ABSTRACT
The study attempted to
investigate the effects of early childhood education on the cognitive
development of primary one pupils in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos
State. In this study, extensive and relevant literature review was carried out
under related sub-headings. The descriptive research survey was used in this
study in order to carry out the objective assessment of the opinions of the
respondents selected for this study. In addition, the questionnaire was adopted
for the collection of data necessary for this study, while the sampling
technique was applied in selecting the samples for this study. In total, four
null hypotheses were generated and tested in this study, with the application
of both the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and the t-test of independence
variable. At the end of the analyses, the following results emerged: that there
is a significant relationship between pre-primary school education and
cognitive development among children in schools, there is a significant
difference between pre-primary school education and children’s school achievement
in schools, that no significant difference exists between the speech
development of children taught by parents and those taught by teachers and that
there is a significant gender difference in cognitive development by children
due to attendance of pre-primary education. Based on the conclusions of this
study, the researcher recommended that the National Policy on Education should
be reviewed to include among others the education of the Nigerian child from 0
– 2 years.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
page i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
Abstract
v
Table
of contents
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 4
1.3 Purpose of the Study 5
1.4 Research
Questions 5
1.5 Research
Hypotheses 6
1.6 Significance
of the Study 6
1.7 Scope of the Study 7
CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0
Introduction 8
2.1
Language and
Linguistic Development 8
2.1.1 Intellectual Growth and Potential for Learning 10
2.1.2 Personality and Emotional Development 11
2.2
Early Childhood
Education Curriculum 12
2.2.1 Objectives of Early Childhood Education 13
2.2.2 Designing a Curriculum for ECE 14
2.3
The Philosophical
Bases of Pre-Primary Education 15
2.4
The National Policy
on Pre-Primary Education 17
2.5
Early Child Care
Development and Education (ECCDE) Project 18
2.6
Characteristics of
Early Childhood Development 20
2.7
Parental Role in
Early Childhood Development 23
2.7.1 Parental Education 26
2.8 Effect of Pre-Primary Education on Speech
Development of Children28
2.9
Summary of Review 31
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 32
3.2 Sample and Sampling Technique 32
3.3 Population of the Study 32
3.4 Instrumentation 33
3.5 Reliability of the Instrument 33
3.6 Procedure for Data Collection 33
3.7 Method of Statistical Analysis 34
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
4.1
Interpretation of Data 35
4.2
Testing of Hypotheses 41
4.3
Summary of Findings 44
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1
Summary of the Study 46
5.2
Conclusions 47
5.3
Recommendations 47
REFERENCES 49
APPENDIX 53
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the
Study
A baby is in the making as soon as conception takes
place. Normally, it takes 9 months for a full grown baby in the womb to be born
into the world, barring all accidents and pre-mature delivery. A baby right
from conception, is a unique individual with his or her special
characteristics, Caplan and Caplan (1995). According to them, the nature of
children is such that no two children are completely the same or alike in everything
not even identical twins. Thus, there are obvious differences that
differentiate one child from another. Nwagbara (2003), the complexities in
children result both from nature and nurture. Children go through different
stages of development that is, from birth to young adults. This early years
from 2 years to 6 years are critical in their development. During this period,
children’s physical, mental and psychological development take a leap as they
are in a constant state of flux. They are in the process of undergoing great
changes and making significant development strides, especially in the area of
language acquisition and development.
It is believed that children’s reading matter should be
linked to their own spoken language as well as to their interest and
experiences for intellectual growth. The focus on the cognitive growth of
children is a welcome development (Anyanwu, 1991). This is because the brain of
a youngster is “tabula rasa” ready to be occupied. Realizing that, educators go
into searching for the appropriate stimuli that can yield the best result for
the children. Webber (1970) opines that it must be recognized that something
can be done about children’s intelligence as a result of the type of
experiences provided for them.
Aiyedun (1984) is of the opinion that story books provide
such experiences that can make for the intellectual growth of children.
According to him, stories provide and improve reading, writing and thinking
skills especially as they stimulate the intellect. Stories foster understanding
of human actions. Just one story can form the bases for more detailed
exploration of other actions. Selected experiences as reflected in story books
give children the opportunity to use words that are familiar to them through
their family life. Children are thus encouraged to extend vocabulary
appropriately. Not only that they learn the vocabulary of colours, shapes,
textures etc early in life as their story books are almost always pictorial.
For the intellectual development of children, story books give the practice of
the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. They also
help children to learn new words as well as alternative meanings of words
contextually. This is possible, especially if the language of the stories is
not too simple.
According to Anyamelue (2003), it is important to give young children
the quality care, nutrition and stimulation they need for healthy growth and
development. Moreover, the holistic care of young children has been receiving
recognition both in Nigeria and internationally. This was prominent in the CRC
and re-echoed more recently at the Dakar World Education Forum, 2000. At the
forum, the goal of expanding and improving comprehensive early childcare and
education was re-affirmed.
One of the main features of early childhood is the rapid
development of the brain. According to Godges (2001) “the last three months of
prenatal life and the first two years after birth have been termed the most
critical period to brain growth spurt”. This is because, during this period,
more than half of the adult brain weight is added. It grows tremendously in the
first few years of life, increasing to about 2/3 of adult weight by the end of
the first year and to about 7.5% by the age of two years and 90% by the age of
five. Thus, a five year old’s brain has developed almost to the level of an
adult’s.
However, because of the rapid growth of the brain, the
child needs adequate nutrition at this period. This is because, poor nutrition
before and after birth and in the first few years of life can seriously hamper
brain development. This can lead to neurological and behavioural disorders,
which may manifest in learning disabilities.
There is research evidence to show that a baby’s brain is
composed of trillions of neutrons waiting to be woven into the “intricate
tapestry of the mind”. The experiences of childhood determine which neutrons
are used, that wire the circuits of the brain. According to Hodges (2001),
Begley observes that “the experiences of childhood determine whether a child
grows up to be intelligent or dull, fearful or self assured, articulate or
tongue tied”.
As Munonye (2002) puts it, there is also scientific
evidence on the importance of adequate stimulation during early childhood
period, necessary for the child’s cognitive development. There are definite
periods in childhood development when the environment can influence how the
brain is “wired” for certain functions like language, music, physical activity
and even mathematics. It therefore means that the brain must receive the
appropriate stimuli at the crucial time to perform these functions, else it may
be impossible for it to “re-wire” itself later in life. Early childhood period
therefore is a period that should be handled with utmost care. The decision to
use primary one pupils was informed by their comparative level of advancement
which diversifies their areas of possible testing when compared to their junior
counterparts. In addition, the decision to use Kosofe Local Government Area in
this study was borne out of its closeness to the researcher’s residence, hence
its familiarity.
1.2 Statement of the
Problem
Most children these days do not develop well cognitively
due to lack of early childhood education which is mainly given to children firstly
by their parents and secondly by their teachers who are also regarded as
surrogate parents in the school (Adebesin, 2010). Majority of pupils in primary
one in the Nigerian school system, did not pass through the pre-primary schools
where children are taught basically through the methods befitting to the
children’s learn ability and comprehension in the early stage of life (Oyewale,
2006). Because of this lapse, most children in the primary schools fail to
grasp the content of their lessons due to the fact that they started their
early education from the stem instead of from the root (Oyewale, 2006).
Also, most of the teachers who are employed to teach at
the primary one schools, do not apply the correct teaching methods that are
comprehensible to the child, hence most children do not have high academic
achievement in the early stages of their primary school education. Due to low
cognitive development of the children, there has been poor academic performance
virtually at all stages of our educational system. This is because what a child
could not achieve during the early education, will be difficult for him/her to
achieve at the apex stage of his/her educational life.
This study sets out to examine the effect of early
childhood education on the cognitive development of primary one pupils.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The specific objectives will include the following:
(1) To determine the degree of connection
between primary school education and cognitive development among children in
schools.
(2) To investigate whether there is a
difference between primary school education and speech development among
children in schools.
(3) To
compare the cognitive development of children who were taught by their
parents with those who were taught by teachers.
(4)
To investigate
whether there is general difference in the cognitive development of children
who had pre-primary education and those who did not.
(5)
To find out whether
there is gender difference in the cognitive development due to pre-primary
school education.
1.4 Research
Questions
The following
research questions will be asked in this study thus:
(1) Is there any connection between primary
school education and cognitive development among children in schools?
(2) Will there be a significant relationship
between pre-primary school education and speech development among children in
primary schools?
(3)
How can we
differentiate between the cognitive development of children who were taught by
their parents and those who were taught by their teachers?
(4)
How can we
investigate whether there is general difference in the speech development of
children who had pre-primary education and those who did not?
(5)
Will there be any
gender difference in the cognitive development of children due to pre-primary
education?
1.5 Research
Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses will be formulated and
tested in this study:
1.
There will be no
significant connection between pre-primary school education and cognitive
development among children in schools.
2.
There will be no
significant difference between pre-primary school education and children’s
school achievement in schools.
3.
There will be no
significant difference between the speech development of children who were
taught by their parents and those who were taught by teachers.
4.
There will be no
significant gender difference in the cognitive development of children due to
pre-primary education.
1.6 Significance
of the Study
The study will be of
great benefit in the following ways:
(1)
With the
recommendation of this study, teachers would be exposed to know how best to go
about teaching or handling children at the lower level of the school system,
the early childhood classes.
(2)
Teachers would be
exposed to the appropriate methods to be used in teaching language to the child
in school, especially at the nursery and
primary school system.
(3)
Parents would have a
better insight on the essence of teaching the child to gain mastery of the
language of his/her environment This study will expose them to the knowledge
that they should be the first people to impart knowledge to the child,
especially concerning children’s language development.
(4)
With this study and
its recommendations, parents would be able to know the best techniques to always use in teaching language to the
children.
(4) The society will be exposed to the
process of language acquisition by the child in the society. With the
recommendations, the society will also be able to know how best to assist the
child in the area of acquisition and mastery of language.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study will cover 5 primary schools in Kosofe Local
Government Area of Lagos State. Its main focus will be on the investigation of
the effect of primary education on cognitive development of the child in the
primary schools in Lagos State.
The sample size of this study will comprise of 200 (two
hundred) teachers and pupils, made up of fifty (50) (25 males and 25 females)
teachers; and 150 (one hundred and fifty) pupils (made up 75 males and 75
female pupils) who will be randomly selected from the five primary schools in
the Local Government under review. The stratified method of random selection
was used. The stratified sampling method was applied in order to select the
respondents in their strata.
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