TEACHERS NEEDS, CULTURALLY-SIGNIFICANT TEACHER-EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL-ACHIEVEMENT IN AN AFRICAN CONTEXT - THE CASE OF GUINEA-BISSAU

Various studies demonstrate that school and teacher characteristics pl ay an important role in pupil success This article presents the findin gs from a study in Guinea-Bissau in which it is shown that the higher educational level and the level of the teacher training and the school buildings and equipment deemed appropriate do not always contribute t o better pupil results Two principal and partially complementary inter pretations of these results are made. First, in a society where the te chnological level is very low and the school is distanced from the loc al cultures, value-oriented factors count more than technical-material factors in regard to pupil success Secondly, the standard of living t hat the teachers have is so low that their basic needs are not met and , consequently, they cannot give teaching tasks priority. Therefore, t heir level of instruction and training does not make the difference it would make otherwise. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd