EFFECT
OF MONTESSORI EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PRIMARY
SCHOOL PUPILS IN CIVIC EDUCATION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the Study
Civic education remains an important means of teaching the
populace about individual rights and what duties and responsibilities the
governed and leaders should do. The re-introduction of Civic Education as a
subject to be taught in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria is expected to
further deepen democratic culture and encourage qualitative participation of
the average Nigerian in the governance process. Teachers are very crucial to
the success of this bold initiative. Theirs is to inculcate the right kind of
values through effective teaching of civic education.
Teachers, irrespective of what subject they teach, are a
great asset to any nation. By virtue of their profession and their selfless
commitment and dedication to duty since the beginning of time, they belong to a
special class and should therefore be acknowledged and appreciated. Since the
implementation of any educational curriculum cannot be achieved without
qualified teachers, the success of the civic education curriculum poses a
challenge to the social studies teachers because, there are no qualified civic
education teachers on ground, and the curriculum contents of the two subjects
are similar.
According to Adenipekun (2010), the new Senior Secondary
School Education Curriculum (SSEC) that contains civic education and whose
implementation commenced from September 2011 has thrown up a big challenge to
teacher educators in the nation’s Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and
Universities as they have to review their teacher preparation programmes in the
context of knowledge of subject matter, teaching skills and competencies. The
necessity of re-introducing civic education in the Nigerian primary and
secondary schools has become very obvious because of dwindling national
consciousness, social harmony and patriotic zeal. Since the 1980s, it became
evident that the lack of civic education and patriotic orientation had led to
disorientation in schools and the larger society. The consequences were being
felt at all strata of our society. The prevalence of trend of corruption,
indiscipline, disrespect for both elders and the rule of law, indifference to
duty are some of the manifestations of negative trends in the Nigerian society are
clear examples. Events of the recent past have indicated that Nigeria is facing
the threat of losing its much cherished sense of nationhood, cultural identity
and indeed, hospitable spirit (Adeniran, 2010).
There is therefore need for urgent value re-orientation
because of their far reaching impact on national development. To do these, the
school has a great role to play. That was probably, why the Political Bureau
set up by the Babangida administration recommended, in March 1987, the
establishment of a Directorate for Social Mobilization (MAMSER) which
eventually transformed into the National Orientation Agency (NOA). The 2009 botched
bombing of a US airliner by a young Nigerian is a challenge to the nation
particularly in this regard. The incidence has among other issues thrown up the
question of our national value system. Who
could think that a Nigerian would want to embark on suicide mission? The
introduction of Civic Education as a compulsory subject according to Sam Egwu,
the former Minister of Education is part of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s 7-point
reform agenda geared towards the enhancement of the human capital development.
The introduction of the subject is designed to refocus,
re-invigorate and reposition our great country to further realize her full
potentials as envisioned by our founding fathers. Specifically, civic education
seeks to expose our pupils and students to the tenets and rudiments of
citizenship education. It is envisioned that the teaching of the subject in our
schools will lay a strong foundation for effective citizenship education and
public participation in governance and other ethical issues that affect our
lives.
As a subject, Civic Education helps people to deal with the
world around them in a more capable and confident way. It covers a wide range
of issues, topics and legislation that impact on people’s lives and daily
living at all time and these are areas that are covered under Civic Education.
The subject teaches young people how to get the best out of their world. It
teaches them to stand up for their rights and opinions and how to help other
people to do so. It teaches tolerance of opposing viewpoints and that there is
no such thing as “the right answer”. It teaches them to recognise their
responsibilities to the government, other individuals and the environment. It covers
areas of life like voting, taxes, the justice system, prisons, other peoples
and their cultures, international relations etc.
(Azebamwan,
2010).
The main justification for teaching Civic Education
according to Azebamwan (2010) derives from the very nature of our nascent and
fledging democracy. Democracies need active, informed and responsible citizens.
Citizens who are willing and able to take responsibility for themselves and
their communities and contribute to the political process. These capabilities
may not develop unaided or without active stimulation. They have to be learned.
While a certain amount of citizenship may be picked up through ordinary
experience in the home or at work, it can never in itself be sufficient to
equip citizens for the sort of active role required of them in today’s complex
and diverse society. Azebamwan (2010).
Civic Education has been widely conceived as a type of education that
aids effective democratic process (Mehlinger 1977, Ganuju, 2011 and Wahab
2011). Collaborating with this view,
Oyesiku, (2010) described Civic Education as a school subject that prepares
people, especially the youths, to carry out their roles as citizens. In the same vein the National Orientation
Agency (NOA 2006) was of the view that, the main philosophy behind the teaching
and learning of Civic education Curriculum in Nigerian schools is the
production of effective citizens and of forging a cohesive society that will
support nation building by a way of classroom mediation of curriculum
programmes.
Generally, Civic Education has been viewed by many academics as a course
of study that is geared towards producing responsible and law abiding citizens
(Ukegbu, Mezieobi, Ajileye, Abdulrahaman and Anyaoha 2009 and Ogundare,
2011), For instance, Ukegbu et al
(2009) outlined objectives of Civic Education to include:
i.
Developing
and transforming the Nigeria youths into effective and responsible citizens by
making them law-abiding.
ii.
Creating
awareness of one’s rights, duties and obligations as citizens of this great
nation and also to appreciate the rights of other citizens, and
iii.
Helping
the young people to acquire a sense of loyalty, honesty, discipline, courage,
dedication, respect, patriotism, hard work….
It inculcates in students, the spirit of nationalism and desirable
habits, values and attitudes.
It is pertinent to note that certain
facilities (human and non-human or infrastructural) as well as funding must be
seriously taken into consideration if the stated objectives must be
accomplished. Human facility refers to
quality man-power or teachers who are last curriculum implementers. Teachers as
the last curriculum implementer are expected to effectively utilize teaching
methods/techniques as this determines the extent of achieving instructional
objective(s). A teaching technique according to Mezieobi, Fubara and Mezieobi
(2008), “is a specific way or aspect of a given method of teaching…which is
chosen, organized and applied in a method by a teacher in his teaching
interaction”. The pertinent question one may ask is; to what extent does civic
education teachers utilize instructional methods/techniques? Ganiyu (2011) was
of the opinion that old method of teaching (traditional methods) were still in
vogue among teachers in our school system. The issue of non-human facilities
are of crucial importance for effective teaching. Non-human facilities are
those infrastructural and instructional facilities needed for effective
implementation of educational programmes.
Onifade (2009) lamented on the problems of poor funding of education can
cause in the provision of educational facilities. With the envisaged problems in our school
system one wonders how the objective of Civic Education could be achieved. It is on this basis that the researcher aimed
at carrying out a research on the issues and challenges of teaching and
learning of Civic Education at the Senior Basic Education level.
According
to the National Institute of Public Education (Balogh,
Miklós, Gábor, Anna, Judit, Mária, Zoltán, Péter, Júlia, & Irén, 2003)
in Hungary, connecting the teaching and learning processes are not a
traditional practice. Teaching is generally characterized by the teacher giving
lectures, explaining material, and demonstrating experiments as the students
take a passive role by listening, taking notes, and learning the content of
subject areas. Because of the change in Hungarian government and the move
towards different approaches to teaching, teachers must assume a new role.
Today, teachers must be leaders of discussions and facilitators of debates.
They must provide an atmosphere of openness, trust, and honesty. The Public
Education Act of 1993 emphasized the importance of establishing classrooms in
which students developed critical thinking and problem solving skills so that
they will be able to make informed decisions in the future.
In
the United States, the national standards outline specifically what students
within the nation should know and be able to do at certain grade levels. These
standards often indicate the type of methodology that should be used in
teaching these standards. Integrated into these standards for P-12 students is
the skills development of critical thinking and problem solving. Teacher
training institutions are responsible for providing instruction and practice in
these instructional techniques to preservice teachers.
The goal is for
each generation to maintain democratic values in order to encourage civic
engagement and social responsibility. The desired outcome is for the United
States to improve measures of competitive advantage in relation to other countries,
as well as to improve achievement and close the achievement gaps. Objectives of
this reform aim to improve parent and student engagement, in addition to
increasing collaborative and service learning opportunities.
This works to
empower individuals in order to foster positive, social change within the realm
of academia. According to Kanter (2012), these actions should ultimately
generate informed citizens who would strengthen our democracy in terms of
transparency, justice, fair representation and equity by increasing diversity,
participation and collaboration (Kanter, 2012).
According to
Kanter (2012), the United States is experiencing a “civic recession”. In
response, the Obama Administration is implementing policies that support
education reform across the nation at all levels of academia, which includes
creating common core standards that work towards education reform and
increasing accessibility to educational opportunities. This is an attempt to
improve human capital in order to ensure “our social, civic and economic
prosperity,” (Kanter, 2012). The Department of Education is working to redefine
civic learning and democratic engagement nationally by promoting service
learning and cross-sector partnerships.
Montessori
education may be defined by student-centered, integrative, project-based
instruction that focuses on the accumulation of valuable knowledge and skills
through hands-on activities and student-led discovery (NAMTA, 2013). This form
of education is designed to foster collaboration, critical thinking skills,
innovation, social development and self-awareness by emphasizing community,
diversity and contextual learning (NAMTA, 2013). This study focuses on
Montessori education specifically because Montessori methods, in general, align
with methods of civic education. Montessori education focuses on independence,
family involvement and community engagement, which parallel the three “pathways
to participation” as defined by Andolina, Jenkins, Keeter & Zukin (2003).
The first
objective is to demonstrate how Montessori education fosters civic engagement
by highlighting the parallels of Montessori methods and outcomes to the three
voices of civic engagement as defined by Andolina et al. (2002). It can be
inferred that a positive relationship exists between education and civic
engagement. This relationship is strengthened when teachers encourage
participation and open discussion, as well as when service-learning
opportunities are available and involvement with organizations is facilitated
(Andolina et al., 2002).
In lieu of this
background, this study intends to investigate the effect of Montessori
educational strategy on the academic achievement of primary school pupils in
civic education.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
Civic Education was
re-introduced into Nigerian schools recently. It was ascertained to become a
compulsory subject to students up to the Senior Secondary School level. The
importance is as in result of the need to check moral decadence of Nigerian
citizens especially the youths and the encouragement of ideal behaviours which will
give honours to Nigerians in home and abroad. The need for these requirements
is evident since it would be an impetus to national growth and development of
the country in all ramifications. Towards this assertion, there is need for
searching for noble means of inculcating knowledge to students in this area.
Hence, this study
therefore intends to find answers to the effect of Montessori educational
strategy on the academic achievement of primary school pupils in civic
education.
1.3 Research
Questions
1.
What
are the achievement of pupils taught with Montessori educational strategies and
those taught with conventional educational strategies?
2.
What
are the differences between boys and girls taught with Montessori and boys and
girls taught with conventional strategies in civic education?
1.4 Research
Hypotheses
H01: there is no significant difference between
the achievement of pupils taught with Montessori educational strategy and those
taught with conventional strategies in civic education.
H02: there is no significant difference between
boys and girls taught with Montessori educational strategy and boys and girls
taught with conventional strategies in civic education.
1.5 Purpose
of the Study
The
objective of this study is to find out;
-
The
effect of Montessori educational strategy on academic achievement of pupils in
civic education
-
Whether
gender will play a role in identifying the effect of Montessori strategy on
academic achievement of pupils in civic education
1.6 Significance
of the Study
This study is significant as it will contribute to
the body of knowledge on how effectively Civic Education could be taught at the
lower primary school level. It will also explain the controversy surrounding
the doubts in academic performances differences between male and female pupils.
The study when completed would serve as a research material for further studies
in this field.
1.7 Scope
of the Study
This study would cover
the effect of Montessori educational strategy on the academic achievement of
primary school pupils in civic education in Ijebu-Ode local government area of
Ogun State.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Montessori
strategy: Montessori strategy of teaching aims for the
fullest possible development of the whole child, ultimately preparing him for
life's many rich experiences.
Academic achievement of pupils: the score pupils
obtained in a standardized teacher made test on civic education.To get access to Complete Project: click here
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