ABSTRACT
Nigeria is currently facing myriad of social
problems of monumental proportions. Some of these social problems which appear
to have emanated majorly from loss of civic values include cult activities,
armed robbery, violence, examination misconduct, disobedience, and terrorist
attacks, among others. The perceived neglect of civic training to the Nigerian youth
over the years might have been the cause of these social ills. It
therefore seems that civic education, which needs to be handled by teachers
that have positive self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes towards it, is now the
apparent antidote required to save Nigerian youth from the menace of these social problems. This study therefore
investigated Social Studies teachers’
self-efficacy and attitudes towards civic education as correlates ofeffective
teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State,
Nigeria.
The descriptive
survey research type, which is “ex-post
facto” in nature, was adopted for the study. A total number of 600
subjects, selected through stratified simple randomly sampling technique
participated in the study. Eight research questions and hypotheses were
formulated and tested at .05 level of significance to guide the study. Three
self-designed instruments namely ‘’Social
Studies Teachers’ Attitude Towards Civic Education Curriculum Scale’’, ‘’Social
Studies Teachers’ Self-Efficacy of Civic Education Curriculum Scale’’, and ‘’Civic
Education Curriculum Scale’’ were used to collect relevant data. These were
validated and with reliability Cronbach Alpha values of .85(SSTATCECS),
.76(SSTSECECS) and .83 (CECS) respectively. Simple per centages,
Multiple Regression Analysis, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient,
Independent t- test and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used for data
analysis.
Finding shows
that Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards civic
education explained 20.3% of the total variance in the dependent variable
(Adjusted R Square=.203). Also, the two
variables Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy (β=.356; p<.05) and
attitudes towards civic education (β=.149; p<.05) contributed differentially
and significantly to the dependent variable. Furthermore, there is a moderate,
positive and significant relationship between Social Studies teachers’
self-efficacy (r=.435; p<.05); attitudes to civic education (r=.337; p<.05)
and the teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo
State, Nigeria. Finding further reveals a
significant difference in the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum based on Social Studies teachers’ academic qualifications
(F-value=7.963; p<.05), gender (t=6.479;
df=598; p<.05); and category of school (t=-2.446; df=598; p<.05).
Conclusively,
the two variables are quite relevant and important towards the determination of
the effective teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in
Oyo State public and private senior secondary schools. It was therefore,
recommended among other things that Social Studies teachers should pay serious
attention to the two selected factors since they both made significant
contributions to the teaching of civic education curriculum. Also, there is the
need for Social Studies teachers in Oyo State senior secondary schools to
upgrade their academic qualifications through further education. Finally, Oyo
State public senior secondary schools need to be properly funded, supervised
and staffed with professionally qualified Social Studies teachers in order to
achieve the objectives of civic education curriculum.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
PAGE
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Figures
The ABC Model of Attitude 66
Gender Distribution of the Participants 88
Age Distribution of the Participants 90
Distribution of the Participants according to Marital Status 89
Teaching Experience Distribution of the Participants
91
Academic Qualifications Distribution of the Participants 92
Distribution of the Participants according toSchool Categories 93
Tables
Gender Distribution of the participants
87
Distribution of the Participants according toMarital Status 88
Age Distribution of the Participants 89
Teaching Experience Distribution of the Participants 90
Academic Qualifications Distribution of the Participants 91
Distribution of the Participants according toSchool Categories
92
Relationship between Social StudiesTeachers’ Self-Efficacy and the
Teaching
of Senior Secondary School Civic Education Curriculum 94
Relationship between Social StudiesTeachers’ Attitudes and the Teaching
of Senior Secondary School Civic Education Curriculum 96
Summary of Regression of Social Studies 105
ANOVA of the Regression Analysis 106
Relative Contributions of the Two Variables to the Teaching of Senior
Secondary School Civic Education Curriculum in Oyo State Public and Private
Senior Secondary Schools 107
Correlations between Social Studies Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and the
Teaching of Senior Secondary School Civic Education Curriculum in Oyo State,
Nigeria 108
Correlations Between Social Studies Teachers’ Attitudes to Civic
Education and the Teaching of Senior Secondary School Civic Education
Curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria 109
Levene’s Test of Equality of Error Variances’ 111
One-Way ANOVA of Civic Education Teaching Based on Academic
Qualifications 112
Post Hoc Test 113
Comparison of Civic Education Curriculum Teaching Based on Gender 114
Comparison of Civic Education Curriculum Teaching Based on Experience 115
Comparison of Civic Education Curriculum Teaching Between Public and
Private Schools 116
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 9
Purpose of the Study 10
Research Questions 11
Research Hypotheses 12
Scope
of the Study 14
Definitions of Terms 14
Significance of the Study 16
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction 18
The Historical Development of Civic Education in Nigeria 18
Relationship BetweenSocial Studies and Citizenship Education 22
The Senior Secondary School Civic Education Curriculum 31
The
Role of Social Studies Teachers in the Teaching
of Civic Education 49
The Importance of Teacher Efficacy 56
Social Studies Teachers’ Attitudes and the Teaching of
Civic Education 64
Moderating Variables and Teacher
Efficacy 67
Teacher’s gender and the Teaching of Senior Secondary School Civic
Education Curriculum 67
Teachers’ Qualification and
Teacher Self-Efficacy 71
Teaching Experience and Self-Efficacy 74
School Category
and Teacher’s Self-Efficacy 78
Theoretical Framework of the Study 79
Appraisal of the Literature Reviewed 81
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction 83
Research Type 83
Population,
Sample and Sampling Techniques 83
Instrumentation 84
Procedure for
Instrument Administration 85
Data Analysis
Techniques 86
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND
FINDINGS
Introduction 87
Descriptive Statistics for the Demographic
Information of the Participants 87
Answer the Research Questions 93
Testing of the Null Hypotheses 98
Discussion of Findings 109
CHAPTERFIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction 115
Summary 115
Conclusion 116
Contributions to Knowledge 117
Recommendations 117
Limitations to the Study 119
Suggestions for Further Research Studies 119
REFERENCES 120
APPENDIX I 134
APPENDIX II 138
APPENDIX III 140
APPENDIX
IV 142
APPENDIX
V 143
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
In Nigeria and the world over, education is a
means of achieving a nation’s objectives. Education may be viewed as the
transmission of what is worthwhile from generation to generation. It is the
various ways in which a society creates and utilizes knowledge, including
factual information and occupational skills as well as cultural norms and
values, to its members. Education is also a life-long process, which transforms
the life of an individual from that of helpless and dependent creature to a
self-reliant, rational and skillful person who can contribute positively to the
development of his society. It is the aggregate of all the means by which human
beings develop the necessary skills, attitudes and values that are socially
acceptable (Akinbote, 1988).
Globally,
education is perceived as a life transforming activity, which empowers its
receivers to make concrete contributions to the development of a society. The
transforming potential of education has informed the adoption of various
policies by government in its planning and delivery patterns. In most
developing countries, basic education has been adopted so as to make sure that
educational services are provided to as many that are willing and ready to
consume it as possible. The reason is to make sure that skills and knowledge
are provided for young people for their personal development and their
societies. The paramount goals of government and non-government agencies in
developing countries is nation building and nation cannot be built if the lives
of her youths who are leaders of tomorrow lack those values and traits of good
and effective citizenship. Therefore, in order to create a society where there
is unity, tolerance, honesty, cooperation, respect for human dignity and
patriotism, there is the need to inculcate in the citizens those traits and
values of effective citizenship.
Changes are most
often effected through the educational system of the nation involving various
reform programmes and curriculum development. It is a polyvalent agent for the
transmission of appropriate values, norms, ideals and skills to the young ones.It
entails training and acquisition of special skills, knowledge, attitudes and
values needed by an individual to be responsible, and which will enable him to
contribute his own quota to the growth of the society. Education is considered
a potent instrument for change and development. Iyewarun (1989) asserted that
education is an instrument by which young members are brought up and socialized
so as to become useful and active members of the society. Cookey (1970)
perceived education as a means of inculcating right type of value,
self-reliance, responsibility moral uprightness, and civic dispositions for the
betterment of the individual and the society.
Nigeria is
facing many social problems of monumental proportions. Some of these problems include cult
activities, armed robbery, violence, indiscipline, examination misconduct, disobedience,
terrorist attack, and other unpatriotic practices. The socio-political and
economic problems emanate majorly from loss of civic values and unpatriotic
tendencies demonstrated by some Nigerian citizens. This is the reason why
training for effective citizenship should be one of the main goals of the
Nigerian education. Civic education is capable of inculcating in the learners
those values, attitudes and skills that will enable them to live patriotic and
democratic lives and also contribute meaningfully to the progress of the
nation.
The neglect of
civic training for years at the primary school level has negative effect on the
attitudes of the youths. It is therefore not surprising today, to see some of
the youths engaging in immoral, criminal and anti-social behaviours. In the
light of this, the re-introduction of civic education into the Nigerian
schools, right from the foundation level will help to develop in the citizens,
desirable social norms and national ethics since the primary schools level is
the basic foundation for other stages of the educational system, thus, the pupils will grow up to
become responsible adults. Falade (2008) had earlier remarked that the early
years (primary and secondary school levels) are important for the development
of civic values and traits.
Akindele (1994) argued
that the cohesive, socialist type of democracy and self-reliance which the
Nigerians want will not drop from the sky while they are sleeping. It will not be handed to them as a gift by
anybody rather, Nigeria needs to celebrate a period of nationhood, a period of
sustained democracy with democratic freedoms and practices effectively
institutionalized. To achieve this, it
is important not to ignore the role of education as a veritable tool in
establishing democratic citizenship in the country. The struggle for political
emancipation cannot be achieved through political parties. It can only come through the people’s own
political struggle and through the right type of education. In effect, civic education values play
prominent roles in producing a responsible citizen and in maintaining the
country’s democracy and ensuring its survival for future generations.
The concept of civic
education has for long been taught in Social Studies in Nigerian schools. As a matter of fact, there is a broad
consensus among Social Studies educators that the core mission of Social
Studies curriculum is education for democratic citizenship (Ajitoni, 2007). There is an appropriate place for civic
education at all levels of learning. Falade (2009) have recognized that the
secondary school years is an important time in the development of civic roles
and responsibilities.
Civic education,
whenever and however undertaken, prepares the people of a country, especially
the young ones to carry out their roles as responsible citizens. Civic education is therefore, political
education or as Falade (2008) described it, ‘the cultivation of the virtues,
knowledge, and skills necessary for political participation’. The ideals and
values which are rooted in civic education emerged about a century ago as kind
of panacea for solving problems confronting humankind (Banks, 2005). The belief
in many quarters is that the adoption or adaptation of the ideals and values
intrinsic in this kind of education could go a long way in ameliorating or solving
the problems arising from human’s inhumanity to other humans (Kazi, 2004;
Mezieobi, 1993).
It was perhaps, in the
light of the foregoing that the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) in the National
Policy on Education (NPE) (2004) stressed that the philosophy of education for
the country should be geared towards equipping the learner to cultivate values
of effective citizenship and civic responsibility. The policy asserts that the
philosophy behind all forms of instructions in schools should be measured in
terms of roles in producing citizens with skills, competencies, moral values
and reasoned judgments to effectively live, interact, interrelate and
contribute positively to economic, social, political and cultural development
of the Nigerian society. This, in a way
is all about civic education.
The dire need for institutionalized civic education
probably propelled the Federal Government of Nigeria to carve out another
subject from Social Studies and name it ‘’Civic Education’’. Civic Education also becomes more important
when it is remembered that during the 1990s, there was an unprecedented global
dissemination of information about the theory and practice of democracy and
civic education for democracy (Banks, 2005). Educators throughout the world
today are recognizing that civic education implies teaching and learning the
principles and practice of democratic governance and citizenship. Thus, the
interrelated components of civic education – civic knowledge, civic virtue, and
civic skills are essential things to be acquired by individuals in a democracy.
Kazi (2004) remarked that it is a commitment to such value-dimensions of civic
education as cooperation, confidence, trustworthiness, integrity,
consideration, hard-work, interdependence and loyalty that has contributed in
the building and establishment of the great nations and democracies of the
world.
Over the years,
Nigeria has been bedeviled with such social vices such as examination
malpractices, sexual perversion, drug abuse, economic sabotage, corruption,
robbery, kidnapping, HIV-AIDS, environment pollution, cultism, prostitution,
indiscipline, violence etc. It was in order to tackle these vices that
successive governments in the country have initiated one programme or the other
with view to tackling such vices. Amongst such programmes are the National
Youth Service Corp (NYSC), War Against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAIC),
National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, social
Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), Citizenship and Leadership Training
Centre (Man-O-War). These various programmes contain the elements of
citizenship education. However, it seems that the people are not addressing the
societal problems appropriately, because rather than improving, the society continues
to deteriorate or in decadence (Emilefo, 2001).
This leads to the urgent
need to cultivate in the students, national values of honesty, obedience,
handwork, tolerance, national consciousness, and unity, the spirit of
patriotism, faith and active participation in democratic process and to ensure
that learners are sound in morals and attitude. This informed the Federal
government directive that schools should re-introduce the teaching of civic
education (Jekayinfa, Mofoluwawo, &Oladiran, 2011).The necessity of
re-introducing civic education at foundation level of education in Nigeria
arose due to the prevalence of indiscipline, dwindling national consciousness
and patriotic zeal, lack of social harmony in different to duty, disrespect for
the rule of law, civic strive, moral decadency. This manifestation of negative
trends in the Nigeria society became evidence since 1980 when civic was removed
from the school curriculum, the country was thus facing the threat of losing
the much cherished sense of nationhood, cultural identity and hospitality
spirit (Adeniran, 2009).
The foregoing is largely
instrumental to the emergence and teaching of civic education in Nigeria
schools in recent times. The main philosophy behind the teaching and learning
of this curriculum area in schools, according to the National Orientation
Agency (NOA) (2006), is the production of effective citizens and of forging a
cohesive society that will support a notion of nation building, national
development and sustainability by way of classroom mediation of curriculum
programmes in the subject area.
The directive to include
civic education as a compulsory subject in senior secondary school was given at
a time when the Federal Government was carrying out reforms in education. The
National Council on Education (NCE) convened meeting at Ibadan, in December
2005, where it directed the National Education Research and Development Council
(NERDC) to carry out a review of the existing curriculum for senior secondary
school and re-aligned them to fit the reform being made in education. Between
January 2007 and March 2008, NERDC convened a meeting of experts, and several
workshops were organized to produce the senior secondary school curricula,
which would ensure continuity and flow of themes, topics and experiences from
SSS1 to SSS3. It is from this exercise that the new curriculum came into
existence in 2009 (NERDC 2009).
It is obvious that the development and progress of any
nation depends largely on the values, attitudes and skills possessed by the
citizens, civic education is highly essential in the process of nation
building, in that it helps to bring back the traditional values and virtues
such as honesty, obedience, cooperation, self-reliance integrity, discipline,
courage and the like that have been eroded in our society. All forms of
indiscipline and moral laxity can be corrected and drastically reduced to the
barest minimal through the teaching of civic education, which go a long way in
promoting responsible citizenship. Civic education is apparently the antidote
required to save Nigeria from the menace of lack of integrity, danger of
insecurity and all manner of indiscipline troubling the country.
Belief in one’s efficacy is a key personal resource to
self-development and successful adaption to change. Self-efficacy operates
through its impact on the domains of learning. Efficacy show whether
individuals think optimistically or pessimistically, in self-enhancing or
self-debilitating ways. It affects people’s goals and aspirations, self-motivation
and perseverance. According to Bandura (2001), people ought to believe they can
produce desired effects by their actions so that they can persevere in the face
of difficulties. He further states that whatever other factors serve as guides
and motivators to performance, they are rooted in the core belief that one has
the ability to effect changes by one’s actions.
Ormord (2006) referred to self-efficacy as the belief
that one is capable of performing tasks in certain ways to certain goals.
Furthermore, Bandura (2001) affirmed that self-efficacy is one’s belief in
one’s ability to succeed in specific situations. Self-efficacy is a construct
that deals with one’s perception that one is capable of doing what is necessary
to reach set goals in terms of knowing what to do and being emotionally capable
of doing it (Pajares&Schunk, 2001). Self-efficacy shapes people’s
expectations, whether or not they expect their efforts to produce favourable
outcomes or adverse ones. It also determines how environmental opportunities
and impediments are viewed.
People of low self-efficacy are easily convinced for the
futility of their effort in the face of difficulties and quickly give up trying
while those of high self-efficacy view impediments as surmountable by
self-development and perseverance, and they stay on course in the face of
difficulties and remain resilient to adversity. Self-efficacy affects the
quality of emotional life and the level of vulnerability to stress and
depression. Lastly, it determines the choices people make at important
decisional points (Pajares, 2002). Jink, Lorsbach and Morey (2000) believe that
self-efficacy will be enhanced if learning experiences ascend in difficulty and
sequence. They further state that if students collaborate and they are given
opportunities to participate in small group activities, it will also boost
their self-efficacy. James, Sottile, Carter and Murphy (2002) opined that if
teachers are provided with professional development, the self-efficacy
increases.
Attitude is a psychological concept that means what an
individual thinks and feels about something. Allport (1999) defined attitude as
the most indispensable concept in social-psychology, the study of them has
remained central. According to him an “attitude as a mental and neural state of
readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive and dynamic
influence upon the individuals response to all object and situations with which
it is related.” Lovell (1994) said “attitude is a super inclination towards a
certain types of object, institution or idea” Krech and Crutchfield (2000)
defined attitude as an enduring organization of motivation, emotional,
perceptual and cognitive process with respect to some aspect of the individuals
world. Also, Mukhejee (2002) defined attitude on ones feelings, thoughts and
predisposition to behave in some particular manner towards some aspects of
one’s environment”. Attitudes are best expressed when individuals make
statement about their feelings or opinions about certain object, issue or
things. Furthermore, Thomas and Znanreki (1991) saw attitude as individual
mental process that determines the actual and potential response of each person
in the social world, while Schuman (1995) defined attitude as single evaluation
of an object “Objects” includes people, things, events and issue.
When an individual has interest or positive feelings
towards any object, he/she behaves favourably towards the object. One of the factors that probably could
influence the acceptance of a new programme is attitude. For a change to be
accepted without much resistance, the recipient’s attitude of the need to
change should be positive. Teachers are seen as the most important agent of
change within the classroom arena or to any government policy. Social studies teachers’
attitudes are important factors and should be positive in the successful
implementation of the new civic education in Nigeria.
Teacher’s characteristicsare major determinants of
student’s achievement (Okonkwo, 2000). Darling (2000) observed that variables
indicative of teachers' competence are believed to have links to students’
achievement include qualification, self-efficacy beliefs and years of teaching
experience. The review of Darling (2000) indicated that teachers improve year
after year through in service training thereby improving in knowledge, skills
and techniques of teaching.Based on this background, this present study
investigatedSocial Studies teachers’
self-efficacy, attitudes towards civic education and the effective teaching of senior
secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem
In recent times, the waves of social
ills and unpatriotic activities such as bribery, corruption, kidnapping,
assassination, indiscipline, violence, cultism, thuggery, neglect of civic
duties and obligationsand unpleasant bomb blastare on the increase in Nigeria.Nduka
(2004) observed that Nigerians exhibitdeplorable ethical attitudes in virtually
every aspect of life such that students are no longer acquiring requisite
knowledge and skills which they need to become good and effective citizens. It appears such values and virtues as honesty,
obedience, respect, loyalty, justice, fair play and humility to mention a few
have been lost. The perceived neglect
of civic training to the Nigerian youth over the years might have been the
cause of these social ills. It therefore seems that Civic education,
which needs to be handled by teachers that have positive self-efficacy beliefs
and attitudes towards it, is now the apparent antidote required to save
Nigerian youth from the menace of these social
problems. Could it also be that the teachers handling civic education in our
secondary schools do not possess positive self-efficacy beliefs and attitudinal
dispositions to the effective teaching of the subject? This study
therefore investigated Social Studies
teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes towards civic education as
correlates of effective teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum
in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study is to investigate Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy,
attitudes towards civic education and the effective teaching of senior
secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.The
study is specifically designed:
1.
To investigate the composite effects of Social Studies
teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes to civic education when taken jointly, on
the teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo
State, Nigeria.
2.
To find out
the relative effects of Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy and
attitudes to civic education when taken
individually, on the teaching of senior secondary school civic education
curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
3.
To examine the relationship between Social Studies
teachers’ self-efficacy and the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
4.
To determine the relationship between Social Studies
teachers’ attitudes to civic education and the teaching of senior secondary
school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
5.
To examine the difference in the teaching of senior
secondary school civic education curriculum based on Social Studies teachers’
academic qualifications.
6.
To examine the gender difference of Social Studies
teachers in the teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum.
7.
To find out the difference between experienced and less
experienced Social Studies teachers in the teaching of senior secondary school
civic education curriculum.
8.
To explore the difference in the teaching of senior
secondary school civic education curriculum in public and private schools.
Research Questions
The following
research questions were raised and answered in this study in line with the
specific purposes of the study.
1.
What is the composite effect of Social Studies
teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes to civic education, when taken jointly,
on the teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo
State, Nigeria?
2.
What are the relative effects of Social Studies
teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes to civic education when taken
individually, on the teaching of senior secondary school civic education
curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria?
3.
What is the relationship between Social Studies
teachers’ self-efficacy and the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria?
4.
Is there any relationship between Social Studies
teachers’ attitudes to civic education and the teaching of senior secondary
school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria?
5.
Does the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum differ based on Social Studies teachers’ academic
qualifications in Oyo State, Nigeria?
6.
Is there any difference in the teaching of senior secondary school
civic education curriculum between male and female Social Studies teachers in
Oyo State, Nigeria?
7.
Do experienced and less experienced Social Studies
teachers significantly differ in the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum teachers in Oyo State, Nigeria?
8.
Is there any difference in the teaching of senior
secondary school civic education curriculum by Social Studies teachers in
public and private schools in Oyo State, Nigeria?
Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated based on the raised
research questions. They were tested at .05 level of significance.
HO1:There is no
significant composite effect of Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy and
attitudes to civic education, when taken jointly, on the teaching of senior
secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
HO2: There
are no significant relative effects of Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy
and attitudes to civic education when taken individually, on the teaching of
senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
HO3: There
is no significant relationship between Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy
and the teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo
State, Nigeria.
HO4:Social Studies
teachers’ attitudes to civic education and the teaching of senior secondary
school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria are not significantly
related.
HO5:Social Studies
teachers’ academic qualifications make no significant difference in the
teaching of senior secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria.
HO6:The teaching of
senior secondary school civic education curriculum by male and female Social
Studies teachers in Oyo State, Nigeria is not significantly different.
HO7: There
is no significant difference in the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria between experienced and less
experienced Social Studies teachers.
HO8: There
is no significant difference in the teaching of senior secondary school civic
education curriculum by Social Studies teachers in public and private schools
in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Scope of the Study
This study focuses on Social Studies teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards senior
secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo state, Nigeria. Participants
in this study were all Social Studies teachers in both public and private at
the Senior Secondary School level in Oyo State. The study made use of Social
Studies teachers in the three Senatorial Districts of Oyo State.
The study covers Social
Studies teachers’ self-efficacy, their attitude, disposition to the
content, methods, instructional materials and evaluation strategies of civic
education curriculum in senior secondary in Oyo State, Nigeria. Moreover the
variable in the study include teacher’s gender, qualification, experience, and
school type. Three instruments were designed for the study namely ‘’Social
Studies Teachers’ Attitude toward Civic Education Curriculum Scale (SSTATCECS)’’,
‘’Social Studies Teachers’ Self-Efficacy of Civic Education Curriculum Scale
(SSTSECECS)’’ and‘’Civic Education Curriculum Scale (CECS)’’.
Definitions of Terms
For the purpose
of the study, the following terms are explained as they are used in the study.
Civic Education:In this
study, Civic Education means an educational programme that provides the
citizenry with knowledge, skills and values necessary for the development of
the society. Civic education is
concerned with helping students acquire knowledge, attitude, values and basic
skills that will help them become responsible and disciplined members of their
societies.
Self-efficacy: In this study, self-efficacy is defined
as individual's perception of his or her own capabilities for organizing and
successfully executing the courses of action required to attain designated
types of performance.
Personal teacher efficacy:This
is an individual teacher's expectancy in his/her capacity to organize and
execute the behaviour needed to complete his/her teaching successfully.
Attitude:This is the personal view or opinion someone has about
something. It is someone’s view whether negative or positive to a particular
object, ideas or act. In this study, it refers to the teachers’ disposition
(positive or negative) to the teaching of the new civic education curriculum in
Oyo State, Nigeria.
Areas of Specialization:The disciplines in which, teachers got
their certificates, that is, Social Studies, History, Geography, Government,
Political Science, Economics etc.
Gender:This refers to being a male or female social studies
teacher teaching civic education in senior secondary school.
Qualified Teachers:In this study, are teachers with the
requisite-prescribed minimum general and professional qualifications/training
in education e.g. B.A. Ed., M.Ed.
Unqualified Teachers:These are teachers without the
requisite-prescribed minimum general and professional qualifications/training
in education and social studies.
Experienced Teachers:These refer to teachers that have been
teaching social studies for more than 5 years in secondary schools.
Less Experienced Teachers:In this study, are teachers who have
been teaching for less than 5 years i.e. between one to five years in secondary
schools.
Social Studies Teacher:In this study, refers to someone who
teaches Social Studies and possesses the following relevant qualification in
Social Studies education, minimum of Bachelor degree in Social Studies.
Significance of the Study
This study investigatedSocial Studies teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards senior
secondary school civic education curriculum in Oyo State, Nigeria. An investigation
of this kind has far reaching implications for teachers, students, parents,
curriculum developers, textbook writers and researchers in general. The outcome
of the study would be beneficial to the classroom teacher as it would enable
teachers to assist their students to develop higher academics self-efficacy. It
also may be an eye opener for teachers to see the need for being innovative,
dedicated and hardworking in order to be successful in the teaching profession.
It can also be used to organize seminars, workshops and conferences which would
assist Social Studies teachers to be exposed to the concepts, objectives,
content knowledge and instructional strategies of teaching civic education in
Nigerian schools. This would enhance or enrich their knowledge on the topics
inherent in civic education curriculum, it would also make civic educators to
be well grounded in civic education concepts, so that teacher will not be
deficient in civic education concepts, knowledge, instructional materials,
methodology and evaluation technique.
The outcome of the research would be of help to
curriculum developers because it would provide direction for necessary review
in the civic education curriculum. It could be used to modify the work of the
policy makers such as Ministry of Education; they could organize workshops,
seminars and conferences on the appropriate ways to facilitate the effective
teaching and learning of civic education which could improve their teaching.
Moreso, the outcome of the study could help the curriculum developers to
observe and evaluate the teaching of civic education in schools, and it will
also help to bring out necessary revision and modifications so as to achieve
the desired objectives of the curriculum.
Moreover, the findings of this study also serve as a
source of information to the professional educationists and educational
researchers alike in the process of literature review and determining the form
and content of instrumentation. It also serves as a reference material for
future researcher thereby complementing their knowledge of research methods and
statistical analysis. Finally it is believed that the outcome of this study
would inspire future research in social studies, thereby expanding the
frontiers of knowledge and pushing backward the frontiers of ignorance.
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