Level of Inhibition in Trained Secondary School Teachers : Evidence from Pakistan

The study found that the inhibition amongst trained secondary school teachers in using learned teaching methodologies is caused due to the lack of content knowledge, insufficient support from the administration, scarce continuous professional development opportunities, unsupportive environment, large class size, in-efficiency to integrate technology, inadequate post-training support and lack of motivation. The study also concluded that teaching inhibition is not possible to be controlled by virtue of teacher’s training skills only. This study recommends that trained teachers be permitted to experiment within their permissible limits to try new teaching methodologies under supervised conditions and reflect upon them intermittently. Continuous support of the school administration is the key to successfully implementing the newly-acquired pedagogic and scholastic skills for an educational institution to improve its teacher education programme.


Introduction
The importance of teacher education for effective learning of secondary students cannot be underestimated in the context of privatelyrun institutes of education.The better secondary teachers are trained, the better they can educate the students-teachers.It is, therefore, vital to recognize the essential existence of valid teacher training programmes.Most privately-run teacher education programmes in their core mission state that teacher training programmes geared at developing secondary school teaching positively impact teachers and students' knowledge of the subject matter.The pedagogic notion held by educational researchers emphasizes that teaching methods learned through teacher education programmes augment the content knowledge of both the secondary students and teachers.Unfortunately, the post-training experiences of trained secondary teachers reveal that their endeavors to implement the newly-learned teaching methodology is affected through a state of inhibition resulting in less motivated teaching sessions.
The present study is focused on the factors that cause inhibition amongst trained secondary school teachers and elaborates that this inhibition also breeds in them a state of frustration and deprivation at times.How well the trained secondary teachers teach in their post-training real classroom sessions depends on the level of inhibition they have experienced.This inhibition prevents them from displaying motivation, further qualification, enhancing professional experience and receiving further training.It is evident that without these trained teachers' transformation, there is a minimum possibility of transforming the education system for improved quality of education (Memon, Joubish & Khurram, 2010).
The intended research study focused on finding the level of inhibition among professional B.Ed and M.Ed teachers in the context of using newly-learned teaching methodologies and the level of their applicability in the real classroom.The problem probed is to investigate the factors causing inhibition amongst trained secondary school teachers in using the newly-learned teaching methodologies at the completion of B.Ed/M.Ed programmes.The new century has brought revolutionary ideas in pedagogic aspects around the globe in which teacher education is now seen as challenging and innovative as other competitive professional education.Teacher education requires being research-oriented now more than ever before.(Korthagen, Louhran & Russell, 2006).
Privately-run teacher education programmes must take into consideration the development and management of programme, provision of infrastructure, pre-service and in-service education of teachers and teacher educators, content taught and methods adopted for teaching.According to Dean (2009), research has proved that traditionallystructured teacher education programmes operating in Pakistan are not working effectively as very few of the teachers apply newly-learned pedagogic strategies from these programmes in their classrooms.This attitude becomes a root cause of non-application of any learned teaching methodology in real classes in the case of trained secondary school teachers.
Most privately-run institutions in Karachi that offer teacher education programmes are reputable for their services in the local context.During the early years of their inception, the graduates of these institutes made a positive impact with their practices as they entered the teaching profession at the completion of training.Darling-Hammond (2010) believes that the powerful teacher education programmes' curriculum is clinical as well as didactic in nature.They teach pre-service teachers to turn analysis into action by applying what they are learning in curriculum plans, teaching applications, and other performance assessments that are organized around professional teaching standards.
With the span of time, the educational community including administrators, coordinators and colleagues developed inquisition pertaining to the effectiveness and application of learned teaching methodologies by trained secondary school teachers in their jobs.The researchers witnessed that the teaching methods used by trained graduates in the classroom were similar to the ones used by untrained teachers in working under similar circumstances.The administrators and colleagues expressed their concern regarding the applicability of learned teaching methodologies for efficient student learning by trained secondary teachers.This concern instigated the researchers to investigate the factors that become the basis for showing inhibition in practicing the learned methodologies.Cole (1999) strongly believes that powerful learning of studentteachers is dependent on the availability of powerful learning opportunities to teachers.The typical pre-service teacher education programmes probably lack scholastic intervention in the real classroom context.The study saw its direction in that it found trained secondary teachers induced into the profession experiencing inhibitions.
It was important to get into the root cause of this problem as it would reflect in the standard of pre-service teacher education programmes offered by private institutions.The prospective teachers enrolled for B.Ed/ M.Ed programmes in most teacher education institutions spend around two months in the assigned schools teaching and observing around fifty lessons respectively.They are also provided continuous mentoring support by the teacher educators during practicum.The researchers observed that prospective teachers are enthusiastic, and energetic.They show creativity, and take up the challenge of the application of various teaching methodologies during practicum.It was also observed that the same individuals, who were active and enthusiastic in practicing various teaching methodologies during teacher education, seem to be least bothered about bringing innovation in their teaching through practicing new teaching methodologies.The researchers found this problem as an opportunity to investigate the factors that cause inhibition amongst the trained secondary teachers in using the learned teaching methodologies.The study answered the following questions: What is the effect of teacher education programmes offered by a private institution on the teaching practices of its graduates?

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What level of support is provided by the school administration to teachers induced into the profession for the application of learned teaching methodologies?
The study is significant in its nature and complexity as no known study to this magnitude has been conducted.Through this study, private institutions offering teacher education programmes will be able to evaluate classroom-based effectiveness of its trained secondary teachers working under different school systems across the country.The study carries the benefit in that first, a performance-based teacher evaluation and compensation system can be developed to motivate teacher educators to continue striving towards excellence.Second, an institutional performance appraisal system can be developed to monitor institutional accomplishment against set curricular objectives and goals.

Rafiq, Sharjeel
The research participants of privately-run teacher education institutions were given questionnaires as data collection tools.This was coupled with classroom observations of graduates working under different school systems.The data was cross-validated for checking validity and reliability.Time and resources limited the researcher's accessibility to involve more than the sampled graduates.Following are some of the basic assumptions related to this study: • Trained secondary teacher educators may not effectively rolemodel the teaching methodologies in their classrooms.

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It is presumed that generally, the teacher education programme is overburdened with content and assessment.

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Probably the mentoring requirements during practicum are more demanding so prospective teachers do not probe into different teaching methodologies.

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During teaching practice, the supervising teachers at assigned schools do not allow prospective teachers to use any learned teaching methodologies.

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Administration in schools where trained graduates are employed are not in favour of newly-learned teaching methodologies.
• Probably, the school environment is not conducive to support newly trained secondary teachers for the application of learned teaching methodologies.

Review of the Related Literature
According to Tatto (1997), teacher education is the development and enhancement of required knowledge, skills and dispositions in both the prospective and in-service teachers.Tatto (1997) postulates that through teacher education, teachers are expected to accelerate their competence, though sometimes they show inhibition in using the learned methodologies.
In this context, Siddiqui (2007) believes that the aim of teacher education should be the modification of the teaching-related conventional beliefs and attitudes of prospective teachers.The attitudinal change should enforce teachers in using the learned methodologies in real classroom situations.Unfortunately, in the context of private teacher education institutions, trained secondary teachers show inhibition in using the learned methodologies in the classroom as the teaching methodologies taught to them do not match their contextual needs and hence, inhibition for using learned methodologies prevails (Gay, 2002).
Inhibition in teaching means to restrain, repress, suppress or desist from performing an action or doing something that under natural circumstances is expected of teachers.Thus, inhibition turns out to be reduction in the expected performance of teachers.The reduced performance could be the outcome of intentional or un-intentional activities (Dobozy, Bryer & Biehler, 2009).
Experts in educational psychology assert that inhibition may not affect the process of teaching partly or entirely, but contrarily brings down the probability of the teaching process in relation to the application of the learned methodologies.Inhibition is caused when a model of what is expected of teachers within educational setting does not exist.Therefore, teachers avoid behaving in the way they are expected (Dobozy, Bryer & Biehler, 2009).Inhibition could turn out to be permanent until situations and circumstances are provided that may challenge the teachers to practice the learned skills in relation to teaching methodologies in real classroom situations.The following aspects need attention, specifically to address the issue of inhibition amongst the trained teachers:

Inhibition in trained teachers
The investigators emphasized that the sleepless nights spent during the teacher education programme experienced through teacher training could only bear fruit once there is minimization of the gap between the learning from training and their implementation in the classroom.Davis (2003) believes that prospective teachers should be educated in methodologies that may provoke higher order cognition and interpersonal abilities of their students.

Rafiq, Sharjeel
Educational experts expand this issue stating that the factors responsible for the low quality and poor performance of teachers in the classroom are their educational status, employment opportunities and opportunities to scrutinize the working conditions, reward and remunerations, continuous professional development opportunities and opportunities provided for up-gradation.Eacute and Esteve (2000) elaborate that teachers need to serve as facilitators of students' learning by having in-depth knowledge of the content and proving to be efficient educators.The trained secondary school teachers seem to demonstrate inadequate content knowledge regarding their subject areas.For research purposes, when teachers with or without pre-service training were examined for their content knowledge, insignificant disparity was experienced in the working of both the groups.Darling-Hammond and Youngs, (2002) believe in the importance of grip of subject knowledge on the part of the teacher if teaching methodologies are to be applied effectively in the classroom.

Learner characteristics
Teacher education is shaped by the people who enter the teaching profession (Kapadia & Coca, 2007: Tatto, 1997).One of the most important characteristics they bring is the level of formal education and the status given to teachers in society.Burke and Hutchins (2010) are of the opinion that the initiatives taken by teachers in relation to using the learned teaching methodologies in the classroom heavily depend on individual characteristics.Teachers possessing positive self-esteem tend to be more influential and intrinsically motivated in performing the teaching chores in comparison to the teachers with low self-esteem and lower cognitive abilities.
Prospective teachers have the tendency of matching the relevancy of skills developed as a result of teacher education to contextual situations that will result in practicing what is learnt at teacher education programmes.Burke and Hutchins (2010) also elaborate that pre-service teacher education must satisfy the needs of the prospective teachers in relation to improvement in job and performance that would result in practicing the learned methodologies in the classroom or else novice teachers will easily deviate from what is learnt.

Attitude of novice teachers
According to experts in education, the negative attitude of prospective teachers towards teacher education programme and job affect the application of learned methodologies.The findings of Burke and Hutchins (2010) depict that teachers having a positive attitude towards teacher education programmes and job have shown the tendency to be highly motivated to practice what is learnt and improve their performance at work.Therefore, Eacute and Esteve (2000) suggests newly trained teachers to analyze their attitude against the effectiveness of various teaching methodologies and hence make attempts in bringing diversity in teaching methods.The attitude of trained secondary school teachers towards teaching and learning can be modified by getting them involved in the reform processes.

Teacher motivation
Practice of learnt skills in the context of professional teacher training is dependent on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.Experts believe that intrinsically motivated individuals are keenly interested in learning and extrinsic rewards are of minimum value to them.Whereas, others hold the view that practicing what is learnt at teacher training programmes depends on extrinsic motivation such as appraisal in the working environment.This is interesting to realize that pedagogic practitioners assert that teacher motivation is referred to as the prospective teacher's desire for getting most of the pre-service education.They further extend that motivation is the effort and initiatives taken by prospective teachers for learning the expected skills at training; while beginner teachers practice the learnt skills at the completion of training.Motivation could be to 'learn' and motivation could be to 'transfer'.According to Siddiqui (2007) attempts made by beginner teachers to practice the learnt skills in real Rafiq, Sharjeel work situations is referred to as motivation to transfer.The findings of many studies in educational psychology reveal that motivation to transfer remains persistent for at least one year.Studies have revealed that motivation to transfer is dependent on motivation to learn.

Supportive leadership
Blase and Blase (2000) are of the opinion that school principals must take initiatives in having valuable dialogues with teachers, regarding their practices.Beginner teachers must be encouraged to reflect on their learning outcomes as a result of teacher education and professional practices.Thus, supportive principals may adopt some of the strategies to have an impact on the performance of beginner teachers.The same may be applied in the context of trained secondary school teachers who visit different schools in the teaching practice sessions and stay there for a long professional purpose.
According to Blase and Blase (2000) school principals should have regular observations of the teaching practices of beginner teachers and provide them with meaningful, suitable and non-threatening postobservation feedback.Thus, the principal should behave as a critical friend and provide constructive feedback to beginner teachers on their teaching practices.The feedback needs to be specific and encouraging.

Support from senior colleagues
Trained secondary teachers often have social gatherings where they share and discuss the issues, challenges and norms that rule the profession.These meetings become a source of improvement in the practices of the members of a particular profession.In the teaching profession there is hardly any occasion for professional meetings; thus, negating commitment in practices.Darling-Hammond (2010) believes that the beginner teachers should not be left alone to sink or swim once they enter the field of teaching as practitioners.This phenomenal aspect is what is missing in the whiletraining stage currently.The experienced and senior teachers need to be given extra time and payment to help beginner teachers in practicing teaching skills in actual classroom situations.Beginner teachers together with the support and assistance of expert teachers should be encouraged to get involved in projects such as action research to get their classroom problems solved.

The working environment
To show in-depth growth and immersion in their profession, trained secondary school teachers require the support of the school (Razzak & Akhtar, 2014).This support could be in the form of providing encouragement, guidance and a good working environment that can challenge and facilitate teachers in being committed to their endeavors to leave a positive impact on the learning of the student.If the working environment is not conducive to teaching and learning, the teachers will be reluctant in practicing what is learnt (Folajimi, 2009).In most of the developing countries, the working environment does not support teachers to practice what they had learnt during pre-service teacher education.In addition to this, the pressures from local politicians remain a constant obstacle to their performance; thus struggling between meeting the demands of time and teaching (Reimers & Reimers, 1996).

Rewards and remuneration
According to Reimers and Reimers (1996) in most countries, teaching is associated with low rewards for the services offered.Teachers are normally paid less which does not motivate them to perform to the best of their abilities (Folajimi, 2009).The demands of the profession using multiple teaching methodologies for imparting knowledge are great specifically for teachers who receive no support, appreciation or motivation from families (Reimers & Reimers, 1996).In the above context, secondary school teachers also long to be paid according to their qualification and experience in the field.The incentives given to trained secondary school teachers should definitely be monetary.These teachers could further be financially supported by providing subsidized housing, food and transportation facilities.Another form of incentives could be acknowledgment and appreciation of performance in the classroom, whereas, others are of the view point that rewards could be in the form of Rafiq, Sharjeel promotion in job based on the classroom performance of beginner teachers in particular, and experienced teachers in general.

Professional development opportunities
Participation of teachers in an event should not be considered as professional development.Rather, it should be a chain of sequential activities for succession in profession related areas such as mastery over content, effective use of material aids and improvement in basic teaching skills responding to the demands of time.Smith and Fries (2001) strongly believe that professional development policies enforced by the government contribute in the capacity building of teachers; hence bringing variety and creativity in their teaching.Trained secondary teachers need to be given this opportunity to grow and enhance.

Administrative jobs
Steve ( 2000) is of the opinion that teachers need to learn to manage the pressures at work in relation to application of innovative teaching methodologies.According to Reimers and Reimers (1996), teachers have restricted time for teaching and this time is further taken up by administrative jobs such as mentoring trainee teachers or new teachers.These extra tasks may include time for planning, student evaluation, and participation in in-service professional development programmes, attending faculty meetings, attending to the complaints of parents and to organize cocurricular activities.The additional administrative jobs make teachers exhausted and they are hardly motivated to try out any learned teaching methodology in the class.Thus according to Steve (2000), the classroom performance of over-burdened teachers suffers and they do not perform to the best of their abilities.Trained teachers at secondary level also require to be considered to overcome this issue.

Monitoring by teacher education institutions
According to Darling-Hammond (2010), a very strong relationship should be established between teacher education institutions and the associated schools.A type of relationship that might lead toward modifying the theory and practice at teacher education institutes as well as the schools.

Dr. Malik GhulamBehlol
At the completion of pre-service teacher education, the prospective teachers enter the profession with great zeal and enthusiasm, but unfortunately this does not persist for long in case of Pakistan.One of the possible reasons could be lack of support, direction and feedback on the performance from teacher education institutions.This discourages teachers and consequently, leaves them baffled.They find themselves in difficult situations in relation to learned methodologies.Therefore, they easily adopt the practices that envelop their surroundings and thus continue with the teaching practices that are used in the environment they work.Eacute and Esteve (2000), opine that the media has imposed great effects on the learning of students.Thus, students expect teachers to be as effective in communication as presented on the media whereas, teachers normally use the chalk and talk method that does not attract student learning.Therefore, use of technology can be of great assistance for teacher effectiveness and students' active participation.Hence, teachers are challenged to integrated technology into the curriculum whereas, Reimers (as cited in Tattoo, 1997) is of the opinion that if schools have poorly prepared teachers, incompetent of integrating technology into the curriculum, there is scarcity of relevant instructional aids.This aspect is common in the level of inhibition across the trained teachers in Pakistan particularly in the context of trained secondary teachers.

Research Methodology
The study employed a survey strategy.The target population comprised all B.Ed and M.Ed graduates of NDIE who had been certified as secondary school teachers from 2008-2012.The total number of accessible population consisted of n=269 graduates (68 males and 201 females.) The study used purposive sampling technique to collect data from the participants as the focus of the research was to analyze the level of inhibition amongst trained secondary school teachers.The total population consisted of 269 participants comprising 238 B.Ed graduates and 31 M.Ed graduates.Out of total population of 238 B.Ed graduates, 13 Rafiq, Sharjeel expressed their non-availability.17 graduates informed that they did not continue with teaching as a career.The required sample size for the research was n=120 participants.From this sample, n=120 filled questionnaires were received.The minimum academic qualification of all the research participants was fourteen years of formal education.The minimum professional qualification of all the research participants was one year pre-service teacher training.All the research participants were employed by schools running under private management.
The researchers used a questionnaire for data collection.The instrument was divided into three main sections.Section A comprised demographic information of the participants.Sections B and C comprised attitudinal scales.The two main types of attitudinal scales such as Likert scale, and rating scales were used in the study.
The study comprised independent variables such as teaching methodology, teachers' individual characteristics, teacher's over-efficiency, insufficient professional development opportunities, school working environment, unsatisfactory rewards and benefits, large class size, lack of technical expertise, post-training inadequate support and structure of teacher education programme.
A pilot study was conducted with n=29 research participants.The questionnaire was e-mailed to each pilot study participant.25 pilot study participants responded to the e-email.The basic purpose of piloting was to check the validity and reliability of the research tool.Based on the analysis of the pilot study, modifications were made in the instrument and the improved tool was used for collecting data for the research activity.
The instrument reliability was ensured through test-retest reliability.Prior to actual administration of the research tool, it was administered twice and results were received.The value of Cronbach Alpha obtained from the instrument was significant with 0.798.The factors such as content expertise, individual characteristics, professional development, working environment and monitoring of novice teachers were significant in causing inhibition amongst trained secondary school teachers in using the learned Participants residing in Karachi were invited to assemble on the given date and time to fill in the research questionnaire.According to Kumar (1996), this type of administration is known as "collective administration".For the respondents who could not be present for collective administration of the instrument, the questionnaire was administered in their respective schools catering to their feasibility.

Dr. Malik GhulamBehlol
According to Kumar (1996), this type of questionnaire administrating is known as administration in public place.The study excluded all those graduates who obtained their B.Ed or M.Ed degrees from the institute prior to the academic year 2006-2007.Moreover, incomplete and wrongly filled questionnaires were also excluded.

Level of Inhibition in Trained Teachers
Table 1 indicates that 75.83%NDIE-trained secondary teachers agreed the they do not have a grip over the content, whereas 59.16% agreed that they do not feel competent in teaching the content, 49.16% agreed that teacher education programme offered does not support the learning of the content, while 44.16% agreed that they do not depend on classroom-based teaching content and 40.83% agreed that they were not taught the required content at the teacher education programme.

Findings and Discussion
Trained secondary school teachers show inhibition in practicing any teaching methods learned during the teacher education programme if they have no grip over the content to be taught.It is very important for trained secondary school teachers to have competency over the content they are expected to teach in the schools or else they would not be able to practice any learned teaching methodologies in the classroom.In case trained secondary school teachers get no opportunity for learning the related content, they feel greatly deprived.When they begin their career as teachers, they feel reluctant in using any teaching methodologies due to poor grip over the content.In addition, employed trained teachers have a great load of weekly and daily teaching and they get no time to improve their content knowledge.
Putting into practice, what has been learned as a result of teacher education is not affected by outside forces.Application of learned skills and methodologies by trained teachers varies from individual to individual.Trained teachers who are intrinsically motivated are not hesitant in trying out something different with their students that may positively affect their learning.Moreover, when teachers firmly believe that each student in the class is intelligent and important and it is their responsibility to make teaching and learning interesting and permanent for the students, then they decode the required content using various learned teaching methodologies.Furthermore, teachers with positive self-esteem tend to practice learned methodologies than the teachers who consider the teacher education programme only a means of obtaining a degree or a means to get annual increment.The efficiency of trained secondary teachers in the classroom depends on the support and encouragement received from the administration.When the administration ensures the availability of required resources, have an ongoing dialogue with teachers related to their practices, encourage teachers for taking initiatives in trying out various teaching methodologies, motivate, stimulate and inspire teachers, then teachers practice learned methodologies with freedom.In addition, when the administration models the application of various methodologies through their working pattern, they originate within teachers the love of practicing the learned methodologies once inducted into the profession.

Level of Inhibition in Trained Teachers
Trained teachers can be motivated through giving satisfactory rewards and benefits for the services rendered or else in the classroom teachers may not perform to the best of their abilities.The rewards and benefits given to the trained teachers may always not be monetary in nature.These could also be in the form of funding for professional development, conveyance, health insurance, paid study leave and so on to reduce inhibition.The large class size also inhibits teachers to practice any learned teaching methodology as most of their time is spent on maintaining class discipline and gaining the attention of the students.Teachers find it arduous to try out various teaching methodologies.In a class of 45-50 students, these teachers keep struggling to interact with individual students.They hardly find time to investigate modifications in the successful application of learned teaching methodologies.
Trained teachers need to be introduced to the integration of technology for the application of various teaching methodologies.They must receive orientation to integration of technology in the curriculum during teacher education programmes.Hence, a non-supportive attitude of the administration inhibits teachers from practicing any teaching methodology in the classroom.The newly trained secondary teachers face new challenges.One of them is certainly how to apply the learned teaching methodologies in the classroom.Newly-trained teachers can be facilitated to cope up with such kind of problems if post-training support is provided by the teacher education institutions.Trained teachers induced in the profession can show inhibition for the application of learned methodologies if they are not provided with the opportunities for carrying them out during practicum.This means an enriched practicum period should be provided to the prospective teachers with maximum opportunities for practicing the learned teaching methodologies in the classroom.

Recommendations
The study recommends that trained secondary school teachers try various teaching methods in decoding assigned content for their students.Thus, they need to be asked to make a shift from traditional methods of teaching and learning, recognize the importance and value of the Article Dr. Malik GhulamBehlol methodologies taught at the teacher education programme and take pride in practicing them.It is also recommended that they be consistent in using various teaching approaches learned at teacher education sessions for meaningful delivery of the content to their students.It is also recommended that administrators motivate trained secondary teachers by acknowledging and appreciating the efforts of these teachers in practicing the learned teaching methodologies effectively in the classroom.One of the recommendations includes the development of a strong mechanism of providing technical support to NDIE-graduate teachers through graduate professional network for at least the first two years of their teaching career.Through this network, trained teachers will be able to strengthen the teaching related values and beliefs of all its graduates.

Conclusion
The study concludes that insufficient professional knowledge of trained secondary teachers and their lack of intrinsic motivation cause inhibition in them.Scarcity of professional development opportunities, nonsupportive working environment, in-sufficient rewards and remunerations, large class size and lack of facilities to integrate technology into the curriculum are the other major causes of inhibition in the trained secondary school teachers.The structure and design of the teacher education programme and deficiency of a system in place to provide post-training support to the trained secondary teachers also need consideration as major factors of inhibitions.
This study also concludes that it is the job of employing administration of educational institutions to provide trained secondary teachers a culture of collegiality and professionalism.This way, these trained teachers would feel professionally acknowledged and their inhibition to practice newly-learned teaching methodologies would be controlled to a large extent.Parent institutions, NDIE must also realize the role they can play in supporting trained teachers for the application of learned teaching methodologies.They can make the trained teachers conscious of the fact the inhibition in using various teaching methods may be caused due to individual interest and motivation.Therefore, trained teachers, schools and teacher education, all should join hands in eradicating inhibition and

Table 2 .
Scale analysis