Original Article

Assessment of Teaching Aptitude of Student Teachers in Manipur

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The growth of a country depends upon the development of its human resources and well-planned management system in education. Teaching is a continuous transfer of knowledge from one known person (teacher) to others unknown person (student). Teaching involves the process of sharing ideas, knowledge, skills etc for the development of students and make a progressive life. Societal norms and values imparted through teaching supported the students in knowing social structures, societal changes and human behaviour. It is the process of activities between a mature personality and unmature personality in which a mature one guiding and provide direction to encourage learning in the field of education. “Teaching is a noble profession that shapes the character, calibre, and future of an individual. If people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honour to me” (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam). Aptitude is the capability of an individual to do task in his or her own life without any hesitation. It is the ability to impart facts, ideas, vision etc to other people in an effective direction. In the context of education, teaching aptitude refers to the action of transmitting various subject knowledge and skills to the students by a person (teacher) who is mastery in subject knowledge and communication skills. It is a dynamic process which can influenced the students in a successful career and making them a good citizen and it is not always inherent but acquired through learning, experience, observation or training. Teaching aptitude depends on the personality, ability and management skills of the teacher. Teaching qualities like confidence, creative thinking, critical thinking, logical thinking and planning ability helps the students in developing conceptual understanding as well as higher order thinking and originality.

 

SIGNIFICANCE

Education takes a major role in shaping the quality of citizens in a country. Development of a country is considered on the contribution done by the individuals to the society. In the field of education, teachers enhance the student knowledge and life skills to adjust him in society and environment. For the development of critical and logical thinking, teachers should be able to identify and analyse the problems of students. Students are the pillars of society and these can be nourished only by the teachers who are experts in subject knowledge, communication skills and management skills etc. so, student teachers in different training institutes have to obtain the best quality of training as they are the future teachers of our country. Student teachers need more proper guidance and counselling that helps in improvement of knowledge, besides teaching ability student teachers have to own all the desirable qualities in which the society is essential in present. Teaching aptitude also helps in changing behaviour of students and conduct different life lesson in a systematic way. Therefore, student teachers are the determining agents for the holistic development of our future desirable society. Student teachers could bring the upcoming generation in a positive direction if they are able to gain the greatest qualities of teaching aptitude such as adaptability, community and collaboration, creativity and a problem-solving skill.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1)     To find out the teaching aptitude level of student teachers.

2)     To study whether there exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of student teachers with reference to gender variation.

3)     To study whether there exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of student teachers with reference to management of institute.

4)     To study whether there exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of student teachers with reference to rural and urban.

5)     To study whether there exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of student teachers with reference to their marital status.

6)     To study whether there is significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to their pedagogy.

 

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

H1: The teaching aptitude level present in the student teachers at teacher training institute of Manipur is very high.

H2: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to gender variation.

H3: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to management of institute.

H4: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to rural and urban areas.

H5: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to their marital status.

H5: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to their pedagogy.

 

METHOD OF THE STUDY

In the present study, the investigator employed a descriptive survey method.

 

POPULATION AND SAMPLE OF THE STUDY

The study population comprised student teachers enrolled in teacher training institutes in Manipur. The study sample consisted of 100 students, with 50 each from government and private institutes, selected through simple random sampling.

 

TOOLS AND STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES

A personal demographic scheduled and standardised questionnaire, the Teaching Aptitude Test TAT-GR (2010) developed by S. C. Gakhar and Rajnis was used to measure the teaching aptitude of the student teachers. The scale is found to be reliable at 0.62 (Cronbach alpha). The present study employed descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis and interpretation.

 

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

H1: The teaching aptitude level present in the student teachers at teacher training institute of Manipur is very high.

 

Table 1 The Level of Teaching Aptitude
Teaching Aptitude Level	N	%
Very High Teaching Aptitude	5	5.0%
High Teaching Aptitude	12	12.0%
Above Average Teaching Aptitude	50	50.0%
Average Teaching Aptitude	22	22.0%
Below Average Teaching Aptitude	9	9.0%
Low Teaching Aptitude	2	2.00%
Very Low Teaching Aptitude	0	0%

 

 

The distribution of teaching aptitude levels among student teachers shows that half of the respondents (50%) fall under the Above Average category. A considerable proportion (22%) exhibit Average teaching aptitude, while 12% demonstrate a High level and 5% fall under the Very High category. Only a small percentage of student teachers show Below Average (9%) or Low (2%) teaching aptitude, and none fall under the Very Low category.

Overall, the results indicate that the majority of student teachers possess average to above average teaching aptitude, suggesting a generally positive orientation and readiness towards the teaching profession. Hence, the hypothesis H1 is rejected.

H2: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to gender variation.

 

Table 2 Gender-wise Comparison of Attitude Towards ICT
Gender	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	df	t	Sig.
Male	14	23.79	4.492	1.201	98	-1.932	0.032
Female	86	25.63	3.087	0.333

 

An independent samples t test was conducted to examine whether male and female student teachers differed in their teaching aptitude. Male students (M = 23.79, SD = 4.49) and female students (M = 25.63, SD = 3.09) showed a noticeable difference in their mean scores; the table value is  1.932 and the product value is 0.032. Since the significance value is less than 0.05, the difference is statistically significant. This indicates that gender plays a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude, with female students showing higher teaching aptitude than male students. Thus, the hypothesis H2 is accepted.

H3: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to management of institute.

 

Table 3 Management-Wise Comparison of Teaching Aptitude
Management	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	df	t	Sig.
Government	50	25.04	3.476	0.492	98	-0.984	0.317
Private	50	25.7	3.228	0.456

 

An independent samples t test was conducted to examine whether government and private student teachers differed in their teaching aptitude. Government students (M = 25.04, SD = 3.48) and private students (M = 25.70, SD = 3.23) showed only a slight difference in their mean scores; the table value is  0.984 and the product value is 0.317. Since the significance value is greater than 0.05, the difference is not statistically significant. This indicates that management type does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude. Thus, the hypothesis H3 is rejected.

H4: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to rural and urban areas.

 

Table 4 Residential-Wise Comparison of Teaching Aptitude
Residential	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	df	t	Sig.
Rural	53	25.58	3.302	0.454	98	0.679	0.980
Urban	47	25.13	3.430	0.500

 

An independent samples t test was conducted to examine whether rural and urban student teachers differed in their teaching aptitude. Rural students (M = 25.58, SD = 3.30) and urban students (M = 25.13, SD = 3.43) showed only a slight difference in their mean scores; the table value is 0.679 and the product value is 0.980. Since the significance value is greater than 0.05, the difference is not statistically significant. This indicates that residential background does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude. Hence, the hypothesis H4 is rejected.

H5: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to their marital status.

 

Table 5 Marital Status-Wise Comparison of Teaching Aptitude
Marital Status	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	df	t	Sig.
Un-Married	85	25.49	3.319	0.360	98	0.880	0.872
Married	15	24.67	3.579	0.924

 

An independent samples t test was conducted to examine whether unmarried and married student teachers differed in their teaching aptitude. Unmarried students (M = 25.49, SD = 3.32) and married students (M = 24.67, SD = 3.58) showed only a slight difference in their mean scores; the table value is 0.880 and the product value is 0.872. Since the significance value is greater than 0.05, the difference is not statistically significant. This indicates that marital status does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude. Thus, the hypothesis H5 is rejected.

H6: There exists significant difference in the teaching aptitude level of the student teachers with reference to their pedagogy.

 

Table 6

Table 6 Descriptive Statistics for Teaching Aptitude by Subject Specialization
Subject Specialization	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error	95% CI Lower	95% CI Upper	Minimum	Maximum
Social Science	31	25.84	3.32	0.60	24.62	27.06	16	30
Science	32	25.06	3.20	0.57	23.91	26.22	18	30
Mathematics	7	25.29	3.95	1.49	21.64	28.94	20	31
Language	30	25.23	3.53	0.64	23.92	26.55	14	30
Total	100	25.37	3.35	0.34	24.70	26.04	14	31

 

 

Table 7 One Way ANOVA for Teaching Aptitude by Subject Specialization
Source of Variation	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	10.446	3	3.482	0.303	0.823
Within Groups	1102.864	96	11.488	-	-
Total	1113.31	99	-	-	-

 

An ANOVA test was conducted to examine whether student teachers differed in their teaching aptitude based on their subject specialization. Social Science (M = 25.84, SD = 3.32), Science (M = 25.06, SD = 3.20), Mathematics (M = 25.29, SD = 3.95), and Language students (M = 25.23, SD = 3.53) showed very similar mean scores. The table value is 0.303 and the product value is 0.823. Since the significance value is greater than 0.05, the difference is not statistically significant. This indicates that subject specialization does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude. So, the hypothesis H6 is rejected.

 

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

1)     Teaching aptitude levels among student teachers shows that the majority of student teachers possess average to above average teaching aptitude, suggesting a generally positive orientation and readiness towards the teaching profession.

2)     Gender plays a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude, with female students showing higher teaching aptitude than male students.

3)     Management type does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude.

4)     Residential background does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude.

5)     Marital status does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude.

6)     Subject specialization does not play a significant role in shaping student teachers’ teaching aptitude.

 

CONCLUSION

The study shows that the teaching aptitude of most student teachers has a decent level, which means they are well prepared and positive about the teaching profession. Among all the objectives studied, gender was the only one that made found significant difference; female student teachers demonstrated a little higher teaching aptitude than their male counterparts. This shows that teaching aptitude is more than the teaching quality than someone who is shaped by the background circumstances. The findings of the study indicated that student teachers in Manipur are fairly ready for their teaching profession.

  

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