A comparative study of classroom pratice of graduate and non graduate teachers of mathematis in selected high schools of Copperbelt province

In Zambia, currently, the graduate teachers for high schools (Grades 10 to 12) are trained at the University of Zambia. However, it has been observed that most of the high schools do not have adequate numbers of university graduate teachers. In the absence of sufficient graduate teachers to teach in high schools, non university graduate teachers who are trained to teach Grades 8 to 9 are teaching in high schools.
Concern has been expressed about the calibre of teachers found in high schools. The deployment of teachers with diplomas in high schools has raised some concerns in that, teachers with diplomas are inadequately prepared to teach the classes they are assigned to. This study was set out to compare the classroom practice of graduate (degree holder) and non graduate (diploma holder) teachers of mathematics in selected
high schools of the Copperbelt Province. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The key informants included: pupils, heads of department, headteachers, and the officials from the Ministry of Education. In addition to the questionnaires and interviews, observations were also conducted to verify the information given by
the respondents. The findings from the study showed that graduate teachers were better in the subject knowledge than the non graduate teachers. On the other hand, the study
revealed that non graduate teachers were better in pedagogical aspects than the graduate teachers. The results also generally indicated that some graduate
teachers outperformed non graduate teachers, and some non graduate teachers outperformed the graduate teachers in terms of classroom practice. The analysis of the quantitative data revealed that there was no significant
difference between the classroom performance of graduate and non graduate teachers.
In view of the research findings, the recommendations were made, inter alia, that teacher preparation be improved so that teachers in high schools get the desired training. The challenge is that the training of teachers should not emphasise either content knowledge or pedagogical aspects only but it should be noted that teachers need both.