the relationship between locus of control and teacher’s responsiveness to students’ academic needs based on age. There was significant difference in the relationship between self-esteem and teacher’s responsiveness to students’ academic needs based on age in favour of those above 31 years of age. There was significant difference in the relationship between locus of control and teacher’s responsiveness to students’ academic needs in public secondary schools based on sex in favour of females. There was no significant difference in the relationship between self-esteem and teacher’s responsiveness to students’ academic needs based on sex. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that: Teachers should develop their locus of control in order to respond effectively to their students’ academic needs. Teachers should enhanced their self-esteem for the purpose of responding to students’ academic needs. School counsellors should make teachers know that locus of control and self-esteem are not age nor sex related but are traits every individual needs. Finally, Professional Counselling Associations (PCAs) should create awareness on the need for teachers to develop locus of control and self-esteem in the course of responding to students’ academic needs.
