The Issue of Ineffective Teaching in Cameroon Public Secondary Schools

Effective teaching is one of the key elements in the teaching-learning transaction that has caught the attention of many stakeholders in education. Although much has been said and written on this issue, it is still obvious that teaching is not really effective in some schools especially when compared to students performances in various class works and end of course examinations. Based on this, the paper examines some factors that contribute to ineffective teaching in some selected secondary schools in Bamenda municipality in the North West region of Cameroon. A systematic sampling technique was used to select a sample of 120 teachers from Government Bilingual High schools Bamenda, Bayelle, and Atiela. From the observation and the questionnaire administered, the findings revealed that majority of the teachers hardly carried out intensive research and that hindered effective mastering of the content knowledge of the lessons taught. Some of them used methods that were more of teacher-centeredd, majority of the teachers scarcely prepared their lessons before the actual teaching and some did not consider the differences in learners learning styles during the teaching-learning transaction. Verbal communication in the classroom was more of teacher-centered. Most of the teachers used basically traditional materials neglecting the use of advanced media and community resources while only 30% of the teachers made an effort to create awareness on the purpose and importance of the knowledge learners learned. All these rendered the teaching-learning transaction less effective. In order to improve on this situation, teachers should carry out intensive research, effectively prepare their lessons, vary and use the constructivist approaches of teaching so as to meet up with the demands of Competence-Based Learning and complement the use of traditional media with advanced and community resources.