EXPLORING CHALLENGES FACING EFFECTIVE USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS BY GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN EASTERN SIERRA LEONE

Teaching is an old art in human history. Effective teaching and learning has always emphasised the use of instructional materials in public, private and community schools in Sierra Leone. Therefore, this research was carried out to explore the challenges of effective use of instructional materials by geography teachers in Eastern Sierra Leone. The objective was to explore the challenges facing the effective use of instructional materials by geography teachers in Kenema City. The descriptive research design was used. The sampling size selected includes ten (10) Senior Secondary Schools (SSS); from each selected school three (3) geography teachers were selected totalling thirty (30) respondents. Ten (10) school administrators were also selected from the selected schools; one (1) each and five (5) inspectors of schools attached to the schools from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE). In total forty-five (45) respondents were selected The results revealed that the available geography instructional materials were mainly globe, maps, charts etc. in all the sampled schools and only two (2) out of the ten (10) schools had school meteorological stations but were not operational. A number of challenges facing the use of instructional materials by geography teachers ranged from lack of available geography instructional resources to laziness/lack of expertise to improvise geography instructional materials. Attempt at solution from the perspective of geography teachers ranged from provision of available instructional materials or resource centres equipped with geography instructional materials to inclusion of Geographic Information System (GIS) in geography curriculum. It was concluded that the challenges facing the use of instructional materials by geography teachers in SSS have impacts on the overall performance of pupils. Recommendations ranged from improvisation of geography instructional materials to seasonal training of geography teachers in GIS through seminars.