INFLUENCE OF PUPIL-TEACHER ATTACHMENT PATTERNS ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of pupil-teacher attachment patterns on academic achievement of primary school pupils in Rivers State. The population of the study consist of all primary six pupils in Rivers State. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 1000 pupils from the population. The instruments for data collection were self-designed pupil-teacher attachment pattern questionnaire (PTAPQ), Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) and English Achievement Test (EAT). The instruments were validated by experts in measurement and evaluation.The reliability of Pupil-Teacher Attachment Pattern Questionnaire (PTAPQ) was determined through Cronbach Alpha method of estimating reliability while Mathematics and English achievement test reliability were determined through Kuder – Richardson K-20. The reliability coefficient for PTAPQ is 0.84, MAT 0.94 and EAT 0.96 respectively.Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the conduct of the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while Two-way Anova was employed to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that there is a significant influence of pupil-teacher attachment patterns on pupils’ academic achievement, that there is no significant influence of pupil-teacher attachment pattern on pupils’ academic achievement based on gender and there is no significant interaction effect of pupil-teacher attachment patterns and gender on pupils’ academic achievement.Based on the findings, recommendations were made, the researcher recommended that teachers should establish pupil-teacher attachment pattern with all pupils irrespective of gender.