Knowledge on Classroom Behaviour Modification Techniques of Pre-Service Teachers of Colleges of Education in Ghana

Abstract

Classroom discipline is one of the most thought-provoking issues in modern education.Studies has it that students’ classroom misconduct interferes with teaching and learning and is believed to be a precursor to later school dropout and similar negative social outcomes. This study aimed at investigating the knowledge of pre-service teachers of Colleges of Education in Ghana on the concept of behaviour modification techniques in the classroom. A cross-sectional survey design was used for the study. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to obtain a sample size of three hundred and sixty participants for the study. Data was collected using behaviour modification questionnaire developed by the researchers and analysed using SPSS data analysis software. The results show that most of the participants have insufficient knowledge on behaviour modification techniques for classroom management even though they exhibited strong knowledge on few of the items. At 5% level of significance, there was virtually no significant difference found to exist in pre-service teachers’ knowledge of behaviour modification practices in terms of gender difference. Furthermore, the study revealed that programme of study never had a significant effect on the pre-service teachers’ knowledge on classroom behaviour modification techniques. It is recommended that training programmes of teacher education should be reviewed to strengthen the knowledge of pre-service teachers on classroom behaviour modification techniques.