ABSTRACTS
This study aims to explore the influence of family background on childhood academic performance in early education in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State. The population of the study consisted of 315 respondents with a sample size of 225 respondents. The following theories were adopted for the study: parental attachment theory, self determination theory and Mashow’s motivational theory. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The study used simple random sampling designs. One types of research instruments were used i.e. questionnaires. The content validity was tested. Test-retest method was used to test the reliability of the instruments. An introductory letter from the university and a permit from respondents were sought. The family is considered the primary socialization agent and plays a crucial role in a child's educational development. Understanding the factors within the family that may impact academic performance is essential for educators and policymakers in designing effective interventions. Various dimensions of family background will be explored, such as parental education, occupation, income, and parenting style. Cultural and socio-economic factors within the family will also be considered. The findings of this study will contribute to the existing literature on the influence of family background on childhood academic performance. It will shed light on the specific family factors that enhance or hinder a child's educational development, providing valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and parents. Ultimately, this research aims to contribute to the design and implementation of targeted interventions to improve academic outcomes for children with diverse family backgrounds. Based on the findings the following recommendation were made amongst others that encourage parents to actively participate in their child's early education and make them aware of the positive impact their involvement can have on their child's academic performance and offer educational programs for parents that focus on how to support their child's learning at home, including providing a stimulating environment, reading to their child, and engaging in educational activities etc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODCUTION
1.1 Background to the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Purpose of the study
1.4 Research Question
1.5 Hypotheses
1.6 Scope of the Study
1.7 Significance of the Study
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Theoretical Framework
Parental Attachment Theory
Self-Determination Theory
Maslow’s Motivational Theory
2.2 Conceptual Framework
Concept of Childhood
Family Background
Academic Performance
Concept of the Family
Socio-Economic Status and early childhood academic performance
Educational attainment and early childhood academic performance
Parents Educational/Occupational Status
Cultural Lifestyle and early childhood academic performance
Home Situation / Parents Attitudes
Relationship between Family Background and Academic Performance of Students
2.3 Review of Related Empirical Studies
Socio-Economic Status and early childhood academic performance
Educational attainment and early childhood academic performance
Cultural Lifestyle and early childhood academic performance
Family backgrounds influence students’ introductory technology achievement
Relationship between Home environmental factors and academic performance of students
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
3.1 Design of the Study
3.2 Area of the Study
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique
3.5 Instrument for Data Collection
3.6 Validity of the Instrument
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument
3.8 Administration of the Instrument
3.9 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results
4.2 Discussion
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.2 Recommendations
REFERENCES
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX II
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODCUTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is a basic tool used by society for transmission of its societal values. It has become an area of prime importance not only for government or voluntary agencies but also for individuals, families, Governments and communities. Voluntary agencies and individuals are committing a lot of resources in order to achieve success in the educational enterprise (Orhungur, 2014). Awoniyo (2015) put it that the government believes that the greatest investment of a nation should be in her people. The greatness of any nation depends on the genius, qualities, attitudes and aspirations of her people, which cannot be ignored.
According to the American Psychological Association (2019) family Background is the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. Family Background is defined as a measure of one's combined economic and social status and tends to be positively associated with better health. While Cambridge University Reporter (2023), stated that academic performance is frequently defined in terms of examination performance. It is the extent to which a student has achieved his/her educational goals. Indicators of performance could be classes passed or failed and credits earned in examinations and competitions
Many factors and reasons have been given as being responsible for the continuous falling in the academic standard of our present educational system. These includes; attitudes of teachers to work, lack of seriousness on the part of the students, effect of the dwindled economy and to some extent the increasing degenerating moral system. Despite all possible efforts put forward by various governments and voluntary agencies to curb these trends, the country is yet to witness the rise it desires to see in the educational system.The researchers’ interest and motivation in this topic is the fact that some students are exceptionally good in their work, while some are extremely bad. When such variations in scores are traced it is more often discovered that family background is a major contributory factor. It is therefore important that the levels of such contributions and the influence they have on children be examined so that useful suggestions to parents, teachers, educational planners and government could be made.
Orhungur (2016) asserts that the cultural background of the family is determined to a large extent by its socio-economic background. As the child grows up moves out to the interest wider society his/her interaction with it and perception of it are largely determined from her earlier, experiences at home. The family setting and its socializing influence mould the personality of the child. Nigeria, for instance is a society with diverse ethnic groups with various cultural background in areas like family size, occupation and in extreme cases, religion. These factors pose their own restrictions on educational upbringing of children. The social sitting or mode of settlement of the family and extended family system may equally influence the academic performance of a child and by extension, their educational upbringing.
Educational upbringing is not unconnected with the family influence of a child. Individual members of the family serve as a model to the child as he/ she copies from each of them. Eyake (2017) as cited in (Adeyeme, 2017) if the house fails to provide the child with the necessary equipments to fit him/ her into his proper place in the society and guided properly for his/ her future career, then the child is damaged. An analysis of the percentage of primary school dropout today entails that such students are usually from broken homes, wiring polygamous family or with other socially related problems.
The responsibility of training a child always lies in the hand of the parents. This statement agrees with the common assertion of sociologist that education can be an instrument of cultural change which is being taught from home is relevant in this discuss. Therefore, it is not out of place to imagine that parental socio–economic background can have possible effects on the academic achievement of children in school (Ogunshola and Adewale, 2019). Lisa (2013) in support of the above statement believed that whatsoever affect the development environment of children would possibly affect their education or disposition to it. It will therefore, not be out of place to say that parental status is one of such variables. When a woman’s nutritional status improves, so does the nutrition of her young children. Parents of different occupation classes often have different styles of child rearing, different ways of disciplining their children and different ways of reacting to their children. These differences do not express themselves consistently as expected in the case of every family; rather they influence the average tendencies of families for different occupational classes (Rothestein, 2014 as cited in Ogunshola and Adewale, 2012).
Furthermore, economic position of parents is one of major factors that can influence greatly the educational upbringing of a child. In most families, either or none of parents may be earning income sufficient enough to sustain the family, faced with malnutrition and other emotional and psychological effects, the mental development of the child would be greatly retarded. Orhunger (2018) adds that a low income family with plenty of feeding problems may produce children who physical and mental development poses real challenges to the schools effort at optimum development of the child.
This research work is therefore intended to explore the Influence of family background on children academic performance in early childhood education in sagbama Local Government area of Rivers State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Academic performance which is measured by examination result is one of the major goals of schooling. Hoyle (2013) argued that schools are established with the aim of imparting knowledge and skill to those who go through them and behind all these is the idea of enhancing good academic performance. Though the school is responsible for the experience that makes up students’ life during school periods yet the parents play tremendous roles in building the personality of the child. According to Udida, Ukwayi and Ogodo (2018), the home has influence on the child’s psychological, emotional, social and economic state. Also the family background and context of a child can affect his/her reaction to life situation and level of academic performance.
Hence, whatever affects the developmental environment of the child would possibly affect his/her education or disposition to it. Family background is one of such variables. There is a general believe that children from high socio-economic status background are better exposed to a learning environment at home because of provision and availability of extra learning facilities. While children from low socio-economic status background do not have access to extra learning facilities hence the opportunity to get to the top of their educational ladder may not be very easy. Furthermore, the ability to adjust academically is important to success in school as it is an indicator of the student’s ability to face the problem resulting from fulfilling his/her academic needs. Students who cannot adjust academically find learning difficult.
Such students struggle academically and are at higher risk of school avoidance and behaviour problems. Ideally school is a place that should make students feels competent and successful which breeds motivation and self-confidence. For the students struggling academically however, school is a place that only serves to reinforce his already low-self-esteem. Hence such students may attempt to avoid the feelings of failure by avoiding school or getting involved in maladjusted behaviours.
It is base on the above notes that this research is embarked upon to examine the influence of family background on childhood academic performance in early childhood education in Sagbama Local Government area in Bayelsa State.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of family background on childhood academic performance in early education in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State. Specifically, the study intend to:
- Determine the influence of Social-economic status on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State.
- Examine the influence of family Educational Attainment on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State
- Determine the influence of occupational status on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State
- Examine the influence of cultural lifestyle on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State
1.4 Research Question
The following research questions were posed guide the study:
- How does social-economic status of parents influence early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State?
- How does educational attainment affect early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State?
- What influence does family occupational status have on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State?
- What are the influences of cultural lifestyle on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State?
1.5 Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses will be formulated at 0.05 level of significance
- There is no significant difference in the mean rating, of urban and rural parents on socio-economic status on early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in sagbama local government area of Bayelsa State
- There no significant difference in the mean ratings male and female parents on educational attainment on the early childhood academic performance in public primary schools in Sagbama local government area in Bayelsa State
- There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female parents on occupational status on the childhood academic performance in public primary schools Sagbama local government area in Bayelsa State
- There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of urban and rural parents on cultural lifestyle on the childhood academic performance in public primary schools Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study is on the influence of family background on childhood academic performance in early childhood education in public primary schools in sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, the scope of this study is segmented in two: the geographical scope and the content scope.
Geographical Scope: the scope of the study will be limited to five (5) selected primary schools out of the twenty (20) public primary schools in sagbama Local Government Area of Rivers, namely: Community Primary School, Ekperiware, Community primary School, Toru-Angiama, Community Primary School, Agoro, Community Primary School, Asambiri and Government primary school, sagbamma.
Content Scope: this study will focus on examining the influence of family background on childhood academic performance in early childhood education. The study will be delimited to the following variables; socio-economic status, educational attainment, occupational status and cultural lifestyle in sagbama local government area in Bayelsa State.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This study will be significant to the following
The Parents: this study will help the parents to be aware of the effect the family has on children and how such affect the child positively or negatively in relation to their academic performance. From the available recommendations, they will be able to adopt measures of bringing up there in such a way that they will perform well academically.
Government: The findings of this work will better inform the government of the challenges of family background on pupil’s academic performance and the need for necessary machinery to be put in place geared at repositioning the educational system to be more responsive to the needs of the society.
Researchers: This study will provide a framework for subsequent studies in this area and it will serve as reference work for researchers who intend to do similar study.
Students: The students who are major stakeholders will find this work very useful as they prepare for the world of work. It will equally serve as “eye opener” to business students/graduates who are not informed about the skills they are suppose to possess. It will also form vital part of the students’ course materials or reference materials.
Literature: Finally, the research when completed may add to available literature and may encourage further research on the topic.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
Family Background: Family Background is the kind of family you come from and the kind of education you have had. It can also refer to such things as your social and racial origins, your financial status, or the type of work experience that you have.
Childhood: The state or period of being a child. : The early period in the development of something
Academic Performance: This refers to the students’ achievement, scores within the class and his position relative to all those subjected the same test.
Early Childhood: Early childhood refers to the period between birth and 8 years of age, wherein a child's brain is highly sensitive to the environment around them.
Educational Status: This term is used for social processes in which one achieve social competence and individual growth, carried on in a selected, controlled sitting which can be institutionalized as a school or college.
Occupational Status: Person’s trade, vocation or principal means of earning living.
Socio-Economic Status: This refers to position of recognition which one finds him in the society. Such a position may not be hereditary but acquired through personal efforts like education, wealth, occupation and social class.
Cultural Lifestyle: Culture can be defined as the totality of behavior, thoughts, and customs and practices of a group of people. On the other hand, lifestyle can be defined as the way of life of a group of people. Changing one's culture is not as easy as changing the lifestyle.
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