FACTORS INFLUENCING JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES. MAINLAND AS A CASE STUDY
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Social
studies is one of the subject taught in primary and secondary schools today
because of its usefulness to everyday life. Also social studies is the study of man and his
totality (the study covers) where he lives, his activities in the past and
present his culture, frame of mind and how he relates to others in the
society. Furthermore, social studies are
those common learning of man’s interaction with his social and physical
environment, a way of life of how man influences his environment and in turn
how environment influences man.
The introduction of social studies as one of
the core subject in Junior Secondary School has continued to win the admiration
and support of most Nigerian scholars and students. Adewuya et at (1982)
contend that social studies education enables students to examine those norms
and cultures of their core and immediate communities within the Nigerian milieu
in order to strengthen their socializing and humanizing responsibilities.
Integrated social studies informs the child and
helps him know about the physical, social and educational environment in which
he lives and function. Social studies helps the child to realize that all the
aspect of his environment are revolving or changing. According to Akpabio et at
(2014) “Social studies, as a subject, is concerned with man’s way of life. It
examines the way man lives and interacts with his social and physical
environment”. The use of the available knowledge, skills, tools and technology
may aid his interaction. It is important to note that man lives in the society
of other human beings. As a rational being, man according to Akpabio et al
needs the company, affection, protection, approval and attention of other human
being for his comfort. At the same time, society demands the loyalty,
cooperation and knowledge of its members in order to ensure development and
continued survival of the society. Again, man lives in a physical environment
or territory. He interacts with the resources of the physical environment to
meet his need for water, food, clothing, shelter, exercise, sleep and rest. In
order to interact successfully for the purpose of meeting his social and
physical needs. Man as a general rule uses the knowledge, the ideas, the
material objects that his society possesses.
Social Studies is not only a way of life, it studies how man influenced by his physical, social, political, economic, psychological and cultural environment. Uzoagulu (2011) observes that social studies is one of the social sciences disciplines which studies man ass he interacts with his fellow men and with his environment . the content of social studies, therefore, is man and his actions. Social studies is the one area of study which integrates, that is, which relates to various social sciences and it also aims at analyzing the view of man and his world. Uzoagulu further stresses that social studies is not history plus geography plus anthropology and so on. All the social sciences are important in their own right but social studies has some relationship with them. The materials from the social sciences and humanities form the basis of the contents of social studies. these materials help to constitute integrated social studies. Social studies is an attempt to reconcile conflicting and distracting statements about man. In other words, it is problem solving. According to Uzoagulu (2011) “In practical terms, social studies is the subject which considers man’s aspirations, hopes, dreams, resentment, hurts and frustrations in order to understand and interpret his behaviours at any particular time”.
Social Studies is not only a way of life, it studies how man influenced by his physical, social, political, economic, psychological and cultural environment. Uzoagulu (2011) observes that social studies is one of the social sciences disciplines which studies man ass he interacts with his fellow men and with his environment . the content of social studies, therefore, is man and his actions. Social studies is the one area of study which integrates, that is, which relates to various social sciences and it also aims at analyzing the view of man and his world. Uzoagulu further stresses that social studies is not history plus geography plus anthropology and so on. All the social sciences are important in their own right but social studies has some relationship with them. The materials from the social sciences and humanities form the basis of the contents of social studies. these materials help to constitute integrated social studies. Social studies is an attempt to reconcile conflicting and distracting statements about man. In other words, it is problem solving. According to Uzoagulu (2011) “In practical terms, social studies is the subject which considers man’s aspirations, hopes, dreams, resentment, hurts and frustrations in order to understand and interpret his behaviours at any particular time”.
For Ezewu (2015) social studies is the area of
study made up of selections from other subject having to do with the art of
living together peacefully and harmoniously in our family, community and
society. For Obiadi (2010) Social studies is not the study of history,
geography and civics. As a separate discipline social studies asks questions,
raise issues, face problems, present needs and identifies realities. The
concept of social studies has been drawn from the disciplines of social science
and humanities namely: Sociology, Anthropology, Ethics, History, Geography, and
Religion. From the above argument, it can be seen that the definition of social
studies is embedded in its philosophy. Social studies cannot be simply defined
in a few words, it can be analyzed because it is a powerful discipline. Social
Studies is not just an integrated subject but it is also a way of life. But
whether all the objectives of social studies can be achieved or realized, it is
a core subject for Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria.
Many individuals including the teachers, students, civil servants and the entire community expect the teaching of integrated social studies to yield positive results. This is not an easy task because of certain problems such as lack of specialist teachers and instructional materials, inappropriate method of teaching, problem arising from the subject itself based on students evaluation and assessment, lack of resources centers, organized seminars, workshops and conferences to up-date teachers knowledge in integrated social studies.
Many individuals including the teachers, students, civil servants and the entire community expect the teaching of integrated social studies to yield positive results. This is not an easy task because of certain problems such as lack of specialist teachers and instructional materials, inappropriate method of teaching, problem arising from the subject itself based on students evaluation and assessment, lack of resources centers, organized seminars, workshops and conferences to up-date teachers knowledge in integrated social studies.
The
development of any nation or community largely depends upon the quality of
education available to its citizens. It is generally believed that the basis
for any true development must commence with the development of human resources.
Hence, formal education remains the vehicle for social-economic development and
social mobilization in any society. Primary and secondary education is the
foundation on which further education is built. Education has two main purposes.
The first purpose is to produce a literate and numerate population that can
jointly deal with problems both at home and at work. It also serves as a
foundation on which further education is built.
The
academic performance of students social studies
at most secondary school in the world today has recently come under
scrutiny for a number of reasons. For example, a number of studies have been
carried out to identify causal factors of poor academic performance in a number
of institutions worldwide. Most of these studies focus on the three elements
that intervene, that is, parents (family causal factors), school/teachers
(academic causal factors), and students (personal causal factors) (Diaz, 2003).
In light of the above, this study purports to investigate the factors influence students performance in Mainland
local government area of Lagos state
Besides other factors,
socioeconomic status is one of the most researched and debated factor among
educational professionals that contribute towards the academic performance of
students. The most prevalent argument is that the socioeconomic status of
learners affects the quality of their academic performance. Most of the experts
argue that the low socioeconomic status has negative effect on the academic
performance of students in social studies because the basic needs of students
remain unfulfilled and hence they do not perform better academically (Adams,
2015). The low socioeconomic status causes environmental deficiencies which
results in low self esteem of students. More specifically, this study aims to
identify and analyze factors that affect the quality of students’ academic
performance.
However, students’ performance is
considered a vital indicator of good schooling, so the poor performance of
students at the basic level of education has not only led to public outcry, but
also educationists have been increasingly occupied in their attempt to identify
factors that influence students’ performance especially in junior secondary
School Certificate Examination in Nigeria. For example, Diaz (2003), an
educationist attributed the phenomenon to lack of effective supervision and
monitoring at school, lack of motivation for teachers and inadequate number of
qualified teachers to fill empty classrooms. Also, Etsey (2005) attributed the
cause of poor academic performance in Nigeria are the combination of factors relating to the school
environment, teachers, students and parents. In the same vein, Diaz (2003)
found factors such as intellectual ability, poor study habit, achievement
motivation, lack of vocational goals, low self-concept, low socio-economic
status of the family, poor family structure and anxiety as contributing to
educational performance.
It goes without saying that poor
academic achievement in school may be the result of interplay of several
factors. It is therefore important not only to carry out an empirical study on
the causes of low academic performance of students, but also to look for
opportunities and propose measures to assist on-going efforts at improving
pupil academic achievement in general.
Statement
of the Problem
Social studies is one of the subject that teaches
man his environment, it enables him to know his norms, cultures, beliefs, and
rules in the society. therefore the importance of social studies to man cannot
be overemphasized. It is therefore very necessary that man learns about this
subject. A lot of difficulties is been faced by man in learning this subject.
However,
the researcher through discussion with some of the social studies teachers in secondary schools
and through interaction with some of the students at secondary school level
realized that social stuudies has not recorded a remarkable success. Many of
the students that offered the subject in JSCE have failed woefully as a result
of some factors, such as school environment, teachers attitude, teachers
qualification, teachers method of teaching are the major factors influence
students performace in social studies.
It is as a
result of this problem that the researcher intends to investigate on the factors influencing students academic
performance in social studies
Purpose
of the Study
The
aim and objective of the study is to investigate the factors influence junior
secondary schools students academic performance in social studies in mainland local government area of lagos state
Specifically the study aims at finding out.
1.
the
factors influencing teaching and
learning of social studies in Mainland Local Government area
2. to
determine if teachers’ attitude towards the teaching and learning of Social studies affect
students performance
3. to find
out if teacher qualification affect the
teaching and learning of Social Studies
4. To
determine if the use of instructional materials affect students academic
performance in Social Studies
Research
Questions
The following research questions were formulated
for the study
1
What are the
factors influence the teaching
and learning of social studies in
Mainland Local government area of Lagos state
2
does teachers’ attitude towards the teaching and learning of Social studies affect
students performance
3
To what extent does teacher qualification
affect the teaching and learning of
Social studies?
4
Does the use of instructional materials affect
students academic performance in social studies?
Research Hypothesis
The following null hypothesis would
be tested at 0.05 level of significance
1. Factor influencing teaching and
learning of social studies does have significant different in teaching social
studies
2. Teachers attitude does not have
significant different in teaching and
learning social studies
3. Teachers qualification does not have
significant effect on the teaching and learning of social studies
Significance of the Study
The
study mighty help to find solution to certain factor affecting effective
teaching and learning of social studies among secondary school students in
Ikere Local Government Area.
The study mighty also helps to
teach pupils how to think critically about the life of their community and the
nature of society.
The study mighty helps the
parents to balance the education for their children so that they should provide
them with all the needed materials that could help them in their studies.
The study mighty also helps the
government and the society in checking the problem whenever the need arises.
Scope of
the study
The study is aimed at investigating the factors
influencing junior secoll students academic performance in social studies.
Simple random sampling was used to select five secondary school in mainland
local government area of Lagos state, 120 respondents were sample for the
selected schools.
Definition
of Terms
Citizenship
Education: If you have citizenship of a country, you are legally
accepted as belonging to it. While
education is a process by which a person is taught better ways of doing
something or a better way of living.
Curriculum:
In a school, college or university of the
curriculum consist of all the different course of study that taught there.
Discipline: Is the
practice of making people obey rules and punishing them when they do not. Is also the quality of always behaving or working
in a controlled way.
Environment:
Environment
is the natural world of land, sea, plants and animal.
Factor: A factor
is one of the things that affects an event.
Learning:
Learning
is knowledge that has been gained through studying.
Social
Studies: Is the study of man and his environment.
Teaching: Teaching
is the work that a teacher does.