ABSTRACT
The
major purpose of this study is to determine the influence of curriculum
implementation on the employability of the Education Graduates of the
University of Lagos. Three research question was raised to guide the study and
one research hypothesis was formulated. The descriptive survey research design
was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised of students
from the Department of Educational Administration of the University of Lagos,
the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from Surulere, Lagos and
teachers drawn from various private schools in Ikeja Local Government Area of
Lagos State. The systematic random sampling technique was used in selecting 150
respondents from the population. The method of data collection was the questionnaire,
the researcher administered the instrument, data was analyzed using the Mean,
Standard Deviation, and t-test analysis. One of the major findings was that
employability skills as part of the curriculum makes the difference in graduate
unemployment. A major recommendation include that curriculum must be reviewed periodically and drawn in
tandem with the requirements of employers of labour in order to match current
realities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page i
Attestation ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Abstract vi
Table
of Contents vii
List
of Tables ix
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background
to the study 1
Statement
of the Problem 3
Purpose/Objectives
of the Study 5
Research
Questions 6
Research
Hypothesis 6
Scope
of the Study 6
Significance
of the Study 7
Limitations 8
Operational
Definition of Important Terms 8
CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELEVANT/RELATED LITERATURE
Curriculum Implementation 10
Factors Affecting Curriculum Implementation 29
Employability 31
Graduate Unemployment 37
The Relevance of Technical and Vocational
Education 39
The Curriculum and Employability 44
Employability, Higher Education and
Assessment 52
Employment and Employability 54
Employability Development in Teaching and
Learning 56
Summary of Related Literature Review 59
CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES
Research
Design 61
Population 61
Sample
and Sampling Population 61
Research
Instruments 62
Validity
and Reliability of the Research Instruments 62
Method
of Data Collection 62
Method
of Data Analyses 63
CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Demographic
Characteristics of Participants 64
Answers
to Research Questions 64
Testing
of Research Hypothesis 68
Summary
of Findings 69
CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Summary
of the Study 70
Implications
of the Findings for Policy and for Practice 71
Conclusion 73
Contribution
to Knowledge 74
Generalizability
of Research Findings 74
Suggestions
for Further Research 75
REFERENCES 77
APPENDICES 80
LIST
OF TABLES
Table 1. Frequency
count and percentage analysis of responses to the teaching of life learning
skills and competencies in the Faculty of Education
Table 2. Frequency count and percentage analysis of
response to the effectiveness of vocational training for new Education
Graduates
Table 3.
Frequency count and percentage analysis of the response on the effect of
Curriculum Implementation on the Employability of Education Graduates.
Table 4. T-test
analysis of the effect of Curriculum Implementation on the employability of
Education Graduates.
Table 5: Appendices
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Higher education institutions must recognise that for
many students, the transition from education into employment is not a
straightforward matter and in the past many students have been ill-equipped for
this transition. During the 1990s, this issue has been exacerbated because of
the considerable expansion in graduate numbers which has taken place within a
relatively short period of time. Furthermore, the nature of graduate employment
is changing, today it is only a minority of students who can hold any realistic
expectation of employment in a position directly related to the discipline
studied; this is particularly the case for those students whose focus remains
within traditional academic disciplines. Whilst it is essential that the
academic standards of particular disciplines or broader fields of study are not
undermined, it is also important to be realistic and to note that the academic
knowledge gained will (for most students) never be utilised directly in any
employment context. More and more, the academic qualification of the degree is
merely a statement that the graduate has demonstrated the ability to perform to
a particular level of academic competence and, perhaps more importantly, possesses
the ability to learn (Steven and Fallows, 1998).
Employers, universities and professional bodies agree
that Nigeria needs to develop professionals who are highly skilled and ready to
face the challenges of increased competition. More than ever, we need
professionals who are responsive to economic, social, cultural, technical and
environmental change and can work flexibly and intelligently across business
contexts. The country requires education graduates who understand the part they
play in the impartation of knowledge to pupils and have the practical skills to
work effectively in their roles.
However, contributing in the school environment means more than having
the necessary teaching skills. It means engaging with the school and its goals,
understanding the dynamics of the school environment and taking up a job role
with an informed knowledge of all of its requirements. It also means applying a
broad range of employability skills learned in many contexts and through a
range of experiences. Emerging institutions aspire to be more competitive, more
effective and more innovative. The education graduate workforce is a key part
of the talent pool the school environment draws from to further these
objectives. Universities clearly want to produce graduates with the skills that
are highly regarded by employers and are seen to contribute to the acquisition
of lifelong skills by the students, country’s prosperity and social capital.
Emerging teaching professionals want to attain interesting employment, and
build their professional careers.
National development is inextricably linked to human development.
All education graduates of institutions of higher learning play a major role in
the development of their countries and in the advancement of their respective
disciplines. While technical discipline-specific knowledge is a
prerequisite for all graduates, effective management skills are also needed by
those entering the private sector and government. However, the
challenge is that curriculum design and implementation require a major overhaul
for graduates to acquire these competencies and skills. Our curriculum in most
higher institutes of learning does not have an extensive curriculum reform to
include mentoring and internships as part of the regular training in all
educational programmes. Educational providers globally are increasingly
expected to focus on improving the employability of their
learners. This has led to greater attention on a range of
institutional policies and practices that focus on the individual's learning
and which seek to address their deficits of knowledge, skills and
attitudes.
Statement of the Problem
Nigeria has a serious challenge. Many education
graduates of its universities cannot find work. Despite an average economic
growth rate of about seven percent per annum over the last seven years, a good
performance by global standards, wage employment is estimated to have declined
by about thirty percent according to a recent World Bank Publication titled “Putting
Nigeria to Work”. Nigeria has a serious jobless growth problem. Its strong
economic performance over the last decade has not translated to jobs and real
life opportunities for its many of its youths. (Olu Akanmu, 2011).
Three out of ten graduates of higher institutions cannot
find work. Being highly educated does not increase the chance of finding a job.
Many graduates of higher institution who find work are not usually gainfully
employed. They are forced to accept marginal jobs that do not use their
qualifications in sales, agriculture and manual labour according to the British
Council sponsored Nigeria-Next Generation Report. For those who are lucky to find
jobs, employers are concerned about their skills and fit with their job
requirements. Standards have fallen in higher education due to years of poor
implementation of the curriculum, leading to a growing preference for overseas
university education. Nigeria is one of the biggest markets for British Higher
Education because many upper- middle class families see it as a way to give
their children a head-start in life. This however has serious social equity
implications as not more than ten percent of Nigerian families can afford to
send their children abroad. There is an increasing correlation between
employability of graduates and their social class. If education is the bridge
to liberating the potentials of young people and bridging the social divide by offering
everyone a chance to climb the social ladder, higher education in Nigeria may
be failing.
Employers want their graduate recruits to be competent in
their chosen fields. They also want them to come out of school well equipped
with complementary life skills such as problem solving, reflective and critical
thinking, interpersonal and teaming skills, effective communication, character,
integrity and high level of personal ethics, self-esteem, self-discipline,
organizing skills and abilities to translate ideas to action. The problem,
typical of higher education in many countries is that these life skills are
rarely taught as part of higher education curriculum. Yet, as soft as they are,
they are no less important in making a success out of school as the specific
technical skills in a graduate’s chosen field.
According to Olu Akanmu (2011), there are two
critical policy issues to address in putting the Nigerian graduate to work. The
first is how to increase the employment generation capacity of the economy,
create jobs that will absorb thousands of higher education graduates and
reverse the current pattern of Nigeria’s jobless economic growth. It is
estimated that Nigeria needs to create twenty-four million jobs over the next
ten years to half current unemployment level of thirty percent. The second policy
issue to address is how higher education institutions will produce graduates
that are employable for the jobs created. How would Nigerian universities improve
standards to produce graduates with the minimum sufficient technical skills in
their chosen fields? Her national
spending priorities will need to be re-ordered to allocate more resources to
human capacity development which has a high leverage on its social and economic
development. In addition, Nigeria’s education policy must also address how its
universities will develop the complementary curriculum that addresses the life
skill requirements its graduates and prepare them better for their
post-graduate life journey? The disparity between postgraduate employment
reality and higher education curriculum in specific field and general terms
will need to be addressed.
The historical underfunding of curriculum implementation has led to a crisis of
standards in higher education. Putting
the education graduate to gainful work also implies that its higher education
institutions should partner with schools to develop employability content in
higher education curriculum and provide formal life skills training for
students. The curriculum does not include life case analysis in teaching that
brings the real work problems to life.
Purpose/Objectives of the Study
The purpose of the
study is to:
1. analyse
the impact of curriculum implementation on life learning skills acquired by Faculty
of Education graduates in the University of Lagos.
2. identify
how the Faculty of Education currently integrates, develops and teaches employability
skills to undergraduates through its curriculum.
3.
identifying practical, cost-effective options
that enable employability to be identified as part of the Faculty of Education
curriculum.
The study will also
shed more light on the employability skills needed by education graduates to
fully succeed in the teaching environment.
Research Questions
To guide the study,
the following research questions were posed,
1.
Does curriculum implementation directly
affect the employability of education graduates in the University of Lagos?
2.
Is the University of Lagos currently teaching
life learning skills and competencies in their Education Faculty?
3.
How effective are the vocational and technical
training for new education graduates towards being employable?
Research Hypothesis
There is significant
difference between the teaching abilities of education graduates that have been
exposed to teaching practice as part of the curriculum and Non-education
graduates who have not been part of any teaching practice scheme as part of
their curriculum.
Scope of the Study
The scope of the
study will involve
1.
defining curriculum implementation in the
Faculty of Education of the University of Lagos, the methods and effectiveness.
2.
reviewing and identifying the best practice
for integrating, developing, teaching, assessing on employability skills.
3.
identifying practical, cost-effective options
that enable employability skills that are embedded in university education
qualifications to be explicitly identified as part of the higher education
assessment and reporting process.
4.
examining the factors that affect qualitative
implementation of curriculum in the Faculty of Education of the University of
Lagos.
It should be noted
that the study focuses only on curriculum implementation in the Faculty of Education,
UNILAG and the employability of its new graduates.
Significance of the Study
The findings of
this research will be of great importance to all the stakeholders among which
are:
1.
Curriculum Designers – The findings will
better inform the curriculum designers and implementers on why the curriculum
should be reviewed frequently. It will also guide them on how to plan for the education
graduates and equally put in motion processes geared towards repositioning the
curriculum to more responsive to the needs of the society.
2.
Researchers – The study will provide a
framework for subsequent studies in this area and it will serve as reference
work for researchers who intend to carry out similar studies.
3.
Students – The study will serve as an eye
opener to the education graduates who are not informed about the skills they
are supposed to possess.
4.
Employers – The findings of this work will be
of immense help to employers of labour as it will afford them the opportunity
to know the areas of weaknesses of our graduates and how to possibly organise
on the job training for new recruits to address this challenge.
Limitations of the Study
The study will not
be concerned with the employability of existing Education graduates in the
labour market but will be focussing on new graduates. The study will only
concern itself with the design and implementation of curriculum at the Faculty
of Education, Department of Educational Foundation; it will not be examining
curriculum implementation in other Faculties in the University.
Operational Definitions of Important Terms
Curriculum: is a plan or programme
of all experiences which the learner encounters under the direction of a school
(Tanner and Tanner, 1995: 158). Curriculum in this study refers to the
programme of activities run by the school to prepare their product for the
labour market. According to Gatawa (1990), it is “the totality of the
experiences of children for which schools are responsible”. All this is in
agreement with Sergiovanni and Starrat (1983), who argue that curriculum is
“that which a student is supposed to encounter, study, practice and master… what
the student learns. A curriculum outlines a prescribed series of courses to
take.
Employability: A
set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes that make
graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen
occupations. Booth, (2003). It is that quality that enables a worker fit
into the world of work.
Curriculum Implementation:
Curriculum implementation entails putting into practice the officially
prescribed courses of study, syllabuses and subjects. The process involves
helping the learner acquire knowledge or experience. It is important to note
that curriculum implementation cannot take place without the learner. The
learner is therefore the central figure in the curriculum implementation
process. Implementation takes place as the learner acquires the planned or
intended experiences, knowledge, skills, ideas and attitudes that are aimed at
enabling the same learner to function effectively in a society (University of
Zimbabwe, 1995).
Curriculum
implementation is how the school is able to meet the requirements on the policy
of education at the higher level.
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