The skilful and competent teacher uses as many methods and techniques as possible because, there is no single method which is regarded as the best for every teaching situation. In a single lesson therefore, the teacher can employ more than one method to facilitate learning. The success of every method depends on the caliber of the teacher and his professional experience in the field of teaching. Studies have shown that coupled with appropriate instructional materials, right choice of methods facilitate learning achievement to a large extent. This applies at all levels of education and particularly pre-primary which deals with foundation of learning and development.
The success of teaching always lies mainly on the know-how of the subject involved and the use of appropriate method(s) that is required per time during the process of transfer of knowledge. A successful teaching is a product of effective and efficient teaching process. Vin-Mbah (2012) cited South and Laslett (1993) and Oyekan (1994) who described teaching as an all-purpose profession engaged in human resource development for individual and economic growth. Teaching is also an attempt to help someone acquire or change, some skill, attitude, knowledge, idea or appreciation. In other words, the teacher’s task is to create or influence desirable changes in behaviour, or in tendencies toward behaviour in his students/pupils. Effective teaching involves informing and explaining stimulating, direction, guiding, administrating, identifying what to learn, method of learning, problems, evaluating, reporting, recording, classroom management, socialization and school-community relationship among others.
There are many definitions of teaching method by different authors. Teaching method can be defined as a practical application of teaching principles based on the nature of learner, the nature of the subject and the learning needs of the pupils/students. According to Oyekan (1994), teaching methodology is concerned with what method techniques or approach, individuals or group of teachers select and use in actual classroom situation. Some of the methods that are applicable to Pre-primary Schools level of education include Play method, Supervised Activity method, Activity method, Demonstration method, Games method, Excursion method, Storytelling method, Pictural method and Assignment method.
Play is natural to children and involves their personal experience. Fredrich Froebel (1782-1852) a German educator who developed the Kindergarten or children's garden is also considered to be the inventor of the Play-way Method of education as well. Onukaogu, Oyinloye and Iroegbe (2010) found that pioneers of early childhood education like Froebel, Montessori, Piaget, Vygotsky and John Dewey believed that the preschool curriculum should be based on play way. For
instance, Froebel in Essa (1999) believed that the child’s natural unfolding occurs through play. According to Biswas (2012), the significance of play in teaching is that a child is happiest when engrossed in play and play can happen in different forms– imitation of family members, to playing with toys, or playing tag, hide seek or simply running about in groups.
Play helps children to improve their motor skills, enhance their power of imagination and creativity which have implications for the 21stcentury teachers for steering away the act of imparting education from being a tutor centric activity to a learner centric one. Esomonu l (2005) maintains that playful situations keep the children alert, active and responsive. Using this method in a pre-school, involves incorporating the various learning activities in a subject into play. Children learn best by doing and this confirmed by a study by John (2004) which found that play-way method led to better achievements in social studies than in group learning and conventional methods. More so, when their interest is aroused children are found paying attention and concentration for considerable longer periods. imilarly, Popoola (2014) in a study of the effect of play way method on the numeracy skills of Early Basic Education School pupils in Ekiti State showed that there was significant difference in the performance of students in favour of those in guided play group. Also, gender has no influence on the pupils’ achievement in each group.
Demonstration method refers to the type of teaching method in which the
teacher is the principal actor while the learners watch with the intention to act later. In
demonstration method, the teacher does whatever the learners are expected to do at
the end of the lesson by showing them how to do it and explaining the step-by-step
process to them (Ameh, Daniel and Akus, 2007cited by Ekeyi, 2013). According to
Mundi (2006), demonstration is a display or an exhibition usually done by the teacher
while the students watch with keen interest and this involves showing how something
works or the steps involved in the process. Ogwo and Oranu (2006) affirmed that
demonstration method is the most widely used instructional method for acquisition of
practical skills as it involves verbal and practical illustration of a given procedure.
The method can be used at any level of education to facilitate learning. The
demonstration method is used to show the students, good sitting position, how to hold
the pencil, how to turn over the notebook page, good outline formation, how to build
mental storage etc. At the pre-primary level, teacher can demonstrate counting of
objects, how to add or subtract objects which is addition and subtraction of numbers.
According to Daugherty (1974), showing students how to perform an activity as well
as telling them about the activity to stimulate both visual and auditory responses and
therefore accelerates the learning process. In a study by Ekeyi (2013) students taught
by demonstration method had significant effect on their achievement than those
taught with the conventional lecture method. On the other hand, Ayang and Idaka
(2012) found no significant difference in the joint effect of demonstration and project
instructional methods and aptitude on psychomotor performance of students in basic
electricity.
Conventional teaching method refers to a common strategy teachers employ
in the teaching of any subject. According to Gbamaja (1991), it is also called talk and
chalk or textbook method. It is the most commonly used method and in the course of
employing it, the teacher dominates the teaching with very little participation on the
part of the learners. Education sector analysis conducted in Nigeria in 2005 found that
teacher talks for an average of 35 minutes out of the 40 minutes of the instructional
time in secondary school. A study by Oduolowu and Oyesomi (2012) revealed that
pre-school teachers used teachers centered method of teaching with few materials
provided. In conventional method, the teacher is seen as the repository of all
knowledge while the students are passive recipients of knowledge transmitted by the
teachers in the process of learning and hence, it is teacher centred. The method has the
advantage of covering a wider area within a short time may not be ideal for pre-primary
pupils; however, it is not uncommon to find teachers using them at this level. In view of
the methods, Ogwu (2005) posits that there is not one best approach to instruction.
There is no consensus on the role pupil’s gender play in learning achievements.
To some, girls perform better in languages than boys while boys perform better in the
sciences and mathematics than girls. At the pre-school level, Popoola (2014) found
no difference between the achievement of the male and female pupils taught by play
way and guided demonstration methods. This finding is supported by other studies
like Popoola (2004), Oyinloye and Babalola (2012) which found that male and female
pupils can perform well without disparity if they were exposed to the same condition.
On the other hand, Kolawole (2002) and Popoola (2008) indicated that gender has
influence on students learning in Science and Mathematics.
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