Influence of economics teachers’ personality on their effectiveness in ghanaian senior high schools

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate personality and economics teachers’ effectiveness in Ghanaian Senior High Schools. The study was a quantitative study and adopted the cross-sectional survey design. In total, 600 students were selected for the study using the simple random technique while the census method was utilized to involve all 122 teachers in the selected schools. The 44-item Big-Five Inventory (BFI) and the New South Wales Quality Teaching Inventory (NSWQTI) were utilized to collect data for the study. Data was analysed using descriptive (frequencies, means, and standard deviations) and inferential (Multiple Linear Regression, Kruskal Wallis H Test and Mann Whitney U test) statistics. Findings showed that Economics teachers exhibit a high level of effectiveness both from students’ and teachers’ perspectives and the least and dominant Big-Five personality traits recorded among teachers were neuroticism and conscientiousness, respectively. Also, only the openness dimension had a statistically significant influence on teacher effectiveness, yet, three of the Big-Five personality dimensions (openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion) were positively correlated with Economics teachers’ effectiveness, whereas the two others (agreeableness and neuroticism) were negatively correlated. Lastly, there was a significant difference in economics teachers’ effectiveness based on their teaching experience and gender. Based on the findings, it was suggested that Ghana Education Service should provide professional development opportunities focused on self-assessment techniques and incorporating student feedback into the evaluation process. Again, Ghana Education Service should provide professional development opportunities that focus on enhancing teachers’ Openness to Experience.