CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL STUDIES IN INCULCATING CITIZENSHIP VALUES IN JSS IN GWAGWALADA AREA COUNCIL ABUJA
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the contribution of Social Studies education on the Citizenship values of JSS III students for citizenship development in Nigeria. The Test Instrument which provided the basis for data collection in the research was titled, “Citizenship values Test in Social Studies Education for JSS III students”. The data which accrued from these various components of the Test Instrument revealed significant difference in the average performance of these JSS III students from the six geo-political zones of the country. Also, the scores which accrued from gwagwalada area council. the totality of this “Social Studies Test Instrument” bore significant relationship with the scores which were respectively derived from the three components (Cognitive Test Scores, Affective Test Scores, and Psychomotor Test Scores) of the “Test Instrument” employed in the study. It was only that significant difference in the average performance of male and female students in the regard to Social Studies Achievement Test” was not observed. The result of the finding which emanated from this study prompted the following recommendations from the investigator, namely: a provision of better learning facilities in all public schools so that students’ performance in Social Studies education could be improved;
CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO STUDY
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
It is believed that education is an effective instrument for socializing the young children through the promotion of desirable socio-cultural values, creation of citizenship valueswhich prepares the youth to perform their functions to the nation effectively as they grow up as adults. DuBey (1972) emphasized that educational institutions in Nigeria are recognized as playing a very important role in socialization of the Nigerian school children. Jaros (1973) too claimed that schools are specifically designed to communicate citizenship values to the children.
It is emphasized that education serves as a potent force in finding solution to social problems and for the development of the potentialities and aspirations of a nation. Briggs (1930:143) in Ukeje (1966) stressed that education is an investment by the society to make itself a better place in which to live and a better place in which to make a living.
Dewey (1916, 1938, 1952) and Conant (1959) in Okam (2004) endorsed that schools in a socio-political system must enable learners develop a philosophy of life and a social outlook through genuine educative participation. Dewey (1916) in Okam (2004) irrevocably linked democracy and education. He forged the link between democracy, as a social process, and education as a democratic way to prepare citizens to make intelligent decisions about social change. Dewey (1916) saw democracy and education as part of the same process of growth. His reflection was that the new responsibility of education for democracy, particularly in such a social system as the United States of America, fell heavily on the school. He noticed that the basic problem of educators largely impinges on how schools would be geared at providing a distinct curriculum for each individual that would meet both personal and social goals. He endorsed that subjects should be included in the curriculum only if they had immediate value for the present needs and growth of a student.
The need for full orientation of students in the national citizenship life of Nigeria, being a democratic nation, is a desirable goal. Social Studies, as a curriculum instrument, is assigned a key role in the successful implementation of the nation’s citizenship goals. Adaralegbe (1980) and Mafuyai (1980) maintained that Social Studies can provide students with the necessary skills for articulate citizenship, preparation for future participation in democracy, citizenship literacy and responsibility. DuBey and Barth (1989) and Okam (1998) contended that the basic goal of Social Studies is the preparation of the pupil for full responsible citizenship. Okam (1998) pointed out that Social Studies has to be seen as a modern attempt at an interdisciplinary study of a topic, a problem, an issue, a concern or an aspiration. In this function, it is a problem approach discipline through which man studies and learns about problems of survival in his social environment. It is geared at fostering better understanding of the movements, events and personalities that have influenced the history of a given social setting. The ultimate objective of Social Studies programmes is the development and improvement of social living generally, not merely in the classroom, but in the community, and in the world as a whole. These programmes have to be seen in terms of the grooming and production of intelligent, responsible and self directing citizens. (Joof and Okam, 1998; Okam, 1998). The essence of Social Studies programmes, therefore, is expected to provide young learners with insight into the use of various knowledge structures and procedures that have relevance in modern civilization. (Okam, 2002).
The relevance of education to the social, economic, political and technological development of Nigeria is recognized by educators in this country. The National Policy on Education (1998) identifies education as a dynamic instrument of change and has expressed great faith in the ability of education to transform the society and lead it to quick transformation in the area of economic, and human development. It is, therefore, the Government’s desire that Nigeria should be a just, free and democratic society, one with full opportunities for its citizens, and one that is able to generate a dynamic economy. Nigeria is to be a society, strong, united and self-reliant. Education is the greatest force, according to Government, that can be used to realize these dreams of unity in Nigeria. To this end, Nigeria’s philosophy of education hinges on the integration of the individual into a sound and effective citizen, the provision of equal educational opportunities for all citizens. For this philosophy to be in harmony with Nigeria’s national objectives, it has to be geared toward self-realization, better human relations, effective citizenship, national consciousness, national unity, as well as cultural, economic, scientific and technological progress.
The national educational aims and objectives to which the philosophy is linked are reflected as follows:
i- the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity;
ii- the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society;
iii- the training of the mind in understanding of the world around; and
iv- the acquisition of appropriate skills, ability and competences, both mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his society.In order to achieve these aims and objectives, the government emphasized that a conscious effort, should be made to teach the tenets of good citizenship at all levels of education. To this end, therefore, in section 3(14c), the National Policy on Education emphasizes the importance of citizenship education as a basis for an individual’s effective participation in and contribution to the life of the society. In section 4(18e) and 4(18f), the Policy stressed that education should raise a generation of people who can think for themselves, respect the views and feelings of others, respect the dignity of labour and appreciate those values specified under our broad national aims and live as good citizens, foster Nigerian unity with emphasis on the common ties that unite us in our diversity. Thus the teaching and learning of Social Studies is pivotal to an understanding of the need for a cultivation of effective human relations. This perspective is geared at producing effective citizens and of forging a cohesive society that will support the notion of nation-building through the teaching and learning of Social Studies programmes in our colleges and schools. (Okam, 2002). Okam (1998) also stressed that an acquisition of the tenets of citizenship socialization by learners or students in our various school setting should not be a chance affair. He emphasized that it has to be learnt and cultivated by way of the relevant educational processes associated with classroom instructions in Social Studies.
Social Studies educators such as Adaralegbe (1980), Okobiah (1984) and Udoh (1992) are of the opinion that Social Studies, if effectively taught, can be used as a tool for citizenship valuesand for creating citizenry in children. Adaralegbe (1980) asserted that the teaching and learning of Social Studies should be concerned with preparing the learners for goals and purposes of responsible and effective citizenship. Okobiah (1984) noticed that Social Studies in Nigeria is aimed at organizing the youths, students and young learners for the purpose of helping them to cultivate an awareness and understanding that would transform them into citizens with skills, attitudes, competences and reasoned judgements to effectively interact and contribute positively to the economic, Social and cultural development of the Nigerian society. Uche (1980) expressed that Social Studies is primarily concerned with the development of good citizens. Adeyoyin (1979) in Okam (1998) posited that the teaching and learning of Social Studies in our schools should produce Nigerians who are loyal to the central unit rather than the tribal groups. This implies that Social Studies should be used to develop the sense of patriotism in children.
Another reason for the introduction of Social Studies in schools bears on the view that it has been accepted as the most important subject through which Nigerians develop a sense of unity, peace and a development of the country. In the same vein, Social Studies programmes can be used to develop citizenship valuesand sense of political participation in the children. According to Smyth (1980) in Okam (1998), the idea of teaching Social Studies is to create an awareness through a variety of techniques and forms of guided self-analysis in which learners or students would become very highly informed and aware of their learned behaviour in schools. Greenstein (1965), Stacey (1978), Nwabuzo and Martha (1985) were of the opinion that citizenship education should be started early in the life of a child because it has profound effect on adult social and political awareness and participation. The implication is that educational institutions in Nigeria can develop citizenship values of the JS student via the proper use of Social Studies programmes as presented in the curriculum of secondary schools, for an attainment of citizenship norms, virtures and goals.
Thus, Barr, Barth and Shermus (1978) contended that Social Studies is aimed at an integration of the Social Sciences and the Humanities for the purpose of instruction in citizenship education. This implies that the provision of Social Studies programmes in secondary school curriculum will go a long way to promote Citizenship values in the students not only for a development of citizenship norms but also for national development. The incorporation of the Social Sciences into Social Studies as concepts is to produce citizens who can evaluate, identify problems, analyse and come up with rational decisions. Thus Onifade (2002) stressed that the Social Sciences are seen as the basic foundations of Social Studies Education not only because the Social Sciences represent the primary source of data but they also form the foundation of curriculum planning in Social Studies. Social Studies is seen by Joof and Awang (1987) in Onifade (2002) as Social Sciences the overlapping other disciplines. In relating Social Studies to the Social Sciences, Okam (1998) sees Social Studies as an applied field which attempts to fuse scientific knowledge with ethical, philosophical and social considerations which arise in the process of decision-making as practiced by the citizens. Du Bey and Barth (1980) explained further that what Social Studies Education does in essence, is to study human life so that children are given the opportunity to practice solving problems of crucial importance both for the individual and society. This, in essence, means that a provision of Social Studies programmes in the secondary school curriculum is designed to enable children practice solving political problems which will be geared towards an attainment of citizenship norms and the development of national unity. Okam (1998) in Adekeye (2002) pointed out that the differences one may identify in Social Studies and the Social Sciences are that, while the Social Sciences are concerned with the propagation of knowledge, the primary purpose of Social Studies is the utilization of knowledge for the purpose of socializing young children in schools. The aim is to improve the process by which citizens use knowledge from the Social Sciences to make decisions which concern their individual behaviour and questions of social and public policy. Adekeye (2000) emphasized that the scope of Social Studies is broader than the curriculum coverage in Social Studies. She explained that the objectives of Social Studies Education goes beyond the cognitive domain of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Behavioural Objectives (1965).
It is important to reflect that Nigerian educators have accepted Social Studies education as a curriculum instrument par excellence not only for the development of Citizenship values but also for an acquisition of citizenship norms in schools (Du Bey and Barth, 1980; Adaralegbe, 1981; Okam, 1988; The National Policy On Education (NPE) 1998). The provision of Social Studies programmes in Secondary Schools is designed to enable Students acquire a good deal of the virtues intrinsic in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Behavioral Objectives (19 56). An acquisition of the curriculum content intrinsic in Social Studies education by students in our Junior Secondary Schools is meant to arm them with the necessary knowledge, attitudes, values and skills germane not only for developing Citizenship values but also for preparing them as affective citizens. It is expected that these citizens would contribute enormously to nation-building and national development in the country.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Nigeria being a developing country is facing numerous problems, ranging from political, social and economic. Nigeria as a nation is passing through the stage of political stress and economics recession, the side effect of which can be in the prevalent bribery and corruption, dishonesty, unemployment, robbery, drug abuse and lack of patriotism among citizen. There is no doubt, therefore that the series of educational laws and ordinances that were enacted during the colonial period and soon after that period were not very effective in terms of solving Nigeria’s problems. The positions of great Nigerian educationists and Education Commissions in Nigeria especially Phelpskroke Commission of 1922 were critical of the old education system. According to them, the old education system is too bookish, theoretical, inadequate and unsuitable for providing an overall development of all Nigerians Hence, there was agitation for relevant education, which prompted the re-evaluation of the old system, and desire for a National Policy on Education (Osokoya,1987 and Chikwelu 2001).
In recent times, a great deal of attention has been directed to issues that are seen to be of contemporary global importance. These issues include citizenship, population, environmental and gender issues; good governance; poverty alleviation, peace and conflict resolution. Social studies has been one of the subject that is able to accommodate these growing cotemporary trend. It is a subject that encourages critical thinking, creativity, resourcefulness, democratic classroom atmosphere, problems solving skill with emphasis on the affective dimensions of empathy, co-operation, ethical behaviour which are essential for creativity and the right to relate to global issues. Social studies is not to generate new theories but the utilization of the existing knowledge to solve the problems arising from man’s interaction with his environment. That shows that social studies is the only problems-solving subject that could accommodate these issues (Ajiboye, 2003)
Citizenship education is one of the courses offered to students in social studies department at all levels of education. The implication of this is that the topic is taught at the primary, Junior Secondary and Tertiary level of our Educational Institutions. Students are taught their fundamental rights as citizens of the nation, and also their obligations and responsibilities towards the development of the nation. The level of development of any nation depends to a large extent on her citizens, hence Nigeria needs citizens who will performs its obligations unsolicited (Ossai, 2004). To achieve and retain good and strong effective citizens in Nigeria, social studies being a problems– solving or issue based discipline serve as a tool. This is because it is an avenue for providing young people with a feeling of hope in the future and confidence in their ability to solve social and environmental problems. One of the major failures of the Nigerian state according to Alao (2012) is its inability to rise initial imitations and challenges foisted upon it by British Colonialism to create supra institutions that are capable of deemphasizing sub national proclivities. In its fifty years of independent nationhood, Nigeria has not been able to appropriate its defining moments and translate them into instances of nation building for political stability and economic development.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The study has the following objectives:
To establish the average performance of students from junior secondarys schools in gwagwalada area council abuja on social studies achievement test for effective citizenship development.
To compare the average performance of male and female students with regard to:
a- Social Studies Achievement Test for effective citizenship development;
b- Cognitive aspect of social and Citizenship values for effective citizenship development;
c- Affective aspect of social and Citizenship values for effective citizenship development;
d- Psychomotor aspect of Citizenship values for effective citizenship development?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions were formulated to guide the study.
what is the average performance of students from junior secondarys schools in gwagwalada area council abuja on social studies achievement test for effective citizenship development?
Is there any significant difference in the average performance of male and female students with regard to:
Social Studies achievement test for effective citizenship development?
Cognitive aspect of social and Citizenship values for effective citizenship development?
Affective aspect of social and Citizenship values for effective citizenship development?
Psychomotor aspect of Citizenship values for effective citizenship development?
HYPOTHESES
The following are the hypotheses generated from the research questions
There is no significant difference between the average performance of male and female students with regard to :
a- Social Studies achievement test for effective citizenship development
b- Cognitive aspect of Citizenship values for effective citizenship development
c- Affective aspect of Citizenship values for effective citizenship development
d- Psychomotor aspect of Citizenship values for effective citizenship development
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study would be of particular importance to educators because it investigates the impact and contribution of Social Studies education on the citizenship values of Junior Secondary School students for the citizenship development. In particular the study investigated the impact of Social Studies curriculum programmes amongst these students in respect of their cognitive, affective and psychomotor orientations regarding an acquisition of citizenship development. This is because we need effective citizenship if Nigeria is to mature into nationhood for the purpose of positive and meaningful national development. As prospective and future leaders of Nigeria, it is worth while exposing students to features, issues and problems which have a bearing on the development of Citizenship values in order to prepare their minds for the significant role they could play, particularly in the political arena with regard to Nigeria’s national development. Thus investigations (such as this one) which bear on the determination of students’ orientations in respect of the values, attitudes, skills and the knowledge they hold on the sphere of Citizenship values (as a result of exposure to Social Studies education) are very vital in Nigeria’s present quest for meaningful and sustainable democracy. Thus, this study derives the basis of its strength from its concern for a determination of the extent to which JSS students’ exposure to Social Studies programmes in their various school settings have enabled them acquire the necessary citizenship values needed for their maturation into effective citizens that would contribute to nation-building and national development.
THE SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The target population of this study is J.S.S. III students in the country. An important aspect of the scope of this study involved subjecting the sampled population to JSS students in gwagwalada area council in Abuja a number of citizenship value tests in Social Studies education.These tests were meant to determine the extent to which students’ exposure to instructions in Social Studies education sufficiently generated in them an acquisition of citizenship value for effective citizenship development
CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL STUDIES IN INCULCATING CITIZENSHIP VALUES IN JSS IN GWAGWALADA AREA COUNCIL ABUJA
