Abstract:
This study investigated transformative classroom management strategies for engaging the head, the
heart and the hands in secondary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. Three research questions and one
hypothesis guided the study. A descriptive research design was adopted. The population comprised all
the 6,893 teachers in the 286 public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Out of these 6,893
teachers, 3,021 are males while 3,878 are females. A sample of 690 teachers (302 males and 388
females), representing 10% of the population was drawn using both the simple random sampling and
proportionate stratified random sampling techniques. This was determined by the Taro Yamane
Formula which gave a minimum sample size of 378 teachers. The instrument that was used for data
collection was a researcher-based 30-item questionnaire entitled: “Transformative Classroom
Management Strategies for Engaging the Head, the Heart and the Hands Questionnaire
(TCMSHHHQ).” It was structured after the four-point modified Likert rating scale and duly validated
by experts. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha.
Reliability coefficients of 0.89, 0.74 and 0.81 were obtained respectively for the various sections of
the instrument, which showed that the instrument was reliable. Mean and standard deviation were used
to answer the research questions while z-test was used in testing the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of
significance. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that transformative classroom is a
holistic education approach to engaging the head, the heart and the hands in collaborative problemsolving exercises that inspire students to think critically. Based on the findings, it was recommended,
among others, that in-service training should be regularly conducted for teachers on affective domain
so as to make them pay more attention to engaging the heart in their lesson plans since learning is
deeply influenced by feelings (heart), which determine whether students will be interested in a lesson
or not. |
